A few things.
A fellow living in the bungalow next to mine had a monkey pry open the screen door and get his six group of monkeys inside. The screen door shut and couldn’t be open from the inside. The monkeys then opened up everything they could in the room. If it wasn’t food they threw whatever they opened into the air. They even opened a package of contact cement with her teeth. Their teeth are very sharp by the way. After they trashed the room they proceeded to defecate on the bed and on the floor. When this fellow got back the monkeys ran out of the room and he spent a few hours cleaning up. So if you think monkeys are cute, come to Koh Chang, leave your door open and see what happens.
Last night my friend had his 70 something birthday party. He is known as the caterer of Koh Chang so of course there was tons of food prepared for everyone, taking him 10 days in preparation. Even though I had been in Thailand for about 10 years previously I never attended a birthday party for non-Thai people so I didn’t know what the appropriate process was. There were many nationalities last night so who knows what was considered traditional. My friend has a bistro so the situation was a little different. We purchased our drinks and ate from the buffet and talked to people we knew. It was very quiet and well organized. I have been to more than 100 Thai birthday parties so I know those traditions. You could bring your own bottle if you wanted but pretty much everything was provided by the birthday boy or a girl. A money necklace is hung around the birthday person and people take out paper money and staple it to the necklace or the paper money hanging from the necklace. There is often dancing and very loud celebration. People get very drunk and going home without having an accident. The last time I attended was last week. They had a video screen, very large, and people dressed up for cabaret dancing. If you are ever invited to a birthday party in Thailand it’s a good idea to ask what is expected and what you should bring.
