A few weeks ago 3 of us moved from the Happy Elephant together before the prices go up in high season. We’ve been really lucky as we’ve found a house with a pool in a quiet location and it’s only just a bit more expensive than I paid for myself in the first month in the Happy Elephant. Split between 3 of us it’s a really good deal and we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t move earlier. I’m just happy to be settled because I’d been in 4 different rooms at the HE and then for the last two weeks we were there I was sleeping on the sofa. That was all to save money after my move nearer the beach in August hadn’t gone according to plan.

New house in a quiet location – Hmm!

For the first two weeks it was really quiet then Aase went to Kuala Lumpur for 2 days on a Visa run and left Declan and I to fend for ourselves. It had been raining quite heavily and on the first night we heard a really loud noise in the distance. There’s a Mosque down the road and the two of us just thought it was coming from there so didn’t think too much of it. 2 hours later it was still going on and getting louder. “What the f*@k is that noise” I said? It was a constant moo maw, moo maw, moo maw. Similar sound to a cow mooing or someone blowing through a pipe of some sort. The two of us sat in the living room discussing what we thought could be. It sounded like there were two guys blowing some sort of instrument. Maybe a Thai Didgeridoo? “They must be knackered” I thought. Their mouths must be killing them blowing all that time. Maybe they’re sat there thinking “for f*@k sake can we stop now”? Declan and I laughed but it was really getting irritating and louder and louder. At one point we had a power cut and came to the conclusion that it was definitely either two guys or they had a UPS over there in case of a power cut so that’s why it kept going while the power was out.

Declan went out to pick up his girlfriend and when he came back he told me she said it was the Gods wanting Boom, Boom. “Why don’t they just go down the local nightclub like everyone else” he asked her? It went on for nearly two days before it finally stopped. It was almost impossible to sleep and at one point it was so bad I considered jumping in the car in the middle of the night and driving away from the house just to get some respite from the noise.

Aase returned from KL and when we mentioned it to her she thought it was probably to do with the end of the Phuket vegetarian festival. That only happens once a year so we were happy enough that that was the end of it.

One week later and it rained really heavily again. I was sat in the living room watching tv, Aase and Declan had gone to bed and a similar noise started. It wasn’t as loud initially so I didn’t really think much of it at first. Then as it got louder it dawned on me it was the same noise again. Oh no, not another 2 days please! It wasn’t long before Aase was back downstairs and as she walked into the front room she said “What is that f*@king noise? She wasn’t happy as she was having trouble sleeping anyway and this noise has to be heard to believe how loud it is. After a bit of a discussion she said she thought it was coming from the house next door. There’s a 20ft wall between us an next door so we can’t see what’s over the wall but we knew the house was empty. Anyway before I had a chance to say anything Aase is outside throwing stones over the wall and I’m sat there with my head in my hands waiting for one of the windows to go through. However, low and behold it went quiet, for a short time anyway. This went on 3 or 4 times over the next 2 hours before it finally stopped for good. Declan’s girlfriend must have said frogs and he completely misunderstood her. Talk about lost in translation! The next day the three of us were discussing it and Declan said “Yes, but I heard it at the gym too”. Maybe that’s because all frogs in Thailand don’t just live next door to us!