Gifts for Children of Border Police School Nr Pala-U

[migrant]

Big Boy,

You deserve a commendation too, bringing this all about!

[Big Boy]

As an update to this thread:

Donations received to date are 26,720 Baht. I have further pledges totalling 19,300 Baht which I expect to receive between Christmas and the New Year, and there are three mystery pledges (amounts unknown), which is also expected between Christmas and the New Year.

You're doing brilliantly guys - give yourselves a huge pat on the back. This is going way beyond my expectations.

I think it's about time for an update. Total donated by the very generous members of this forum to date is a massive 63,880 Baht.

Mrs BB and I will be sitting down next week with our neighbour, who is a school trustee, to draw up a wish list for when we travel to Bobae Market on 13/14 Jan'15. This list will detail important things such as sizes etc. Obviously with kids ranging from 3/4 years to 11 years old, it isn't a case of one size fits all. First priority will be socks, closely followed by underwear. We will also be finding out what to spend any excess funds on (I don't want to hand over cash - this money is for the kids).

I personally hate shopping, but I must admit, this is probably the first shopping trip ever that I've been excited about. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as though Ginjaninja will be able to make the trip as our quality manager

It also looks as though we're going to have quite a few forum members travelling to the school on 29 Jan'15, which I hope they all enjoy as much I do. We've probably got a couple of spare seats if anybody else would like to come along on the day - let me know, and I will try to fit you in. I will contact people during the week leading up to 29 Jan to finalise times, meeting points and travel arrangements.

Another BIG WELL DONE GUYS

[daio]

hi bb will be in hua hin on 9 10 11 12 jan.will be happy to donate enought for a 100 pairs of socks.if you could tell me where to drop the money off will be happy to do so.

[Big Boy]

That is very kind of you daio. If you PM me when you arrive, we can make arrangements.

[daio]

ok

[Big Boy]

We are off to Bangkok tomorrow with 68,930 Baht in Mrs BB's purse to spend on the kids at Pala U school. This has been a really fantastic effort guys thank you very much.

I will post again either Wednesday or Thursday with the results of our shopping.

[huahinjim]

We are off to Bangkok tomorrow with 68,930 Baht in Mrs BB's purse to spend on the kids at Pala U school. This has been a really fantastic effort guys thank you very much.

I will post again either Wednesday or Thursday with the results of our shopping.

Well done BB and Mrs BB. Great to see the response from members

[Big Boy]

I was looking forward to my shopping spree. There was one big problem - the 2 biggest hates in my life are Bangkok and shopping.

Before we set off, a late benefactor contacted me asking for bank details to enable him to round the sum donated up to a nice round 75,000 Baht. I received confirmation of the transaction as I driving just north of Petchaburi.

Anyway, we started the day off well. We left home at 08:15 and headed to Morning Bread for breakfast. Fully fueled by a delicious breakfast, Mrs BB and I set off for Bangkok at 09:00.

The journey to Bangkok was quite quiet, with fairly light traffic. The only highlight was the suicide police squads desperately trying to stop traffic. I remember a while back, somebody asking why so many hog the outside lane? I think I may have discovered one explanation. There were groups of police with clip boards on the roadside desperate to stop vehicles (not your usual police check). They were literally running into the 2 inside lanes trying to get vehicles to stop. If it wasn't so dangerous, I would class it as one of the funniest things I've seen since moving to Thailand. Very few stopped for them, and watching the police diving for safety was hilarious. However, getting back to my point - I didn't once see them get to the outside lane before dashing back again. There were 3 suicide squads on duty Tuesday morning. Coming back yesterday afternoon, I only noticed one squad on the other carriageway.

We arrived at our hotel, The Prince Palace just before 13:00. I had chosen this hotel after a bit of research on Bobae Market. It was all one huge building - floors 1 to 10 were the market, and floors 11 to 32 were the hotel.

The Prince Palace Hotel

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The inbuilt car park was a 10 floor nightmare, with hotel parking on floors 7 to 10. It had obviously been designed with saloon cars in mind. That coupled with Thai car parking philosophy (park where ever you stop), negotiating a Ford Ranger to floor 10 was difficult to say the least. Putting it as nicely as I can, Mrs BB was crapping herself.

For only 1,500 Baht, including breakfast (which was excellent) this hotel was very good. I booked it because of it's proximity to the market, but was a little dubious when I read the last refurbishment was 9 years ago. I couldn't find one thing wrong with the hotel.

The views from our 29th floor room were great.

Room view

The rooftop poolside restaurant wasn't bad either.

Rooftop restaurant

Everything at this hotel was good, with the exception of drinks, which were the most expensive I'd encountered in Thailand.

the most expensive drinks I'd encountered in Thailand.

Mrs BB had a bottle of water with her evening meal, which would cost 7 Baht at 7-11. She was charged 75 Baht. Mind you, although bemusing, the service was incredible. Waiter 1 brought a glass. Waiter 2 brought a bottle of water. Waiter 3 brought a straw. Waiter 4 opened the bottle and poured the water. Waiter 5 took the paper off the straw, and placed the straw into the glass. Mrs B had to drink the water unaided. Anyway, I digress.................

Once settled into our room, we went shopping. We caught the lift to the ground floor, walked out of the hotel entrance and straight into the market entrance.

Hotel entrance

Market entrance

Then we entered the 3D maze. 10 floors of market, with every nook and cranny looking the previous/next nook and cranny.

The market

The market

The market

The market

The market

The market

Every purchase resulted in 2 HUGE carrier bags, which weighed best part of a cwt each. I had to carry these through the maze, back to our hotel room each time. I call it a maze because Mrs BB led the way, and managed to get us lost every time.

By the time we'd finished, our bedroom didn't look so clean and tidy.

By the time we'd finished, our bedroom didn't look so clean and tidy.

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We were able to enlist a little help to get the gear to the car.

We were able to enlist a little help

A loaded car

While there, we spent:

Socks (84 dozen pairs) - 22,900 Baht

Underwear (loads of it - can't be bothered to list breakdown. If anybody needs it, I can provide a full breakdown) - 15,480 Baht

T Shirts (260) - 23,960 Baht

Total spent to date - 62,340 Baht, leaving a balance of 12,660 Baht

Totally shopped out, we called it a day at that point.

When we got home, we had a chat with the school trustee. I explained that there was money left over, but I didn't want to hand cash to the school. He checked with the school, and has ordered shoes for the children (not sure how many or cost yet - if it comes to any more than the balance I will fund it). I will post again when the shoes arrive.

I have one confession to make

I was under instruction to buy Carson socks. When we'd found a wholesaler that we liked, Mrs BB struck up a conversation with the guy, and explained what we were doing (this was our first stop, so he could see Mrs BB's 75,000 Baht wad). He explained that while Carson has the best reputation, they were not best suited to the rugged environment. He produced an unbranded product, which he claimed would suit the cause better, and would be just as hard wearing as Carson. These socks would come in at 45% less. Mrs BB subjected them to her best QA test, and agreed that they were at least as good as Carson, maybe better. He seemed genuinely concerned at saving the cause money, without losing quality. In the end I bought 50% Carson, 50% 'quality' unbranded.

Just one more thing, as part of Mrs BB's QA testing, he showed her several other unbranded products of inferior quality to help show how good his recommendation was,

[Dannie Boy]

Three cheers for Mr and Mrs BB - Hip Hip.............

[Ralfredo]

Fantastic initiative! Why hasn't this forum a "like button"?

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[georgy]

Three cheers for Mr and Mrs BB - Hip Hip.............

nice report, weldone!
Three more cheers for Mr and Mrs BB - Hip Hip.............

[BOZ]

Well done sir, you and your wife did a great job!!!

[migrant]

Nice!!

[Thistle]

Wonderful effort by you and your wife for a very worthwhile cause.

[magobligin]

Very well done folks!