This post is out of order.  Please see third report before this one. Gary

Thailand Trip, second report

Today is Thursday and it has been busy.  Overate the wonderful breakfast that is part of the stay at my hotel. I diet at home and this morning I easily ate more than three times what I would eat in the mornings at home.  And, it was very good.  I then was busy going to the locations to sign up to play golf with the two groups I have been playing with over here lately:  Traveller’s Rest Sports Bar and Colin’s Golf Bar.  I met with both coordinators and got the times of when we leave each place to play golf.

 I chatted with Colin and he reported some the local information.  The tourist trade has taken a real hit here and particular the golf groups.  The Thai Baht exchange rate to western currencies is at an all time high.  We cannot buy much baht for a dollar, pound, etc. Collin did reveal that he is doing very well renting his rooms to Thais and a person came in and wanted a room while I was there.  She wanted it for a month and the best he could offer was two days.  She took it. Colin also mentioned that it is common now for the airlines to misplace golf clubs when transporting them.  They are kept separate from the regular luggage and sometimes the airlines misplace them.  Which happened to me.

 I have been chattier than normal and had extended conversations with Peter at the Traveller’s Rest.  Peter is a Canadian who sold his energy company because of pressure by environmental groups.  I also Chatted with a person from Belgian on the Baht bus on the way to the Central Festival Shopping Center to visit their Boots pharmacy (favored by expats).   

I also went to LTC John Emerson’s golf group at the Golf Center.  John has sold his share of the bar and is now avoiding bars because his drinking of alcohol was getting out of hand. I would stop by to talk to him over the years based on our mutual Army background.  I had an extended talk with the last remaining partner of the original group of five who owned this golf bar. 

Waiting for the Shopping Center to open.  It opened and hour later then what is used to on my previous trips which reflects the reduced tourist’s volume related to the currency rate change. I had two conversations waiting for the center to open.  One was with a French person who was very nice to talk to with his only limited English ability.  I also talked with a person from Bangalore India who stopped talking to me after I told him Indian beggars grabbing me on my two months visit there 19 years ago. 

Earlier, I stopped by Kronberg Bar on the way to the shopping center which used to be a golf mecca and I noticed that the golf sign up sheet was very limited indicating reduced participation.

From the shopping center I took a baht bus to my first golf groups location called the Sugar Shack and had a cup of coffee.  My first trip here was in November 1991.   I was adopted by a person from Sweden who had me play golf with the Sugar Shack group.  They are still operational with new owners.  

I checked out the Cinplex theatre on second road and got the schedule for current English-speaking movies (Midway, Gemini Man).  I also bought a small lamp for the room to read by and a small umbrella.  It did have a major down pour of rain this afternoon which I managed to avoid.   To end the afternoon, I went to my favorite Subway restaurant and had my favorite vegetarian sandwich, followed up with a massage at my favorite massage parlor. 

To top off the day, my golf clubs were delivered to my room.  After a careful inventory, all items are present. Wonderfu