johnsunter.com - The adventures of an ordinary person...

Bellow are some pictures of Franks life in Thailand, but this is a picture of his recent marriage to Na.

Lots of guests. I was pleased to see Matt and Anne, 2 of Franks friends who made me so welcome, during my visit to Thailand.

Andy was also there with his new girlfriend (well, new to me) and a couple of teachers from Franks School.

I couldn't see Lek anywhere ?.

A few of you have asked how Frank is doing in Thailand where he has now lived for more than 2 years.

He has sent regular pictures over, but recently I was able to go over and visit him.

This is a picture of Franks Condo, which he shares with his then Fiance, now wife Na.

This a picture of Frank and Na on Na's birthday enjoying a drink.

Frank pointed out to me, that its actually cheaper to eat out, across the street from his house, than it is to cook at home.

I really did enjoy meeting Na. She was polite and friendly and helpful all the time. Frank is really lucky to have her.

There is a Buddhist temple near to his Condo.

One evening, we went to visit it it for the ceremony (Na and Franks friend Matts girlfriend, Anne, are both obviously Buddhist).

In the background of the picture, you can see the Condo where he lives.

Anyone with thoughts that Frank is roughing it over there, will be in for a surprise.

The condo has 24 hour private security, a pool and all sorts of other benefits.

Frank has private healthcare provided by his employer and once married, he and Na and any Children they have would be covered by the same insurance. They would have to pay to privately educate their first child, but any children after that would benefit from an exclusive education effectively for free.

Add to that, that its sunny all of the time, and you have a quality of life superior to the average man in the street in the UK.

It should be said though, that Frank works very hard to maintain this lifestyle (he is up each morning at 5:20am).

Frank working on his laptop.

When I got there, he was using the old one, and had never been able to get his newer laptop to work.

A couple of hours work, and I got it going (I didn't go on holiday, intending to work, but he's my best friend, and the faster/more reliable the laptop, the faster/more reliable the emails I get.)

The view from Franks Balcony.

The river runs into the centre of Bangkok in one direction, and in the other, runs all the way to Cambodia.

The boat station right next to Franks Condo where the River Taxi's go into town.

He takes this boat to work each morning (it avoids to the congestion on the road.

I had the chance to travel on the boat. To be honest, I think I romanticised it a bit, thinking of this slow gentle boat trip into town and how relaxing it would be.

In reality people are packed onto it, pushing this way and that, and the engine and gear box make a sound like an animal in pain !.

Frank works at St John's Catholic School.

He originally worked for English first in the UK (when we returned from our first trip around the world) and he was involved in placing English teachers in work around the world.

It was these contacts that enabled him to get a job in Thailand straight away.

Na is self employed, and works selling mobile phones (I don't know mobiles as well as I should, but when I asked her a few questions about a particular phone, she knew everything about it).

Na's friend Lek also has a mobile phone shop as well. We popped into the shop, while we were wandering around Bangkok.

Confident 20 something girls who are self employed. Why don't we have more people like that in the UK ?.

This is a picture of Frank and Na on Na's birthday.

On the left of the picture, is John Patrick, his wife Ta and their daughter Taew. He is a great mate of Frank's and helped him out a lot when he first arrived.

Unfortunately, I never got to meet up with him while I was away. Hopefully I will get to see him the next time i'm over there visiting.

We go out for the evening

On my left is Franks mate Matt, a brilliant guy, originally from America. He drove us around Bangkok, you can watch a video of it here.

On my right is Anne (Matts girlfriend). I really liked her, she didn't speak a word of English, but you were never in any doubt, what she was thinking, or what she wanted.

Frank's life in Thailand.