Chapter 2

Fields dropped me off at Ploenchit Road and continued back to the Team House, while I walked the few blocks to the Nana. I was soaked when I got there from Bangkok's heat and humidity. The air conditioning in the lobby felt really great. I went up to the room where I found Suenee talking to two of the women who worked at the hotel.

The women left just after I arrived and Suenee took one look at me and said, "Shower." I knew better than to argue by now and collected my other clothes and went to shower. At least the hotel had hot water 24 hours a day. When I came out refreshed and smelling good from her soap, Suenee came over to me for a kiss.

"We should go look for a ring," I told her.

"They are expensive," she told me.

"We can look," I replied.

Bangkok has a large number of jewelry stores, and Suenee knew where the better ones were. We started on Sukhumvit and Ploeichit Roads. We then moved over to the area around New Petchburi Road. We even went to Chinatown. We saw some really beautiful and impressive rings, but they were out of my price range - some of them were way out of my price range.

After returning from Chinatown later that afternoon, hot and tired, we were relaxing with some cold drinks near several of the large movie theaters behind Siam Square when someone called my name.

"Hey Baker, is that really you?" I heard and turning to see who it was, I recognized one of my old bosses - SSG Martinez. He had a beautiful Thai woman with him.

"Marty!" I said. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Yea, how the hell are you?" Marty asked.

"OK now. I just got back from Cambodia a couple of days ago."

"Really!?" he asked, amazed.

"Sit down," I invited.

"Thanks. This is my friend, Leck," he said, introducing the young woman.

"This is my fiancee, Suenee," I told him.

"Are you getting married?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, shortly. We're still looking for a ring. The jewelry here is beautiful but the prices are a little high."

"Have you been out to the PX?" Marty asked.

"PX?"

"Yes, the big one in Klong Toey."

"No, we just got here yesterday."

"Just tell any of these cab drivers 'PX'. They all know where it is," Marty told me.

"And they have engagement rings!?" I asked.

"Oh yes, along with a lot of other things. Some of it is rationed like cigarettes, electronics, and camera gear, but not jewelry," Marty told us. "Oh yes, they have a big commissary too, but you have to be command sponsored to get much there. If you are going to be stationed in Bangkok though, you can get command sponsorship after you get married."

"Where are you stationed?" I asked.

"I'm up in Korat at the triple nine. I'm working at the Comm Center. We're just down here on a four day pass," he told me. They were going to the movies and left shortly after that. It had been good to see old Marty again, and it had been very informative, also.

"We'll go out to the PX tomorrow," I told Suenee. It was too late today and we were worn out already. We took a cab back to the hotel shortly after that. We had dinner near the hotel and retired for the night. We didn't need to visit any of the nightspots that Bangkok is famous for. We were more interested in each other than in anyone or any place else.

The next morning, we took a taxi to the PX in Klong Toey. That is where we ran into the Army's red tape. Suenee couldn't go in, as she didn't have a Military Dependent's ID card. There were Thai Police on the gate there. Thailand has import duties on much of what was sold in the PX and the government didn't want Thai citizens getting a hold of it without paying that tax. The black market is very big business in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand.

Suenee sat outside the fence with a number of other Thai women, while I went in to look at the engagement rings. Marty was correct. They had a nice if small selection of engagement ring sets on hand. I saw one that I liked but didn't know if Suenee would like it also.

The sales girl had some pages from the PX catalog there with the ring I liked pictured on one page. I borrowed the page and went out to show it to Suenee, and ask her what she thought. Suenee loved it and I returned and bought the ring. It was a third of a carat and cost me $145.00 American. I also picked up some other things while there: shaving cream, razor blades, tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, deodorant and foot powder.

I proposed again to Suenee once we got back to our hotel room and slipped the diamond ring on her finger. It was a good fit there. We spent the rest of the day deciding what we were going to do for the remainder of my four weeks of leave. We came to several conclusions:

1. We couldn't afford to stay in the hotel for four weeks.

2. We needed somewhere to stay during my leave and also after I reported in to my new unit.

3. We wanted to get married as soon as possible.

4. Suenee wanted me to meet her parents, but not until after we had the marriage license.

5. Suenee wanted to have a Buddhist wedding ceremony, also.

6. She needed to visit Wat Tai Yacum at some time to speak to the people in charge there.

7. and last. She wanted to show me the sights of Bangkok during my leave.

We - she decided to tackle the first two problems immediately. It being Saturday night, I didn't see how that was possible. Suenee told me not to worry and sat down and seemed to go into a trance. A short time later, she smiled at me and got up.

"Someone will come to see us tomorrow," she informed me. "They will know where to rent a house. The Amulets will arrange it."

"How... ?" I started and then shut up as MY amulet got warm. We went out to dinner after that and did some window shopping along Sukhumvit Road.

We were late getting up on Sunday morning, as we had spent much of the night enjoying each other. We were having breakfast in the hotel's small restaurant when a well dressed Thai woman, about forty-five years old, came in and approached us.

"You are Suenee Sa?" she asked in very good English.

"Yes," Suenee assured her.

"I was told to see you about a house," the woman stated. "There is a house for rent on Soi Pradiphat 8 off of Pradiphat Road. It is near Seri Court.

"Yes, we are interested in a house near Seri Court," Suenee told her. "May we see it today?"

"Yes, I have a car outside," the woman answered.

We were ready to leave in a few minutes and the woman drove us across Bangkok to Phahon Yothin road, past the Victory Monument, which I recognized. She then turned left on to Pradiphat Road and drove some distance down it. She pointed out the entrance to Seri Court as we passed it and shortly after that she turned left into Soi 8. She drove a short distance down the Soi and stopped in front of a set of large metal gates.

The woman, her name was Doy she had told us, opened the small personnel gate in the larger left hand gate, after we had exited the car, and we entered the enclosed yard in front of the house. The house was a two-story and built of wood with a tile roof. The enclosure was larger than the house and there was grass in part of the front yard and down each side of the house inside the fence.

The ground floor of the house had a large living room with a kitchen, a small dining area and a wash room behind it. There was a small garden in the back with the concrete sump and an electric pump to pump water up to the second floor bathroom. Bangkok's water pressure was at best chancy, hence the need for an electric pump to get the water to the floor above.

The stairs to the second floor were outside along the side of the house, but were covered somewhat to avoid getting wet when it rained. The second floor had two good-sized bedrooms and a bath. They were all connected by a large veranda, which ran down the side of the house and had roll up shades that provided some privacy. There were screens on all of the windows and screen doors in front of all of the doors to the exterior. Those doors remained open a lot of the time. There were ceiling fans in the bedrooms and the living room.

The house was furnished to a degree. There was a sofa and chairs plus a coffee table in the living room, and a wonderful triple chime wall clock that sounded and counted the hours, and sounded the quarter hours. The kitchen had a stove that ran on propane and a sink with running water and counter space. There was a small refrigerator of about 8 CF capacity. The dining area had a small table and several chairs.

The bedrooms both had large beds and chests of drawers for storing clothes. There were also hooks on the walls for hanging clothes on. The bathroom was tiled with a sink and a western toilet. There was an on demand hot water heater on the wall. It was propane fired and needed the pump below to supply sufficient water pressure and volume to operate it. All in all it appeared to be a very nice house. I wondered how much the rent was and if I could afford it.

After seeing everything, we returned to the living room.

"What do you think?" Doy asked.

"It's a very nice house," I said.

"Yes," Suenee agreed, "how much is the rent?"

"For a member of the Wat, it is only 1500 Baht a month plus utilities," Doy told us.

"Yes, that is a very good rate for a house like this," Suenee agreed. There was no contract. I counted out the money and Doy gave us the keys to the gates and the house. She offered to take us back to the hotel, but we declined, as Suenee wanted to do some shopping here for things for the house.

We walked out to the main road, Pradiphat, and checked out the stores on first one side of the road and then the other. Suenee purchased some dishes, a couple of pots, and a wok. She also got some silverware, chopsticks, noodles and various vegetables. Lastly, she got bottles of fish sauce, Soy sauce, and a sweet chile sauce that I had come to like.

She arranged to have fifty kilos of rice delivered to the house that afternoon. Most businesses in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand for that matter are open seven days a week and only close on certain religious holidays, the King's birthday, and Chinese New Year.

When we finally got back to the house, Suenee went to work cleaning and straightening it up to suit herself. This left me with little to do, and I left to check out Seri Court. I have to tell you that I wasn't terribly impressed with what I saw there. I was even less impressed with the young men that I met near there. They certainly left something to be desired after the Special Forces people I had worked with in Cambodia. I would have to see how this would work out. I soon returned to the house.

The rice had been delivered when I got back, but Suenee wanted it moved to a location that she thought would be dryer and less prone to insects than where the delivery man had placed it. Let me tell you, that fifty kilo (110 pounds) of rice was a real eye opener. I had just spent eighteen months in schools and another three plus months at the Special Forces camp - all with a minimum of exercise.

I quickly discovered how out of shape I was. Damn, I would need to correct that - that was for sure. I was wondering if I would be able to do it in the new unit. Those that I had seen and spoken with didn't appear to be into PT. I decided that I would tackle that problem after we got moved in and married.

We got a taxi out on the main road to take us back to the Nana hotel. When we arrived, I went to the desk and informed them that we would be checking out in the morning. We repacked everything that night after returning from dinner and spent a very quiet night. In the morning we took our last shower at the Nana hotel, had breakfast, and I got a trolley to bring our baggage down to the lobby.