Thailand Reunion 2011

21.25 hrs November 4th 2011 saw the eleven members of the group leaving from Heathrow on Oman Air flight WY 102 to Muscat. After a short break of around an hour and a half the second flight WY 813 got under way at 10.25 local time arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport around 19.00 hrs Bangkok time. A minibus ride to The Cottage Hotel around ten minutes away and the party were unpacking on Thai soil. A lack of sleep after the long hours in the air meant most of the party were tucked up in bed before too long. At breakfast next day, Sunday 6th the party were joined by Belinda and Neil Campbell who'd arrived from Australia in the wee small hours. The group now thirteen strong departed in a two vehicle convoy for The Loma Resort Pattaya were we were to spend the next two and a half days recuperating.

The idea of a couple of days in Pattaya was to help with acclimatization. As you can see the group took this concept on board with a gusto although, not a hard working gusto. The morning of Monday 7th and another of the many meetings of ex comrades came about. Arthur 'Taff' Williams and Neville Wareham were members of 59 Fd Sqn and the 'Crown' football team. They last saw each other in 1965. So when Taff, a resident of Pattaya, knocked on Nev's door, being a fly on the wall was to witness the joy the two old pals shared as they swopped memories of days gone by. I think most veterans reading this will have had experience of similar occasions.

Amongst our memories of Pattaya are a few unexpected one's. Olga surprised us all by taking a beach tattooist up on his services. Look for pictures in the slideshow at the bottom of the page. Elsie's surprise was the gift of flowers from Kat and Kin on the occasion of her birthday. Neil's surprise to all of us was to appear out of the darkness playing his bagpipe's something he'd kept hidden from us. He made sure Elsie had a birthday to remember as we sang 'Happy Birthday' to the sound of the pipes. Elsie was delighted.

An Air Asia Airbus 200 waits for boarding to take us to Ubon airport. Take-off 19.50 hrs. We arrived in Ubon roughly an hour later to be met by Jim Curtis and the other member of our group Jimmy James. Jimmy had flown from Heathrow twenty four hours after us and made his way to Ubon to spend some time with Jim. The two Jim's had inspected the mini-buses we were hiring so we saved valuable time and signed for the vehicle's with confidence. Noel, Somrak and the girls were met by Somrak's family who whisked them away to their home, a drive of an hour and a half. The group boarded the vehicle's and followed Jim Curtis to the Laithong Hotel. We were given a ten minute briefing by Jim and handed an itinerary of the following days events. Everything was going like clockwork.

Thursday 10th and Jim's arranged a visit to the village of Lau Soh Koh about thirty kilometers east of Ubon. We can all fit in one of the mini-buses as we have no luggage to tote. Jim's son-in-law has organised a village fete in the style of 'It's-a-Knockout'. What's on offer are canoe races, greasy pole boxing matches, a Stage Show and lot's of local food. The food is Thai style rustic, as you can imagine, only the braver amongst us did more than eat a token amount. The village headman was really pleased to see us. He's invited us back next year so we must have made a good impression.

Thousands of miles apart except in unusual circumstances. The body language is relaxed, the conversationists are comfortable with each other. Two personalities from different cultures meet on equal terms and are happy in each others company. Roger Andrews converses with the Abbott from the village Temple. Jim Curtis arranged a special day for us in his role as the OCA man in Ubon. This picture for me, sums up the privileged time we in the group had from our trip.

The coloured lights hanging in the trees as a backdrop, signify the the festival of Loi Krathong. On the table the remnants of the wrapping which contained our krathongs we'd purchased on the way to the local Huay Wang Nong. Bill and Jean Edwards are with us having arrived from Koh Samui whilst we were out at Lua Soh Kho. On the menu for our meal were, Stir Fried Prawns, Stir Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts,Sweet and Sour Chicken, Thai Red Curry and Deep Fried Fish with Spicy Dressing. We ended the day by pushing our krathongs out on to the water and making a wish. A fascinating end to a marvelous day!

Below is a slideshow of our trip up to this point. The story continues on page two.