Froggy

Thanks Stu. I hope to get back to England next year and will try to find time to see the caves.

For those still interested in the floods, our water supply is back on so we are as normal at home. The local market town is still well under water and the main Province town, though not so badly hit (we went supermarket shopping there yesterday) is full of whingeing expats, who think that they are the only ones with problems. The flood is now extending downstream to the ancient town of Phi Mai where the Khmer temple ruins are threatened. My friend there sent his wife out shopping and was worried that the car would be submerged! We still have along way to go. Sadly, some people have been lost

Could be if Crosland Filters is on Glaisdale Drive. That's not far from the old Wollaton pit. The one at Bilborough Grammar School was a neat circle. I thought that the Beeston Marina holes were old gravel pits. What's a bell it? Subsidence was a real problem around Western Boulevard in those days.

Broad Marsh and Drury Hill were dodgy places before the land behind the camera was cleared. A butcher down there slaughtered pigs in his back yard. Coppers would go down the Hill only in pairs. I remember only a few shops showing signs of even half life. There was a secondhand book shop, a chromium plate works that stank and Bruce's Pigole.

Regarding caves, they went under the two Regency town houses around the corner to the left at the top in Low Pavement. Under one house was a circular cave with a carved central pillar and carved seating around the wall. I recall either second a door or gate opposite the entrance door. We were told that it was a wine cellar. Perhaps, but it could have used used for much more fun than that.

It's sad to see what happened to Drury Hill. It was a drab and run down street in the'60's but what character and potential! Much of Nottingham's past was wantonly destroyed in the '60's and replaced by the posy shite of the day. St. Annes had character and look what they did to that! The Almshouses opposite Castle Rock were wonderful little places. A college was built there, I think.

Christmas over here is a strange affair. The malls and big stores sell greetings cards and shops and homes hang up tinsel 'Merry Christmas' banners (some leave them up all year). Everyone knows what a Christmas tree is but you can't get hold of one. Thais don't have our traditional dinner on 25th. They don't really know what Christmas except it's a good excuse for a p1ss up so they look forward to it. All is not lost for us foreigners though. Expat. restaurants are increasingly offering the full works for about £7 to £10 per head plus drinks. With Germans around you can also get a turkey dinn

According to my mother, the buildings of Beechdale Primary School were the quarters attached to an ak ak site there. One building was brick built, the kitchen and canteen she said, and the others were wooden. The prefabs built after the war, now replaced, had anderson shelter type coal shed. In fact, if I remember correctly, Google Earth is showing pics of Beechdale Estate with the sheds still there today. The guns spewed shells all over what is Bilborough now. The Grammar School had a shell hole in its grounds next to the top road and the playing fields. There was a wooded area off Glaisdale

:biggrin: That's for sure! Many girls leave school at 15. Their parents cannot afford further education and the children are required to earn an income to help buy luxuries such as food. Many get pregnant too young and the young fathers clear off. If they can do nothing else, they may be tempted to go to a town or tourist area to work in bars. They can make, in Thai village terms, good money for few years. Much of what they earn goes back to the family who will be caring for the child. They have to put up with the roaming hands of slobbering gits from all over the world even as they sit in

Thanks very much, Stu. Thai students in other countries probably come from wealthy families and most return to take up one profession or another. Most hospital doctors speak very good English so I guess that they were the type of student that you mention. It's also gratifying to see the more enlightened poorer parents making the financial sacrifice needed to get their children through university here. The standards don't match those in the UK but it's better than nothing.

It's a pity that some people think that there is nothing more to Thiland than the illegal sex trade. In fact, I admire those girls. They come from areas where there is no hope of breaking from the poverty trap and they either get a farang husband, or cash to set up themselves and their families, or both. The punters are mugs.

Anyone remember the Squinting Cat on the way to Mansfield? We went once, me dashing in my pin striped double breasted suit with slight flairs and Chelsea boots. The band was passable and so was the beer. There were four of us and four likely ladies came to chat to us. My mate spotted four boyfriends of the said ladies winding up for a punch up so we left, never to return.

Geez, the ignorance about Thailand. First, for all its peculiarities, I would not swap my lifestyle here for anything that the US or UK could offer. The floods are exceptional and, while I sympathise with the victims, we are lucky. We are outside the flood zone and on higher ground. I'm just changing my visa to one that allows me to stay here subject to 90 day reporting and annual renewal in Thailand. Easy. If I wanted to work I would need my employer to get me a B visa and a work permit but that's of no interest to me because I'm retired. My wife looks after the business side of things. I

Here's an update: http://www.grumpyexpat.com/blog/2010/10/pak-thong-chai-flood---update.html

If the pic. of Capocci's was taken in Parliament Street opposite the Elite, I would guess that The Don was in one of the two smaller buildings to the right of Cappoci's. It was quite a narrow place.

Someone mentioned The Boat earlier. We had some great nights in there. The best band and the most frequent was Blues and Roots - lads from Northern Insurance. They deserved the big time. I also remember standing still for ages watching and listening to Tim Rose (may have been at the Brit). I was into the usual stuff at the time - Stones, Rod Stewart and such - but The Boat was my introduction to real blues and that flourished some years later. A girl grabbed me in the Brit one night. I'd had a few bevvies and when she wanted a snog on the chairs at the side I had to focus on the lights to sto

Too easy!

What was the name of the restaurant at the corner of Friar Lane and Wheeler Gate that looked like a portakabin with big windows?

Don Juan was '63-'64. What dates were Capocci's? Perhaps it changing its name. For a reason that I don't remember we stopped going there so it may have been restyled.

Now you remind me, I think it was curried peas we used to eat. Never saw any trouble there. The bogs were wetter then those at The Boat Club?

Yes, thank you, it was the Don Juan. Spanish, not Italian as I thought. Sorry if I jumped your post. Do you want to link to it?

There was a coffee bar opposite the Elite on Parliament Street in the '60's which was our Saturday morning haunt. I can't remember the name but it was suitably Italian. One day Susan Maugham walked in followed by some scruffy hangers on. It was OK most other days, though. We sat in the back room and drank Russian tea to show that we were really trendy. The latest hits would be on the juke box but, I'm happy to be able to say, never 'Bobby's Girl'. Anyone else remember it and the name?

Was the Belvedere in the Lace Market? There was a club there with a jazz band that stopped serving drinks at about 10.30pm. We would round off an evening there after that time with a bowl of mushy peas before getting taxis home.

Geez, I missed all that somehow. I thought that the worst type of bloke in Nottingham was the one who would turn to you in a pub and ask, 'Yer lookin' fer trubble?'

Thanks for reading the blog. I have a forum too, populated mainly by Korat people 'though it's intended for any Thailand expat. It's rather quiet at the moment after a nasty hacking attack last year. Your son might be interested in becoming the first Pattaya member: http://www.grumpyexpat.com/forum/ I congratulate your son on being fluent in the language. I'm trying to learn more but we have a theory that wives don't want to teach us because we would hear what they all say about us. In any case, you need to learn Lao in these parts too!