Planes, Sprains & Automobiles

There has been considerable talk (ok, complaints) in the local press about the new airport here in Bkk so I figured I’d chime in with my two cents worth now that I’ve been there. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced: Sue-wan-a-boom) I felt as if I had detoured and gone to Hong Kong (HK), the design and feel is quite similar.

Within 36 hours I had come and gone from our much touted new facility and I didn’t have any major problems. More signage would be useful, especially for arriving passengers trying to find taxis, and the toilets are certainly smaller than those at old Don Muang, but otherwise I had no real operational issues. Several friends have come in on international flights and said that immigration was much faster than at the old airport, so, it seems the teething problems are starting to ease. From a design standpoint, I’d say Suvarnabhumi is a bit drab inside; it lacks the character of the old Don Muang. Maybe that will change in time.

Two weeks ago I was playing ultimate, just a casual pick-up game, and I twisted (sprained) my ankle in a big way. By the time I was helped to the side of the pitch and got my boots off, my ankle was the size of a guava … or a softball for those not up on your tropical fruits. While gimping about is no fun, having to stay off my ankle for several days allowed me to catch up on some reading and practice my Thai language skills; at least I can now tell the locals what I did to my ankle; ผลาง (not sure that’s spelled right but my Thai friend’s should figure it out!).

As for the last topic, most of you know by now that Kay and I bought a new car back in June (see photo). In Thailand, new cars leave the dealer with red plates which are temporary. Your white (permanent) plates usually come within a month or so. Given it’s now Nov, Kay and I were wondering what the heck was going on, we still had red plates (though they did match our red car quite nicely). The first mistake we made was not listening to one of Kay’s Aunties who said we should play our number plate’s numbers in the lotto; had we followed that advice we’d be THB 70 million richer right now. Sigh. Anyhow, the other mistake we made was not leaning on the dealer harder to get our white plates in a timely manner.

Last Sat, Kay was heading home when the police pulled her over; she was irritated as she knew she had not done anything wrong. The officer politely informed her that her violation was driving with fake red plates. WHAT? Yep, he calmly pointed out how he knew they were fake and now Kay was seeing RED! And while the cop thought he was in for a good verbal lashing and argument, he and his colleagues were pleasantly surprised when Kay insisted the ticket be written out for the maximum penalty and then she got on the phone to the dealership and raised holy hell. Needless to say, the dealership sent people down with the ticket money as well as our white plates that had been sitting there for a week … but no one called to tell us.

The police now want to hire Kay when they need a public speaker and the Mazda dealership staff are all sh**ing themselves every time Kay calls. Wait until Mazda Japan receives her angry letter! Ah yes, the wrath of my wife; only a fool would invoke it willingly.