The Thai Visa Party, Tuskers Bar, Chiang Mai

The plan was to go along and snap the hordes of local farang members of the Thaivisa forum en flagrant delit - but it was not to be. Firstly, there was not a whole lot of flagrant delit going on. It was more like a staid over 40s (or 50s, if everyone was being honest) party, with hip music to pretend to ourselves that we're quite cool really. Boogieing would have been quite dangerous I reckon, resulting in multiple slipped discs, dislocated joints, and ACL injuries. So perhaps it's a good job that the entire motley crew remained seated for the entire evening - except when they needed to stagger to the bar for another beer. On the other hand, a series of mishaps would have been good publicity for another of the night's sponsors, AAInsure. Secondly... well I'll get to that in a minute.


The 6th Thaivisa anniversary party was being held on Saturday night, November 8th, at the premises of one of its sponsors; the Tuskers Bar in Chiang Mai. For those who haven't heard of www.thaivisa.com, it's the ultimate English language online oracle on all things Thai, with thousands - tens of thousands even (65,997 at the last count) - of members; a sizeable percentage of whom claim to be expats, resident in the Kingdom of Thailand. They are a mixed bunch with- let's face it - little in common, other than a shared choice of abode far away from their place of birth, mostly Anglo-Saxon origins, and a similar age bracket going by tonight's showing (ranging from greying, to grey, to white, with a few bald pates thrown in).

Somewhere around a hundred and fifty members and guests had turned up, tempted by the free buffet and beer, prize draws, and - well - even more free beer. After a while it was apparent that no flash bulbs were going off, so I innocently asked the question of Chas, Tuskers owner. "Oh no, not possible," was the immediate answer, even though he would have loved the publicity. "Especially after Phuket". I paused for a second, but none the wiser, had to ask for clarification. "Phuket?" It seems that at the last Thaivisa party, photos had been taken, which appeared the very next day in the local English language paper. Still struggling to understand, I pushed a little harder. "And?" Well, he said, Chiang Mai may not be Phuket, but at the do down south there were all manner of ructions when the press got hold of the photos. All those members turning up with their mia nois (minor wives), then their wives finding out...

So, sadly, no photos folks. Looking around the gathering though, most there didn't really seem the type for mia nois, or capable even, but appearances can deceive. Or perhaps there's something in the sea air of Phuket...

Pleasant farang company all the same, and a big effort by all the organisers (special thanks to Chas and Rachel of Tuskers). We sat and put the world to rights while knocking back a small beer an hour, until it was past our bedtimes; whereupon we made various transparently false excuses to leave (most of us well before midnight). If truth be known, we had probably promised our mia luangs (they who must be obeyed) that we would only be out for a couple of hours, ching ching (really), just to say hello, and would be back in time to take the dog for a walk ...

Strolled past Spicy's (the most infamous club haunt in town) on my way home - hell, it hadn't even opened yet, and I was already thinking I needed my bed.

So the best I can do to close is an entirely uncontroversial photo of one of the fountains by the moat wall snapped on my way to the party. Sorry folks, no scandal tonight...