Party Time With The Beach Boys

Spirits to venerate on the left share space with spirits to imbibe on the right. An interesting juxtaposition, I think.

Placing a customer's umbrella
on Dongtan Beach

One can't have too many friends, I like to say; just too many to keep up with sometimes. The second portion of that thought is more often the case for me when visiting Thailand. Even on my first visit I'd been in email contact with four or five folks that I was interested in meeting, and there's rarely much of anything faster to separate the sincere from the insincere than a face to face conversation - but that's another story.

I only mention this because I tend to overbook my time there, and while I think longingly (and long) in advance about days in the shade on the beach with a good book, those days are far and few between. This last trip I only made time for two partial days in nearly a month to simply rest on the beach, which tells me it's something I need to put more effort into next time.

Beers on the beach.  Memories of my free-spirited youth!

My raised glass gets a smile
of acknowledgement 

My suggestion to those of you lucky enough to be planning a trip there anytime soon would be to leave plenty of slack for the inevitable probability of wanting to visit, see or try something that you hadn't expected to. The old saying "any job expands to fill the time allotted for it" applies in this situation, too. Trust me.

While sitting one afternoon, finishing the lunch I believe was brought in by the chair concessionaires from Tui's Place (nice food there - reasonably priced, too) two guys planted in chairs two rows ahead of me were having beers and chatting, just as friends would do most anywhere in such a setting.  I watched them fool with their hair between pulls off of their bottles with more than a slight twinge of nostalgia for times when I'd have been in the middle of such a scene and not merely watching from a sober distance.

All that and a bag of chips, as the saying goes

Every so often they'd call out to a passer-by walking along the shoreline in front of them, and although I couldn't understand the Thai it was evidently pleasant; the walkers would inevitably smile, laugh and/or give them a "thumbs up" signal.

The breeze in off of the gulf was gentle and refreshing, and despite the view my eyes closed a number of times while I lay my head back and relaxed, relishing the rest time.

One of the guys had his ear buds in, bobbing his head to the beat  from his MP3 player while listening, and he'd take one out to talk only when his friend reached over and tapped his arm to get his attention. They seemed to be waiting for others, because one of them kept looking back over his right shoulder as if to check for an arrival.

They didn't have to wait very long.

A short while later, several more young men came traipsing down the aisle past me to my right, their feet spraying sand onto posts and vacant chairs with the whisper only sand seems to make.

They snuck up behind their seated friends and, reaching out as they bent over, grabbed their shoulders, making them jump and shout with surprise. After they'd gotten that desired reaction they all laughed and greeted the others with a camaraderie you'd expect among friends. They all seemed genuinely happy to be together for the afternoon, and they began chattering rapid-fire between themselves almost immediately.

One of the new arrivals held up a bottle of 100 Pipers, a scotch widely available in Thailand, and a cheer of approval rose from the group; all of them glad to see the party ready to begin in earnest.

100 Pipers appears to be somewhat of a staple of life for some, by the number of empties you're likely to see being hauled out from clubs if you're out walking in the daytime as the trash is being dumped. Never was much of a scotch drinker myself, but I'm told it's adequate and affordable.

It was certainly adequate for the boys that day. They had it open in a heartbeat and were pouring themselves a few fingers' worth in their glasses without ice, topping it off with Coca-cola. Soon they were well into the bottle, and as the level quickly began to drop they danced and laughed among themselves, as did a couple of young women who'd also arrived soon after the 100 Pipers did.

A ways further into the bottle

It soon became apparent that they'd probably had enough to drink, and as their movements became more animated and their voices a bit louder while they swayed now from scotch more than the music my beach time was running out, and I had to gather my things and head back to my hotel to prepare for a banquet dinner that evening.

As I often try to do I walked over and asked if I could email the re-sized pictures to anyone. A couple of them gladly accepted, and I've since sent them along. Both of them replied to say thank you, and that made for a fine ending to the experience, I thought.

So, again I'd suggest: leave yourself some slack in your schedules. You never know what might happen when you're least expecting it.