Boyfriend Maiyuu made khao tom pla (Thai rice soup with fish) for breakfast. He fetched the ingredients from the local supermarket. When I woke, I found he had left home on his bicycle to go shopping.

He makes a cooked meal for us to eat every morning, bless him.

At night, Maiyuu cooks again while I am at work, so I have something to eat before bed.

Last night, it was macaroni cheese, which he served with a red basil leaf on top. We took a picture, which I will post tomorrow.

The other day, he made a custard cake. 'I took it out too soon, and the cake part went hard,' he said later.

The same night, I paid a visit to Pink Gins, a university teacher who lives in the same condo complex.

I had hoped to take him a piece of the custard cake, but Maiyuu would not let it leave home. 'It's not perfect,' he said.

Nor would he let me take a picture of the thing.

'But it looks normal enough,' I said.

'I want to make it perfect, first,' he said.

-

I have been going through a few old Kew stories. Remember Kew, the ageing barboy from Pattaya?

I took half a dozen of them down a few months ago, as I thought they made me look naive, and lowered the tone.

After thinking about it again, I decided to repost them, as they are entertaining as stories, even if many of the tales he told me about his life were lies.

At the time, I could not see through Kew. I knew he liked to fabricate stories, but I couldn't tell how much of what he told me was truth, and how much was fiction.

For years, Kew told me that his mother had died, leaving his aunt to care for him and his younger sister.

I caught him out on that lie, when I called his home number one day, and his 'deceased' mother answered.



However, that was just one of the whoppers he told. In general, I now treat suspiciously any remark where he claims he is paying money to people to support them.

Anything which sounds like it comes from a detective novel, even if it is related to his adventures in Pattaya, also gets the thumbs down.

With the passing of time, I have become more sceptical about Kew, which is a good thing. Now, when I read those old Kew posts, I spot what I suspect are lies left, right and centre.

Here are a few samples. I've put his suspicious sounding comments in italics. In some cases, I know they are lies, because I caught him out. In other cases, I just don't believe him, because it all sounds too fantastic.




From Young Man's Burden (part 1):

Kew says he sends them B5500 a month - B4000 to support his sister, B1000 to support his aunt, and B500 to pay the utility bills.

-

'I have now paid off the mortgage on the condo, so we own it ourselves,' says Kew proudly. His mother, who is dead, left the place to Kew and his sister in her will.

-

'Tonight she wanted to go out to celebrate New Year. I had only B300 left...I gave her most of it,' he said.

-

From Young Man's Burden (part 3):

I did not ask him whether he has gone to bed with any men. 'Some customers ask to sleep with me, but they have to pay extra for secks. I say they can sleep with me, but I must be fully clothed,' he said.



He claims he has bought himself a small self-protection device which he can use to apply an electric shock to people if they get too eager.

Some female customers, he says, ask him to drink with them. They drop drugs into his drink when he is not watching, in the hope it will make him more amenable to leaving with them.

From Run of Bad Luck (part 1):

I asked him how many times he had sold his body.

'About 20 to 30 times,' he said.

'If I went out with men, it was just for drinks.'

-

Kew and I last met at an old eatery in the market where I used to live. Kew stepped into a domestic argument between a drunken Thai man and a terrified woman friend.

Read about that tale here.

Since we moved from Thon Buri, I have not seen him, though he called me once, a few weeks ago.

He called from a phone box close to my old place. He wanted to meet, he said.



'I don't live there any more,' I said.

'I have just walked all the way here,' he complained. 'Where have you moved?'

I told him.

'That's a long way...' he said.

We said our goodbyes.

I doubt we will meet again, unless I happen to pass through his area, or he ventures through mine, as I am now too far away.

When I am sitting in my rocking chair in years to come, I shall look back on the Thon Buri chapter of our lives.

Compared to my present, more settled life in town, those were racy days.

A record label is defending its decision to sign up the Wonder Gays, a group of five secondary students famous for a YouTube cover of a Wonder Girls song.

'Focus on their work, not who they are,’ says record company Zheza, of the entertainment giant RS Promotion, which has signed up the fifth-form students to make a single.

The students, from select-entry Taweethapisek School in Bangkok Yai, are an internet sensation. A YouTube clip of them dancing and lip-synching to the Wonder Girls hit, Nobody, has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

The boys, wearing uniform, filmed the tribute video in front of their school where students line up for the flag ceremony every day.

In May, the record label signed up the 15-year-olds as artists, three months after their clip was posted at YouTube. Their first single, a pop song aimed at teens, comes out next month.

Current affairs host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda invited them on his television show to explain their success.

'We love that song by the Wonder Girls. First they came along, then the Wonder Boys [a spin-off Korean boyband] formed - now we are the Wonder Gays,' they declared.

‘Hasn’t Sorrayuth anything better to do? The media already gives too much attention to gays,’ Thais complained on webboards.

Some parents are worried that their offspring will follow the boys' example. Most reaction, however, is positive.

Sorrayuuth asked if anyone at the all-boys school had objected to them acting the girl in front of the hallowed Thai flag.

'No one - we filmed the performance one day when school was closed,' they replied.

The students are solid achievers academically, with a grade point average of 3 or above. 'We are not hooked on games. After school, we do our homework,' they said.

'The school says it is a good thing that we make good use of our spare time, rather than making trouble.'

Critics say Zheza is exploiting young people for its own ends. However, the record label is asking Thais to look at their accomplishments, not at the students themselves.

‘While some Thais probably have doubts, we support young people doing productive activities. Don't criticise them for who they are, or their appearance.

'Look at their work, and their determination to do well,' a spokesman told the Siam Dara gossip rag.

Watch the clip here.

When I came home from work last night, the lights were out.

Maiyuu had gone out for the night. I checked my cellphone. He had sent me an SMS shortly before, letting me know that he would not be home.

'But there's food in the fridge,' his SMS said.

Well done. If boyfriend goes out, he should tell his mate, right? Cooking is even better.

I cast a quick glance around the place, which I had not seen in five hours.

The dishes were done. The dining table was clear.

I walked into my bedroom, where I found my washing on the bed. Maiyuu had retrieved my washing from the balcony in time to avoid last night's fierce rainy-season downpour.

Can this get any better?





Maiyuu had done everything I could expect of him as my stay-at-home other half. Nine years of breaking him in to farang ways are starting to pay off.


-

God, another night battling Bangkok floods.

Farang C and I waded though ankle-deep water and pelting rain to reach home last night.

We live in the same condo, and are also friends at work.

Thai colleague Sor dropped us off in his car. Rather than take us all the way home, he let us off close to a railway line about five minutes away.

I was carrying a small portable umbrella. Farang C had nothing.

'I think you should have asked him to take us all the way home,' said farang C, as we sloshed through the floodwaters in our soi (sub-street).

'I plan to complain to the Drainage Department. This is terrible.'

My Thai friend Sor has given me a lift home after work for years. Last night was farang C's first ride.

I know Sor's habits: he doesn't like to deviate from the route he knows. To put it more simply, he gets nervous in unfamiliar territory.

'I couldn't have asked him to take us all the way home. Imagine if his car had become stuck in the floods around our place,' I thought.

Farang C was soaked within moments of leaving the car. My portable umbrella was too small to be of much use, and before long I was soaked, too.

I contemplated the state of my track shoes, which have only just recovered after I was last caught in heavy rain a few weeks ago.




'After you were stuck in the rain last time, your track shoes stank,' farang C told me.

'I had to hold the nose at work.'

After that day, I kept wearing them into the office, just in case I was stuck in heavy rain again on the way home.

I wear them to protect my work shoes, which I take in a bag.

Last night as work ended I changed from my work shoes back into track shoes, as I suspected he would have to walk through the wet again. I was right!

'It's time I retired this pair but for the journey home. I have bought a new pair of track shoes to wear in the office, if I can't be bothered changing,' I told him.

Slosh, slosh. Sploosh, sploosh.

'The trick is to stuff wet shoes with newspaper as they dry, so the smell goes away,' said farang C.

Back at the condo, we chatted in the corridor. His place is right next to mine.

I fetched some newspaper from my place, as he had run out.

Farang C stuffed his track shoes with newspaper. After we said our goodbyes for the night, I stuffed mine as well.

I like having a close friend. I have waited eight years in this place to get one. We don't get blokey as such, even though farang C is straight.

With him, I can just be me. And in this odd place called Thailand, we can all do with a bit of that.

Thanks, farang C.

Postscript: I have a new Thai gay anthem: Jennifer Kim's Khon Jao Nam Ta (คนเจ้าน้ำตา: เจนนิเฟอร์ คิ้ม). Watch it here.

Poj Anon's gay drama, Friends, aired on satellite television last night. I watched it with boyfriend Maiyuu for the first time since we bought the movie on VCD at the 7-11 more than 12 months go.

Even though we had the film on VCD, it never made it beyond a single viewing, which is unfortunate, given the many hours I put into writing about the thing while it was still being made.

Also known as Bangkok Love Story, it is a tale about a gay relationship which develops between a hitman and a policeman.

Producer Sahamongkol Films insisted on violence to give it more general appeal as an action thriller.

It hoped mainstream audiences could then forgive all those annoying scenes of the male leads in white briefs looking moodily at each other against dark cityscapes - or rolling about on a soi making love to each other in the rain.

It was Thailand's first attempt at a serious gay drama, which Poj had strived his whole career to make. Well, that's what the media told us.

Personally speaking, I think director Poj should stick to making the slapstick kat* hoey comedies for which he is better known.

Friends, while beautifully shot and made with a pretty soundtrack, tries too hard to be dramatic.

The film is light in dialogue, which director Poj must have thought was a plus. Yet dialogue doesn't have to get in the way - in fact, it is essential for establishing motive, and getting at the humanity of us all.

All Poj had to do was watch a typical British TV drama - Dalziel and Pascoe, which Maiyuu and I watched on TV this morning, comes to mind - to see how it should be done.

The British know how to do drama. Thais, who are not good communicators anyway, reckon events should speak for themselves. The result, in the case of a Friends, is a movie which characters emerge as mere puppets.

By the end of the film, everyone but one male lead is dead...yet do we feel anything? Do we ever see him interact meaningfully with colleagues, friends, family?

'I have Aids, and sold my body,' Mohk tells his elder brother, hitman Mehk.

Slap, slap, slap across the face.

Moody music.

Cut to train station. Mohk will go to Chiang Mai for treatment. Mehk will take him.

Fate, however, intervenes. As the brothers head towards each other on the platform, police emerge to arrest Mehk, who has been on one of his shooting sprees.

Old photos carried by Mohk come loose from his bag and scatter to the winds of time.

Cut to hospital, where Mohk dies of his disease.

In all of this drama, barely a word is spoken. it is as if Poj is telling us that 'real' men, even when they have a gay streak, can't communicate. Or is it just a Thai thing?

Read this blog's review of the movie, here.

-

Thais are big on small talk, but avoid anything to do with commitment, obligation, or planning?

Blogger Was Once sends me a following link from the Rice Diaries blog, which talks about the strange ways Thais communicate.

'Over time I’ve also noticed that communication, particularly regarding things associated with responsibility or obligation, is often very terse. Small talk, on the other hand, tends to come with great detail. Initially I thought some, or all, of this was being driven by limited English skills, but soon realized they do it to each other.'

Read the full post here.

Readers can be an insistent bunch. We want this! We want that! And if you don't provide, we'll go somewhere else!

One reason I welcome comments is that I do want this blog to reflect reader demands.

If I turned off the comments, let's say, then all you would get is my idea of what a blog should look like, but nothing more.

If I invite comments, you ask for something and I provide it, then it looks more like what readers want, not just me.

Yesterday, for example, I posted a fluffly piece about ear drops; then, at the request of a reader, included a brief description of my latest argument with the boyfriend.

That's not the post I intended to leave, but it looked much better as a result.

There are limitations, of course. I won't drop the boyfriend, just because a few disgruntled readers from Silom's blog, for example, may not like the sound of him.

I suspect I have annoyed more than a few farang readers over the years with my stories about Maiyuu. They are used to getting their way with Thais, perhaps...or maybe they just seethe with the rankling injustice of it all.

I don't want to read too much into the motives of this unpleasant set, who invariably post under the anonymous label, despite their supposed bravado.

I want to bring you one reader comment - anonymous, needless to say - which someone left on this blog in response to yesterday's post.

First, scroll to the bottom of the post, here. He's responding to my remarks that I seldom get to meet Maiyuu's relatives.

Earlier, I said the profusion of new Thai gay bloggers has given me the ability to say 'P* iss off' to hostile posters with impunity.

Even if I lose one reader today, I am likely to pick up another few passing their way through the other blogs. We all link to each other after all.

-

'Very suspicious that the 'love of your life' doesn't let you meet his relatives; but you probably fund them anyway.

The 'power' that comes with a 'real blogging community?' You're off your meds again, mate.

If your blog becomes nothing more than a sparring match between Maiyuu's cooking and Thai fashion-chickens, your blogging goose is already cooked- there are only so many times that you can rehash all of those old stories.

Incidentally, you might mention to Maiyuu that you make more money when you give details on the blog- I suspect his opinions are highly influenced by that particular issue, no?'

-

I deleted the post from the comments section when it appeared, but am reviving it here, because this reader deserves his moment in the sun.

Why is he so grumpy - can't he just enjoy the wonderful guys illustrating this post like the rest of us?

PS: He's right about Maiyuu. When I pointed out that readers like hearing about our domestic dramas, contrary to his wish that I keep personal matters off the blog, Maiyuu told me to go ahead and publish. Happy blogging days ahead!

Maiyuu has been putting in my ear drops.

I am a hopeless patient, and hate things getting in my ear. It is much better if ask him to do it rather than attempt such a difficult task myself.

Twice a day, I put my head on his knee, left ear facing upwards - and grip his leg tightly, to prepare myself for the awful sensation when the ear drops fall in my ear.

It tickles, it hurts.

My initial reaction must have seemed extreme to poor Maiyuu, who now counts down before he squeezes the bottle, releasing the solitary drop on its long journey into my sensitive hole.

'One...two...THREE!'

Last night he tried a new variation on the countdown routine.

One..two...two and a half...two and a bit...THREE!'

I hate the drops, but am enjoying the encounters on Maiyuu's lap. When he plays nurse, he's rather cute.

-

For those who really want to know, I have left a brief account of my latest argument with the boyfriend in the comments section of the last post. Here's a copy, without the spelling mistakes:

'Maiyuu had taken his I-phone into the repair centre to get them to install a Thai language programme.

'He didn't tell me. The other day while I was out, I called and sent an SMS, but he did not reply.

'When I got home he told me he had sent it away three days ago. I asked why he chose not to tell me.

'He reckoned it wasn't important. I insisted it was, as he could have done anything with it - sold it, lost it - and I would be the last to know. I might also have been calling him urgently.

'He says he is always at home anyway, and there is nothing so important that it can't wait until I get home too.

'He has a point there, but still I would like our communication to improve. I dislike being left in the dark.

'I over-reacted. Maybe it was a bad day.'

-





Welcome back Aaron, wearing his new high-rise leather boots, which look rather fine.

Read more about them at his blog, here.

Today, I said I'd bring you a tale about the boyfriend's underpants, right? Okay, so maybe I was joking, or as one reader put it, being 'snippy'.

I had to ponder for a moment when I read that: I wasn't sure what 'snippy' meant.

Maiyuu spent most of the day yesterday getting around the condo in a pair of soft-cotton white boxer briefs. He looked great. No doubt they also felt good on this slim body.

I was looking forward to taking that body (and the thinking part of him, of course) on a walk to the local flea market, about 10 minutes from our home. In the end, I went alone, as fate intervened. In the two hours previously, we argued.

'Would you like to come with me?' I asked when it was over.

'I am no longer in the mood,' said Maiyu sadly.

I had wrecked it. Still, it was a good argument, as these things go. We talked out our problem, and now understood each other.

As we sat in front of the television last night, we started the process of rebuilding, which is always necessary after a row.

We talked about the third season of America's Got Talent, which was playing. Neither of us was really that gripped by what we saw, I suspect, but it was a way of healing the emotional wounds which had opened.


Since turning over a new leaf on this blog, I can't tell you what our argument was about. My boyfriend might read it, then I'd be in trouble again.

You will recall that a while ago, Maiyuu took a read of this blog and discovered I had been sharing our secrets...relating our domestic dramas in intimate, painful detail for the perverse enjoyment of readers.

'You tell your friends about me, but only tell them the bad things. They get a bad impression of me, and other Thais too,' he said last night.

He wasn't talking about the blog as such, but my general habit of telling people too much about our lives - all the stuff he would rather keep hidden. Oops, did I really say that?

'If a couple has problems, they should keep it between themselves.'

I am not sure I agree with that in all cases, but never mind.

We live in Bangkok, one of the world's largest cities. But sometimes the space I occupy with Maiyuu seems extremely narrow and suffocating, as if no one else's views or experience ever surface, or in his eyes, rate a mention.

The fact that I have spent most of my life overseas, where I have friends, a work history, and loving family seems not to count.

'You are in Thailand now. You want to be like a farang, you should find a farang partner. If you want to fit in, you have to be like Thais.'

Postscript: That guy down the bottom only just scraped in. He has so much hair it looks like a birds' nest. Get a hair cut!

Many readers have told me bluntly that Maiyuu is a waste of time, and I can find better.

But do you really know me? Maybe I am not that nice myself.

Below is an excerpt from a short story on this blog, involving a young man called Jiam. I posted the Jiam story more than a year ago, but then re-wrote it to make it more accessible.

It's now in edible bite-sized pieces. Think of the 42 parts like chapters in a mini-novel. Each part has an interesting start, and a dramatic ending, like a soap opera.

One blogging friend, an aspiring novelist, reckons the story of Jiam is long enough to be a mini-novel. In the process of re-writing, I broke it into many pieces, in the hope readers would not notice how long the story really was.

I have not promoted the Jiam story on this blog before. I just posted the thing, then said nothing more about it.

Why? I am ashamed about the way I behaved. I was seeing Jiam and Maiyuu at the same time.

Here's an excerpt from the story, as it nears its end:

-

On the bus trip into work, Jiam sat by my side.

On particularly happy days, as we laughed and chatted together, guilt set in, and my thoughts drifted to boyfriend Maiyuu instead.

If I looked out the bus window, I fancied that I could see the pale, sad outline of Maiyuu, standing on the footpath as we drove past. He would just look at me.

A Thai highway at dusk is a forlorn site. As the light started closing in, my guilt became stronger, and my thoughts of Maiyuu more prominent. There he was...waiting under that bridge, alone. Or maybe that was him, sitting with the homeless people under the overpass.

If anyone deserved to enter my affections as a son, it was him. Maiyuu has no parents. And in my early days in Bangkok, I was lost like an orphan, too.

I didn't know it then, but my dangerous, fissile relationship with Jiam was nearing its end.

-

The story of Jiam stars here.

Actor/singer Krissada ‘Noi Sukosol Clapp’ is perhaps best known among Thais for getting in a fight with rocker Sek Loso in New York.

In 2006 the pair were performing at the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts in a rock opera adaption of the Ramakien play.

Noi (น้อย กฤษดา สุโกศล แคลปป์), playing Hanuman and wearing just a pair of white boxers, was dancing when Sek, playing Phra Rama, strode onto the stage and belted him over the ear with a shoe.

At the time, Thais were angry with Sek, who they said brought Thailand into disgrace. I wonder if Sek's reputation ever recovered?

He spent the next two years overseas, and has only recently returned, to promote a concert and a new album.

Still, Thais love watching replays of their clash. It is the first item to appear on Google searches of Noi's name.

Noi, a Thai/American, is lead singer of the indie group Pru, whose work I am only now discovering, thanks to YouTube.

In the same year as the clash with Sek, he starred in the thriller 13 Beloved (13 เกมสยอง), by Love of Siam's Chukiart Sakweerakul.

Noi won best actor at the Thai national film awards for his performance.

Pru is an indie group, belonging to the old Bakery label, which Noi's brother Kamol Clapp helped found.

Their mother is Kamala Sukosol, a jazz singer and heiress of the Siam City Hotels and Resorts chain.

As a performer Kamala is perhaps best known for the Bakery song, Live and Learn, which should be a gay anthem, if it isn't already. This woman is a diva extraordinaire.

Singer/dancer/actor Noi has a slight frame, and velvety voice. Perhaps the prettiest Pru song I have found is Yang Ror Ter Summer, here.

Other MVs worth a watch are Took Sing; Rak Ter Jon Jop Chiwit, which contains pretty scenes of central Bangkok; and Peuan Euy, which portrays scenes of Thai friendship, particularly among students; and Neuy Jai, another pretty song from the heart.

Noi and ageing rocker Sek have now made up, which is fortunate for Sek, as he wants to make a comeback.

Here's a typical telephone conversation between a Thai and a farang.

Note the Thai's attempt to show concern by pretending to be jealous.

Actually, the barworker might actually be jealous, who knows - even if they only met the day before. Note also the plea for money.

Thai: Hello, how are you?

Farang: Fine. You?

T: I am going into hospital/my parents are sick/I am lonely.

F: That's funny...I have problems too. Would you like to hear about them?

T: Are you with girlfriend/Do you have girlfriend? You have many girls, I know...

F: No. I am single.

T: You want see me?



F: Up to you...you are the one who called me, remember?

A farang friend of mine had this conversation a while ago with a young woman of the night.

Man, woman, it makes no difference - the Thai bar worker in her comes through clearly enough.

His story is in two parts, here and here.

An anonymous reader left this treat:

'Just wanted to thank you for the two years of wonderful posts. With the new direction your blog has taken I find it utterly uninteresting.

'What made your writing so compelling was that you wrote about your personal experience in a foreign land and some of us could vicariously experience every day life of a farang.

'Thanks for the wonderful read and good luck to you and Maiyuu.'

I am not sure what new direction the blog has taken, and the reader doesn't bother to explain. The posts about Thai stars? The pictures of Maiyuu's cooking treats?

The absence of tales from a Thai market where I once lived, or that hole of a drinking place I used to visit in Thon Buri?

As I said the other day, readers of this blog are happiest when I am writing about some domestic drama with Maiyuu.

Lately, we have not argued much, so I have plugged the gap with posts about Thai stars, most of which have a gay angle, or which I think are interesting anyway, even if they haven't.

No one blog can do everything, and if it's part of a vibrant blogging community, should not be seen in isolation anyway.

The number of Thai blogs written by Bangkok-resident foreigners has grown in the last six months, which is welcome. Readers can shop around.

We all link to each other anyway, so it is easy to get your daily dose from half a dozen or more blogs with a similar theme.

One day, I might serve up a tale about Maiyuu; on the same day, BB at his blog might talk about his pizza delivery guy, or the technician at his condo, while Kawadjan might bring us a tale from his Filipino friends, or his latest exotic travels in this region.

Those who enjoy news about Thai stars can find it here, or at Lyn's lakorns blog, or Dirtii-laundry blog. As you can see, no two blogs are alike.



If readers enjoy tales of misfit foreigners lashing out at Thais, or foreigners dogging the tails of moneyboys in Silom, then I suggest you go elsewhere.

I have been here nine years, for goodness sake! I am no longer interested.

The idea of living in a foreign country is trying to fit in. As a foreigner spends longer here, hopefully he will get better at it.

In that event, you should expect the number of stories about foreigners ogling over Thai good looks or the gaudy lights of Patpong to diminish.

After a while, it becomes repetitive and just dull. Or, if such stories distinguish themselves, it's usually in the clever or entertaining way they are written, as the subject matter has been covered so many times before.

Bangkok Pundit's blog is the grand-daddy of all Bangkok blogs - probably the most popular and respected blog by a foreigner writing on Thailand.

What's that about? Not Thai girls, the Silom nightlife, lifestyle issues, or any of that flim flam. It's about politics, plain and simple.

Here, you get a mix of what I think you will like, and what takes my interest, which I publish whether or not readers are likely to read it. It is, after all, my blog.



The posts about Thai stars or Thai music might seem esoteric to foreigners overseas, but they interest me. Among the recent additions to this blog are posts about Thai folk singer Thee Chaiyadej, and a series called Dear Departed, about young Thai male stars who left us before their time.

Not interested? Well, someone might be. Someone should tell their stories, and it may as well be me.

Two more dishes from Maiyuu's kitchen: rice chicken, with rolled chicken, Japanese onion and a celery stick on top; and egg tarts.

-

For superstitious reasons, Maiyuu wants to move the head of my bead away from the window.

'Your head faces west, which is the same direction in which people's bodies are placed when they die.

'This is why you get ill so often,' he said.

I didn't know I get ill often. However, it is true that I often wake up with stiff joints, which previously I put down to age.

As part of this package, I will also get a desk for my computer. If my bed moves, the computer will have to go somewhere else, too.

I was pleased to hear about the computer desk, as the space I use at present is not ideal.

Superstition can be a useful thing after all!

Model Nicky 'The Stick' Sura Theerakol is hanging up his bamboo rod, as one Thai gossip rag put it.

The Godfather of N* ude, as he is also known, is starting to feel his age. At 30, Nicky thinks it's time he started showing a more serious side of himself, as an actor or producer.

He will quit posing for those nearly-naked modelling shoots that made his name.

Nicky says a recent spell in hospital gave him time to think about what he wants to be.

'I've been having problems in my head - migraines, because I think too much.

'I spent time in hospital resting. I am now too old for cr* otch shots.

'Younger models are coming forward, and I can no longer compete.

'I might still do modelling work where I take off my top, show my muscles, but the days of shocking people are over.'

'Yes, I met Ice Saranyu at the RCA nightspot - but we didn't have a bitchy catfight!' says actor 'Son' Yuk Songpaisan.

Yuk agrees he met singer Ice at RCA over the Songkran festival. However, he denies arguing with him. Supposedly, they were having a slapfest over a third person who took their fancy.

'We chatted, that's all,' says Yuk, who insists he likes girls, not guys, despite persistent rumours to the contrary. See the Yukkie file here.

-

TV presenter 'Champ' Peerapol Euariyakul has come up with an innovative way of dispelling persistent gay rumours about himself.

Champ, a huggy metrosexual, is close to gems dealer Chuchai Chairitthilert, who is gay. 'Gays have to keep it hidden away. But when I meet Chuchai, I hug him, give him a cheek kiss, no problem. If I was really gay, would I show my affection so openly?'

'Having said that, the fact that we hug does not mean we have anything going, either,' he said.

I know why you hug the man, dear Champ - you reckon Chuchai is a lonely gay soul who likes stars to show him affection.

In return, he buys you diamonds for your birthday, as he has done at least once already. Tell me it ain't true! See the Champ file here.

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Pity singer Mum Laconic, a Thai kat**hoey who had never had a boyfriend - and then met a man who fleeced her.



In an interview on the Woody Kert Ma Kui show, Mum talks about the man, who she met at a restaurant, and who - on their first day together - asked if he could have one of her two cars.

She gave him the deposit to buy his own.

She also gave him an allowance of B50,000 a month - and for what? They were together six months, but he gave away little about himself.

'I knew I had some money extra, so thought I would throw it at a man for a while, to see what happened. I now realise that was wrong,' she says.

The young man took it without complaint, naturally, but said Mum had no business asking about is past, his family. She didn't complain, but did everything he asked.

'He told me his name was this, but when I stole a look at his ID card, it was actually something else.'

'When leeches suck our blood, normally they hurt,' says Woody, comparing the man to a leech. 'Did you never feel that way?'

'I thought I'd keep watching, to see if things would get any better - or how much blacker the heart of a man could get,' she replied.

She reckons that even after one month, she realised she was being used.

'He might say he was going out, or back home to the provinces. I never asked him when he'd be back, where he'd been, nor did I attempt to follow him, or hire someone to track his movements. Men don't like women fussing, so I stayed mum.'

'Can you find a man without having to support him?' asked Woody.

'I can do it, but it's hard to find a man who doesn't want money, especially if you are a kath**oey,' she said.

Women of the second gender have to compete for me with real women, so might have to pay where ordinary women do not.

The two have now parted, after the young man picked an argument with her on Valentine's Day over money.

Mum says it is common for hi-so gays to keep young men on the side, whom they support financially. She hoped viewers would take her story as an example of what not to do.

Before she met this man, Mum paid for enjoyment by the night, with prozzies. Until the right man comes alone - assuming Mum can spot him - they might still be a safer bet.

Watch the interview (in Thai) here, via the Thai ladeez-B (ladyboy) blog. Read more about Mum, and hear her sing, here.

Grammy singer Aof Pongsak, with Aids? No, just typhus fever, he says - and in any case, he's now cured.

A much healthier looking Aof was spotted at a function in Bangkok the other day.

The last time he was in the public eye, he looked thin and gaunt, re-igniting rumours which have dogged him for as long as he has been in the industry, that he has Aids.

Since then Aof has had a chance to get some rest. Over the last month, his weight has increased from 72kg to 78kg.

He was thinking of travelling to Australia, but called it off when news about swine flu reared its head. He reckoned he might be safer at home.

Walking through Siam shopping centre, fans complimented him on his new, fatter look. 'You look plump in the face, and cute!' they said.

Persistent rumours that he has Aids - which re-emerged after he contracted typhus - have dogged the Grammy singer since he took part in the Academy Fantasia talent show years ago. Aof says while he gets used to them, his family still finds them hurtful.

Aof says his new fatter look has made him look younger. 'For the last month, while I was supposed to be in Australia, I have had nothing to do but eat.'

Velvety-voiced Aof doesn't know how he contracted typhus, a disease which belongs to olden times. However, the new fresher-faced Aof is now back to normal, and working on a new album of slow songs, which should be out before the years' end.

Singer/actor 'R' Anattapol Sirichumsaeng is a new favourite of the gay set, since he started playing in the stage musical Mae Nak Phrakhanong, where he has to bare his chest. The musical also stars Nat Myria, pictured.

R's girlfriend, Peuy Panward, isn't worried if Thai gays are lauding him as their new hero, as she agrees he looks great on stage.

'He is getting good buzz from that show. My gay friends call to tell what they think. Some tease me, some compliment him.

'He had to get in shape to play in that role. He is excited about it, and even takes pictures on his cellphone to show me.'

A few more delights from Maiyuu's kitchen.

That's a quiche with olives, the plum pie which I mentioned the other day (most of it is eaten now - not saying who did the deed), and tom yum kung with pasta.

If Maiyuu cooks Thai food, he likes to combine it with western ingredients. 'I get bored of making Thai food alone,' he says.

So I have suffered 20% hearing loss in one ear - it won't kill me.

Back at Chulalongkorn Hospital yesterday, I saw the ear specialist, who looked at the results of my hearing tests and gave me a list of possible causes for the loss of hearing which has occurred in my left ear. They are:

1. General deterioration in the nerves of my brain, probably related to age.

2. A piece of fat has broken off from where fatty deposits lie, and entered my brain through a blood vessel.

3. A non-malignant growth in my brain

We eliminated other possible causes. They were:

1. Disease, such as Aids, diabetes, syphilis

2. An accident, such as being knocked on the head.

3. Routine exposure to loud noises, such as a gun going off.

'If it's simply age, I can't account for why the hearing in your left ear has deteriorated, but your right ear remains the same, because in theory the should be deteriorating at the same rate,' said the doctor, a woman in her early 20s.

'I will ask you to have another test - a brain scan,' she said, looking sheepish.

If my brain scan came back normal, she would get me to come back every six months for regular checks. If the scan of my brain waves came back abnormal, then the next step was an X-ray.

Every time she refers to me to get this or that bodily function tested, I have to wait another couple of hours, which might not seem like much compared to the rest of my life, but is a drag nonetheless.

Then, once the test is complete, I have to make an appointment to see her another day.

Been there, done that. The public health system isn't worth the effort.

After seeing the specialist, I lined up with a dozen other patients to make my appointment for a brain scan.

The space where we queued is at the entrance of the outpatients' clinic. It was crowded and congested. Patients were coming in, an old woman in a wheelchair was trying to get out. The single nurse on duty at the appointments counter was handling this chaos alone.

Such indignities. Half an hour earlier, a young woman who escorted her able-bodied mother to the clinic told me to surrender my seat. 'Stand up!' she barked.

At the urging of the nurses, I came in early: 7.30am, only to find that the specialists don't start work until 9.30am.

I've had enough of this nonsense, I thought. After five minutes, I gave up and walked out.

At the front desk, I told the nurses that I could not see the brain scan people today. They made an appointment for me next week. I probably won't go, as I can't be bothered.



If my hearing gets worse, I shall visit a private hospital instead. Maiyuu will just have to find the money from somewhere, or I will sneak out with his blasted I-phone in the middle of the night and hock it off at the nearest corner market.

Do you hear me, lad?

Just joking. I'm the one with the difficulty hearing, not him.

This blog is now writing regularly about Thai music.

It doesn't pretend to be exhaustive, as there's plenty of Thai music which I don't like, so why write about it here? Some are pieces on Thai performers popular with the gay set, including a few male singers whom I no longer follow (Film, Nutty et al).

It also includes pieces on Thai musicians who I have followed for years. I like them regardless of whether they are popular with the gay set - though in most cases, by funny coincidence, gays happen to like them as well.

Some are posts I wrote long ago, but which have never found a home, except in the general Thai stars category. Below is a piece on folk guitarist Thee Chaiyadej.

In a rash moment a few weeks ago, I deleted it. Thankfully, I had kept a copy somewhere, which I have now revived.

I have updated the post to include a Youtube video of Thee singing in concert, and two other videos of Thee songs which were not available on the internet at the time I wrote the piece, more than 12 months ago.

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'I love you too darling I think of you all the time and some day I not have time for u but I still think of u and worry how u do at home อย่าเพิ่งอวกนะพูดจริงๆจากใจ BIG KISS FOR MY BIG PIGGIE and a little hug because I am a little guy, can't do big hugs.'

Maiyuu sent me that text message a few days ago. The bit in Thai says: 'Don't vomit, because I mean this from the bottom of my heart.'

The night before, he came home looking worried. I asked him to hop on the bed with me, and tell me what was wrong.

He said he was worried about his future, and what would happen if one day I decided to go back to my home country.'I don't want to go back, because I like Thais too much, and I love you. If I went home, I would miss you,' I told him.

I feel too grateful to Maiyuu to just quit one day, and leave. Good people don't do that to each other.

As I reflected on that moving text message, I thought about the other romantic things that bind me to this place.

One of them is music, and in particular the love songs of folk singer Thee Chaiyadej. Maiyuu introduced me to him. For my birthday recently, he bought me Thee's Very Best Of album.

Thee's soft acoustic sounds get under my skin, his poetic, dreamy lyrics into my heart in a way few other Thai artists do - and he does it with little commercial fanfare.

He has no website in his name, nor fansites that I can find. No huge, flashy, Grammy-style concerts for him, but intimate, blues-club style gatherings where he played his instrument of choice - acoustic guitar - for many years, before the 'indie' Bakery label signed him up about 10 years ago.

Uncommonly for a Thai popular singer, Thee (ธีร์ ไชยเดช) is not afraid to perform in English, nor experiment with alternative genres and sounds.

Even more unusually, perhaps, is that he does not pursue a full-time career as a musician, but fits it around his commitments to work as an air traffic controller.

'The job demands intense concentration and carries a high level of responsibility. If I know I have to work the next day, I cannot stay up late performing, as I need to get enough rest,' he says.

I first saw Thee perform a few years ago, on a concert VCD by Bakery label artists.

Thee, released his first album, Why in 1995, followed in 1997 by an album called Bakery Love 3, in which he performed covers of well-known Bakery tunes.

That was followed in 1998 by solo albums There, and Story, and in 1999 by Past. He released another solo album, After Brake, in 2001. His first two albums were virtually all sung in English.

His first album in which the songs were mainly sung in Thai was 1998's Story. Past was a compilation album of his most popular songs.

Before approaching Bakery with samples of his work, Thee had played the club circuit in Bangkok for years, including the Saxophone Club.

Thee is often associated with the late Joe Amarin Luangboribun, of the pop group Pause.

Thee produced albums for Joe, both when Joe was lead singer for Pause, and then as a solo artist.

The pair were close: at one Bakery concert, Thee asked for a moment's silence to remember Joe. In 2002, he released a song he wrote in tribute to his younger friend, called 20202.

Thee has worked as an air traffic controller for Aerothai for 21 years. He started performing music more than 30 years ago, and can play acoustic guitar in various genres, including reggae, and blues.

As a Bakery artist he performed his first solo concert in 2002, which was his first chance to perform for his fans in a variety of musical styles.

Thee said he wanted his fans to know he could do more than just croon Bakery-style love songs. Most of his fans, funnily enough, are not listeners in the over-25 age group, but the young, including teenagers.

He draws his inspiration from western folk artists such as Bob Dylan, Crosbie Stills, Nash and Young, Don McLean. He likes to tell a story when he sings; music is there mainly to accompany the story, to provide the right setting, or mood.

As a musician, Thee Chaiyadej blazes his own path - an individualistic quality in his work which he himself recognises:

'My music has changed over time. I don't want people thinking I have the same sound. I like musicians who want to be their own person. I am brave enough to do it, and the listener gets the benefit.'

Postscript:

1. Here's Thee performing Kam Mai Kee Kam with 'Pod' Thanachai Ujjin, of the performing duo BoydPod (and the indie band Modern Dog).

2 The song which Thee wrote for his friend Joe of the group Pause, shortly after Joe's death. It's called 20202.

3. Thee branches out into music with a Spanish flavour: the beautiful Gypsy Moon.

4. Listen to Thee's music online here.

5. Download Thee's albums here.

We felt like she burned down our house - even if she did do it unintentionally!

Gay activist Natee Teerarojjanapong, of the group Gay Politics, is on the warpath again - this time against Grammy singer Jennifer Kim, who used coarse language to refer playfully to the gay set during an informal mini-concert at a gay bar.

Natee says members of his gay group had met to discuss Kim's remarks, and they were not amused. 'Gays are among her true fans, so we were not pleased to hear her comments.

'Gays don't like coarse language, contrary to what she says. We feel as if she has burnt down the family home, even if it was unintentional.'

Chiang Mai-based Natee wants Kim to elucidate on her comments. If she's not willing to calm his shattered gay nerves, he will write to her bosses at Grammy, even lay a complaint with a human rights body, as he feels gays' rights have been besmirched.

Oh, steady on, dear. Take a firm grasp of the bedpost, breathe deeply, and ask if there isn't something you'd rather be doing today - chasing the boyfriend around your pretty northern garden? Heaving a hammer in your workman's shed?

Here's a background piece, which appeared in the Sunday Bangkok Post:

Call producer Varayuth 'Kai' Milintajinda an old queer? No problem!

However, singer Jennifer Kim should think twice before singling out veteran actress Naowarat 'Jik' Yuktanun as a woman of the night.

Grammy singer Kim has apologised after she called Jik an old kra-ree from the stage of an informal mini-concert. She also fired off a playful insult at Kai that night, but he doesn’t mind.

Kim, a Grammy singer with a velvety voice but a tongue made of razorwire, is known for her sharp, self-deprecating wit. She was performing at the FAKE CLUB in Or Tor Kor, a nightspot popular with gays and kath* oey, when Kim spotted Jik in the crowd.

‘Here I was, thinking I was the only ageing hoar [spelling changed] who turned up tonight. But I’m not!'

Kim, who is popular with the gay crowd, claims she intended the remark for everyone in the audience. Jik, who left the place soon after she heard the insult, disagrees.

Later, she told the media that Kim should show more restraint. Jokes aside, everyone has their dignity, and Kim had just trampled on hers.

Gays are normally a ribald crowd who enjoy bitchy, saucy banter onstage. However, the club’s owner, kath* oey Pui, says the audience was taken aback.

About 80 gay and kath* oey fans were present in the footpath bar– a crowd whom owner Pui refers to as 'Sailor Moon', after the cutesy Japanese anime characters.

Too cute to take a joke? Television producer Kai was also in the audience, and like Jik felt the sharp end of Kim’s tongue.

Kim called him an old queer, and asked why the skin on his face looked so taut, his hair so thick and lustrous.

‘My skin clinic looks after that,' he replied.

'At your age, you’re not looking after your face – you’re staving off death,' joked Kim.

Contacted by the media, Kai says he didn’t object, as it was part of Kim’s rambunctious style.

However, he might still get upset if she pointed a finger in his face and slung off an insult. Jik was new to the place, so probably wasn’t used to such language, he says.

However, kath* oey Pui reckons Kim could have been more circumspect in her choice of slurs.

'She could have called Jik a sophanee, even eedok – but kra-ree sounded too low,' says Pui, commenting on Kim's choice of tasty Thai words to describe a woman of the night. She heard Kim’s banter from behind stage.

Kim’s Fake mini-concert took place two months ago, but her drama with Jik has only now surfaced.

After initially declining comment, Kim has now apologised, saying she didn't mean to single anyone out. She claims that in the crowd she did not even see Jik, who ironically is also known for a sharp tongue.

'It wasn't some hi-so function, as the media claimed. It's a small gay bar, where they sell meat balls on a stick outside. The audience likes that kind of talk. I would never use that kind of language anywhere else.

'I know how to temper my remarks to suit the occasion. However, if anyone was upset, I apologise.'

Jik, who has accepted the apology, says a performer who likes to throw around insults, even when meant in jest, should be prepared to own up when she causes offence.

Postscript: That's Jennifer above, in a picture taken from the Pantip web forum. A mischievous reader has added a speech bubble of her uttering the dread word 'kra ree' - coarse Thai for prozzy, or sl-u-t.

Here is a clip of Love of Siam lead actor 'Pitch' Witwisit Hiranyawongkul, who these days is better known as the frontman of the band August.

In this YouTube video, he is talking to the director, Chukiat Sakweerakul, at the JJ Mall in Bangkok, where Pitch's band, August, performed a concert in March.

I like the video as it shows us something of the 'real' Pitch - he is aware that cameras are rolling, so it's not entirely natural, but he appears spontaneous, and flashes his trademark smile often.

Pitch looks too thin for his age, though his face appears to be hardening well. By the looks of it, the video was posted originally at a Taiwanese fansite.

A visit to the doctor in Bangkok is always an experience. Last night, I went to Chulalongkorn Hospital about my left ear.

It has felt odd for weeks, as if it is full of water. At work last night, I was having trouble hearing.

I belong to a social insurance scheme, which allows me to visit my local state hospital for free.

It has been years since I visited Chula. I had forgotten what to do. I didn't even know where it was, and was surprised to find the hospital is just around the corner from the top of Silom.

If you go to Chula after hours, you visit the emergency room, even if your problem is not that acute.

The place is stuffed with young doctors, men and women alike. I was the only foreign face there, and was quickly surrounded by doctors eager to probe me about my condition.

I jostled for attention with aged monks in flimsy robes, children with minor scrapes, middle-aged women with purple faces.

Chulalongkorn Hospital is supposedly the nation's top hospital, but is part of the state system nonetheless.

The emergency ward is run-down; the corridors surrounding it, where I went to pay a token fee, are like a rabbit's warren, poorly lit and neglected.

My case was assigned to a young woman in a white coat, who questioned me for 20 minutes. She spent longer questioning me, in fact, than she did examining me.

While she was probing me earnestly, her colleagues approached me to chat.

'Hello!' one young doctor with a pock-marked face asked me in English, not once, but twice, even three times. The others laughed.

'Farang ears! ' they must have thought. 'They are bigger than Thai ears...I wonder what goes wrong with farang ears that we don't find in Thai ears.'

My young doctor consulted a senior colleague, who looked in my ear after she had finished. 'You have an abrasion,' she said.

The doctor referred me to a specialist at the same hospital.

I went to see her at an ENT outpatients' clinic at 8am today.

I waited 3.5 hours before my name was called, which was a pain.

I complained several times about the delay, but really should have held my tongue: in the West, at least when I left the place, patients can wait months to see a specialist.

A young woman, slightly older than the doctor from the night before, saw me.

She took a quick look in my ear, and asked me to get my hearing tested at a lab across the way.

That took another hour or two. The highlight was getting my hearing tested in a sound lab, built in a sound-proofed tank.

It looked like a diver's tank. The only thing it lacked was one of those wheels on the door which you swivel around to get it open.

The lab has one window, looking out into the doctor's office. I sat inside, while the doctor stayed at her desk, talking to me through a microphone.

'Put the headphones on, and hold up your finger every time you hear a pulse,' she said.

She told me to turn away from the window, so I couldn't see when she pressed her pulse switch.

Beep!

I raised a finger.

The modulation of the beeps varied, as did the pitch. Some, I could barely make out. Judging by the results of my test, I missed some beeps altogether.

Inside the tank, I was surrounded by toys, no doubt intended for the amusement of kids whose parents bring them in to get their hearing tested.

The best part?



The woman testing my hearing - at 44, the oldest of all the doctors who treated me - asked me to repeat Thai words after her.

She put a face mask between her mouth and the microphone, to muffle the words as she spoke. Some were hard to make out.

'Fish.'

'Pig.'

'Student.'

'Policeman.'

This is the way to learn a language, I thought - repeat the words as a native speaker pronounces them.

Unfortunately, my pronunciation habits are already cast like dye into my memory. They are hard to change, even when I try.

Fortunately, I did not do too bad a job learning the pronunciation rules when I started on Thai nine years ago.

Well, that's what I tell myself. Forgive an ageing man his indulgences.

Postscript: The result? The hearing in my left ear has diminished 20%. I go back on Wednesday to see if we can find the cause.

Postscript 2: I spent the day surrounded by women doctors, which is welcome. For some silly reason, I thought the Thai medical profession might be dominated by men.

We need more of those singing divas from yesterday.

I have chosen a huge, extravagant piece which should serve as a gay anthem, if it isn't already.

How about Stand Up for Love? Wiki tells me it comes from Destiny's Child. I am trying not to let that put me off.

The stand-out performer in this version by the Seven Divas is not husky-voiced Au Hareutai Puangboonsri, whom we heard about yesterday, but another Thai diva who has been around for years - Mint Maleewan Jimena.

She is no stranger to Western songs. We have an album of hers, Me and Moments in Time, which is sung almost entirely in English. One Mint fansite is here.

Watch the Seven Divas, including Mint, perform Stand Up for Love, the final song of the Seven Divas concert, here. Part 16 of the concert, as posted at YouTube, contains several great Mint songs...including one, at the end, where she is in tears. See it here.

Two delights from Maiyuu's kitchen: pecan and chocolate pie and a pasta/salmon combination.

The pasta and salmon are sadly long since devoured, but the pecan pie is still sitting on the kitchen table as you see it here.

I am dieting, I keep telling myself, so am forbidden to eat it.

It has since been joined by a plum pie, which is not pictured here.

I have tasted a tiny slice of that, only because Maiyuu gave it to my on a small dish last night and I had popped it in my mouth before I knew what I was eating. Glutton!

Bodybuilder/actor 'Top' Chaiwat Tongsaeng, a favourite of the Thai gay set, is taking a break from the dumb-bells to embark on a television career.

Production company Broadcast Thai Television has signed him up for a role in a soap opera.

Top sprang to fame in Poj Anon's gay drama, Friends. About the same time, he started working out on on weights.

'Mum was not enthusiastic - she asked me why I was bothering, and what would happen to my work,' he says.

Top has also found plenty of work in Asia as a model.

After building his body for nine months, last November Top won first place in the men's junior category of the Latchford Classic 2008 body-building competition.

Top says he is now giving his body a rest from the weights, to prepare for his debut on television.

Presumably he wants to look more normal for the sake of those viewers who don't appreciate a pumped physique.

Even as my age, it is okay to have idols. To follow them devotedly, in fact.

Since the early days of our relationship, boyfriend Maiyuu has introduced me to Thai singers, actors, writers and other arty types who take his fancy.

Some have been with him since he was a teenager. His Mum or his sister might have liked them. Or maybe he discovered them through his gay friends.

Maiyuu took the opportunity to pass on what he knows to me.

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Most of the contemporary, soft-pop singers Maiyuu likes are favourites of the gay set.

Many are women, such as Mint Maleewan Jemina, Amp Saowaluck Leelabutr... Some are wannabe women, such as superstar Bird McIntyre.

Among the real women, one of my favourites is Au Hareutai Puangboonsri , a former Grammy singer who has since branched out into new fields (more of that below).

In fact, it would be fair to say that she became my first Thai singing idol.

I bought her albums: her solo efforts, her early albums with the group Seven.

I followed what she was doing in the news. Maiyuu even took me to one of her concerts, which she performed with fellow Grammy performer Amp Saowaluck Leelabutr.


Back in those days, Maiyuu was a social animal. His night-time adventures took him to the usual gay nightspots, such as Khao San Rd, Or Tor Kor.

A couple of times, he came across singer Au (อุ๊ หฤทัย ม่วงบุญศรี), who was herself out for the night.

In those days, she lived in Pak Khlong Talad, the Bangkok flower market, with a friend who ran a flower shop.

Maiyuu and I used to visit that market in the early hours, to buy flowers for our place. However, I never saw singing diva Au myself.

One night, Maiyuu spotted Au walking down Khao San Rd. Another time, she was sitting in a small bar drinking with friends.

Maiyuu and I were both fans, so he plucked up the courage to talk to her.

'Pee, do you mind if I take your picture on my cellphone?' Maiyuu asked.

Au put down her cigarette, and her whisky.

'You know, she drinks Sang Som!' Maiyuu told me later, referring to that harsh Thai rum which makes hair grow on a man's chest.

She posed for his cellphone picture, which was kind. But there was more.

'My farang boyfriend loves you. Would you mind signing something?' he asked.

'A farang!' she exclaimed. 'I didn't know I had many farang fans.'

Maiyuu borrowed a piece of paper from the bar and gave it her to sign. She addressed it to me in English, then signed her name in Thai.

My name is hard to spell, and she got it wrong. But it is the thought that counts.

Today, I still have that scrap of paper, along with a couple of news clippings of Au in the flower market with her singer friend Amp.

They were promoting their singing-duo concert.



Maiyuu took me to the concert, the only time I have been to a live concert with him in Bangkok.

The pair performed at the gritty Thammasat University hall.

The concert was great. I particularly enjoyed the banter between Au and Amp, as it brought me closer to her, I thought.

Back in those days, I entertained the thought of her as a potential girlfriend, should I lose Mayuu to some calamity.

As we listened to her, my eyes would well with tears (actually, they still do).

Usually, Mayiuu understood, as he found her voice moving too. But occasionally, Maiyuu would give me a worried look. 'Is my boyfriend going mad...again?'



In the last few years, Au has been busy with other things. In Phra Khanong district, close to where Maiyuu and I live, she is a local body representative, no small accomplishment in a country where politics is still dominated by men.

Dear Au...if I spot another pothole in the road, can I call you? And will you to send men in singlets around to fix it?

As part of the research for this post, I Googled my singing idol.

Husky voiced Au, in turns out, is a former student activist, who at the age of 18 spent a night and two days in prison.

This was during the May 1992 protests in Bangkok, popularly known as Black May.

'My family is interested in politics. I was brought up with protest songs.

'As a child, my parents took me to commemoration events for the October 1973 massacre. Then, as an arts student at a technical college, I joined protests against the government of Suchinda Kraprayoon.

'I spent two months at the King Chulalongkorn Monument, where I saw solders shoot students. During the military crackdown, I sought sanctuary at the Rattanakosin Hotel, but soldiers found us.

'I spent a night in jail, along with other protesters. We were freed after the King, calling for social unity, intervened,' she told Kom Chad Luek newspaper.

Twelve years ago, Au embarked on her career as a performer, releasing her first album with the group Paper Jam. She also joined a group called Seven, and put out two solo albums.

However, she always had a sense of politics being in the background...waiting.

A few years ago, she took a break from singing to enter politics.

Au says she has achieved one of her life goals in being elected to serve the people of Phra Khanong as their local body representative.

'Politics brings me close to people,' she says.

Au also runs a muay thai boxing ring with her uncle. 'I am promoting muay thai as a national treasure...one of the performing arts in the fighting arena.


'Muay thai brings in a fortune to our country every year, but government help is still needed to preserve it.

'In the boxing ring, it is a fight between two people. In the political arena, the important thing is not who wins or loses, but the voters who get the benefit,' she says.

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Occasionally, Au returns to her old love, singing. Most recently, she performed in the 11th Green concert (promoted by a local radio station, Greenwave), called Seven Divas.

Au performs along with six other Thai singing doyen. All have been around a while...including one performer who next year celebrates her 20th year in the business.

Maiyuu bought the concert VCD, which we watched this morning. Au performed a couple of her hits from years ago.

She looks older, as do we all. Her voice has dropped markedly, and at times she seemed to be fighting for air.

'It's all the cigarettes and booze,' says Maiyuu.

However, she's still the same Au which Maiyuu and I have loved for almost a decade now.

Good on you, girl. You're a fighter.

Au is part of my earliest memories of Thailand - and I daresay Au (along with Maiyuu, my other girl) will be with me until the end of those days, too.



Postscript: Watch Au perform in the Four Divas concert via Youtube here. You can watch the whole concert there, in fact, though the visuals are not good. Listen to her best hits album here.

This blog is popular with readers when relations between my boyfriend and I are at a low ebb.

Readers like hearing about my difficulties with Maiyuu...the terrible things he does to me, the inept way I respond. Well, that's how many readers appear to view our relationship problems.

Regardless of who is the real mover and shaker in our relationship, my blog tracker tells me that for many readers, this blog is a more interesting read when Maiyuu and I are in the middle of some crisis.

The number of daily visitors spikes. When we are getting along well, reader interest falls.

It seems that I cannot make both go well at the same time. When my relationship with Maiyuu is ticking along happily, as it is at the moment - no fights, ructions - my blog slumps.

It becomes a poor, lacklustre, uninteresting lump of a thing, at least for those readers interested in the daily dramas of our lives. No drama, no fun!



Since my latest disagreement with Maiyuu over his unauthorised purchase of an I-Phone abated, readership has steadily declined.

I am now 200 readers a day lighter than I was at the peak of the drama, when thousands of readers visited my blog every day.

Okay, I exaggerate about the thousands of readers. Even so, it has still dropped.

Bangkok bloggers are a precious lot when it comes to disclosing their readership. None wants anyone to know how poorly read we are.

If a blogger wants to boast about a readership increase - and he will never tell us about a readership slump - he will invariably give us the percentage rise, without an accompanying raw figure.

Without the raw figure, the percentage rise is meaningless, even misleading.

That's the intention, of course. Bloggers who resort to such sleights of hand want us to think they are uber well-read.

'My blog readership increased 200% today!'

That's great, love - from two a day to six?

I want my readership to revive. However, I am also enjoying this recent improvement in my usually turbulent relations with Maiyuu. Which one do I value more? I give you one guess.

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I can't bring you any more pictures from Maiyuu's kitchen today as promised. Today we paid yet another visit to the Carrefour superstore, so we were too busy.

I took Maiyuu for lunch at a Japanese restaurant popular with the young.

We also went supermarket shopping. After getting home, I retired for an afternoon sleep (I am old now, after all), while Maiyuu peddled his bike to the local Tops supermarket to buy plums.

We saw plums at the Carrefour supermarket, too, but Maiyuu said they were twice the price.

Tonight he is making a plum pie. I will bring you pictures when I get a chance.

Boyfriend Maiyuu is making old man's noises in the kitchen. Oooh! he says. Aaaah!

I hope he does not feel as old as he sounds. Only one of us is entitled to feel that old around here, and that's me. Maiyuu is just 31, and can wait his turn.

I suspect he is merely mimicking me.

I like to complain that I feel old. I am in my early 40s, but always feel tired.

Maiyuu denies I am old. He just says I like to act that way.
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Maiyuu has been to the Carrefour store in Pra Ram 4 four or five times this week. On the latest visit, he found a pack of rolled pastry which he needed to make a pecan and chocolate pie.

Maiyuu saw the pastry on a visit early in the week, but the other day, when we went together, they had sold out. On today's visit they had restocked, so he bought a pack. He has now made his pecan pie, and taken a picture, which I shall post here tomorrow.

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Last night, on a shopping trip to Silom, he found a pastry cutter. I had asked him to buy a Thai magazine, Koo Sang Koo Som (Helpmate), as I have nothing to read. He brought back one of those too.

I go through phases when I like that magazine. I last quit reading it about two months ago, as it became too dull. I should have stuck by my decision.

The latest edition is rubbish - a waste of my precious B20. The magazine, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, appeals to women. The latest copy contains articles on etiquette, Tom Cruise, love between couples... I haven't yet found the ubiquitous Thai ghost story, but I'm sure it's in there.

Postscript: The pictures come from the Korean movie, Antique Bakery.

Antique is an apt word to describe how I feel on my old days!

Installing a big black satellite dish on the roof: that’s another item I can cross off my list of things to do while in Thailand.

When I went to see my new friend Pink Gins last week, he mentioned in passing that he has a satellite dish on his roof.

He receives channels from all over the world for free, including a couple of Australian channels, and the BBC.

‘All you need is to pay for the satellite dish to be installed,’ he said.

This took my interest, as I am about to lose the opportunity to view BBC Entertainment. My regular satellite TV provider, True Visions, is dropping BBC Entertainment from its programme schedule from June 1.

PG’s satellite dish has come out of alignment, or whatever dishes do when they stop getting signals from the big bird in the sky.

He called a repair man from the satellite dish company, who paid a visit to his place today.

I had told PG my BBC Entertainment dilemma when I saw him last week. He invited me over to talk to his dish guy, to see what kind of channels they provide.

They provide BBC News, but then I already get that, as part of my True Visions package. I never watch it, as I hate 24-hour news channels...they treat their viewers like idiots.

PG also gets a couple of ABC channels. I looked them up on the internet last week. They contain programming aimed at Asian audiences rather than expatriate foreigners as such.

The programmers for these satellite channels assume audiences are unfamiliar with Australia, do not mind seeing programmes which are repeated every few hours and which in some cases are years old.

In short, they, too, treat viewers like idiots. While I would like to see a bit of Aussie on my TV, the need is not that great.

More importantly, I can’t get any True Visions on that satellite dish. Some dish providers can provide a decoder box which is compatible, but this one is not.

So, that’s an expense I can do without. We might stick with True, but downgrade our package, if they really are determined to drop BBC Entertainment from their line-up.

That channel also contains programming which is years old, and repeated over and over again. However, it’s still better than much of the American junk on offer – including the three American channels which will join True’s line-up after BBC Entertainment gets dropped.

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Boyfriend Maiyuu has bought the VCD of the Thai romance A Moment in June, on sale at the 7-11. It is directed by O Nathapon, and stars Chakrit Yamnam, who plays the role of a gay man.

Maiyuu is watching it as I write. As I walked past the TV a moment ago, I saw Chakrit’s character making passionate love to a farang with long, oily locks (get a hair cut!).

The soundtrack includes a piece by crooner Thee Chaiyadej. I have written previously about Thee’s folk guitar songs, but in a rash moment deleted most of the posts.

However, I can point you to earlier posts on A Moment in June, and actor Chakrit, here. They will have to do until I get a chance to watch the movie in the next day or so. When I’ve seen it, I shall report back.

Singer Petch Sorapob Leelamekin, trying out for the sixth season of the Academy Fantasia reality show/performance contest

The son of the late Queen of Look Tung (Thai country music), Poompuang Duangjan, he entered the indusutry in his mother's footsteps a few years ago, and now hopes AF can provide a further springboard to his career.

Petch performed for selection judges in Bangkok, as one of 37 candidates from the Central region vying for a bed in AF House.

Petch has released a couple of albums, but says his contract with music label Grammy Entertainment has now expired.

'I have yet to find myself as a person. My friends asked me why I didn’t try out for AF, so I decided to give it a go.

‘I have never competed in a singing contest. My mother competed thousands of times, so this is another reason I would like to give it a try,’ he says.

‘I have put out albums, but I have never competed on stage. They are not the same. As I headed out the door today, I prayed that someone at AF who enjoyed my mother’s work would like the way I sing, too.’

Results from selections for the Central region will be known today.

Update: He didn't get in.

I love shopping at the Carrefour hypermarket on Pra Ram 4, because it is spacious and smart.

I am sure that's what all low-income people say, but I don't care. It really is big.

The boyfriend and I visited Carrefour and the Tesco Lotus store opposite last weekend, and again today. Years have passed since wew were last there.

‘We came here for lunch one day, while you were still living at the YWCA nine years ago,’ Maiyuu told me.

The prices in the supermarket, hardware and clothing sections were absurdly cheap.

We priced a handful of grocery items. Most were B20 cheaper than where we normally shop, at our local Tops supermarket, or in Silom.

The complex is close to the Klong Toey slum district. After touring the supermarket at Carrefour, Maiyuu took me for a walk down Sukhumvit soi 24, towards the Emporium department store, for a look at how the other half lives.

This is a plush part of town. The sidewalks are lined with paving-stones. We passed boutique massage joints, restaurants and interior design shops. Condos compete for space on the skyline.

At the Emporium, Maiyuu took me to the supermarket on the upper floors. The place is smart, but starved for space. It reminded of the cramped suburban mall next my old condo in Thon Buri.

Both places are owned by the same outfit, the Mall Group. They can afford to spend a little more on space, I reckon.

Not all foreigners feel compelled to spend big money buying their groceries at the Emporium. Some serfs like me would just as rather slum it at Tesco Lotus and Carrefour – not just because the prices are lower, but because we have more space to move.

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For our next adventure this afternoon, Maiyuu and I will take a walk to a fresh market which opens twice a week, close to our home.

Today is market day, Maiyuu tells me. Last time we were there, I bought a bag of large tomatoes for just 15 baht. How cheap is that?

-

Mr Pink Gins and I are now acquainted. I met him at his condo last night for – that’s right, pink gins.

A judge friend from overseas was staying. The three of us sat around his dining table and swapped Thai guy tales.

The night before, I walked home from work through fierce rain. My jogging shoes were soaked by the time I walked in the door. They are only a few months old, but now smell like rotting flesh.

After visiting PG, I was to go to work. I took the same sodden pair of shoes in a bag with me, just in case I was rained on again.

In the opulent stained-wood surrounds of PG’s gin palace, I felt self-conscious. Would he be able to smell my disgusting shoes? They would not go down well with our fine cheeses and dried apricots, I thought.

I left them by the door. PG was too polite to say anything, even if he noticed. Nor did his charming Australian (they do have them) guest complain.

Actually, I suspect we were all too pickled on pink gins – Bombay Sapphire, Campari, and soda.

Well, I think it was Campari. I was too merry to notice.

I found a frantic grey cat on the ground floor of my condo building as I left for work.

It was trying to get out, but had become panicky and confused.

The cat would disappear to the back recesses of the ground floor entrance area, and charge forward with all its might, heading for what it thought was the door, which is made of glass.

It hit a full-length plane of glass next to it instead. Bonk!

Unperturbed, and apparently unhurt, it would then trace back to where it started its last run at the entrance, and start again. Bonk!

At this rate, the cat will have used up its nine lives in a flash.

I opened the door, and beckoned. The cat did not understand, and made another charge at the floor-to-ceiling glass pane instead. It looked terrified, but could not get out.

A quick-witted foreigner standing outside witnessed the cat's antics.

He walked inside and positioned himself in front of the pane which the cat kept striking with its body.

I should have done that myself, but didn't think of it.

Eager to avoid the human, the cat spotted the open doorway next to the man, and charged out. Finally he was free.

'I don' t know who owns the cat, but it's gone now,' said the foreigner.

'I was slow. I didn't understand what it was doing,' I confessed. 'I am pleased you figured out what to do.'



'A Thai cat - we had to help,' he said.

We introduced ourselves.

'Which floor do you live on?' he asked.

I told him.

'Do you write that blog...Bangkok of the Mind?' he asked.

'How did you know about that?' I asked, lowering mty voice.

I didn't know this man, and we bloggers have to guard our identities.

'A friend and I decided that the person who took the picture of the Silom skyline in the blog header must be on the sixth or seventh floor of this building,' he replied.

I shall call him Pink Gins, after one of his favorite tipples. PG lives in the same condo complex, though in a different building from me.



'I will take the picture down!' I declared.

'It's too late. We all know about it,' said PG, who invited me to pink gins at his place.

Busted! Secret out - and all because of a dumb cat.

Too much muscle makes Mario dull.

Actor/model Mario Maurer is starting to look like a crab.

He's come a long way from the long, lanky schoolboy in the gay family drama, Love of Siam.

He looks more like his old self in the so-called 'drenched' shoot for this month's LIPS magazine, which you can see at Lyn's lakorns blog, here.
















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Actor Andrew Gregson (in blue) won't do love scenes, as he reckons Thai society isn't ready yet.

'Thai culture is different from farang culture - many Thais would not accept it. Most importantly, Thai society treats women with respect,' says Namby Pamby.

Respect? Maybe TV bosses are just too prudish to show as anything.

So Thai women are too sensible to enjoy watching him frolicking about with some silly love interest for a sappy TV soap opera?

Come off it, Andrew - it's not as if you have to undress.

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'Yes, I do have a ratbag father, you are right.'

Thai-Italian actor Salamone 'Stefan' Weeraboonchai, meeting the bereaved family of a man who died after Stefan's Dad hit him on a motorbike.

Ivo Giansranco Salamone was driving his son’s Yamaha Fino motorcycle in Prachaniwet 3 market on Feb 8 when he struck a pedestrian.

Wittaya Sormanan, 62, an air conditioning engineer, fell to the road and struck his head. He spent 20 days in hospital, but d**ied on Feb 28.

Police called in Stefan for questioning. At the police station, he also met Wittaya's son and daughter, who want B1m in compensation for his d**eath.

Stefan's not prepared to pay that much, so talks are continuing. Why do I say Ivo is a ratbag?

He gave a fake name on the day of the accident, and has since returned to Italy, supposedly to get his visa renewed.

Stefan says his Dad lied about his name because he was worried he would get into immigration strife.

Police want to charge him with dangerous driving causing d**eath. Stefan says he'll make sure his wayward Dad turns up to hear the charge, once he gets back from overseas.

A cleaner called me over to act as translator.

She was talking to a farang couple who are about to move in to my building.

I don't enjoy this job. Foreigner newcomers inevitably feel awkward, as if they are being treated like children.

They have their dignity, even if they are forced to communicate with amusing hand signals.

I feel awkward, because I don't know them, but this is the first time we get to meet.

'Tell them that if they have any trouble moving in, they can call on my help, or call the office, and they'll send someone down to fix it,' she said.

Yes, yes, dear.

The cleaner, aged in her 40s, and comes from Esan. We have spoken before, usually when farang C, an immediate neighbour of mine who has no Thai, wants to hire one of the condo cleaners to do casual work cleaning his place.

I tell the cleaners what time to arrive.

I don't mind doing that, because I know farang C. The first time I asked the cleaners on his behalf if they would like to clean his place, he was grateful.

'I have waited two years for that...they just don't understand basic English.'

I suspect farang C is just impatient.

I passed on the request to the foreigner couple. The man said nothing, and let his wife do the talking.

Her eyebrows were so sharply plucked, they were distracting. As I talked to her, I found myself looking at her pencil-line eyebrows rather than her mouth.

'Blah, blah.'

As soon as we had finished our business, I walked away.

The cleaner gave me a smile. I reckon she could have told them that herself, but wanted to put on a show. Regardless, I don't like it, and would rather not do it.

Next time, dear, get a dictionary.

A sample of delights from Maiyuu's kitchen, which he has cooked up over the last couple of days.

Pictured are rice risotto with rolled salmon and caviar on top; macaroni cheese pie; and a sweet loafy thing made of cranberry and raspberry fruit, which came out of the oven lopsided.

Compare this solid fare with the parsimonious portions served up here, a certain French restaurant in Bangkok.

Most of our ingredients are imported, blah blah. We have a French chef, blah blah.

I have some news for the owners: Bangkok folk in search of somewhere to fill their bellies don't enjoy battling inner-city congestion for half an hour only to end up with serving portions no bigger than a button hole.

What do they offer diners on the side, beef burgers?

I don't know anything about the restaurant, other than what I read on its website. I do know that if I left the place after dining there, I'd be hungry half an hour later.

Student Aaron Ng is a blogger from Malaysia. His blog, My Side of the Story, has been on my blog roll for a while, where readers may have noticed it.

According to his profile, Aaron lives in Malacca. I visited that place on a recent trip to Malaysia.

We stayed in the Chinatown quarter. The merchant town, which was last year awarded World Heritage status by Unesco as an historic place worth seeing and preserving, was pretty, in a cutesy, doll-house kind of way.

In March, Aaron and his family visited Bangkok. See that post, with pictures, here.

More recently, Aaron posted a YouTube video of himself grappling with a kite which refuses to fly. I don't know where he filmed it, but he appears to be on a huge open park or playing field next to the sea.

I loved the setting, even if Aaron wasn't able to get his kite into the air. Watch the video here.

Relations with the boyfriend have now improved, after a rocky patch which lasted days.

When Maiyuu is unhappy he passes sarcastic comments rather than confront a problem directly, perhaps because he is worried about how I will react.

When he made some smart remark yesterday, I turned down the TV so we could have one of our 'talks'.

I could not bear this ill-feeling carrying on for any longer.

'Living with you is not easy. I get up in the morning and I am not sure what mood you will be in. If you're in a good mood, will it last, or will you explode?' he said.

Maiyuu walked around looking glum and making sarcastic comments because he thought I was in one of my mercurial, unpredictable states.

I went silent and started thinking broody thoughts about going back overseas because I thought he had lost interest in our relationship.

Our bad patch started when he bought an I-Phone on hire purchase. He said he would find the money to pay the debt himself, and asked a woman he knows if he could sell bakery in her shop.

'First, she has to cancel the arrangement with her present supplier. It's just a small shop, but until she has spoken to the person who supplies her with bakery, I can't start work,' he explained yesterday.

I shouldn't have expected that a work opportunity would come along so easily.


If I was the coffee shop owner, I wouldn't enjoy the task of telling a supplier that his services are no longer needed, which is perhaps why Maiyuu has not heard back from the woman.

He doesn't want to call her himself, in case she feels pressured.

Possibly, as he says, nothing will come of it.

'I couldn't understand why you were telling me nothing about this bakery business, such as how many pieces of baking you would make a day, or what you could hope to earn...' I said.

'Foreigners would get excited about such a piece of news.'

For Maiyuu, this farang was getting his hopes up needlessly, and maybe trying to pressure him into getting a job.

A few days ago, I told Maiyuu not to worry if he could not raise the entire B900 a month repayment himself. 'But it would be nice if you could find some work to do.'

I still feel that way, but will stop hassling the poor lad for now.

Foreigners would probably chase a work opportunity, no matter how humble.

But Maiyuu barely knows this woman, and is really at her mercy as to whether this baking venture comes off or not.

-

Maiyuu is now back to his usual productive self in the kitchen, after a lean few days in which he made little, no doubt partly because we weren't getting along.

Yesterday he made a macaroni pie, a berry fruit loaf, and rice risotto, made to his own recipe, with salmon and caviar on top.

He has taken pictures of the dishes, which I shall post to the blog tomorrow, after he has transferred them to my computer.

In the meantime, here's a picture of a pear charlottes, which he has made a couple of times this week.


He saw Martha Stewart make it on her show, and decided he would have a go himself.

It worked! The original recipe, which you can see at Martha's website, is here.

I want to go back to work teaching, to meet Thais, and keep my mind off other, more troubling things.

I enjoy teaching English to Thais, and haven't done it for months.

Today I visited a large noodle place on the slummy side of my condo.

I have been in there once or twice before, and noticed that it is popular with tertiary students.

When I visited this morning, I was the only customer, but I noticed that two or three tables had been pulled together by previous customers, who were probably students. They like to grab a noodle before class.

The place, which has potted plants and Buddha spirit houses on the perimeter, and also sells tea, coffee, and fresh fruit juice, is run by a husband and wife couple, who were joined today by their son. While I waited for my noodle, I heard Dad ask his son, aged about 18, about work.

'You can't just sit around here all day doing nothing,' he said.

His son, who wore jeans and a black T-shirt, looks like part of the local element. When young men who work in the street walked past, he called out to them. A few came in to shoot the breeze.

Dad's conversation with his son reminded me of the ones I have with Maiyuu. I was delighted to witness it. When Dad started reprimanding his son, the young man looked around at me, to see if he should feel embarrassed.

No, it was just some farang, who can't understand the language.

It was safe to carry on, so he did. I can't tell you what else was said, as the traffic outside the shop was too noisy.

I will go back tomorrow, and ask Mum and Dad if they would like their son to learn English when he is not working, to keep his mind occupied.

If that fails, I shall ask them if I can leave a notice in the shop advertising my services as a teacher to any tertiary students who might be interested.

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A touching scene between two security guards at my condo. A guy in his 50s was doing up a necktie for a new recruit, aged in his early 20s.

The new guy wore a cap, crisp white shirt, and blue trousers...standard uniform for the guards at our place.

The older guy and I have spoken half a dozen times since I moved in. He was showing the new guy the ropes.

The young man stood there obediently as the older one did up his tie.

Then the young one undid his trousers, to tuck in his shirt.

'Go into the guards room to do that,' said the older man, perhaps concerned that this farang's modesty would be offended by the sight of a security guard in a state of half-undress.

I went out to do errands. An hour later, as I walked past the guards station, the young one gave me a big smile, and a salute. Thank you! He's off to a good start.

I am in trouble after Maiyuu yesterday found some of my recent blog posts about him.

'You talk about my life in too much detail. When people meet me after reading your blog they will hold me in contempt,' he says.

I told Maiyuu that my purpose in writing about him is to show that our lives can still work together, even if we come from different backgrounds and cultures.

However, that sounds lame. I agree with him, I have been disclosing too much detail about our lives.

Ultimately it is no one else's business but our own, and I do not want to hurt my own boyfriend by writing stories about him for the benefit of readers on the internet who don't even know us.



'I don't use your real name, nor my own,' I reminded him.

'I know that, but I still meet your friends, some of whom will have read your blog. You tell people that I have no education, that I am this, that...'

Finding those posts must have hurt, but I have never hidden the blog from Maiyuu.

I have asked him to write for it more than once, and when he read it yesterday it was at my own invitation.

He just spent more time with the thing than he normally does...though probably not long enough to know that I also write flattering things about our relationship, when it is going well.



'I don't mind if you criticise me...you just write too much about our lives, as some of that stuff should remain private.'

You know what? I am inclined to agree ... I do say too much. From now on I shall try to be more circumspect and judicious about what I offer readers on this blog.

-

We have two new furniture additions to the household - a small wooden table which sits in front of the TV, and a wooden-framed mirror, which is in Maiyuu's bedroom.



The wood comes from Thai-grown rubber trees. Maiyuu bought both pieces at a furniture show, held at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre.

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Blogger Bangkok Bugle writes that True Visions - provider of our satellite TV service - intends axing the BBC Entertainment channel from its line-up this month.

I enjoy watching British dramas, sitcoms and soaps. Maiyuu and I are addicted to re-runs of Absolutely Fabulous - so much so that we remind each other during the day whenever the adventures of Patsy and Eddie are next due to pop up on our TV.

If the BCC is axed, then True can probably kiss our subscription goodbye. See Bangkok Bugle's post here. He is encouraging subscribers to join an email campaign against the change. I have sent my protest email; I encourage other readers who feel the same way to do the same.

Fellow blogger BB reckons Bangkok 'must be one of the worst places in the world to find a boyfriend'.

They are unreliable, childish, speak a different language, and are hopeless in bed, he says. But it's not just him alone - see the comments left in response to his main post here.

A follow-up is here.

I can't speak from experience, as I have had only one Thai boyfriend.

At times, he has been all of the above. It depends on when you ask me.

Readers of this blog have remarked more than once about how my moods swing drastically from one day to the next: one moment, the boyfriend is in my good books. The next, he's a loser, and I can't wait to go back overseas.

Fine, I say: You try living with one!

Occasionally I feel sorry for Maiyuu. I wonder if he has anyone who really understands him, other than this most unreliable of candidates - me. His own friends rarely ask him what he is doing with his life.

Likewise, he rarely asks them about any of the things which as farang we regard as important: Do you have a job? How's it going? How's the boyfriend, family? Are you happy?

They talk about other things...I can't remember quite what, as I do not mix with Maiyuu and his friends.

He has gone out for three of the last four nights. They must find something to talk about, even if it's none of the important stuff.

Miayuu's purchase of an I-Phone over my objections will have far-reaching repercussions for our relationship, because Maiyuu will have to work to meet the hire purchase payments every month.


Earlier, he proposed finding the money from my earnings, by cutting down on the amount he spends cooking and baking.

Later, after I objected, he agreed that I should not have to pay for the purchase. He will find the money himself, he says.

That means no more idle days spent at home watching TV, or, as the mood takes him, baking up delights he has seen on Martha Stewart's show.

He might well enjoy being a nester - making our condo cosy for when I come home at night - but that only works as long as we do not feel the financial pinch.

Since he has bought his blasted I-Phone, Maiyuu has in any case reverted to being a kid.

He rarely ventures into the kitchen any more, still less does anything with me outdoors, such as walking to the supermarket, or visiting the condo pool. He devotes every moment to exploring the inner recesses of his I-Phone - downloading this, poking away at that.


Fascinating - except Maiyuu is now an adult, aged 30 (or is it 31).

Hopefully, the novelty will fade before too long, because he's capable of so much better.

Judging by comments left in response to BB's blog posts, foreigners look for Thai boyfriends who are playful, childish and cute.

Oh, please. Is it because Thai guys look cute, that we assume they should act cute as well? Stand up all those foreigners who have lived with Thais, and still think their main duty in life is to be 'cute'.

I doubt many foreigners would tolerate a Thai partner who - abandoning himself to the childish behaviour which his foreigner boyfriend supposedly encourages - spends recklessly, won't work and is not prepared to pay his way.



If we have to live with these people every day, our 'specs' would soon change. We would demand our Thai mate starts thinking and acting like an adult, because a partnership demands nothing less.

No one person should have to do everything in a relationship. We have to help each other get through the day. If that sounds unromantic to you, that's because it is - life is a chore, and there's no getting around it.

Meet Singto Singrat Janpakdee, winner of the Star 5 talent quest.

At 16, Khon Kaen-born Singto ('Lion' - สิงโต รัตน์ จันทร์ภักดี) is the youngest ever to win the title.

He beat out his nearest rival, 'Dew' Pongsaton Supinyo, 21, by a slim margin of viewer votes: 53.77% to Dew's 46.23%.

Eight finalists entered the race, and only two were left by the time of last night's decider concert at Muang Thong Thani. Dew (the one with the hair), who has a better singing voice but lacked Singto's charm, says he was not surprised that the younger performer took the prize.

'In this competition, it's not just performing talent, but overall appeal which counts. Singto has a charm all of his own,' he said.

All is not lost for Dew, who we met in this earlier post, here. Runners-up in the Star talent quest have a habit of doing better as established performers than do the winners themselves.

Runner-up of the Star 4 singing contest, 'Ruj' Suparuj Techatanon, and runner-up of the Star 3 contest, 'Bie' Sukrit Wisetkaew, have fared better in their careers than the winners in those years. Speaking of Bie, here's his song, Yaak Took Riak Wa Faen (I'd like to be called your boyfriend).

They say you are what you eat. Since Maiyuu bought his I-Phone, he has hardly been near the kitchen. My diet has suffered as a result.

This morning, I made a salad sandwich with - erk - white bread.

My health is suffering, as Steve Jobs's finances improve. Computer geeks have turned a generation of young people into drones...spending their days bent over cellphones.

Maiyuu spends most of his time in his room in a cloud of cigarette smoke, where he can shut the door and play with his I-phone in peace.

-

A moment ago, I saw Maiyuu take a welder to the inside of his computer. The CD drive is sticky, so he has taken apart the 'tower' (I'm told the word 'hard drive' is wrong) with a screwdriver and is now rooting around back there with a welder.



Why the frenetic activity? Maiyuu has been downloading CDs on to his I-Phone. He can't do it if the CD drive is stuck, so he needs to find a solution.

-

'What do you want to do today?' I asked Maiyuu hesitantly. 'Would you like to go for a swim with me?'

I say hesitantly, because Maiyuu does not like me asking that question. To his mind, I am implying that he wastes his days doing nothing.

'No...I might start baking,' he said, looking glum.

Ah! Maybe he is about to start baking for the woman who runs the coffee shop in town, who has agreed to take his baking for sale in his shop.

No wonder he looks depressed - Maiyuu does not like working, or at any rate would rather just play with his cellphone all day.



Just light another cigarette, boy, and take it easy. The farang will go out to work, even if your own effort is half-hearted. Someone has to make money to pay the bills, after all.

An anonymous reader asked for an update on Love of Siam's 'Pitch' Witwisit Hiranyawongkul, who these days is better known as the frontman of the band August.

Pitch looks tiny in these pictures, compared to his co-star in that film, Mario Maurer, whom I have also wheeled out here for your inspection.

The biggish looking guy with Mario is actor/thug Tao Somchai, better known these days for beating people up than any contribution he makes to the entertainment industry.

The other day, the pair were among models taking part in a city fashion show. Speaking to the media, Tao asked industry bosses to give him one more chance to turn over a new leaf.

Police have pressed charges of assault against Tao, after a Lampang man complained in January that a drunken Tao beat him up at a roadside eatery as he was tucking into a bowl of noodles and dumplings.

Troubled Tao must have been delighted to get this picture with popular Mario - it will boost his shattered public cred, though Mario's own has taken a drubbing lately, as he is still enmeshed in a court battle with his former manager, 'Coco' Nirun Limsomwong.

That contract and defamation wrangle shows no sign of abating, with Mario's lawyer threatening to take another bite of Coco (a B6m damages claim has been mentioned).

You can watch Pitch and his band perform their song Radio, here.

Unlike Mario, Pitch has managed to keep his nose clean, and might even be around longer as a result - you never know.

So, I’m being mean to poor little Maiyuu, am I?

A cautionary word to foreigners inclined to judge: even harmless looking Thais – those who don’t have use of the farang’s ATM card – can end up causing mischief.

I don't mind giving Maiyuu the benefit of the doubt. He probably deserves it, as he does most things for the sake of us both as a couple.

But the phone purchase still came as a shock, as I had advised against it previously, and I thought he knew better than to get into hire purchase debt.

Some readers say I swing drastically from one mood to the next: keen on the boyfriend one moment, talking about leaving him the next.

Maybe I did go over the top yesterday, venting about how his purchase of an I-Phone might bring our relationship to an early end.

I can see now that if had not bought the thing on HP, he may have missed the chance to own one, as we do not have that kind of cash lying around.

‘You are the only one who spends money in big chunks,’ Maiyuu reminded me today – B6000 for a pair of glasses recently, B10,000 (or whatever) every time I buy a new computer. He has a point.

Maiyuu and I had a small argument today over his I-Phone, after he caught me in an unguarded moment looking stressed.

He knew why I was worried: money. And he knows what set it off: his I-Phone purchase on tick, which we must now repay at a rate of B900 a month for the next two years.

It’s not the price, which is cheap. It’s that we could probably find some other use for that money over time. In a month, I might need to visit the dentist, or the computer might break down again. What then?

Maiyuu has offered a solution. We shall start a separate savings plan, by putting aside B1000 a month to meet such incidental expenses. He has also – sound the trumpets! – decided to get a job.

Last night he stayed at a friend’s place to attend a housewarming ceremony. While there, he spoke to the sister of one of his gay friends. She runs a coffee shop in town, and has agreed to take his bakery produce for sale in her shop.

Maiyuu hasn’t gone into fussy, farang-style details, such as how much baking he will sell, or how much he is likely to earn. That’s all for the future, or – I suspect – the never-never.

However, he did give me this other piece of welcome news:

‘You won’t have to pay for the phone. I shall pay for it out of money I earn myself.’

Excellent. Bring it on. It’s about time my boyfriend found himself a job. I don’t love him so much that I can tolerate such eccentric conduct with the finances. He spends with impunity because he doesn’t have to pay the bills.

Now that he has agreed to find that B900 a month himself, we’ll see how much he really wanted that phone – or whether he thought the boyfriend would simply pay for it without complaint.

Welcome to a new weekly feature, a glimpse of the week in celebrity pictures, preferably men.

This week's column draws heavily from pics and text which appeared originally at Lyn's Lakorns blog, here.

The text accompanying the pics is so brief, there's no need to get involved in any of it.

Just let it pass by the eyes - whoosh!

Any suggestions for the name of this column?

-

Actor Pae Arak, who has shorn his frizzy locks for his role in the upcoming movie, Chuean, where he plays a policeman.

He looked revolting with the full-on drizzy hair do, as you can see from the second picture, taken from his latest soap opera.

Lyn of the Lakorns blog says he will probably keep it short from now on, because his hair is thinning, and he might end up with a donut on top. Wise move.


Tawin Yaowapalakul shows commendable choice of colourful underwear for his role in the upcoming lakorn Wang Nam Kang (Dew Palace), with Pinky Savika. In the first pic, where he is on top of her, he wears torquoise blue. In the second, it's green.

'Peuy' Panward Hemmanee gives us a cupful at a city fashion show where she also poses with 'Film' Chitipat Sappayanon (ชิติพัทธ์ สรรพยานนท์) of a Channel 3 boyband called the GentleBoy Institute, more correctly translated as Gentleman's BoyBand - but who's complaining?

Jeweller 'Win' Raiwin Jinphonset, who appeared in a recent celebrity dog show, parading his pet Maltese.

He spent two months designing a tiara worth $4.2 million for his pet dog, using precious stones given to him by his mother, reports MSNBC. Until their recent falling-out, he was a close friend of a wannabe celebrity, model Chanya Tamada.

So Maiyuu has bought his I-Phone. I have to agree with my boyfriend - they are the most beautiful things.

As I write, he has his head down poking away at the buttons. I also agree with Anonymous (whoever he is) that I-Phones are fun, and that everyone needs a toy. What I don't like is that he has gone into hire purchase debt to buy it.

I looked up True's website, where details of the I-Phone offer are posted. It does not allow early repayment, so Maiyuu is stuck with that (admittedly small) debt for the next two years. Good luck!

I asked him how he intends to find the money each month to pay it. 'I will spend less money on food, especially baking for us at home.'

He will also ask a friend about the possibility of supplying baking to a shop she owns. 'I could make two or three bakery items for sale in her shop every day,' he says.

Maiyuu has a gay friend called Joe, who lives in our old condo in Thon Buri. Yesterday he went to see Joe, to proudly show him his new phone purchase.

Joe's boyfriend has a sister who runs a coffee shop in town. Maiyuu says he will talk to her about supplying her with baking.

I can't see it happening myelf, as Maiyuu lacks motivation. At this stage, it's just talk. However, for his own good, and mine, he should indeed find some work to do.

I would take it as a sign of good faith that he is still prepared to act responsibly, and is not wilfully abandoning the financial good sense I have drummed into his head over the last nine years.

One small bauble of advice I gave him many years ago was: 'Don't get into debt!'

We do not own credit cards. In fact, I won't allow it.

Thailand is a cash (and hire-purchase) -based economy. Consumers do not rack up purchases on credit cards as a matter of course, if for no other reason that the cards cannot be used as easily here as they are in the West.

When we met, Maiyuu was so ignorant about finances that he did not know how interest rates worked.

These days, he's better. 'True is not charging me interest rates for the I-Phone, as we are subscribers to their television service,' he says.

'I have thought about this purchase carefully for months.'

Encouraging?

'I know we can cut expenses, and find money not just to pay for the I-Phone but also save at least B1000 extra every month, for those times when we need it, and for things you want, such as Lasik treatment on your eyes.'

How sweet. I will believe it when I see it. Maiyuu wants to start the new savings regime next month.

He asked True to set the repayment date on his phone for the first half of the month.

That's also when we pay the rent.

Maiyuu wants me to contact the landlord to ask if we can defer the day we pay rent until the second half of the month, rather than the first.

I get paid twice a month. 'Ask if you can defer rent day for four days. By then your pay for the second half of the month will have come out, and the bill will be easier to pay,' he says.

I haven't asked the owner for permission to defer rent day yet, but already Maiyuu has bought the phone.

Thais just can't wait. Everything has to be 'now'.

Maiyuu says a large queue of Thais was waiting to sign up for the hire purchase plan when he visited the True outlet yesterday.

No doubt these are many of the same Thais who visit the pawn-broker's shop every month when money runs out for basic groceries.

At least two of Maiyuu's friends from our old condo, including Joe, visit pawnshops. I know, because Maiyuu used to keep the pawn tickets on their behalf. Yet I bet if I asked to look at their cellphones, they would own smarter, more modern models than mine.

My phone is ancient, it is true. But then I don't care for technology, nor see the appeal in parading the latest gadgets before my friends. Who cares?

Maiyuu now has a new phone number to go with the I-Phone.

He will give me his old phone - which is also more modern than mine - now that he no longer has any need for it.

When Maiyuu walked in after visiting the True shop yesterday, I immediately asked whether he had bought the thing.

Earlier, as he left home, I sent him several SMS messages, urging him to think again.

I must have looked worried. 'Yes,I bought it...are you alright?' Maiyuu asked.

'Don't get stressed. I have thought this through carefully, and it won't cause any problems.'

I sat on Maiyuu's bed as he told me excitedly about his new purchase. He looked lovely, and for a brief moment I put aside my worries and decided that his worries are my own, just as any partner should.

Later, I reminded myself that such thinking is nonsense, because I can never hope to get through to this young man.

Today, it's an I-Phone. Next time he sees something else which he just must have, we'll go through this drama again.

Once, I would have found the prospect of more emotional turmoil depressing. Now, I realise, I don't care.

Is this the Buddhist state of nirvana - not caring about anything? No. It's just resignation - an unwillingness to carry on struggling pointlessly.

I started withdrawing myself emotionally from this place some months ago - back when we moved condos, in fact. I lost my regular daily contact with Thais.

Now, I spend my days at my condo, or a the condo pool. I rarely venture anywhere else, as I have seen it all before, and can't be bothered.

Maiyuu provides for my needs, and I love sharing my life with him. But if he wants to destroy our life with these hare-brained financial decisions, he can go ahead.

I believe I am ready to start a new life in the West, if ever I have to walk away. I want to see what westerners have been getting up to, during the nine years I have been away.

I belong over there, not here. If the day comes when I leave, I shall give Maiyu a chunk of the superannuation fund I am saving at work, then just go.

At the moment, I still love him, so am not contemplating leaving. But if it all comes unravelled financially, then I know what I must do.