2nd overseas birthday

(Written March 1)
I'm back in Ayuthaya again, staying with the wonderful Thai family that I met the first time I was here (back in January). It's been one of those doing-nothing-is-still-doing-something experiences. Gift, Beau, and their mother, Jane (my Thai mama!) have been wonderful to spend time with, as I'd remembered from the last visit. On day one (3 days ago), Gift said that she wanted to take advantage of her brief holiday (she's just graduated high school, and Beau will be done this weekend) by going to the beach. After a significant amount of discussion and planning (I almost gave up on the whole idea), it was agreed that I would go with Gift and Ying, a family friend, to Pattaya for a two day, one night trip. There really isn't much good to say about Pattaya, except that it's one of those places worth seeing once. I think Gift and Ying were entertained by the fact that nearly every single Thai girl we walked by said something to me to try and get my business ("Hi handsome", "Where you go?", "You come alone?"). There was no sign of the usual Thai conservative culture, and interestingly it's the only place I've been in Thailand where you have to search to find pictures of the king. Maybe this is one place where the locals don't want to be seen by the king, or vice versa. The place is a bit like Las Vegas combined with Miami beach, with a healthy dose of sleaziness mixed in. There are no Thai men, only fat, greasy farang with beautiful young Thai women hanging on their arms. This would be fine, except the men have a look of greedy pride on their faces that suggests they've done well to purchase this girl, and the Thai women put on a hopelessly cheerful act of being overjoyed at being on the arm of this guy, yet when he looks away they have the most pained look on their faces. Whether it's from boredom or depression, I don't know. Maybe shame.
While Pattaya itself left little to be desired, I had a really great time with Gift and Ying. I pretended to be married to Ying and the father of Gift in order to protect myself from the local girls' attention. It didn't really work, but it was good for a laugh between the three of us.
Upon returning to Ayuthaya yesterday, I've just spent time at the two businesses that the family has (bike rental, bike rental plus guesthouse) with them. We watched some futbol (okay, I watched and they laughed at my complete absorption in the game), had some fruit shakes, ate yummy Thai food (note: if a Thai person says these peppers are not spicy, don't believe it!), and joked around. I offered Gift some business ideas for her to earn money to travel to Italy or Australia sooner, but for some reason she rejected them all. Juggling oranges in the street and singing, "Rent a bike, rent a bike, rent a bike heeeeeere!" sounds like a great business plan. I don't know why she didn't like that one.
Anyhow, I was surprised and honoured when Jane (mama) told me that I am a "good boy" and that I should come back to Ayuthaya someday to live and work with them. I would love to do it. After all, khon thai khawp (I am Thai)!
It's been a great birthday.