I extended for two weeks

Just to let everyone know, I'm still in Thailand. I ate my return ticket and bought a new one for a price that seemed fair but since it was unaccounted for, kinda sucked. So as I type this I have two valid tickets from Thailand to Korea. Anyone wanna ticket from Bangkok to Incheon? Going cheap!

I extended my stay for a week, which was all I could do under the circumstances. And in a week I'll be going to Cambodia. Hopefully... I won't get into that since it's already 5:30 in the morning and I'm supposed to go golfing tomorrow. Another long story. There's all kind of action here.

I had to buy a whole new ticket and then I had to go to Jomtien immigration to extend my visa for 7 days. That's the max. So in 7 days I'll be on the bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Closest city to Angkor Wat. I'll stay a couple days and be back in time for a couple more rounds of golf. Then I'll find my way back to Korea on the 6th of August. More expensive than planned but that's cuz I spent my 6 weeks of cash in one month. My fault really.

The bright side is I get to golf St. Andrews and scratch that off my bucket list. AND I finally get to go to Angkor Wat, AND I get to receive my 10th stamp on my passport. 10th different country that is. So I'm looking forward to that.

Right now I'm at the end of celebrating my visa extension. Went to a couple bars tonight with Gordon. Had a whale of a time. There's PLENTY of news with the bar I am staying at. I'm sure I'll have something to say about that in a future post. Drugs, ammunition, firearms... I'll leave you in suspense for now.

I won't get into the details of the struggle I went thru to get all the paperwork done for my trip. It might frustrate you as much as it did me. Suffice to say it took two full days to do something it should have taken an afternoon to do.

But I've paid for the NEW ticket home and the next two weeks lodging. I hope both pan out. There IS some doubt though. I don't even know if Gord will be the primary owner of the Fairway Bar where I'm staying come tomorrow. He's talking about selling or getting a partner and there are people looking at just stepping in and sort of forcefully taking over as his partner. It'd be the best thing for him I think.

But just tonight he was saying that if he doesn't have a good meeting with his lawyer tomorrow he might have to depend on me to give him 20,000 baht. For bail or some damn thing. I don't know if I know him well enough. In fact I think I know him TOO well. If you know what I'm saying. But I think things will work out for the better. Hoping anyhoo....

As for my vacation, much more golf and I WILL be making a trip to the Crocodile Park again. Pictures are coming soon. I'm sure I'll find some more touristy things to do. The bars are wearing a little thin. Not interested in the same old thing every night. Although I DID have a good time tonight in a new bar that played old rock music. That'll always get me drinking. And, hence, I'm drunk at the moment.

Which might be why I used "and" and "hence" back to back. But every day here I thank my lucky stars that I'm where I am. I've never felt so privileged. Money talks folks. Just go to a poor country and you'll find that out. Even though I don't have a lot by most western standards, I'm a rich man here. And THAT has its advantages.

Although I am one of the few who has earned every dollar that's passed through my hands as a dollar or a baht. For example, I just finished eating a Big Mac set that I ordered with a friend named Jeff while we were chatting at a bar. The bike driver went to Mcdonald's and bought it for us and brought it back. It was dirt cheap but the bike driver and the Mcdonald's clerk were both satisfied with the little money paid. To give you an idea, 100 baht is like $3.30. Not bad eh? And I still have fries to gnaw on in my drunken stupor as I watch the TV trying to get to sleep tonight. It's almost 6 and I have to get up for golf at 8. I don't know if I'll make it or not this time. It's not with the Fairway bar though. If it were I'd be home sleeping soundly by now. We were supposed to go to St. Andrews today but only me and Larry signed up so it was cancelled.

Fortunately Larry knew another club that was going to St. Andrews on Saturday so he signed us both up. And for a much cheaper price. Should be fun!

Well the sun is coming up. I think I had better skeedaddle.

See you all later.

Oh and p.s. this is the first vacation for me EVER where I didn't get sick from the new climate or water or whatever causes it. Call it Bali Belly or Montezuma's revenge or whatever, I get it EVERY time! Not this time. I've been out every single night for a month. Which is why I'm way over budget. Hangovers have that added bonus of being a cheap day of suffering alone in my hotel room. Haven't had one of those yet! And I really don't want one. But I'm banking on it happening in Cambodia.

I'll keep you posted.