t h a i l a n d

June 1985: Heidi & me on our first trip to Thailand;
went home with Kim, Mee & Noi during e Singapore
school holidays (Thai school holidays are during e
rice planting & harvesting seasons) June 1985: Noi showing me how to paste goldleaf onto e statue - my first time; this temple was atop a hill & had a monkey that scared Heidi

June 1985: Zhor, Noi, Heidi & me June 1985: in Muang Boran (Ancient City), Samut Prakan province - loved this place cos it had so many wooden buildings that I couldn't run out of things to climb &
windows to pop my head out of

June 1985: Heidi & me beside e san phra phum (spirit houses) of a petrol
station; I think we were travelling along e main North-South highway
in Tio Bu's van to Chieng Mai from Krung Thep (Bangkok) June 1985: Heidi, my dad, me & Kim at e entrance to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chieng Mai province; am holding a rattan basket of sparrows that Kim would release for merit; when we were performing e 'ritual' of walking around e bot (main 'chapel') of e temple three times, Jim's mother (I think) told us not to walk in e shadow of e bot, but till now I still do not know e reason why

June 1985: climbing Wat Arun (Temple
of Dawn), Thonburi, Krung Thep June 1985: me & Oke on a river taxi along Mae Nam (River) Chao Phraya, Krung Thep; we were on our way to visit e Royal Barge Museum, passing by houses which keep large earthen jars for storing water

one of e later trips to Thailand: Pon, Noi, Zhor, Book, Bu, me, Heidi & Kip outside Siam Water Park, Minburi; we went to swim in e man-made 'sea' wave pool; on this trip we also went to Si Ratcha (Chonburi province) & stayed in a beachfront bungalow in Rayong (Rayong province), spending many happy hours swimming in e sea, building sandcastles & 'sand fortresses' & digging holes in e beach to look for crabs another of e later trips to Thailand in e '80s: Kok, Heidi, Pon, Dej, Kip & me outside a restaurant where our families were having dinner

December 1996: Mee & Noi's mother, Kim, Mee & Noi's father,
my father, Mee, Jim's father & Joyce (our neighbour in
Scotland), dinner in Krung Thep December 1996: Mee & Noi's grandmother, my mother, Kim & Phusit's mother & Mee & Noi's mother at e same dinner

December 1996: Jim's father, Jim's mother, my mother, Joyce, my
father (carrying Jim's son), Tio Bu (Kip's father), Kip's mother (with
Leng, Jim's daughter), Kip, Oh & Jim outside Jim's house in
Sukhumvit; to their left is e factory building & workers' living quarters November 2000(?): Pon (with Jim's son), Dej, Jim's father, Oke & his wife, my mother, Jim's mother, Oh (with Leng), Jim & Yong

on other trips we went to Pattaya, e hotsprings in Ranong, Isthmus of Kra (Ranong province), Phang Nga, Phuket, Nakhon Pathom, Kanchanaburi, Sai Yok (Kanchanaburi province), Nam Tok (Kanchanaburi province), Chieng Rai, Mae Sai (Chieng Rai province), Bang Pa-In (Phra Nakon Si Ayutthaya province), Ayutthaya & many other places which names I cannot recall as I was too young then.

I still miss wandering e streets of Sam Pheng in Krung Thep & staying in Kim & Mee's houses & Jim's factory, making & sorting buttons into packets of 12 dozens & selling textile cloth, thread, knitting wool & lace in Mee's haberdashery shop along Paholyonthin Road in Saphan Khwaay ('buffalo bridge'), weighing & packing steel nails in Kim's shophouse off Charoen Krung Road in Chinatown, cutting loose threads & making iron-on embroidery patches in Jim's factory in Sukhumvit, watching 'hot air' lanterns (something like 'kong3 ming2 deng1') float up into e night sky at Ayutthaya World Heritage Site, eating kway teow soup at e shop across e street from Mee's shop & satay at Tum Nak Thai rollerskating restaurant, e big fat dinner we had in freezing weather on board a cruise down Mae Nam Chao Phraya where we kids drank brandy to keep warm, lighting yellow candles to celebrate His Royal Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday on 5th December (also Thailand's Fathers' Day), buying greeting cards with pictures of phuang malai (garlands of jasmine & other flowers) that I love so much, rafting down Mae Nam Kwai Noi & walking along e railway tracks in Kanchanaburi & much more.

next time I want to celebrate Loy Krathong in Thailand, which I haven't been able to do so as it always clashes with exams in Singapore. & in e distant future I think I want to retire in Thailand =)

more childhood pics

my incredible mother has taken care of a total of 2 Singaporean girls (Heidi & me), 4 Thai guys (Kim, Mee, Noi & Phusit), 3 Thai girls (Jim, Aa & Ann), 4 Indonesian guys (Jimmy, Robert, Otto & William), 4 Indonesian girls (Yohana, Dyna, Frisca & Shirley) & 2 Malaysian guys (Bingyong & Ah Xiang)....won't be surprised if this is not a complete list - e house was always overflowing with kids since 1983


December 1986: Phusit, Noi, me, Heidi, Mee & Kim at Parkway Parade; Phusit had just come over from Thailand to stay with us & was still wearing his Thai school uniform

August 1987: Kim, me, Phusit & Noi preparing for my father's birthday celebration; we had just moved into this house about 10 days ago	1987(?): Jim, Kim, me, Heidi, my mother, Noi, Phusit & Mee at East Coast Park

back


June 1985: Heidi & me on our first trip to Thailand; went home with Kim, Mee & Noi during e Singapore school holidays (Thai school holidays are during e rice planting & harvesting seasons)	June 1985: Noi showing me how to paste goldleaf onto e statue - my first time; this temple was atop a hill & had a monkey that scared Heidi

June 1985: Zhor, Noi, Heidi & me	June 1985: in Muang Boran (Ancient City), Samut Prakan province - loved this place cos it had so many wooden buildings that I couldn't run out of things to climb & windows to pop my head out of

June 1985: Heidi & me beside e san phra phum (spirit houses) of a petrol station; I think we were travelling along e main North-South highway in Tio Bu's van to Chieng Mai from Krung Thep (Bangkok)	June 1985: Heidi, my dad, me & Kim at e entrance to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chieng Mai province; am holding a rattan basket of sparrows that Kim would release for merit; when we were performing e 'ritual' of walking around e bot (main 'chapel') of e temple three times, Jim's mother (I think) told us not to walk in e shadow of e bot, but till now I still do not know e reason why

June 1985: climbing Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), Thonburi, Krung Thep	June 1985: me & Oke on a river taxi along Mae Nam (River) Chao Phraya, Krung Thep; we were on our way to visit e Royal Barge Museum, passing by houses which keep large earthen jars for storing water

one of e later trips to Thailand: Pon, Noi, Zhor, Book, Bu, me, Heidi & Kip outside Siam Water Park, Minburi; we went to swim in e man-made 'sea' wave pool; on this trip we also went to Si Ratcha (Chonburi province) & stayed in a beachfront bungalow in Rayong (Rayong province), spending many happy hours swimming in e sea, building sandcastles & 'sand fortresses' & digging holes in e beach to look for crabs	another of e later trips to Thailand in e '80s: Kok, Heidi, Pon, Dej, Kip & me outside a restaurant where our families were having dinner

December 1996: Mee & Noi's mother, Kim, Mee & Noi's father, my father, Mee, Jim's father & Joyce (our neighbour in Scotland), dinner in Krung Thep	December 1996: Mee & Noi's grandmother, my mother, Kim & Phusit's mother & Mee & Noi's mother at e same dinner

December 1996: Jim's father, Jim's mother, my mother, Joyce, my father (carrying Jim's son), Tio Bu (Kip's father), Kip's mother (with Leng, Jim's daughter), Kip, Oh & Jim outside Jim's house in Sukhumvit; to their left is e factory building & workers' living quarters	November 2000(?): Pon (with Jim's son), Dej, Jim's father, Oke & his wife, my mother, Jim's mother, Oh (with Leng), Jim & Yong