Expat Wives in Thailand

Expat Wives in Thailand

We all know that the male Expats settle down well here in Thailand, but what of the wives and partners? I for one have only recently found the PILC, but prior to this, I found Thailand to be a pretty lonely place for the Ferang female.

On our arrival, it was great, the best thing we ever did, but after the first six months, once the novelty had worn off and I’d shopped myself silly, I began to wonder what else was in it for me. My husband loved it then and still does today, but then he always did liked sitting with a beer in his hand doing nothing all day and night.

If we are not spending time together relaxing at home, we go to a bar where we have made friends, but all these friends are male, with Thai woman, mostly from the bars. A percentage of people we have met are married to Thai women so the majority of them can speak a bit of English although some are still hard to understand.

These days, I do not follow my husband to the bars, as I find it totally boring sitting there amid cigarette smoke which makes me physically ill being an asthmatic and listening to the guys bullshit each other, talk incessantly of football, books, films and their conquests since being here, some I might add, in graphic detail.

I have sat there in the beginning, people watching and believe me there are some strange people, but mostly, I watch the Thai girlfriends who do not speak much English if any, sitting there all night, sometimes four to six hours with no one to talk too, bar the staff, who if busy do not have time to stop and chat and if there are available men in the bar, they don’t want to spend their time making idle chit chat with other females be it Thai or otherwise. Also, I am not a great drinker so again, sitting sober whilst everyone around you are drunk and loud is not my idea of fun.

So, unless a female joins these clubs and activities, which I might add is not cheap, what else is there? Not a lot unless one wants to sit in the cinema, go bowling or shopping, sun bathe till the cancer cells mount up. Joining these clubs is not really my idea of fun, but at least one gets to practice your own language instead of talking in pigeon English, which I find myself doing to any one that happens to speak to me.

Am I the only one here that feels this way or are there other females out there. Perhaps I am just strange, I feel like I’m stagnating.

Patty Brown

My love one is Alzheimer

My love one is Alzheimer

Alzheimer’s Disease also known as AD, is the most common form of dementia amongst the older generation. It is a progressive brain disorder that starts of slowly and leads to irreversible loss of memory and intellectual abilities.

In the early stages, the person affected may have spates of memory loss, difficulty remembering things that happened recently and may not remember names of people close to them.  They may not recognise family members, forget to comb their hair or wash themselves. They also forget whether they’ve eaten or not and eventually forget how to feed themselves, perhaps have problems swallowing. They may forget to dress themselves or perhaps put on three or four layers of clothing. They may have trouble reading or writing and difficulty speaking, often speaking in confusing sentences and forgetting where they put things. They may become aggressive about the slightest thing. They may become doubly incontinent.  Eventually they will begin to wander away from home forgetting where they live and forgetting their own name.  All this and more will put a strain on the families caring for them.

AD usually begins after the age of sixty, although it has been known to strike a person in their mid to late fifties and the risk of having it goes up as you get older.  However, developing AD is not part of the normal aging process.  Having a close blood relative, such as a brother, sister or parent who developed the disease,, increases your risk.Other risk factors can be caused by having long standing high blood pressure and head trauma although this has not yet been well proven.

There are two types of AD, early onset and late onset.  In early onset, symptoms appear before the age of sixty. Early onset is less common than late onset, but tends to progress rapidly.  Early onset can run in families as several genes have been identified.

Later onset, the most common form of the disease develops in people aged 60 and over. Late onset may run in some families though the genes are less clear.

The cause of AD is not known for certain, though it is thought to include genetic and environmental factors.  A diagnosis is made when certain symptoms show themselves, but the only way to know for certain is to examine brain tissue after death.

The build up of aluminum, lead, mercury and other substances in the brain was thought to be a contributory factor in the development of AD but this is no longer the case.

Dementia usually appears as forgetfulness, due to the normal aging process which does not interfere with everyday life and not every one goes on to develop AD.

Medication can be given to control aggressiveness, agitation or dangerous behaviours and are usually given in very low doses. There is no known cure for AD although the process can be slowed with medication.

Investigative Journalism: Insight into Singaporean’s Murder

Investigative Journalism: Insight into Singaporean’s Murder

Friday the 15th of January 2010, I was awoken at 8:30am by an intriguing phone call from a Singaporean woman requesting that I help her translate to a motorbike taxi. She informed me that she was here in Thailand following the murder of a Singaporean businessman on the 13th of January.

Remembering the case, I told her to go to the police station in Sriracha where the murder was being investigated, however; she then went on to inform me that she was a journalist from the Shin Min Daily News in Singapore (For the purpose of this feature we will call her Miss Nah). I begrudgingly agreed to accompany her on an investigation of the case, knowing full well that if she was to start poking around by herself – not speaking a word of Thai – she would get very little or exceedingly inaccurate information.

Prior to contacting me, Miss Nah had been driving around the Sriracha area – aimlessly looking for the murder scene – with a local motorbike taxi driver Mr. Cam (alias) who could not speak a word of English. After talking to Mr. Cam I determined that he was in fact exceedingly polite and helpful, so I asked him to bring Miss Nah to the Pattaya Daily News office so we could speak in person.

Upon Miss Nah’s arrival at my office she informed me that she had been sent to Pattaya by the Shin Min Daily News to investigate the murder of Mr. Teo Ah Yau. The homicide rate of Singapore is one of the lowest in the world and so this incident is of national interest. Miss Nah informed me that Mr. Yau had been a factory worker in Singapore, retiring to Thailand on a mediocre pension that both Miss Nah and I agreed would not keep him living comfortably in Thailand for very long. After talking together for quite some time I agreed to help Miss Nah with her investigations.

I decided to employ the services of the young Mr. Cam, who had been helping Miss Nah initially. Given his superior knowledge of the area and its residents I felt that he could be a real asset to our investigation. We decided it best not to question the officers involved in the case as they most certainly would have given very little away and that which they did would have been public relations orientated. Luckily for us Mr. Cam knew one of the leaders of the rescue teams involved in the case and was willing to introduce us to him. Arriving at the Sriracha Police Station we met with the rescue officer Mr. Bal (alias), who informed us that he was just about to leave for Chon-Buri Hospital to retrieve the body of Mr. Yau.

Whilst we were talking to Mr. Bal two friends of the murderers arrived at the station with a basket of fruit for the suspects. Unfortunately for them the three suspects had been relocated to the Chon-Buri prison.

I approached the two friends and asked them for their opinions, to which the male friend replied “I do not think Miss Au is a bad person, she’s a woman, no way can a woman do something like that.” The friends were convinced that the two males involved were the ones responsible for the murder. A rescue officer standing nearby overheard our conversation and stated that Miss Au was the one responsible for tying the man up and gagging him.

We asked Mr. Bal to escort us to the victim’s house so that we could view the scene. Arriving at the Sriracha Land village – a quiet residential neighbourhood – we went to Mr Yau’s residence. At the scene – a semidetached house with room for one car at the front – we tried to get a statement from his neighbour, unfortunately he was not home.

We did however question Mrs Dtim, the local shop owner, located one block up the road.

Mrs Dtim explained that Mr. Yau was very reclusive, staying inside his house most of the time and not talking to his neighbours. She stated that Mr. Yau had been a regular customer in the past but had recently stopped coming. Mrs Dtim revealed that she had observed him taking several different women back to his home in the past, telling some residence that they were merely relatives.

Miss Au was reportedly Mr. Yau’s latest girlfriend who had been coming to visit him on several occasions. Mrs Dtim explained that Mr. Yau had another girlfriend before who is alleged to have been a friend of Miss Au’s. A few reliable witnesses have confirmed that she had been receiving money from Mr. Yau under the pretence that she was carrying his baby.

Before we ventured on to the crime scene, we stopped briefly at another local shop that reportedly served the murderers food, immediately following the dumping of the body.

The shop owner Mrs Pah Toy explained to us that on the night of the incident she had witnessed the culprits walking quickly from the direction of the murder scene, arguing quietly about something. Assuming they were merely a drunken couple Mrs Pah Toy explained she dismissed the sighting until hearing of the murder. She stated that the local newspaper had reported that she had served them some food, which she explained was false.

The murder scene was a baron patch of land with no shrubbery and a dusty track running around its edge reportedly used by village construction vehicles. We asked Mr. Bal to show us the point at which Mr. Yau had been dumped and any other locations of note, whilst we proceeded to take pictures.
  

Rescue officers and some low ranking police informed us that the murder was solely related to the robbery of Mr Yau, stating that the victims intended to kill Mr Yau and steal the money and possessions from his home. It was also revealed that Mr. Seu (one of the male offenders) was a heavy alcoholic who favoured the strong “Low Kow” brand of Thai whiskey and had previously spent two years in prison on robbery related charges.

At 3:00pm we arrived at the Chon-Buri Hospital with the intention of meeting Mrs. Orn Anong, Mr. Yau’s wife, who had flown in from Singapore with some family members to collect Mr. Yau’s body and take it to their village temple for cremation.

Due to the paperwork being incorrectly managed by the Singaporean Embassy and the unusual Thai system, Mrs. Anong was unable to send the body of her deceased husband back to Singapore that day.

A female nurse explained to us the procedure for which a body has to go through before it can be released from the hospital:
Firstly: the police order the body be sent to hospital for an autopsy. Secondly; the relatives then take the paperwork to the embassy for processing. Thirdly; the paperwork and a letter from the embassy is then returned to the hospital. Finally; the hospital releases the body into the care of the family.

Mrs. Anong and her family had difficulties in this process as the Singaporean embassy had failed to translate some of the documents into Thai, as is required. I understand the fact that all government offices have their own procedures and policies but in this case it was a simply lack of clear communication that has caused an innocent family more grief in their time of mourning than was ultimately necessary. Making matters worse, Mrs Anong’s daughter had tried to communicate with the hospital administrators, confusing the situation further.

Maybe if the body was sent to a hospital in Bangkok the process even in the event of a mistake would be made a lot easier due to the proximity to all the embassies. Mrs Anong and her family will now have to visit the Sriracha Police Station once again and make the trip to the Singaporean Embassy in Bangkok on Monday again before they are able to remove their loved ones body for funeral proceedings.

  

Following our visit to the Chon-Buri Hospital I left Miss Nah with our ever helpful motorbike taxi driver who took her back to the Sriracha Police Station. I sincerely hope that she is able to persist with her investigation and that she has learnt and gained some experience in how to deal with the Thai people, government departments and culture.

May God allow Mr Yau’s soul to Rest In Peace granting him eternal rest.

Shocking Brutal Murder Case Unravelled

Following the recent arrest of two suspects involved with the brutal murder and robbery of a Singaporean businessman the police have now managed to successfully apprehend the third person involved in the case.

Follow-Up: Brutal Murderer Apprehended

On Wednesday the 13th of January 2010, a Singaporean businessman was found dead in Sriracha, near Pattaya. Police have now – following an intensive investigation – arrested two of the three culprits involved in the vicious attack.

Brutal Murder of Singaporian Near Pattaya

At 08.30am on 13th January 2010, Police arrived at the scene of a crime in the vicinity of Sriracha, after receiving a report from Mr. Narong Angkarn, who found the body of a man near a house in the village..