I have one really good friend that lives in Phuket, Thailand. I have known and been active friends with this person longer than anyone else in my adult life. We get along wonderfully and always have. We keep in touch although we haven't lived in the same city for a very long time at this point. He has come to see me once in Da Nang and this is now my 2nd time visiting him. We joke about hos I am "winning" now and he needs to step up his game.
I didn't really come to Phuket in order to enjoy Phuket. I think the island is a pretty wonderful place but just like Da Nang, the experience is often ruined by there just being too damn many people here. So things that tourists might be itching to do such as go and hang out on the beach and go do some other tourist stuff is something that I never really want to do. I hate crowds, I hate hunting for parking spots, I hate being harassed by vendors to spend money, and honestly, I don't particularly care for being in the sun for a prolonged period of time.
So when my old friend informed me that he had a co-worker/ friend that has their own pool and a bunch of cute dogs the choice was easy: Let's go do that!
This one is named "Khao pat" which means "fried rice" in Thai. The name seemed a bit silly until I met the other 2 buddies that also live here. Khao pat is the most attention-seeking of the 3, and before I left there was a point where he was sleeping on my lap and getting belly rubs.
This is "Khao Sueye" which means plain rice in Thai. Once learning the second name the first one just became a lot cuter. Khao Sueye is a bit more stand-offish and reluctant to approach and when I first arrived she was barking at me like I was an intruder. That's ok though, she is a Chihuahua and that is kind of their job, isn't it?
Last but certainly not least we have "Khao tom" which means "rice pudding" in Thai. The whole naming convention of having all of their names be a staple of the Thai food community is fantastic and the humor is definitely not lost on me.
It was really tough to get them all in one shot because when you approach them as a group the poodle and the beagle are always competing for attention and the Chihuahua gets aggravated at their running around and starts to bark. So I sat down and let them approach me one-by-one.
These dogs have a super luxury life. The house they live at is more like a sprawling compound with a rather massive garden, well for Phuket anyway, and virtually all aspects of their lives are air-conditioned. The person who owns this house and land is a very successful land and property-developer and has spared no expense as far as their home is concerned. The fact that I was greeted with a bottle of champagne instead of being offered some water or tea speaks volumes.
I am not a luxury kind of guy though, but it was appreciated. I was more thrilled about the 3 fluffy friends who were all around.
I don't normally play favorites with dogs but let me explain why Khao Pat was the one that I liked the most: "Pat" was cool with a stranger that was sitting with her human mom and would wait for you to beckon him before just jumping on you all the time. The beagle "Tom" was a little too eager for attention (which I gave him plenty of when I arrived) but just like when many dogs of this breed, there is no such thing as "enough" attention so he ended up getting told off by him human mom and made to go sit somewhere else. He also sheds a lot and well, after 11 years of having a dog that doesn't shed, this is something that kind of annoys me. Don't worry, Khao Tom got LOTS of belly rubs before I left.
It was just kind of tough to compete with Khao Pat who was the perfect blend of cute, calm, and not to mention, perfectly clean.
I was told by the owner that they have a groomer that comes by twice a week to keep the dogs in perfect order and let's just say that it was noticed by me.
The Chihuahua was adorable of course, but poor Khao Sueye has got the same characteristics of nearly every dog of this breed that I have ever met.
They tend to be quite untrusting of anything or anyone new, so sometimes so much as approaching them can put them on the defensive and then they go into a yapping session that wont end until the owner intervenes. I probably would have liked to get to know Khao Sueye a bit better but I wasn't going to be there long enough to really make this happen.
It is nice to see someone that is doing well in life have 3 wonderful doggy friends in their house though. I do love dogs, so this was a lot more fun than many of the other things that me and my friend have gone to do. It's a pity that because this island is so insane with traffic, that it is really unlikely that I will return to see these dogs again. I guess I am just glad I got to meet them at all