Living Like a Thai Day 19

During the day of the 19th I pretty much stayed in and ate what I had on hand although I knew I was going out tonight to return my friend Nut’s camera and as luck would have it she owns my local haunt and Sunday night is free food night

I headed to the bar at 10pm and ran into nut sitting out front, so, I pulled up a stool and sat down…no sooner had I done so I hear the distinct chime of a bell coming from inside. For those of you that don’t know: there is a bell in every bar in Pattaya no matter how large or how small and when a customer rings said bell they have effectively bought everyone in the bar a drink. Some bars have 2 bells where one is just to buy all the ladies working at said bar a drink.

I’ve never understood the bell ringer mentality. Some bars have huge mirrored walls where the bell ringer gets his name added to the bell ringing hall of fame but most places just put a large receipt in your checkbin for you to look at in the future and cry. It’s not that I’m a tightwad or anything as I have always bought my fair share of rounds for friends…but I’ll be damned if I’m buying drinks for a bunch of people I don’t even know. The only thing a bell ringer succeeds in is letting the bar know they have a good wallet and possibly short on brains.

I wonder how it would go over if the next time a bell was rung in my vicinity I asked for the monetary value of the drink instead of the drink itself. 

Note: For those of you who are uninitiated,  you have probably noticed that at the end of the bells rope is a phallic symbol, or as Catherine would say “A Cock” Even though Pattaya is known as Sin City the phallic symbol is actually related to Buddhism and not sex. The phallic symbol or Pallad Khik as it is known in Thailand is actually descended from Hinduism and represents the business owner inviting in good business and prosperity. Although, it does make a great conversation piece and another reason I will never ring the bell.

Back to the day at hand. Seeing as I had a free drink coming my way from someone I didn’t know and would never meet I ordered a Jack Coke and settled in. I also availed myself of some free food made available to all at happy hour which consisted of both Western and Thai fare. I couldn’t resist a little Hawaiian pizza and Tom Yung Goong ( spicy shrimp soup ). After I ate and sipped my drink down I did the unthinkable…I said my goodnight’s and headed back to the condo.

In another stroke of good fortune or bad luck as it were,  my aircon in the bedroom died…while it will suck for a day or two it will save me some money or electric this month and I need to save some budget money.

Living Like a Thai Day 19 Expenditures

ZERO ZIP ZILCH NADA

Living Like a Thai Day 20

I wish I had great news to report today or at least less boring news but today was another day spent around the condo not spending money because as you can see my laundry bill came today and at 210 baht ( $7.15 ) it’s a good thing I spent a few days living frugally although I still managed a little time out to cure my boredom.

The next few days should test my frugalness as a good friend is having a party Tuesday Night which means free food and plans are under way for a July 1st election day cruise and Party to celebrate the end of the Living Like a Thai experiment

Living Like a Thai Day 20 Expenditures