Aug
24
Fertilizer and a Motosai
August 24, 2007 |
We had just eaten breakfast when Nan’s uncle came by to ask if we could drive him to Phayakkhaphum Phisai do buy some fertilizer for the rice paddies. We needed to look for some furniture too, and the furniture dealer in Putthaisong only had one model in different colors that where not exactly built for farangs.
So off we went. It’s only a 20 minute drive and its a nice little town. We could not find anything I wanted to spend my baht on there either. But I spent a good 20 minutes scrutinizing different 125cc motorcycles.
I am going to need some kind of transportation when I get here in September and will no longer rent a car. I had my mind on a Honda Wave of some kind. Nan has got one, and they work ok. But somehow the cool factor is missing on them.
Anyway, we did not make any purchases, but Nan’s uncle got his bags of fertilizer and we headed back towards Putthaisong. Just outside town there is a huge Honda dealership. So we made a stop there to look at the various models on display. I looked at the Honda Waves first. But again, they simply did not have that cool factor. And I could not make my mind up about buying now, or wait until September.
But I strolled over to the Automatics they had. The Honda Airblade was there, as well as the Honda Click. Nan immediately fell in love with a white Honda Click. I have to admit that my knowledge of the mechanics of Motorcycles are fairly limited. But I did own one at home. Well, it was a 50cc Scooter moped kind of thing, which I ended up crashing.
But it looked okay. The Compartment under the seat was small, but it did have a hook for your grocery bags under the handle bars. And I can always use a backpack fro my groceries. So no problem. It was also big enough for me, and it felt comfortable to sit on. So after carefully thinking about it for all of five seconds I decided I had to have it.
The only problem was I could not use my Visa to pay for it, and using the ATM to cash out the 46000 baht all included price would see my account blocked. But it was no problem for them if I payed half now and the balance in a couple of days.
So we sat down to do the paperwork. Nan took care of that, as we had to buy it in her name. Then she disappeared with an assistant who would prepare the bike and explain the rudimentaries for her. I was left seated with 4-5 very charming female sales assistants. And they now came with tea and water for the suffering farang.
I was put trough the third degree:
“Where you come from?”
“You speak Thai?”
“You speak Lao?”
“I like boyfriend Norway, you have friend have good heart?”
I smiled and answered as best as I could. And a smile and a wave to the desk slaves in the back of the room had them all smiling and giggling. Nan was gone for a good 20 minutes, and returned with a couple of free helmets. She told me we had to go back the next day to show the Honda to the police to get the licence plates. But we could take the bike home now.
Since we came with the car, she drove it home, while I followed. She looked tiny on the fairly big for its type bike. But we got it home.
Next… a small review of the Honda Click.
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Comments
2 Comments so far
Jammen er du flink å skrive om hvedagslige ting. Jeg har ofte lurt på hva faranger fyller tiden sin med ute på landsbygden. Blogging er tydelig en aktivitet.
Kjenner jeg der dra Asiaforum? Hvis ikke, mitt nick der er Panthip.
Jeg bor i Bergen sammen med min Thai kone. Hun har bodd her i snart 4 år. Hun kommer fra Korat men har bodd og jobbet mange år i Bangkok. I februar skal hun starte bygging av hus til moren sin. Tror ikke jeg klarer å bo så langt ute på landet.
Stedet heter Ban Nam og ligger ca 1 time med buss nord for Korat.
Hvis du ikke er medlem hadde det vært supert om du kom med. Du har sikkert mye å bidra med.
Ha en fin dag.
You are sure good at writing about everyday things. I have often wordered what farangs fill their days with out in the countryside. Blogging is apparantly one activity. Do I know you from Asiaforum? (Norwegian web forum about asia travel). If not, my nick there is Panthip
I live in Bergen with my Thai wife. She has been here for almost 4 years. She is from Korat but worked for many years in Bangkok. In february she is starting the building of a house for her mother. I don’t think I can live that far out in the countryside
The place is Bang Nam and lies about 1 hour by bus north of Korat
If you are not a member it would be great if you joined. You probably have a lot to contribute with.
Hey, I hope you don’t mind that I translated your comment to English, as most readers of the blog can’t read Norwegian
But thanks for the comment, always nice to hear from a fellow Norwegian, even if you are from Bergen
If your in-laws are 1 hour north of Korat then we are practically neighbours. Good luck to your wife with the house!
And finally, yes I am a member of Asiaforum