Days in the Life of a Pattaya Hotel Owner

Before I continue with the ongoing tale of my separation and divorce from Mrs. Boss I will tell you a little of the second visit Mark and I made to the International Book Fair in Bangkok. This time around we were just going for the day and therefore arranged for our taxi driver to take us from Pattaya, wait in the car park and return us home. The same early-morning departure as one week earlier took place and light traffic saw us arrive only just after the doors had opened.

We were at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre and it was awash with people. Inside the building much the same as outside with it almost impossible to move at a rate faster than a crawl such was the throng. There were numerous school parties, but most of the visitors were Thais stocking up on books as though television was just about to be banned for life. I doubt I have ever seen so many Thai people actually reading books.

We managed to navigate our way to the main hall and to the first of the stands we wished to visit — a major Thai retailer. As we approached the stand, it was already clear that this was more akin to an old fashioned jumble sale than a book fair. Every stand was advertising books at discounted prices and by the look of the wares, most had spent years in a basement or storeroom and not been dusted down for their day at the fair! This particular retailers stand was larger and better organized than most, although its reason for being there was exactly the same — to sell all the books that have been cluttering up precious space for far too long. The staff were the normal day-to-day sales people you find in the shops and department stores. There were no executives to be seen and we were offered an email address and persons name as the only consolation for our journey.

We did ask for the location of the stand that had a guide to the fair and were promptly told stand E101. Of course there was no stand E101, this is Thailand and we were simply being told any old rubbish instead of the assistant being truthful and admitting that he had no idea! After wandering around for 30 minutes we found the information desk and from there were correctly sent to the stand distributing the guides. Another 30 minutes saw us mark off all of the stands we wished to pay a visit to, although we were already certain the entire day was going to be a waste of our time.

The printers’ stands we visited were companies who printed books that they publish but do not do external work. The IT companies were sellers of recorded books or DVDs. The other retailers we needed to see were the same as the first one and the best we achieved was a phone number or email address, all of which were readily available from these companies’ web sites. After four hours and touring every section of the fair we had endured more than enough and decided to bring the story to an end. The only thing that still puzzles me is why the fair is prefixed by the word international. Although there was a German bookstand and a company from Iran (conveniently located next to an Israeli bookseller), that was the extent of the foreign involvement. There must have been 5,000 people in and out whilst Mark and I were there and I cannot recall seeing more than five non-Thais.

As we reached Pattaya I got off at Peter’s hotel and went up to see him for a chat. Angela was getting ready to go out for a meal with Mrs. Boss and she was rushing around so as not to be late for their 7:00PM meeting time. Both Peter and I told her not to worry, it has never been known for Mrs. Boss to be ready for anything and will usually keep people waiting for an hour or more. Angela still hastened. The next day Angela freely admitted that she should not have rushed to be at our hotel for seven. Apparently Mrs. Boss was chatting to some Thai people until 9:00PM and, when they eventually reached the restaurant, spent the entire evening taking various telephone calls, laughing and joking with whoever was phoning and speaking less than a dozen words to Angela the entire duration of their meal.

A few days on and it was time for the boys to start summer school. Sam was not at all pleased with this decision as spending all day and every day in the local PlayStation shop was his fervent plan for the entire summer vacation. James veered between uncontrollable excitement and point blank refusal to go — it would obviously depend on his mood on the day. As it turned out, the mood from James was positive and he showed eager anticipation to being away from home on his own for the first time. Sam showed no signs whatsoever which was primarily due to having no sleep the previous night, just about managing to crawl into the car and then fall soundly asleep for several hours.

A spell of shopping in Sriratcha for some blankets and pillows for James took rather longer than one would have hoped. The business of shopping here is painful and in large department stores the acquisition of one single item, once selected, can take upwards of 30 minutes. Eventually, however, off we set for the court James would be staying in. A new building of only two-years old and directly opposite the school’s side entrance was to be his new home during the week. Unfortunately though the week was not going to commence until the following day as it transpired Mrs. Boss had forgotten all of the paperwork necessary for James to be taken.

We journeyed back to Pattaya with Sam remaining asleep in the back of the car and in much the same pose he had been in for several hours. Mrs. Boss and I were still managing to not speak, which was a far better way of behaving than having her screaming abuse in my direction. The boys decamped to my room and we would be undertaking the entire process, save for the shopping the next day. Eventually we arrived at the school with children and papers in tow. After only a few minutes of our arrival it was clear James was taking to this with a relish. A locker all of his own — wow he was impressed! He carefully placed his clothes and personal possessions into the locker and then headed up to the boys’ sleeping room. Here he had managed to secure a corner plot and carefully unfolded his blanket, sheet and pillow before heading off downstairs to join the other lads. He was running, playing and chatting away as if he had known these boys all of his life rather than the ten or so minutes that had actually been the case. We left him eating his way through a large plate of food and devouring more than I have ever previously witnessed him eating.

Sam was then taken to his court which, this year, is situated within the school confines. Numerous meetings had taken place in order to secure this court for Sam whose previous residence was at least two kilometers from the school and meant he had to leave immediately at the end of class, thus being unable to stay behind to play sports. This new home meant that he could now play football and tennis as extra curricular activities and further his goal to push for a place in his school football team. Despite the improvements to his living conditions Summer School was still not something Sam wanted and he trudged forlornly towards the court mustering as much recalcitrance as a twelve year old can. Once the boys had been offloaded, Mrs. Boss and I returned to Pattaya in total silence and three days had now elapsed since a word had passed between us.

Although I am coping rather well with the present change to my family life, it is still hard. It is hard on the boys, hard on our customers who have to endure the rather more than occasional outburst from Mrs. Boss and, of course, it must be hard on Mrs. Boss herself. I now sit and muse how many more days, weeks or, god forbid, months pass before this situation is resolved.