In the Navy

In my last gloomy blog, I wished the scenery where I work was that of coconut trees and the sea. Well, whatever that is up there floating entities (God, Buddha, Allah, Chinese flying fairies, blue elephant like God etc) has their own wicked ways of twisting and making things come true in partial portions. I landed a project in the Navy.


If you say Navy, like how we say it (nae–v), Thais have no idea WTF you are talking about. They pronounce it na-v. Sattahip is a weird place. The whole district of about 300 square KM is military controlled. Almost every shop be it restaurants or karaoke is run by a military personnel. I go to the sea every morning to have my breakfast and let my eyes feast on the mountains and the sea. I could see the bottom of the sea and the fishes two meters deep. I consider these clear waters.

During my many nights with the bunch of admirals, commanders and captains, we talked many. Submarines, Singapore have, so Thailand must have. Asked if they fear some Singapore submarine is now lurking just off the sea planning a hostile takeover of all karaoke business, they said what they do not know, they do not fear. So, Singapore subs can linger all they want around the sea and land themselves whenever, to enjoy THB$700 per shot Pattaya girls. Fact: During joint naval exercises with Singapore, Pattaya is a must stop, with the Thai officers leading the group of Singapore island color wolves deprived. THB$700 prices… pop till they drop.

THB$700!! I don’t believe. So in the middle of the night, they bought us through a discreet alley that lead to the sea. This is no Pattaya but in Sattahip and the prices only go lower. And oh yeah, true enough discreetly over the sea, end of the discreet alley, we found a discreet fish tank business. The discreet price for foreigners like me is THB$1,000 but hey, for the locals its THB$500. Still not believing my ears, I sent my solider (technician) into war, sponsored. Yipee-yay-yea. Its true but the discreet session was only a discreet 30 minutes. To top the discreet charts, was that he had to take a cable car from the chicken coop to the rooms. The short ride over the sea cost another THB$20 return. Incredible…. Amazing Discreet Thailand.