2000 Baht

Last night I headed over to Tom's apartment. Tom doesn't normally have folk call around to his place. He is hardly ever there himself, as he spends all his time on the street socialising or web surfing in some cafe. He did a quick bit I tidying up when I arrived and set up a couple of chairs, table and some sounds. We drank a few beers and he went through his book collection; Tolstoy, Jospeh Heller, Hunter S Thompson, Donchuevyski (?), Orwell amonst others. I took some names for audio book downloads.

Later, we walked up to Co Art and hooked up with some cool Thai guys who really know their music. They had the full band and it was a great night. Patrick and Adam turned up too. I played about 5 songs which went down well. It wasn't until about two in the morning when they really kicked in with some amazing stuff. Everyone was in a great mood and Dtoi cracked open the whisky and cokes for everyone on the house.

Poor Grace got the fever today, so she is feeling a tad prickly. The boy across the street got her laughing though by throwing his teddy bear up into the tree. We have given her some medecine and she is sleeping now. Hopefully, tomorrow the storm will have passed and she will wake up a happy girl.

I got stung for 2,000 Baht for forgetting to do my 90 day trip to the police station. A real pain and I can never remember to go on time. This time they hit me with a hefty fine. Seems dumb when I already have a visa until next year, but aliens have to check in every three months too. Bastards.

On top of this we all have to do another Thai Culture course and test if we are to get a visa for next year. I did one of these courses two years ago, but apparemntly that was invalid and I have to do it again. The centre is in Surat Thani, 500 ks away and all costs have to be met by the individual. Smells like corruption to me to fill the coffers. Thailand needs to be careful. They just might find that they make it too difficult for people to teach here when neighbouring countries have better offers. They try to insist on the best, yet give very little in return. Ho hum.