How to get from the Aichkol Hospital to the Chon Inter hotel
So I went to visit some friends at the hospital, I had met them at the hotel at breakfast and visited once before, but couldn’t talk much because it was dozy time… I was very keen to visit again because they’re nice and we have a few things in common and it’s nice to talk to people. The hotel is boring.
The woman I visited is a blogger; her blog is a great detailed log of her surgery experience and is at at https://lifesexperimentblog.wordpress.com/ so like if you want to read more about what it is actually like and not just the kind of stream-of-consciousness stuff and pretty much useless stuff that I write check it out.
And she and her partner were snuggling there on the hospital bed and I took their photo but it was on their phone so I can’t overshare it LOL - not my business to overshare that anyway. But they’re really sweet and we had a nice chat.
After that I visited the other patients in 904 (for a fair while) and 901 (very briefly as I had to get back to the hotel for some quality duty time).
Step 2. Observe the time. you need to dilate doncha.
However, I wanted to eat lunch first so I wandered out of the hospital and ate som tam (papaya salad) at a little eatery next to the hospital. It was yummy! It came with a side salad with cucumber and stuff and it has ice on top to keep it fresh. Argh! Ice! Avoid the ice. Like street food in Thailand normally won’t get you sick but the ice can if it is made out of tap water (do not drink the tap water). I considered not eating the salad but I just brushed the ice of it and ate it. I told myself that if I did get food poisoning then at least the next few days at the hotel would be more interesting.
Step 3. Get misgendered? Maybe? Who cares right?
I’m not that grumpy about this but the waiter at the eatery called me sir when I left. Yep, I got sirred. Still happens. I said thanks and bye and ka with heavy emphasis on the kaaaaaaa and walked off. It may just be a cultural thing. They know exactly what the score is and sir is still the word you use? I dunno. Like I mentioned that it helps to be polite and cool headed with Thai people right?
Step 4. get lost in Asia.
This is the point in your story where you go back to the hospital and ring the hotel to come get you so you can go back to the hotel. Right? Right. Probably wise, and I did tell myself that that was the wise thing to do. But I asked myself, are you wise, Heya? And the answer was nope. So instead I buys an ice block and wanders off looking for a tuk-tuk or something. Not a motorcycle taxi, even I am not that brave.
I walked for quite a way, and I realised I was dreadfully lost, although I saw a sign saying in English welcome to Chonburi prefecture. So I knew I was going in the right direction at least. Chonburi prefecture is the main town part of Chonburi province, I guess.
I came to an intersection. I had no idea. Pro-tip: make sure your phone is outta batteries before you do this and no backup. With a smartphone this kinda thing just gets way too easy.
I cross the road. It didn’t really help, I realised: it was still the same damn intersection. But then these three schoolgirls cross over near me. I had the slip of paper that says I want to go to central plaza right, so I showed them it and they understood. They conferred together and they were looking around in different directions so i was confused. I had expected them to just point down one of the streets and go “it’s that way” or whatever, but instead they nodded to me and started off down the street fairly fast. Follow. So I follows as fast as I can and I’m thinking , “okay this doesn’t seem weird” and like motorcycle taxi is slowing down and we’re all like nope and he waves and I’m like “yeah this definitely doesn’t look weird.” It’s not weird, okay? It’s fine. I just know how transphobic people think is all. You kinda need to be able to think of how you look like to survive back home when you’re out and full time and barely or not even passing. It looks like I am following them. Like I can barely keep up with them, I’m still not up to a really fast walk, I’m pacing myself okay?.
One of them had her phone out and was making a call. I realised she had called one of those kinda truck taxis that Thai people ride around in, because one pulled up and they gestured me to get in. Then they turned around and went back the way they had been going, yep they went out of their way to help me out. I was so grateful. Thanks three random Thai girls you saved me from, whatever other adventure i would have had today. Maybe you saved my life. Probably I would have just walked down one of the random streets until I found a different person to annoy and shown them the bit of paper.
So I rides in the taxi thing and I note that you can ring them, there’s a number I forgot to take note of, and someone presses a bell on top and gets out. The truck continues, and soon we are in shopping town where there are jewellery shops and clothes shops and thai silk stores all over the place. Where the hell are we? I showed the paper to another passenger and she manages to tell me that I had gone too far. I had to turn around. So I pressed the buzzer and when the driver stopped I paid him. It was 15 baht.
I thanked the woman for her help and wandered off in the correct direction again…
Okay fuck this, I need to dilate soon where’s a tuk-tuk. I asked someone (just the last bit) and they pointed, sure enough there was a tuk tuk stop nearby.
If you want a tuk-tuk you wander up to them and seem interested. Then someone asks you “you want tuk-tuk?” So you show them the bit of paper that says, in Thai, “I want to go to the chon inter hotel”. They go, yep. You negotiate a fare before you get in. He said 60 baht and that seemed okay to me at this point so I gets in. Tuk-tuks are fun.
He got me back to the hotel safely and I did my duty. And that’s it! That is how you or rather I, would get back from the hospital to the hotel. But it also helps if you’ve been in Thailand before, speak a little bit of the language, are extremely polite, understand your boundaries, feel like pushing your boundaries a little bit, have no shame, and also I wouldn’t recommend doing this kind of thing less than two weeks post-op (I’m 16 days. ymmv).
You made it: now quality time with your Thai girlfriends, or whatever you call your dilator set.
Also the som tam was delicious and I would have liked to try the gai yang (barbecued chicken) too but didn’t feel like a large meal, and I haven’t worked out where to buy som tam anywhere else yet.
pixelskylines
kianamaiart
amandla
gracieabrams
gamechangershow
ellievsbear
izzy806
gummygunk
blakekathryn
