Smiler

Back again in dear old Blighty…..sigh! Anyway, yesterday morning at Swampy was busy but not the clusterfuck I experienced back in January. Took around 40 mins to get from domestic arrivals through to the Miracle lounge (or whatever it’s called) at international departure. Was relatively painless and even included a ciggy stop, fast track would have been a waste of money. Thai Air TG916 was a way past its sell by date plane, 3x3x3 seating but as luck would have it had an empty one next to me, which makes all the difference. The food was meh as was IFE but the red wine was quite nice. landed at Heathrow a couple of mins early with hopes of getting the 8pm bus to Bournemouth but unfortunately and very annoyingly, we were given some BS about another plane on the stand and had to wait 30 mins. Turns out 6 police boarded and arrested a couple…….. so that was the real reason for delay. No wait at all at the border and I didn’t have checked luggage so it took just 15 mins after leaving the plane to get to central bus station.

Young Smiler is 13 today and I wanted to do something he would remember, so I gave him a driving lesson 😳

Yesterday in Udon. Its raining today and boy is it needed. Heavy sarcasm mode ON: can’t wait to get back to 13 degrees at Heathrow tomorrow evening….

I might have a pint or a glass of wine before a flight maybe a couple of glasses of red on the plane. Seen too many incidents over the years on long haul flights where alcohol has played a part, from melt downs to serious health issues. Ok I understand if going without a drink for 14 hours is painful for some but there is nothing worse than a pissed up passenger, plain selfish IMHO.

The flight from Udon lands at Swampy 09:50 (hopefully 😳) that’s 3 hours before TG whatever departs for London at 12:50. I can do the online check-in and will only have carry on bags so in theory there should be enough time but……..

I am returning to the UK next week, should be ok but its going to be a bit tight for time so I am thinking about buying a fast track through departures (no checked bags). Anyone done this recently??

80 + people busted at one time - that’s almost a diplomatic incident 👀

Thanks for that, soon as I have finished cleaning the a/c filters (and after I have finished faffing around on this phone 😎). I am going to back the lappy up and sort my iCloud out. 👍

No links because I’ve had a drink but it’s all the gossip here in the jungle this evening. Could be a Netflix series in the future 👀.

And I didn’t have to wait very long. Got the leccy bill today and it was around 3 times as much as last month. 3k baht. Not so bad considering young smiler is home from school, my girl was back from uni for 2 weeks, I’ve been here for 3 weeks, guests at Songkran and of course as has been mentioned, it’s fucking hot 🫠

Yeah we keep the air on 26 all year round apart from when it’s not needed in December/January. We have 4 units in total (2 in the cabin and 2 in the main house) are all less than a couple of years old. It’s rare they are all on at the same time but over Songkran when we had guests they certainly were. I’ve been quite pleasantly surprised how economical the new(ish) units are to run but I guess the real test will be this month’s bill which will be around the 25th. Can’t wait….

And it’s been up around 40 almost every day for the last 15/16 days. Even nudged 42 once or twice.😅🫠 Certainly the hottest weather I have experienced up here. Some say the best way to cope is to stay out of the A/C during the day and just sit under a fan, which is exactly what I am doing right now. There comes a tipping or should it be melting point though and it’s not too far away for me….. Off to Udon later for a bit of shopping and it’s after 30 mins in the car a/c when you get out, it really is like opening the door of an oven. Given the choice between how the weather here feels now and the bone aching cold, grey wet days I suffered in UK earlier this year - I’ll settle for t-shirt, shorts and ice in my Chang 😎😎

Today I learned that the jack I thought was in the car is missing. Yes I am angry but at least the discovery was made at home and not at the side of the road.

Simmering gently on the porch under a fan. Thermomothingy is reading 40.5 Phew what a scorcher🥵

Just arrived from LHR on EVA. Almost full in cattle class and not too painful but glad it’s over. A mouthful of red wine is what apparently passes as a glass and 1 out of the 2 meals was ok, the other shite. Landed at 3:30 and was outside smoking at 4:05. I didn’t check any bags so can’t comment on check-in or baggage claim at swampy. Immigration was a 2 min wait. Sat on Thaismile plane waiting to take off for Udon and it looks like it will be almost exactly 24 hours door to door travel time. Let the good times roll😃

Thats useful - thank you very much!

I am on the same time Eva flight from LHR next week and for the first time in years instead of staying a night in Bangkok before flying to Udon, I have booked the 18:00 flight up country on the same day. Might just change the domestic flight to the following day. So what time did you actually land at Swampy D? How long did it take to get through Immigration?

Mrs smiler has been saying it’s hit 40 for the last 5 days in the village. I am back next week…..

Yep I am the same in Thailand - really miss the real ale. Ironically I’ve been back in UK for 8 days and haven’t had a pint yet. Couple of bottles of red and that’s all however I’ve got some downtime this week and a evening in my local planned….

How long ago did you book if you don't mind me asking? My nephew has a similar price and departure date but they booked back in August.

I was due to come back from UK 15th of November but changed to the 29th, flying Thai. This was the return leg of the ticket I bought in July. Closer it gets to Christmas the more expensive flights are to Thailand so I had to pay an extra £100 (ish). Another expensive time of year is of course the 2-3 weeks before Songkran. I am looking at around 20k baht to fly over to the UK end of January, then 35k return end of March, again with Thai. The prices in 2nd week of April LHR - BKK are just stupid.

Sat in the bus station at Vientiane waiting for the bus to Friendship Bridge on the way back to Thailand.

Just got in after watching young Smiler play footy in a inter school tournament. They won but only after a tense penalty shoot out. FAF watching the 2 nuns who work at his dual faith school leaping about and screaming in celebration 🤣😇🙏😂

Buy in bulk at the weekly market in Ban Dung near Udon.