 Paul, how are you good sir? I'm very well, thank you Chris and it's really nice to meet you. I checked out your channel, you've got some great content on there and really flattered that you would ask me for a chat. Yes, it's interesting you say that, Paul. I started the podcast because as we've chatted about before, I've travelled a fair bit. I've actually, I think, travelled to 85 countries now on all seven continents. You've topped me. Yes, well, we'll maybe come on to that, but it was kind of, you know, my journey to enlightenment meant I had lots of questions to answer and I think travelling gives you a lot of that. Absolutely, it does. Information, doesn't it? Yes, it does. Well, the funny thing is, and you'll probably agree, you travelled the whole world to find all the answers and then you realise you never actually needed to leave home. No, it's all within, isn't it? It's all within. Yes, it's all within. So, the thing is, everyone's got a story, Paul, haven't they? And I love hearing them. You know, I could podcast the postman. I'd be fascinated. I'd be asking him, what's it what happens when a dog chases you or have you, you know, do you get some big busty blonde comes and tries to drag. Yeah, I think everyone's got a story, right? Absolutely. But when it comes to Thailand, it's a particular passion of mine. I think I've been in Thailand, I think four times now. Right. My honoree sister lives in Thailand, she's Thai local. Hello, Guy, if you ever get the chance to watch this. And I just give you a quick synopsis of my relationship with Thailand. So there I was in the Marines back in the 90s and had a geordie mate who, funnily enough, was called George. Okay. And he used to go, oh, Chris, man, you've got to go Thailand, man. You know, of course, we used to have like R&R, you know, and Thailand's always been a famous R&R place, especially from Vietnam, wasn't it? Right, absolutely. And so on my leaves, I would just go and get a cheap ticket through the military. So I flew to Hong Kong for 40 quid. Right. And as a young man that had never been in Asia at 22 years old, my head just spun, right? Yeah, I can imagine. I think I drank probably 80 quids worth of booze on the British Airways flight. On the flight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you on that one. Yeah. Suddenly I'm in this land where it's just so different. But the one, the one thing I remember is probably bad I say this is that all the women were gorgeous. Yeah, yeah, you can't fail to notice that one. So after, I think a couple of weeks in Hong Kong, I had a crazy time there. There was one guy, can't remember his name, but a famous Hong Kong gangster, not a triad, but he was a gangster. Okay, right. And he, he was attacking jewellery stores with 12, with AK-47s with his, Oh my God. with his gang. I seem to remember they were like lobbing hand grenades down the street or that might just be my false memory syndrome. And there I am. I'm like in that street when all this is going off. And the, I think it was Christmas Eve. I went with a Matlow because I was staying, it was illegally staying on the Naval base there, HMS Tamar. So I got all my, you know, all my accommodation for free. And one of the, yeah, one of the Matlow's that little chap, I think he was called Smudge said, come on Chris, let's go to a place called Langquai Fong, all the expats go there for New Year. And we were in a club called Mad Dogs. And about quarter past midnight. So after the New Year, you know, one Christmas Eve is New Year's Eve. We went outside in the street. And I think it was 22 people were lying dead in the street with ambulances everywhere, police everywhere. The, the like stereotypical press picture of the shoe in the middle of the street was there was hundreds of shoes all. Oh my God. And a bomb. No, well, here's the thing. I'll say Smudge, what's going on, man? He went, ah, Chris, Hong Kong police, they overreact. It's probably, I was on the Star Ferry the next morning going across the Kowloon side from the island. And the guy sat opposite me on the, the iconic Star Ferry, flicked up his, his China Morning Post. So the English daily over there. And it said, again, apologies, I can't remember, but it was like 22 people crushed to death in late night reveling. Wow. And so traditionally when the clock strikes midnight, the Chinese rush into the street to count, to count down. Oh, wow. Of course, these little tiny Hong Kong back streets, it created a mass crush. And there we were walking, you know, basically walking through the aftermath. So that, that was all pretty mental. But then I went to the airport one day because I heard about the Philippines of all places, right? And I heard that Manila, Manila was a good, what we call, run ashore, you know? Yes. So I went up to the ticket desk and I said, right, I'm here for the Manila flight. And she said, you can't, it's just gone. I'm like, really? I said, what else, what else you got? They said, oh, we've got a flight leaving for Bangkok in about 40 minutes. I'm like, get me on it. Destiny, destiny. That was fake. Yeah. Got off at the airport, the old, the old airport. And this young buck taxi driver pulled up and I hopped in. He said, which hotel, sir? I said, I don't want a hotel. I said, just where are the bars? He went, no, sir, you must have a hotel. I said, no, no, no, just take me down. I don't have little backpacks. They just take me, I just want to go drinking. So anyway, I won't even go into that night, but let's just say one night in Bangkok. And by the end of the world, you're right there. Yeah. And, and back then, it really was one night in Bangkok makes the art. You were hooked. You were hooked. It was unreal, mate. It was unreal. But we went in the pink pamphlet club. Right. And they tried pulling this scam on us. Okay. There was some like girly show, like, going on. Oh, we just wanted a beer. I wasn't like massively into, well, yeah, yeah, it wasn't, he just want my thing, you know. No, right. Yeah. But when we tried to leave, they hit us with this bar bill. And it was like 150 bloody quid. Obviously, obviously in bar in bar. Yes. And so I was with this South African guy called Rob. I said, Rob, hold my camera. He said, why, what, what are you going to do? And I said, I'm going to fight this guy, right? This is what I'd call a tie triad, but you know, tie gangster Dorman. Oh, dear. Guy, right? So I'm going to fight him. And when I'll beat him, we go outside for free. So this stuff happened guys like, huh. Anyway, as I stepped forward to like put my proposition to this Dorman, him being probably at a mootai fighter from when he was like one, one years old, just right. Yes. He had my number and he just went bang straight in with a headbutt. Right. Broke my nose. I just jumped on him, battled him to the floor and we were just battling on the floor of this club. And then the everyone pulled us apart and right, right. Immediately, he says, Oh, sir, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You know, I think he realized you can't be doing this to tourists. It's not right. Yeah. And again, sorry, folks. We are going to get on to the whole story. Believe me. But this is the fascinating thing. Right. We jumped in a tuk-tuk and went to the hospital. There was none of this. Oh, sorry. So you've been drinking. We can't give you anaesthetic. No, no, no. It is bang straight in with an anaesthetic. This Dr. Soba knows up. I'm laughing. Rob's taking pictures with my camera. I'll try and put one up on the screen. And when I got out of the emergency room, there was a little chap sat in the waiting room and he came over sort of like apologetic capping hand sort of thing. And he said, he said, sir, I'm so sorry. I'm the club owner, but the mafia run all the clubs here and I don't have any, you know, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that of his hands. Yeah, I get no say in this sort of thing. He said, but can I make it up to you? And he very kindly gave me about 400 bar, which was like a lot of money, you know, back then. And he took us to one of his clubs. And he just said, right, here's a couple of girls, they're going to look after you show you around Bangkok for the evening. And they took us all round the clubs in all the clubs that the dormant were coming out going, you're the guy, you're the fighter, right? And, and it was just an incredible, incredible experience. And anyway, Paul, what a way to to arrive in Thailand, eh? Yeah, it was, you know, a bit of a shocker, but, but just amazing. What else can I say, you could go down the strip, Pat Pong during the day and it was all market stalls and you could buy designer gear that was better than the actual designer clothes. You could indeed. All probably made in China or something, but you know, so we're then like, we've got like 10 pairs of Ray bands and yeah, absolutely. Bloody Levi 501s and Rolex watches. Yeah, I still got one of my Ralph Lauren shirts to this day. Yeah, amazing. And so that was that. And then we took a little trip down to Pattaya. Right. I was into really into bodybuilding back then and I'm walking down the street and a Thai guy come up to me and went, sir, you've got to put your shirt back on. And I'm like, you know, you're like, as a typical Western when I'm like, what? I ain't got to do. He said, no, sir. He said, in Thai culture, the people think you're like showing off, which I probably was, you know? And it and that was that it opened my eyes up to a completely different culture. The the the locals had such a fascination with us. Right. The girls, incidentally, that took us out. The first place they took us was a boy bar. Okay, right. Back then, as I'm sure you'll reiterate, Paul, it was anything goes, right? Yes, pretty much it was. So the guy taking the money on the door of the bar completely bollock naked. Can we say he's he's having a bit of fun with himself, if that makes sense? And that went for every member of staff in there, right? All of which look to be let's just say very young men and leave it at that. A lot of forangs, so foreigners in there, they look like rich playboys, but they'd obviously gone out there because, you know, they can satisfy their their their wants and their desires. And they certainly they certainly were with these youngsters in this club. And what can I say, you know, I'm 22. I've never seen anything like all this before. I thought, you know, I thought one night in Magaluf was a big night out. But yeah, yes. So I have a very fondness for Thailand. People were wonderful. As I said, my sister is Thai, my my honorary sister. And I've been back several times. I've been to the full moon party in that. Oh, God, right? Interesting, interesting fact about Thailand, Chris, that you might not know. I wrote a guidebook. So I did a lot of research into the history of this country. They have never been colonized by anybody. They're the only country in Southeast Asia that wasn't. And because of that, their culture wasn't influenced or diluted by by their colonizer, you know, bringing their own culture. And they are a very proud nation that they defended their borders. And they they managed to carve up their country to the French and the British. And they kept their sovereignty in the middle, if you know what I mean. So it was quite a masterstroke, really, for them to be able to do that. Yeah. And I've heard that when we're talking about the global elites or the old, you know, new world order master plan that the the fly in the ointment is Thailand, because they actually will come out and fight for their freedom. Yes. Yes. I've been here when there have been several major conflicts going on. I was here in the early 90s when about 1700 people were shot in the street. Yes. Yeah, they are very, they're very mild-mannered and very kind and compassionate people. But if they have a reason, they'll die on the hill. They will. Yeah, exactly. Is it also worth mentioning life can be quite cheap in Asia? Yeah, sure. Yeah, it can. In Hong Kong, some horrible stuff went on, just horrible. Thai is a Buddhist and they believe in reincarnation. So, you know, if this one ends, well, not to worry, there'll be another one on the way soon, you know, another lifetime experience. It probably isn't a bad way to look at things, you know. I'm a Buddhist, by the way. I think you are too, yeah? Yeah, I think, I think when you say... It's not a religion, is it, when you think about it. It's a philosophy. It's like a guidebook of how to be happy in your life and that's what attracted me to Buddhism. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And it's a lovely point to get to, especially like I read, I like to read the scriptures. Right. And this will confuse Westerns because they think scriptures are, that's about religion in it. Are you a god? Yeah, yeah. But no, it's not. It's not. It's some... Yes. It's a wonderful book, sir. And, you know... So much knowledge in between those covers. Once you understand it's all a secret code. It's an esoteric language that's being spoken. So, bread doesn't mean bread. It means something else. Water doesn't mean water. Yeah. Then you start to see that the ancients, they knew all of this stuff. Right. They knew how to be happy. They knew how to raise your vibration and their Kundalini or Kriya or Kriya or this life force that you can nurture in yourself so that you wake up every day and you're bloody happy and you're not depressed and anxious. And I love it. I love it. Yeah. I'm with you on that one, Chris. I'm with you on that one. We're on the same path to spiritual enlightenment, you and I. Yes, definitely. And whereas Buddhism maybe talks about reincarnation, and I'm guessing people would probably take that like literally like, you know, I might come back as a pig in the next life. Yeah. For me, Paul, it's more that no, we're all universe. Right. We're made of... We come from a unified field. Yeah. We come from a unified source and we go back to source when we die. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So we can't die. We're always going to be here. That's right. That's right. Yeah. I have no fear of death and I'm sure you don't either. No. I should tell you that I had an out of body experience once. It was very short. At the age of 21, I came off a motorcycle in Crete and banged on the ground and at the very moment I banged on the ground, I'm looking down on myself and the bike back wheel was going around and the white exhaust smoke and the loud noise of the engine because the throttle was stuck open. And I looked at myself and I thought, wow, I'm outside. And then I bang, I was right back. Oh, the pain. But that changed my whole outlook on life and it took away any fear I had of death. And that had a subsequent influence on my life after that. I did fearless stuff. I did insane stuff. My kids, they read my book. They're old now. They're 24 and 26. They read my book and they went, dad, we had no idea how lucky we are to have been born with all the shit that you did in your life. Because they'd never seen me like that. I kind of changed a lot by the time I got married, you know, became a bit more regular type of guy, you could say. Paul, what was your first experience of Thailand? Okay. Well, unlike most people, when I came here, I'd already been to 60 countries. I was already what we, what we would call an extreme backpacker. By that, I would mean that from the age of 17 until 28, that's 11 years, I spent three months working in England carrying the hard. I got great money. I never went out. I saved it. And by the end of August, I would fly somewhere. And as soon as I got there, my adventure would begin. I'd have no real plans. I'd do a little bit of research in the library because they didn't have an internet at that time. I often wonder what the kids of today would do back in the 70s. If you wanted to send a letter home, it would take 10 days for you to get a reply, the time it takes to go and come. And now we've all got this global connectivity, you know? So I'd been to many countries when I came to Thailand. And I had lived for almost 10 years on the road. And I was, I didn't really know why I was travelling, Chris. I knew I wanted to experience as much as I could. I loved the idea of waking up in the morning and not knowing what's going to happen to me today. I loved that feeling. I was addicted to that feeling. And the freedom you have when every single thing you own is on your back. It's just a wonderful feeling. So when I first came here, the most profound thing happened to me. Within 24 hours of landing in Thailand, which was about in the 85, I think it was, the desire to travel disappeared. It left me never to return. And it began a 36 year love affair with Thailand, which is still raging for me, you know. So yeah, I've often analysed, what was it about Thailand that struck me so much? Because I've been almost everywhere. And the answer was they had a look of genuine happiness on their face. Genuine happiness that I'd never seen anywhere else. And I pretty quickly, I mean obviously, I got into the bars and the girly scene and everything, but I loved the culture. And I soon realised that the Thai's are the way they are because of Buddhism. So I kind of became very interested in Buddhism. I came from a Roman Catholic school and I dismissed that at the age of 12. And up until arriving in Thailand, I thought you got one life, let's live it, you know. Yes. Yeah, it was profound, very profound. And it was like losing a leg. It was just like losing a leg because I didn't want to go anywhere. Well, obviously I wanted to travel around Thailand, but I was never going back to Greece or Portugal or Italy or North Africa, where I have loads of friends. I was never going back there. I knew, you know, my travelling days are done. I did it all in one go. Have you ever read the book The Beach? Yes, I have. Yes. Yes. That was a good one. It was. And obviously, like whenever you talk about a place that people are passionate about, controversy, you know, rises its head, doesn't it? Rears its head. It does, yeah. Everyone wants to be, no, you can't talk about the place I love. Hang on. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the same with my Hong Kong memoir. It's quite, you know, right. So many people say, how can you write a book about Hong Kong? You only lived there for 13 months. And I'll say, it's long enough. I'll say that's the 13 months I wrote about. Yeah, right. Yeah. My experience is in Hong Kong. Yeah. Yeah. But I love The Beach. I still play the soundtrack now just to remind me of being in Thailand. Yes. Yes. That wonderful, carefree feeling. Yes. The food, it used to be so cheap. The smells, the rich aromas, the colours. They are just such a happy people. They actually live in the moment, you know? There's a lot of difference in living for the moment and living in the moment. You know, living for the moment implies that you don't make any plans in your life, you know? Whereas living in the moment, I think that means that you take as much from the moment as you can. You savour the good side of it, the good part of it. Yeah, absolutely. Yes. What they refer to in the Western world as mindfulness. Yes. Right. Yes, mindfulness. Yeah. I began to realise the effect I was having on other people when I got to Thailand. Not so much while I was in Thailand, but in my life before, you know, finding out about mindfulness and compassion. And I became a different person. I became a different person. Yes. I'd love to explore this more, Paul, but I'm also thinking for our viewers, we should maybe talk about some of your exploits over the years or some, you know... I can recall some of the most insane things I ever did in my travelling. And the final one was so in... I came so close to death. I actually know what it feels like, Chris, when you're walking out to the scaffold. I actually know that feeling. And it's a feeling I can't describe. It's like your whole soul is just gone. Right. We're going to have to compare notes here, mate, because... You've been there. Yes. Yes. There was one moment. I won't go on any more about my story, but I ended up working in a club in Hong Kong. Unknowingly, I got the job of a doorman in a club in Wanchai. And it was run by the 14k, who were one of the biggest triad families in Hong Kong. And one night, everything went pear shaped. And just for the record, there was lots of... Well, not lot. There was a lot of crystal meth involved. I was... Right. It was quite a time for me. I started to lose my mental health big, big, big time when I was... But that doesn't take away from the fact that at one moment, Paul, in that club, I genuinely believed I was about to be executed. Yes, right. Yeah. It's a horrible feeling, isn't it, when it comes to that? It was bizarre. I'll describe how I felt, and then you say how you felt, right? I felt the first feeling is like, oh, my God, it's actually happening. The death that you don't think about when you... It's arrived. Yes. Yes. It's actually... I've pushed the boat too far this time. Exactly. That's exactly what I thought. Yeah. I've pushed the boat too far. That's exactly what I thought, because I did push the boat out to be in this situation that I was in. Definitely. Yeah. And then I'd say I felt like an intense fear, so intense that it wasn't fear. It was... Terror. It was almost terror, extreme terror to the point where I just had to submit to it. Right. I actually didn't. I actually had the foresight, and it may have saved my life, to spend the 15 minutes I had in the back of this Jeep with this Sudanese friend of mine, and all these Sudanese rebels with AK-47s. I spent that 15 minutes thinking how I could get out of it, and I actually did get out of it. So I'm really glad that I had my thinking cap on that day, because after that, I never did... I never pushed the boat out that far. I never did anything insane after that incident. Yeah, absolutely. So look, my traveling, just to give people a bit of background, I was the victim of... well, not the victim, but I came from a broken home, you know? Mother and father split up, both got new partners, and Dad did what he could for me. He got me a bed seat, got me a room in a house, got me a job in a factory, which I hated. One year of that, and I thought, is this what I've got to look forward to? To meet some girl, have a baby, get a mortgage, buy a car and finance, and spend 45 years working just so that I can have the last 15 to 20 years doing what I want. And I thought, no, this is not for me. And I decided, no, I'm going to go see the world, you know, I want to see other places. So at 17, I got myself a backpack, I got myself a bit of gear together and sleeping bag and a tent, and off I went. And pretty soon, after six months of being on the road in Europe, I got streetwise pretty quick. I had a great work ethic, I was very friendly, very polite to people when I do any job, you know? And I got work, I never had a problem getting work. And I suddenly started to realize that it's only when you go out on a limb that crazy things happen to you. So I started to spend all my money deliberately, you know, I might have $70 saved up, and I go on a three-day bender and spend it all and give the last coins I've got to a beggar on the street. And then the adventure begins, you know, for me it was anyway. And it always worked out. Every single time, I had some amazing experiences. And I did that. And the craziest thing I ever did was, I'm on a bus from Dahab in the Sinai Desert. This is going back in the mid-70s, I'd say. I was on a bus going to Cairo, which is about an eight-hour trip through the Sinai Desert, you know? And I'm sitting on the bus and this New Zealand girl sitting next to me, and she's on a gap here, you know? Very nice girl and asking me lots of questions. And she's found out a bit about me, and she says to me, hang on a minute, you've got no ticket home, you've got $17 in your pocket, you don't know anybody in Cairo. That's insane. Well, at that very moment, and I still to this day don't know why I did it, I just looked at it, I said, no, this is fucking insane, excuse my French. And I got up and I told the driver to stop the bus. And he looked at me, he said, no, no, no, we have toilets. I said, no, you don't understand, stop the bus, let me get my backpack out, I'm getting out here. And there was only one palm tree. And he said to me, no, no, no, no, no. And I said, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. The girl gave me two bottles of water and two packets of cigarettes. And as the bus is going down the road, she said, God help you. And I watched this bus go down the road. And I thought, oh, shit, I've done it this time. I've gone too far. Why did I do that? And within a few hours, some Bedouins came by. They couldn't speak my language. I couldn't speak theirs. They circled me with their camels. And one of them threw something on the floor right in front of me. And it was a tin of peaches, a tin of Libby's peaches. And then they rode off. And I'm like, this is, I'm like, this is like something out of a movie, you know, that I'm starring in here. So I got my knife out and I ate the peaches. And they came back before nightfall and took me to their encampment. And this guy came up to me, he's wearing all white, yeah, with the turban and everything. And he looks a little bit like Omar Sharif in his younger day. And he opens his mouth and he says to me, hello, mate, got a light. I couldn't believe it. I was dumbfounded. Turns out that a year before there'd been a cockney, you'd done the same thing as me, got off the bus. And they'd saved his ass and he stayed with them for a whole 14 months. So I'm having a conversation with this Bedouin and he's saying to me, bloody hell, mate, fancy getting off the bus like that, you must want your head examined. Yeah. But to cut a long story short, I spent 11 weeks with those people, they were wonderful. They were nomads, they traveled up and down the peninsula selling baskets and mats that they made. And they took me back after 11 weeks to exactly the same spot where they picked me up and exactly the same bus and exactly the same driver came along. And he stopped, he got out, he got down on his knees and he was white as a sheet. He says, oh my God, it's you. Hey, it's the hand of God. Needless to say, I felt indestructible after that. I saw indestructible. Let's talk about the Bedouin then because if I can just tell you my anecdote. Right. Yes, please do. One of the greatest experiences in my life was driving a British Leyland school coach. Okay. From Norway to India and back. Oh, wow, that would be an experience and a half. I would do it again today if I and I to anybody out there, I might even do another video on it, how to do this because you've got to do it. You've got to do it. Right. Anyway, so there we are. I'm driving this old 12-tongue coach across the deserts. And I think we were somewhere around Pakistan. And we stopped to fill up with water. Have you been in that part of the world? Yes, I have. Yes. Well, yeah, these crystalline creeks that run through the desert in the middle of nowhere, you suddenly get this beautiful blue water like turquoise. It's just so we stopped to fill up. And as we stopped to fill up our water bowls, the Bedouin came out of the desert and we looked in the distance and you could see their tents. Okay. And these stunning looking people, they send the girls to do this sort of job if I remember rightly. Yes. And they've all got these black, like I think they put charcoal on their eyes or something. Right. Look really just some like romantic film or, you know, oh, yeah, yeah, film or something. Yes. And they proceeded to chuck these what I can only assume were goat skins into the creek and they had them on these leashes and slowly, slowly these skins filled up until the point where it looked like an inside out goat, you know, and then they tapped it off or carried it back. Yeah. And it was amazing. Just amazing. But I mean, that's the closest. Yeah. The 11 weeks I spent with the Bedouins in Sinai was a real eye opener for me because I couldn't imagine how anybody could survive in such a harsh place. I mean, temperatures would go down to about five degrees C at night, you know, and in the day, you know, you're hitting 43, 44, they, the women did almost everything. The women packed up the tents when it was time to move. It took two hours. They packed up the tents. They had about 30 camels and yeah, in two hours they were ready to roll. They, the women made all the handicrafts that they sold and the men seemed to be selling it, you know, they'd go into the into the Arab communities and sell their stuff, you know. So yeah, it was, but they were, they were so nice to me. And even though we couldn't understand each other, apart from that one guy, we can't, I managed to develop relationships with these people and they really were nice. They wanted nothing from me. They were very generous and, you know, kept telling me that that was a silly thing to do to get off that bus. You know, they said, if we hadn't come along, what would have happened to you? And I thought, well, you coming along was obviously in my destiny. Are Bedouins Islamic or are they something strange? I don't, I don't think they are. I don't think they, I never saw them pray. Chris, I never saw them pray. The people I was with liked to smoke weed. All the guys smoke weed. And none of them, there was no alcohol, no alcohol at all. And the young guy that I did sort of, you know, that I could communicate with, he told me that the Egyptian government, and this was what in 1975 or 76, we're offering them money if they would settle. And they said, no, we can't settle. You know, our life involves four different camps right across the whole Sinai desert. We are in different camps at different times of the year. And so they were very anti, you know, becoming a non nomadic society. And I often wonder what happened to them, you know, how they dealt with that. And that weed, I'm guessing it's like solid. It was good. Yes, it was good. It's like an earthy solid. Yeah. Yeah. And they even had some, they made some red hash. They made hash too. Yeah, you see all that going on in that part of the, that, that part of the world. Yeah, the women smoke hash too. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, alcohol is not really a thing in that part of the world, but you, but all the rich people do, they do, yes, they break the law and they got all got their bottles of whiskey, didn't they? Yeah. So anyway, look, when I, when I got to Cairo, about three weeks after I arrived in Cairo came the terrifying episode, the one I mentioned earlier about knowing how it feels, you know, how did you get out, out of that pool? Well, I got out of it. Well, first of all, let me say, first of all, before, before, before the experience that came along that I got out of, I met a very nice young Sudanese guy called Nami, great guy he was, spoke really good English and he convinced me to go across the border into Sudan, about 20 kilometers inside of the border to go and see his family. So he never told me there was a civil war going on, by the way, which I thought, you know, he's a bit pissed at when I found out later to my horror. So anyway, he said, we'll go at night. So we were walking and he said, we've only got about another five kilometers to go and then we can get a bus. So we're walking along in the middle of the night, just a little bit of moonlight and this Jeep came around the corner and we're right in the headlights. And he said to me, don't move, you know, and it was a Jeep load of Sudan rebels. So they knocked him about, grabbed me, put me in my backpack on the back of this Jeep, put him on the back of the Jeep and off we went. And we're going along, I says, what are they going to do? He said, they'll kill us and just take your stuff. You know, my stuff's not worth having, but they'll take everything you've got. And I remember thinking to myself, no, I just survived the desert. You know, I just got off a bus in the desert and I survived. And now I'm going to die because I came to see some guy at his home village. And I said to him, how long do you think this Jeep ride's going to last? He said, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes. So in my backpack, I had seven journals. I was a writer. I was a prolific writer. I had seven journals, all with handwritten pages, you know, and in my backpack. So I said to this guy, when we meet their leader, you tell him I'm a BBC journalist and I've paid you to take me to the rebels so that I can hear their side of the story because the world should know. So long story short, they told the leader and he looked at me and he got my backpack out and he opened up all these books and he's looking at them and I hoped luckily he couldn't read English. And he got a bottle of whiskey and I had to spend the next four hours writing while he translated to now me all about what's going on in Sudan. And I didn't write that. I was writing things like, my God, I'm so lucky. I'm actually going to get out of this in one piece. And three hours later, they've taken us back to the border. So I then go to to a cafe in Cairo. Some guy comes up to me, an artist he was, a European artist. He came up to me and he said, I've got some travel checks that I said I lost a couple of months back and they've just given me the new set and I want to sell them. How much would I get on the black market? So I said, well, about 15%. That's about it. But I had somebody else's passport. Somebody else had ripped me off because they'd gone to a money changer with my Israeli money and I didn't trust him. So I said, give me your passport. And he gave me his passport. He never came back. He was a dual citizen. So I had this passport. So I said to the guy, no, you pay for my photo and my in your signature to be put in the passport and I'll cash them all and we'll split it down the middle. So he agreed. So we got the job done. We went into a casino in Cairo. I got dressed up with a girl and we cashed the whole $7,000 over three hours. We had all these chips. We never played the tables. We just sat around the corner drinking free beer. And when I got the $7,000, we went and cashed it all in for US outside the casino. And I give him $3,500. Him and his girlfriend fly to India. And I bought loads of Egyptian papyrus and flew back to England and doubled my money. An amazing story. Oh, I've lost my money. Sorry, I just accidentally muted myself. Yeah, you get these stories, Paul. Don't you travel in? Have you met many drugs monkeys? Oh, yes, indeed I have, sir. Yes, indeed I have. But I just had one thing about that travel check deal. I mean, I don't I would never rip anybody off, but I'm just ripping off American Express, you know. So hopefully they won't file an extradition order when you air this. But but after that, I've got my ticket to go home. And I see a girl at the airport and she's crying because she can't afford a ticket to get back to the US. And I said, Well, how much do you need? She says $200. I just gave her $200. And she looked at me. She said, How how could you? I said, Don't say a word. I don't want it back. I've been incredibly lucky. And I want to pass on some of my luck to you, because that's the karmic will. And so, yeah, I did. I gave her $200, $250, I gave her. Yeah. And then she said, Right, I'm the Federal Bureau of Investigation. You are under arrest. Yeah. Yeah, that travels. The travelers check one is was quite big in Asia for a while. I remember people trying to get me involved in that. Chris, you've got to come out of Asia and you do this thing. You say that you lost all your checks and effectively what it did for me whenever I went traveling. If I had 200 pounds, then I'd effectively have 400 pounds. Because the first thing I do when I get to my destination is go to a police station. So I've lost the checks. So I get the new ones. And the trick is when you get the new ones, you have to cash the new ones straight away. So that there's no record of you being anywhere. And then you can cash the old ones, you know, here and there, you know, with shopkeepers and bar owners. I mean, they don't lose out. They get their money. So I just want to come on to the subject of drugs, because it was a naivety back in the day that the Farang, so Westerners thought they could rock up in Thailand. And it's all accepted. They can walk down the street smoking a joint. And of course, it's the complete opposite. There are some horror stories here. Yes, especially was it taxing Shinoah that really started to clamp down on it all? Yes, he did. It was mainly the amphetamine that he was against. And yeah, there were lots of extra judiciary killings and all kinds of things. In fact, methamphetamine is a big problem in Thailand right now, even your bar. Yeah. And they don't take it. Most of the people don't take it for recreation. They take it so they can work more hours. You know, it's a different thing. But yeah, it's pretty rife. Yes. Yes. I mean, gosh, lots of stories that come to my mind. I remember it. Do you want to hear it? Do you want to hear a drug one? I want to hear all of them. Yeah. This was Christmas Eve, right? Christmas Eve, I'm in England. I'm driving a Volvo car down the motorway, down the M4. And I've got my hand on the wheel, you know, leaning on the door, driving along, listening to my music. I've had fair bit to drink, but I'm okay. And I had a front wheel blow out about 80 miles an hour, you know, and it just told the car. And I had my belt on somehow I survived, you know, so the cops arrive and everything. And they get near me and they're like, oh, wow, you've had a few. So I kind of put my hands up for the drink drive. You know, I said, hey, guys, you know, you've got me. So they sit me in the back of the police car. They don't handcuff me or anything. And they're in the front and we're driving down the M4. And I said, so what's going to happen then? They said, oh, well, you just have to sign a few forms and, you know, you know, that you accept the charges and all that. And then you'll get, you'll get bail and you just come to court a few months from now. And then I suddenly remembered I've got seven grams of Nepalese hash in my hip gene pocket, you know, that little pocket wrapped in a bit of cling film. I just bought it for 30 pounds and it was really good stuff. So I thought to myself, you see, the guy got down the back seat or I'm going to eat it. And I remembered one of my friends who was a very knowledgeable guy says the only person who ever got killed by weed was hit by a bale as it got thrown out of an aircraft. So I chewed this seven grams of hash, Chris, the whole damn lot. By the time we got to the police station, I drank about three liters of water, sat down with the police guy and I said, can we do this quickly? He's like, yeah, no problems. Name, we're going through it all, you know, about 15 minutes went by and all of a sudden I can hear this commotion going on outside. The police main doors have burst open and there's all these drunk unruly hooligans and my guy just gets up and goes out to deal with this fracas. You know, when he comes back, my head's on the table and I got one eye open and I'm looking at him and he says, are you all right? And I said, no, not really. No, I need to lay down. I just need to lay down. Long story short, three days and three nights I was laying in this cell unlocked and eventually I open my eyes and I see these four pairs of boots and I hear this one voice say, well, how did he get here then? Oh, it was a drunk drive. He had a real bad car accident and the other cop says, he might have had injuries and you've left him here for three bucket days. Get him to the hospital and they get me to the hospital and they're looking at me and I just said to the doctor, I've eaten seven grams of hash. Leave him in the corridor. Yeah. Oh my God. It kept coming on, Chris. It kept coming on so much, so much, so much. Worst thing I ever did. Yes. Greedy. I was greedy all for 30 quid, you know. I remember I was in the last time I was in the back of a police car. Right. Let's just say that it is possible that someone was slipped down the back of the seat. Right. Yes. Well, you've got it, haven't you, in that situation? What else can you do? I think, I think what it was probably saved me quite a few years of my life. Right. Yes. Say no more, some incriminating evidence. Right. Yes. Gosh. But it's a funny thing, isn't it, that Thailand there is the death penalty for all that sort of potentially. Have you ever heard of David McMillian? Yeah, he's a friend of mine. Right. David McMillian has a fantastic story. He escaped death row, man. I've seen a lot of Sean Atwood's podcast where David's on there. Very interesting guy, David. Yeah, Dave's been on the show a couple of times that I love. I'm honored. I'm honored to be on the same program that he is. I love chatting today, though, because I go into like a meditative trance when he talks, his storytelling. Yes, he's got a soothing voice, isn't he? He's very well educated, man. He's a wonderful sense of humor. He's a real gentleman, though, when he comes on the podcast. Right. He always wants to talk about me. Okay. And it's lovely. You know, he's got a real interest in people. He has. Yes, he has a genuine man. Have you met Dave Mears in your travels? No, I haven't. I don't think I've heard of the name. No, that was the link I sent you. Dave's come on the podcast. Dave was odd. Oh, yes, you did. Yes, you sent me a link. He spent a long time here and now he's moving on. Yes, yes. Selling his house in Pattaya, the pool house. Yeah, he had. Yes, I remember. I did see that now. Yeah, he looks like a seasoned traveler. He's been to a few places. Yeah, he's a good old guy, Dave, but he, let's just say he had the thing and then subsequently he had complications and I think Are we talking about the medical procedure that we're not allowed to talk about? Yeah, the medical and then he had his leg chopped off. Oh my god. Dave, I think you mentioned that in your podcast with me. So if you didn't, I'll edit this bit out, but yeah, yeah, that's that's that's horrible thing to hear. Yeah, it is horrible, but worse still, it kind of guts me to think that if I if I live my dream life and I moved out to Thailand for the rest of my days, this fucking bullshit chases you all around the earth. Everyone's everyone's signing up for it. Aren't they? Yes. Well, let me say one thing, Chris. I live in a Muban in Thailand with 584 houses in it. And my household is the only one that's genetically unmodified. Yes. Yes. Even my mother-in-law in Sisakhet has had two. Boy, was I unhappy when I found out about that. So yeah, they have they have very long tentacles, Chris. You know, there's 7 million people now that rolled their sleeve up. It's frightening. It's absolutely frightening. For what? For something that has never been isolated? Well, yeah, then and they're never going to isolate because it what happened to the flu? You know, what? Where did the flu suddenly disappear to? Yeah, it's it's a tragedy. What's going on? I never thought I would see the enslavement of humanity within my lifetime, Chris. I never thought that. No, you speak for all of us. I think a lot of us feel like a lot of us that are in the know. Yes. You can't unknow it. You know, you can't unknow what we know. So I I just it's a heavy burden for me to carry around knowing that all the people around me or the all the Thai people I see, even all the children, even all the children. Yeah, don't say the word, but we know what you're on about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know it's I know it's terrible. It's when you see it. You can't perhaps there are too many of us on this planet and perhaps we do need to change something, but they have no right. Those that are doing this and it's a very small percentage of the population is actually implementing these strategies. They have no right to decide how what we put in our bodies. None at all. What about your skies then over there because we chatted about this earlier. I was like, yes, we do get chemtrails. I have seen them. Now, I have a friend who's a pilot. He used to be one of my students. He's a pilot for Thai Airways now. And I've asked him about it and he says, I don't want to talk about it. That was all he would say to me. And I know him and he respects me a lot. So I think he didn't want to lie to me. So he said, I don't want to talk about it. I mean, a pilot must know what's on his aircraft. I tell you what the problem is. Yeah, I did the same. I remember when I ran the length of the country, I was flying up to John O'Groats and I think one of my stopovers was like Manchester or Liverpool or somewhere. And the chap next to me, I just said, you're right, mate. He said, you look like a pilot. He said, yeah, I'm actually a pilot. Not Jumbo Jets. So I have a little bit of interest in aviation. Well, not talents so much more. I just love experiences. You said it, you get one life. If you live it right, one is enough and that's it. But this chap just turns to me and he's like, nah, you know, loaded. Like, okay, you know, that's your, you know, I respect your your your opinion. But that doesn't change. But we know it's not condensation, Chris. We know it's not jet fumes. So what could it be that's leaving this trail? You know, what could it be? Heavy metals? Yeah, I mean, I was up at half six this morning with my camera. Just chronic chronicle the fact that we had a pristine sky this morning, it was pristine. And then suddenly there's like lines. Oh, about 25 planes out and we have got an airport here. We don't have an airport. And they're all flying low level, you know, relatively low level. And before you know it, that beautiful blue is gone. It's good. I'm looking at it now. It's like porridge up there. Right. This should be a day where people are going, oh, what a love. Do you know what? I'm going to cancel work for today. I'm going to take the kids to the beach. We're going to barbecue. I'm going to put me flip flops on. It's the start, you know, all that stuff that makes us what we are as human beings, that sparks the beauty of life. And whatever these planes are doing, and you don't even have to get conspiratorial, but whatever is coming out of them, fucks the sky up for the whole day. And I think the problem here, Paul, is people got such short memories. Yes. Because I remember my childhood and it was nothing like this, you know. I remember summer of 76, the big drought. Oh, wow, wasn't that a hot year? Walking to school, looking at the sky. And it was just this cloud for nine months. Not a cloud, rich royal blue sky. And the only time I've ever seen that again in my life was during this, during the lockdown. You know, when there was no planes up there, it went back blue again. But where's everyone else? Why does no one else not notice this? And it's because they got short memories and mind, mind control, possibly. Yeah. Yeah. Mind control, not being a TV, you know, the TV, the propaganda that experts out. I used to respect the BBC. Paul, is your is your fan pointing at the microphone? It's, it's we've suddenly got it. No, it's okay. Is it on now? Yeah, that's great. That's great. I don't want to ruin such a bloody great, great, great chat. Do you want to just take a break for a sec? I'm okay. I'm good. If you want to, we can. All right. Just one sec. Yeah. Yes. These skies, it I'm looking at it now. It was a beautiful day this morning. It was beautiful. It should have been a cloudless day. Now it's, it's just, like I say, it's just a porridge up that all over the city, you know. Right. Yeah. I don't know how long it can go on for before it, you know, it starts to be concerned for the mainstream. Yeah. Well, if they keep doing it, something's going to happen soon or later. Yes. So people getting into trouble in Thailand is okay. It's notorious, isn't it? For Westerners running into trouble. Yes, indeed it is. There's some horror stories, you know, banged up abroad and all that. Yeah. There are some, some, you have to be extremely careful in Thailand. If you happen to be arrested for anything or found with anything, you've got to square it away as soon as possible, you know, in terms of money, because if it gets to the station and gets in the logbook, then it's going to cost you a lot of money. And if it gets past that, then the only way out of it is to bribe the judiciary, you know, that goes on. Yes. I mean, lads have rocked up there for the full moon part and they've carried a load of pills in their baggage or whatever. And the next thing you know, you're, well, you're facing a death penalty. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think they've, they've executed a foreigner. I know they were due to execute David McMillan and they actually tried to extradite in many years later. I guess you know that. Yeah. So I don't think it would be the death penalty. I think it would be commuted to life in prison. But I mean, any period of time at all in a Thai prison would be a nightmare. I know someone who spent 14 months in a Thai jail and it was a case of mistaken identity. And he sued afterwards. He sued and got 14 million bar compensation. Yes. Do you remember Warren Fellows? Warren Fellows. The name rings a bell. What did he do? Wrote an incredible book called The Damage Done. Ah, yes. Yes. 12 years in a Thai, you know, in the bank. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. No, that must be, yeah. Quite an experience. Yeah. I've become friends with his son who's also a successful author and... Right. Great. Yeah. Kind of tells us, probably as most family members would, tells a slightly different tale to the one his dad told. But yeah, it's kind of insane. He wrote this really gritty book about being arrested at the... I think they were busted in their hotel room. They had bags full of heroin. Oh, yeah. That's a big sentence right there. Yeah. And then it talks about, you know, 12 years of hell, really. And all of... He got repatriated to the UK after a certain amount of years. Is he possibly? He was Australian. Oh, okay. Right. Yeah. He went back there and then become a sort of, I suppose you'd say, like a fringe celebrity. And then TV programs appeared of him finding God. But I think the... You know, his traumas took a toll on him, let's just say. God, I would imagine. So, yeah, I couldn't imagine one year even, let alone 12. I think I'd be looking for a short piece of rope, seriously. And I'm sure that crusty is mine at some point. Yes. Yes. No doubt. There's one bit in it where his friend has some bags of gear smuggled in. God, I'm probably getting this a bit wrong, but it's like in a pig carcass or something. Okay. And the bags split open, so all the gear's mixing with a pig's blood and his mate still tries to jack it up. Right. Oh, my God. And he finds him dead in his cell or some such horrible scenario. Been a while since I read that book, but yes. And you're an author, Paul. Yes, I am. I've written three books, actually. One was about the Thai language. That was published by Asia Books in 2000. I think it was, or 1999. And I wrote a book about my travels called A Wanderer's Words. It's available on Amazon. I'll send you the link. And it covers my life from about the age of eight, right up until arriving in Thailand. And when my kids read that book, you know, they're both in their 20s now. And I wrote it in 2015. And when they read that book, they were just like, Dad, you really did all that kind of shit. And I said, yeah. And they were so lucky, they said, that I survived all that and I could come to Thailand to create them. Yeah, and the other book I wrote, the other book I wrote, which is also on Amazon, is a guide for expats who want to live in Thailand. Yeah, I'm looking at it now. Yeah, that was a... What's your advice to them then, Paul? If you could say five things to someone thinking of... To someone who wants to come to Thailand, throw all your preconceptions out the window. Never say anything bad about the royal family. Don't drink with working-class males that you don't know. And be polite and happy, and you'll have a great experience here. Why would you say don't drink with working-class males you don't know? Because I've seen a lot of instances where it's happened, you know, and there's an obvious language barrier, and then they get drunk, and then there's a misunderstanding about something, and it kicks off. So I've seen that so many times that that would be on my top five lists, especially if it was a girl, you know. Just avoid going around with working-class Thai guys that you don't know. Don't get me wrong. Just the ones you don't know. Having said that, Thailand is a really safe country. I've never felt uneasy in Thailand, and I've walked around the streets of Bangkok at three o'clock in the morning, you know, and never had a problem. No, I never had a problem. So yeah, there's a couple of my books on Amazon. Anyone who's thinking of coming and relocating or retiring in Thailand, the guidebook would be very useful. It's full of interesting information, and if you want to hear some wild travel experiences, then a wonder as words is pretty much the best of, you know, the best of Paul Wallace's travels. And what about the issue of face, because this is something we don't really understand in the West. Right, yeah, yeah. It's a big thing in Thailand. It's a big thing here. How can I say this? Thai people like to project an image that's perfect, you know, and if you were to point out something negative that a Thai had said or done in front of other Thai's, then yeah, he's lost face, or she's lost face. So you kind of have to be a bit diplomatic, you know. If you had a problem with the Thai employee, just take them to one side, you know, and they'll be fine about it. Just don't involve anybody else. And I mean, I did it a couple of times by accident, you know, when a Thai businessman said to me, oh yeah, and it's over there. And I went, no, no, no, it's not, it's the next street down. And he looked at me, you know, and I thought, oops. So yeah, there is a thing about saving face here. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And how do you fund yourself over there, Paul, if I can be so rude? Okay, I'm a web content writer. I have a team of about six or seven Brits all living in Thailand who write for me. And so I work from home, you know. I spend 10 hours a day at my keyboard writing blogs about all different things, you know, roofing, law, travel. And yeah, I'm one of those lucky people who works at home. So I've become a bit of a hermit, to be honest with you, Chris. I don't go anywhere. I don't see anyone. I get an agent to do my visa. So I, and you know what Thailand's like, I could, I could live for years without ever leaving my house because all this lovely food comes past your door, you know, on motorcycles and in pickup trucks. So yeah, I've become a hermit. And it's pretty spicy food as well, huh? Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Does that take a toll on people's indigestion over the years? I don't know. I'm okay with pets. You know, I'm okay with hot food, not overly hot. The Thai's, one Thai guy actually told me something that made sense. He said to me, when you eat these hot chili foods, you become warmer on the inside than you are on the outside. So it feels cooler. And I thought about that for a minute. And I thought, well, maybe there's something in that, you know? Yeah. Paul, on that note, I, oh, mate, we could chat forever. And I really hope, let's pick this up again. We'll do it again sometime. Yeah, I'd love to. It's great. It's great exchanging stories and experiences with other people. It is. I'm always up for that. Yeah, I hope our friends at home watching will take a trip to the land of the smiles. Yes, yes. Yes, it's a great country. Like I said, 36 years, I've been in love with this place. And it's still raging, you know, the love affair. So I think you either love it or you don't, Thailand, you know? And most people I've met are smitten by Thailand. They, you know, it's got something about it. A colorful culture. Definitely. It's, you said to me, should I put a shirt on? I'm like, no, please don't. Yeah, right. I'll put one on. I'll put on my dragon shirt. Probably Chinese there. But it's actually 33 degrees right now. And it's like five o'clock in the evening. So the sun's going down. So that's good. Yeah, it's been really good talking to you, Chris. It's an honor for me. Yeah. Oh, and vice versa, Paul. Absolutely. Absolutely. Stay on the line so I can thank you properly. But we'll do massive, massive. Thank you again and to our friends at home. I really hope you've enjoyed this chat as much as you can see that I have. If you could like and subscribe folks, that will really help us. And there's one last thing I must do, which is say a thank you to Pete. Is it from the Tharish Times? Is this your Irish Times? Yeah. Tharish Times, Tyra. I'm stupid, but yeah, of course. Tyra's Times. Pete, you've got a great channel going there, mate. And this is how I came across this wonderful story. What story? How I met Paul. Right. And yes, perhaps we can have a chat together, mate. That would be wonderful. So. Great. Lovely. Cheers, cheers. Take care, Chris. Bye.