The replies below have been moved from another discussion in the Book Reviews section.

The topic begins with A&A discussing an email exchange between himself and Mike Smith, author of Bangkok Angel ........

Moved Reply:

i exchanged emails with him in late 2006 and one of the things he said is that the second book for various reasons 'probably' won't be finished.

i hope this is not the case and it does get finished!

besides any of us on this website could write the second book from our own experiences

in fact those members who complain about the negative press and media sterotypes of thai women might want to think about writing a book (not just a website ) on the many success stories about thai-western relationships.

it could be an edited book with different couples (including those on this website ) writing different chapters. from meeting each other, having children all the way up to settling down either in thailand or the west and finally retirement.

i'm sure thailand-uk could raise some funds for publishing a few copies and sending them to the larger publishing houses like Asia books etc.

we've got teachers so that's the creative writing sorted, solicitors for the legal stuff and a published Photographer for photos.

(yes, i am serious)

Moved Reply:

Tony that is a remarkably good idea.

Richard

Moved Reply:

Put me down for the chapter on chronic alcohol, gambling and debt problems, separation and protecting the children via residency and prohibited steps orders!

Moved Reply:

I'll follow GTG's chapter with "I was only married to my Thai wife for 14 months and she only lived with me for 8 of them" chapter.

Moved Reply:

And I'll follow Mark W's chapter with a chapter entitled "I spent two years living in England with my Thai wife but we never spent a weekend together and I didn't know she was pregnant until she was four months gone."

This is going to be quite a book!

No, seriously, what a totally fabulous idea. I honestly believe we should do it. I honestly think that if different people contributed a chapter each, we've have a really good book. Let's do this.

Moved Reply:

these ideas on chapters sounds good

a realistic portrayal of thai-western relationships

any more ideas

lets keep this idea alive and see where it goes

how about some positive chapters so that people reading it don't just sense doom and gloom. somebody out there must have some!!

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Put me down for the chapter on chronic alcohol, gambling and debt problems, separation and protecting the children via residency and prohibited steps orders!

Reminds of an Idea I had before - and discussed with a few ex pat Aussie and Brits who reside or have resided in Thiland.

Basically it's a board game like Monopoly - except you start out with a Nest egg, redundancy payout or the like.

You progress around the board and land on various squares. One square you may invest in a Bar or the like.You might meet the love of your life. get married etc . Or you might meet a taxi driver that rips you off etc etc. The thing is when you get the "community chest " type card it could mean the buffalo is sick ( big pay out ) or you run into a family member near a bar or near the shops ( small payout - to them of course, not you)

Anyway you get the general idea...

The winner is the one who has the most money left after X amount of years.

-Skippy

PS Names suggested so far are Farang ATM, Monobolucks!

Fool and his Money....

Can I have two chapters please? One for each wife?

Ian

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how about some positive chapters so that people reading it don't just sense doom and gloom. somebody out there must have some

Indeed. We do.
I had the idea of writing Pim's story. She can tell a good tale and she's hilarious the way she tells it. My angle was to write in the first person, using her quirky English. Two obstacles emerged:
- I didn't make any notes at the time.
- Thinking like a woman.
My time machine is still a work in progress and I have no wish to undergo gender reassignment. Or even get in touch with my feminine side. So the project is stalled.
Marcus - let's have a chat about it over the seafood and chicken bits on a steamy August Bangkok night.

quote:

Originally posted by Doggsy:
how about some positive chapters so that people reading it don't just sense doom and gloom. somebody out there must have some!!

Yes, seriously, I'll borrow Tudor's time machine and go back a few years to submit an essay I wrote (which most people here have read already) that came from a much happier period. With no need for an update!

Tudor, I hope you're not going to be too much in touch with your feminine side on that hot steamy Bangkok night in August! We might get some funny looks!

I'm already in chapter 3 of my book! An ongoing project. Plan would be to finish it in 5 years.

However the problem with writing about something good is that it doesn't sell. Only bad news sells unfortunately.

How I try to write it as factual and make it interesting to the reader is the real difficulty. However I shall keep going with it.

I could easily condense it into a single chapter if this were to get off the ground.

I think it is a good idea.

Phillip

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However the problem with writing about something good is that it doesn't sell. Only bad news sells unfortunately.

i don't agree, interesting stories with good or bad endings sell.

Originally posted by Skippy

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Names suggested so far are Farang ATM, Monobolucks!

How about Falang Pursuit with little cheeses to collect to make one big cheese at the end that represents the falangs pot of money

Adam.

Chapter 1: Bee and Honey

I listened to the lullaby of the waves breaking on the beach. I closed my eyes, feeling rather light headed. In one hour I would be leaving to catch the bus back to Bangkok, and then for the long flight home, to the cold, to the unfeeling, to the emptiness.

I was jolted back into the light. “Teeruk, you buy a bird for me?”

Those warm dark vowels, a sort of cross between Barry White and Paul Robeson, were what first attracted me to Bee. The intense light seared my eyes and I blinked. “Lucky for us,” she continued. “Thirty baht, one bird,” said the vendor, and as my eyes slowly became accustomed I saw a small boy carrying what must have been fifty small bamboo cages full of twittering birds. “Choose one,” Bee said excitedly, so I did, and within a few seconds my thirty baht flew out across the sea. “That boy must be very unlucky,” I commented, but Bee failed to understand the irony.

The boy left to be instantly replaced by two others, one selling beach balls and one yet something else to eat. I gestured for them to go away and practiced the Thai that Bee had taught me, “Mai Ow, Mai Ow”, but it had little effect. I wondered what it meant. Bee bought some of the food on offer, which turned out to be what looked liked live shrimps. “Try, Try,” she excitedly said pushing the blighters towards me. I put my hand up, but too late, and my mouth was soon full of wriggling things, followed by an intense sour heat. “Goong Mao,” she said, which I think is the name of their prime minister. I wondered why she said that then.

Bee sat back in the deck chair. I looked at her and smiled and she smiled back, that beautiful white smile. My heart felt lifted and sad at one and the same time. Soon I would be leaving my sweetheart and I didn’t know when I would see her again. Bee scratched her legs; I laughed, it was so unusual to see a girl with so much hair on her legs. There was even a shadow on her chin as if she hadn’t shaved this morning; oh how she reminded me of my mother.
She had laughed about it too the first time I tried to kiss her. “My father the same,” she had said. “You give me money I can fix”.

The time had come; Bee said, “We go now, bus come soon.” I had to go back to the hotel and get my bags. Bee said she would come to the bus station with me but she had to work tonight so I would make the journey home alone. Always working, I thought. How different to the skivers back home. It was so lucky we had met at that bar, the one time a month she wasn’t working, she had told me.

As we waited for the bus I could feel a tear well in my eye. It felt like everyone was staring at me. “Don’t forget to send money,” implored Bee. “I won’t I promised,” and I meant it. As soon as got back I would go the bank and borrow money to send to her. It sounded a lot, but there was a lot to be done, a house to be built, a new motorcycle that her brother so desperately needed to keep his job as a rice doctor, a sick buffalo to replace, and those operations that Bee was so coy about. How strong she was. She never mentioned what was wrong, just they were expensive and that she had to travel to Bangkok to have them. “I cannot explain,” she shrugged when I had tried to talk to her about them. I tried to convince her to have them in London, but had just said, “No, cannot,” and did not explain further. “You see different Bee next time you come,” she laughed.

Bee was not her real name; everyone here has a nickname she had explained. She had given me one, ‘Toon’, everyone laughed when she called me that and it made me laugh too. “It is small animal,” Bee had explained. Bee’s real name was Bert, which I told her was a man’s name in the West. She didn’t seem surprised when I told her this. “Bloody right it is, and a good’un too nipper,” she had answered in that gruff voice. “I try learn English so speak to you,” she continued, seeing my surprise.

I sat on the bus looking down at my love. I had only been here two weeks, but I knew my life was changed forever. She waved at me as the bus pulled away and blew me a kiss. I blew one back, and as the bus turned the corner, my last sight was of her giving a good tug on her groin; a Thai gesture of good luck so she had told me. I breathed deeply trying to rid the mist in my eyes and the heaviness in my heart. My new life had just begun.

Dan, you are a genius mate. This just HAS to go into the book.

I was considering having a go at writing chapter two, but I haven't had the time and - besides which - I just don't have your gift for humour.

Thank you for one of the best, most entertaining, posts I've seen in a long time!

"Those warm dark vowels, a sort of cross between Barry White and Paul Robeson, were what first attracted me to Bee."

quote:

Originally posted by dan&ploy:
Chapter 1: Bee and Honey


I was jolted back into the light. “Teeruk, you buy a bird for me?”
Those warm dark vowels, a sort of cross between Barry White and Paul Robeson, , were what first attracted me to Bee.

Pure class

I loved the rest of it too. Please post it on http://www.thailandstories.com there is some excellent stuff there.


keep writing geezer

Richard

ps we could still do our own thing even if we post elsewhere.

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ps we could still do our own thing even if we post elsewhere.

how about a free online book?

quote:

Originally posted by dan&ploy:
Chapter 1: Bee and Honey
Bee scratched her legs; I laughed, it was so unusual to see a girl with so much hair on her legs. There was even a shadow on her chin as if she hadn’t shaved this morning; oh how she reminded me of my mother.