Andy Chatman’s Thailand Adventure

True to our family form, my cousin is a dog lover. However he has gone a different direction than sweet, cuddly golden retrievers. Several years ago Ray Johns, the USAF General, gave Mike a Malinois. The breed had been taking over guard duties around the world from German Shephards and Rottweilers. Mike fell in love with the dog, and decided that he wanted to breed them in Thailand. So Mike built a kennel, Siam Crown, on his river property, hired one of the best trainers in the world, Bert Kikkert, and started breeding. 6 litters later his kennel is home to world champions and prize winning Malinois. More recently he added a second breed, Dutch Shephard (Dutchy). There are only about 900 in the world, and there were none in Asia.

The other day when I showed up at Mike’s apartment, there were two dogs there: Lucky, a 4 year old Dutchy, and Elvis, a Malinois puppy. The pup was cute, and Lucky was like a huge lapdog. Of course after Mike told me exactly what the breed does, I wondered whether he was licking me or tasting me. But in reality I not only had no fear of this dog, I immediately fell in love with him.

Then this afternoon Bert led Lucky and 3 Malinois through training exercises on the grounds. Holy crap! These dogs are incredibly well trained, and more impressively they are good at what they’re trained to do — guard. They guard people and packages. They escort bad guys. They retrieve tossed-away drugs, bullets, whatever. They perform swimming rescues. The training is the type of protection training that I always imagined it would be — a guy wearing a huge protective suit and a scary dog with its teeth wrapped around the guy’s arm or leg. Below are a few photos. Mike said he’d love to send a puppy home for me. I’m not so sure.

Additional note: I just spent Saturday again with the dogs. 4 pups were sold today (it’s a full-fledged breeding kennel). I’m not sure that the people who bought the dogs are completely aware of what they are getting. I have a great deal of respect for these dogs and the training and I am comfortable around the dogs that have been identified as “house friendly.”

Lucky the loveable lap dog.

Lucky at work

Malinois tearing an arm off

Airborne

The first two things you notice about the Chaisri River are 1) it is filled with floating water hyacinth, and 2) the direction of the current changes through the day coinciding with the tides. The river cuts through the the area of Thailand that was historically the center of Buddhism. As we traveled by motorboat, we saw many of the 100+ Temples lining both sides of the river, as well as many boats filled with Thai tourists there to connect with their Buddhist roots. Motor boats must slow to no wake as they pass temples, so our two hour trip was a constant shift from high to low speeds. Each morning I noticed boatloads of monks dressed in orange robes boating along the river seeking food donations from those who live along the shore.

There were areas where navigating through the thick patches of water hyacinth required puzzle-solving capability. Most of the homes along the river are not just modest, but often in terrible disrepair. These homes are passed down through generations of poor Thai families, who hold on to the properties rather than sell to wealthier locals and foreigners seeking prime waterfront property. Many of these families sustain themselves by cutting various fruits and vegetables, and transporting them to the numerous restaurants along the river where they sell their goods to the dining patrons right over the rail as they eat.

We boated about 45 minutes and reached one of the largest water markets in Thailand. The market is an expansive combination of docks and boats, some covered some not, filled with many hundreds of small booths selling every fruit, vegetable and food known to man. Clothing, fabrics and even electronics and games were also for sale. We purchased some interesting fruits and cakes for the ride back. On the way back we pulled up to a coconut-ice cream stand which was in reality two boats anchored in the river.

The two hour boat ride was fascinating, and a nice glimpse into traditional life along a Thai river. I couldn’t help but think that this is the type of place that Rambo spent his later years.

One of the the 100+ Buddhist Temples lining the river

Water hyacinth is thick in the river at points

Lek and Lucky

Modest and decaying homes line the river

Locals harvest fruits and vegetables to sell along the river

The water market goes on for many blocks, selling everything imaginable

The locals sell their harvest over the railings of restaurant-boats

We just got back from 2 days in Pattaya on Mike’s boat, the Jantana. Pattaya is a waterfront city about a 2 hour drive SE of Bangkok. It’s a very seedy place, a stronghold of the Russian mafia and a good place to look if you need some penicillin. It can be a very dangerous place to be if you’re not careful. We didn’t have to worry about that.

Upon arrival in Pattaya we had a quick lunch outdoors at the Hard Rock on the beach, then drove another 15 minutes to the Marina. The boat is docked at the furthest point from the marina entrance. It is an 88 foot Sun Seeker Manhattan 84 (Sunseeker made 10 84’s, two of which were 88 feet). It’s difficult to describe what an 88 foot boat is like but I’ll try. The boat is maintained by a full time crew of 4 (Captain, 2 mates, cook). There are outdoor seating/eating areas on both the main and upper decks, there is a jacuzzi upstairs, there are several cushioned sun decks. A rigid inflatable can be lowered by built-in crane for use in reaching land from where you are anchored. One jet ski sits on the back of the boat (the entire back portion of the boat hydraulically lowers to launch the ski), a second is towed along. The inside has a master bedroom, 3 guest rooms and 2 crew quarters on the lower floor. The main cabin is divided into two areas: a living room complete w/ satellite tv and a sitting/dining area. There is a secondary bridge here too. But the captain pilots the boat from the primary bridge on the upper deck, next to yet another large sitting/dining area.

We remained docked Saturday and used the jet skis to check out the area. The jet skis are SeaDoo supercharged 255 horsepower monsters. One has a stabilization system built in, but the other one is the fun one. On Saturday I took it easy, as the machines can be dangerous at the speeds they’re capable of. I’ve never jet skied in salt water before, it was a blast.

We were joined by Rom and Prow, Lek’s relatives who live in the same building in Bangkok. It was Prow’s bday party I attended on Friday the 13th, she is a sweet girl and Rom is a very nice person. After dinner on the boat we hung out and fell asleep pretty early. I woke up at 5:30am, and found Mike already awake. The two of us caught a very bright International Space Station pass directly overhead at 5:40am, then waited until Lek and Bert woke up. We had breakfast while waiting for Bert’s family to arrive from Holland. They got to the boat at 10am and we immediately left the marina. We were headed for an island owned by the Thai army, which Mike often uses as a private beach. It was a 35 minute 20-mile boat ride. We anchored in a cove several hundred yards from the beach, and began 6 hours of water play. I was getting the jet ski up to 66 mph on some very quiet water (I’m pretty sore now from getting thrown around). Bert’s family spent a lot of time on the jet skis and in the water. A tent was set up for us on the beach, and the crew drove us back and forth in the inflatable (although I swam it a few times too). I spent about an hour snorkeling around an absolutely gorgeous reef filled with tons of live corals, anemones, various angel fish (and others) and a zillion sea urchins. I would have done this longer but I was worried about my back burning. We did a lot of swimming in the warm blue-green waters. Lucky the dog learned how to jet ski and had a blast playing fetch from the beach into the water. Lunch on the boat was mostly various seafoods including crab, lobster, fish and more.

At 4:30 we packed up and headed back to Bangkok, had dinner, and now I’m looking forward to a long sleep!! Tomorrow I don’t have much planned. I have some work to finish and then I’ll probably look around Bangkok with Bert’s family in the afternoon.

Jetskiing at the marina

Approaching the beach

Lowering the inflatable

The Flying Kikkerts

Bert and his daughter Michela

88' Sun Seeker Manhatan 84

Mike and Lucky

Lunch

With Bert on the beach

So far my final weekend has been spent back at the river. I’m glad I got to come back here, it’s a special and beautiful place. Part home, part resort, part dog kennel. From hour to hour the role of the property changes and it becomes interesting in different ways.

This afternoon Mike and I balanced his magnificent TMB180 refractor on the Takahashi mount, and had hoped to use the telescope tonight. But late in the afternoon some clouds rolled in. While later in the evening the zenith became clear, we had no view of Polaris (very low in the sky at this latitude) to align the scope. So this is something for the next trip.

Bert and his family are leaving this weekend, so Lek and Mike threw Bert a going away party, which included the entire staff as guests. We ate outdoors on the patio (I can’t really find another word for it, but patio doesn’t do it justice). It was cute at the end of the night, I had mentioned that I liked being called “Sir Andy” by Nini, one of Lek’s staff from the Phillipines, and Bert’s daughter didn’t understand why I liked it. So I told her the story of King Arthur and his Knights, a story she had never heard in Holland.

Today I spent a lot of time with Elan, daughter of Donna and Cartouche. I’d been considering Mike’s offer from 2 weeks ago to take home one of his Malinois puppies, and now after spending so much time watching the dogs and understanding the breed I have decided to bring Elan back. Actually Mike is sending it soon. I think Arleigh and Monty will like her. At least I hope so!!

So tomorrow (Saturday) back to Bangkok for the rest of the weekend, and this time no more trip extensions, I head home Monday. Still two days of adventure left and I’m looking forward to every minute!

Meet Elan! She's going to live with me

A portion of the outdoor party area

A toast to Bert!

The Siam Crown team and Samphran staff

Late night last night, trying to send out several important emails. The Internet connection here at the River is almost nonexistent, and it took about 90 minutes to do 5 minutes of work. Ughhh.

My last dog training session this morning, and I got a chance to see my pup’s mother, Donna, at work. We’re packed up and ready to head back to Bangkok.

Donna, mother of Elan