One Night in Banchang

(For those who are unaware, Banchang is in the province of Rayong in the land of smiles, Thailand)

To someone who had been umpteen times to Thailand and especially familiar to Rayong, there is always not much of excitement of being sent there. I had my time in Thailand and a long time there.

One day, I was just deciding to give myself a break and get loose a bit, going for a drink. I took a cab and hit a pub in Banchang. Unfortunately, there a lot of sleazy pubs around but nevermind, I'm just looking for a drink. Being selective, I found one which look the most clean and with the least girls sitting outside "fishing".

Once I'm inside, I like the place partly because there's a pretty fair lady sitting behind the cashier. (I found out later that she is from laos. Come on, it is okay to admire pretty beings.)

Into my 2nd rum cola, an elderly Aussie walked in with a very young girl, probably 18. We exchanged greetings and started chatting. The girl is actually his girlfriend and all of 19. He is more than double her age at 63. I was thinking "Wow! This is quite out of the norm as we expected."

I like the Aussie man and we chatted very well, exchanged political opinions, our views and we were both very animated. Thoroughly enjoyed talking to him. He used to work for a newpspaer and in fact, he worked for a paper that had closed down in Singapore. On top of that, he had the opportunity to have an audience with Singapore's first Prime Minister.

True to anyone who had meet Mr. LKY, he had great praised for him and respect as well. I was thinking that a man like Mr. Lee is had to come by.

One particular thing that we talked about and left me a great impression was that many "fru ren" (foreigners) had settled in Thailand with a girlfriend or wife so much younger than them. In fact, he told me that he was born in England and is an Aussie but he is still a Briton. When the southern province of Thailand caused some unrest, the British Government actually contacted him and he was told there were about 2000 englishmen settling in Thailand.

He had led a good life, having a satisfying career in journalism and owe a resturant chain that he left to his ex-wife he left in Down Under. Upon retirement, he took his savings and his pension and settled in Thailand comfortably, owing large farms of rice and several apartments and of course a pretty young sexy girlfriend.

Somehow, it just got me thinking if this is the path for me to go down but well, I just shrug it off but it just amazed me how life got started for these gentlemen at retirement age. A large number of them are doing well and a quick asking proves that a large number of pubs and resturant in the area are owed by these gentlemen from overseas.

Who says life end at retirement?