Helpfully our mid-way point in our placements coincides with the end of Bhuddist Lent respected with a four day weekend more locally known as the long weekend. As a pre-holiday treat P'Bee has bought tickets to Da Endorphine, a famous Thai pop-singer gracing Chumphon with her presence for the night.
It's a school night and the concert is set to start at 11pm. I stifle my yawns as we drive through the darkening streets of Chumphon. A slight miscommunication means that I'm wearing the dress I'd packed for the next day of teaching, not a great look for a pop concert. But I take comfort in the fact that it's dark and it's not likely I'm going to see anyone I know. Pulling up outside the one and only club in Chumphon near to the railway station the streets are buzzing with a mix of sleepy looking tourists bound for the Southern islands and Da Endorphine fans dressed in tight skinny jeans, sequined dresses and mini skirts sipping drinks at the cafe opposite. We join the fans and momentarily I think the small china cups might mean a taste of some intense Thai liquor. What actually arrives for our Thai pre-drinks is a tea pot of hot water and a side order of hot milk and sugar.
Warmed and sleepy we wonder into the darkened venue packed out with locals. Waitresses wander around in underwear, lady-boys flit between the bars and two large television screens play out a mix of American fashion shows and British football. Ecclectic to say the least. But it's worth it. When Da Endorphine arrives (an hour late) she's an incredible show-girl, strutting in high heels and and leather leggings from one side of the stage to the other while her adoring fans reach up to touch her hands. Asides from not being able to understand anything she's singing about, asides from wearing the wrong clothes and feeling a lot less glamourous than the surrounding lady boys, sipping WKDs with P'Om and P'Bee I feel like I've been accepted into the popular crowd at school and I realise how much I'm going to miss them as I set off on my long weekend travels to Koh Samui.
It's a school night and the concert is set to start at 11pm. I stifle my yawns as we drive through the darkening streets of Chumphon. A slight miscommunication means that I'm wearing the dress I'd packed for the next day of teaching, not a great look for a pop concert. But I take comfort in the fact that it's dark and it's not likely I'm going to see anyone I know. Pulling up outside the one and only club in Chumphon near to the railway station the streets are buzzing with a mix of sleepy looking tourists bound for the Southern islands and Da Endorphine fans dressed in tight skinny jeans, sequined dresses and mini skirts sipping drinks at the cafe opposite. We join the fans and momentarily I think the small china cups might mean a taste of some intense Thai liquor. What actually arrives for our Thai pre-drinks is a tea pot of hot water and a side order of hot milk and sugar.
Warmed and sleepy we wonder into the darkened venue packed out with locals. Waitresses wander around in underwear, lady-boys flit between the bars and two large television screens play out a mix of American fashion shows and British football. Ecclectic to say the least. But it's worth it. When Da Endorphine arrives (an hour late) she's an incredible show-girl, strutting in high heels and and leather leggings from one side of the stage to the other while her adoring fans reach up to touch her hands. Asides from not being able to understand anything she's singing about, asides from wearing the wrong clothes and feeling a lot less glamourous than the surrounding lady boys, sipping WKDs with P'Om and P'Bee I feel like I've been accepted into the popular crowd at school and I realise how much I'm going to miss them as I set off on my long weekend travels to Koh Samui.