For most of the past month Hua Hin residents, Thai and farang, have been in mourning. Once again, we have been reminded that the truism that death is part of life is of no help whatsoever. Death is evil, the ultimate pain that we who are left behind must suffer over and over again and, most cruelly perhaps, more frequently as we age and approach our own end.

All funerals are nasty, but I find the Thai version even worse than the ones we must endure in the West. For one thing, like most Thai Buddhist ceremonies, they go on far too long, with endless chants meaningless to those of us who understand little Thai and less Pali, and rituals whose significance no one seems to understand nor care to discover. Inevitably in such a circumstance, the mind wanders and, because of the environment, thinks morbid thoughts that of course do nothing to soothe the pain of the great loss that necessitated the funeral in the first place.

This was the third sudden death of someone in my Hua Hin circle in about two years. A fellow survivor, a longtime Hua Hin resident, remarked that he was getting tired of burying people. It struck me that these incidents, when they occur within the expat community, have their own special twist, like the thrust of a dagger designed to eviscerate.

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David was born in the summer of 1965 in Oldham, The youngest son of Jean and Bill Boycott. Growing up, Dave’s mission in life was to annoy his three older brothers whenever possible, however he soon found another passion; music. Spending his youth in Manchester, Dave started Deejaying locally, and he became a part of the Manchester music scene that put the city on the map. With influences including Madness, Joy Division and The Jam he soon found his next passion in life; the Mod Scene. Following on from his idol Paul Weller, he became part of this new culture, whose symbol is one we can all associate with Dave, the Vespa.

A twisted ankle during his first try out on the rugby field ended his interest in that sport, and he took to a sport far more safer; racing high powered classic Italian scooters, and hanging off racing standard sidecars trying to maintain a balance for greater speed. Mods, scooters racing and soul music became Dave, and Dave became “Dr Dave Soul Monsta”.

Scooter rallies took him everywhere in the UK and off across Europe. His travels finally landed him in Thailand 8 years ago, and after a stint in Bangkok, Dave moved to Hua Hin in 2003 and met the love of his life, Oe.

Still Deejaying and working with scooters, Dave’s influence slowly spread across the town and he settled here. Determined to get most of Hua Hin riding scooters, and listening to soul music, Dave started working with a local radio station and an internet media company. His soul show attracted listeners from all over, and it provided him with an outlet, and a voice.

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In the nineteen fifties and early sixties, I went to the pictures (yeah, that’s what we called it in those far off days) three times a week. You see, new films (not movies) ran Monday to Wednesday, Thursday to Saturday and a complete new, one-off, showing on Sunday. There was an A picture and a B picture with the Pathe news and lots of adverts. You could stay through all the showings for the one price. We got a lot of screentime for our money. When we viewed a film in 3d we held cardboard glasses with coloured cellophane eye patches, one in red and one in green.

There used to be an interval when you could buy a Kia Ora or a Mivvi from a woman in a pink gingham skirt and blouse with a tray slung over her shoulders. I was saturated with films until all the picture houses closed and were turned into Bingo halls.

Much later than that, I saw Jaws and it is only recently I have felt able to walk through puddles instead of going around them. It was the last film I saw at a cinema until the weekend just gone that is, when, not to be outdone by friends who booked to see Harry Potter while I was in Bangkok, I went to the Imax cinema at the Paragon Centre.

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We, the Proletariat, have cars seven years old or older. We are burdened to have these veterans inspected every year while simultaneously getting a new road tax sticker. In Hua Hin this is easy to do at the inspection station in Vichaiyud Insurance Co. Take soi 56 west on Phetskasem, cross the railway and at the light turn left (south) on Canal Road. Vichaiyud is about 500 meters down the road on left. Good, quick service and you can have all your insurance matters attended while having your car inspected.

Those of you rich kids with newer cars, you can get your annual road tax sticker from the same place.

Here’s the station:

And this is why one must have the Oldies inspected.

It’s been a rough few years for Thailand as regards negative publicity - SARS, bird flu, tsunami, government corruption, military coup, terrorist attacks and dodgy government decisions contributing to stock market crashes and an artificially strong currency, which has led foreigners, both businesses and individuals, to look at alternative destinations to exist in. Some of these problems have been Asia-wide, but most not, and many people have been talking about Malaysia as an alternative to the Land Of Smiles. At first glance this would appear to be a decent alternative - similar climate, a more welcoming immigration policy, the ability to buy property, better infrastructure, a diverse culture and equally beautiful landscape, so on a recent trip there I tried to look at things there from the perspective of possibly living in that country instead of Thailand.

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26^th January 2007

I had to put a dog to sleep today. His name for the past 3 weeks has been Vito. Before that, who knows? Did he even have a name? Did any human, even when he was a pup, ever hold him in enough regard to bestow a moniker on him?

Vito, as I said, had only been with us at HHDRC for 3 weeks when he died. He came from Cha am. Cheryl, who has one of the café/bars reported him to us. We arrived at her café and she took us to meet him on the roadside where he resided. My first comments were not complimentary. I made some remark about him being an alien, not a dog. You might forgive me for that remark, had you seen him. No hair, covered in scabs & dry scales, one ear swollen with haemotoma, unable to stand properly through malnutrition and a problem with his hind leg, gummy, rheumy eyes and the mouth of a denture wearer sans dentures. And thin, so thin you could see every bone and overstretched tendon.

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We also have a category for expats and general topics for those who have decided to make Hua Hin their home. If you live in Hua Hin and would like to contribute to the blog regarding any aspects of life in Thailand or just general anecdotes find out how here.