Liz Dexter    (now Liz Worrall)

  Liz was at Trinity High School from 1959 to 1966, and was one of the group who set up the pact to meet again 20 years later under the portico of All Saints Church.  This twenty year reunion took place, and they have been meeting ever since.  [reunion details]  Liz comes back to the UK for that reunion, as her home is now in Bangkok, Thailand.  Liz has provided this account of how she got to Bangkok, and where else she has lived along the way.  

Liz was on the East coast of Thailand when the Boxing Day Tsunami hit, but there were no impact where she was.  She has sent some photos of the country before and after the Tsunami.  [ go ]   

The Road to Bangkok

     After I was married in 1971, I settled down to teaching in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield.  Not so far from home stomping grounds.  My husband, Gus, worked for GKN who make ball bearings etc. for the motor industry.  A few years later he decided to look for another job in quality control.  He went for an interview in London and was short-listed.  It wasn't until he went for the final interview, he discovered the job would be controlling the quality of polished diamonds in Malaysia.  So we packed up house and home, (dog and cat ) and off we went.  We spent six years on and off in Malaysia, in a small place on the east coast called Khota Bharu.  We had a great time because the local expats all knew each other and we were soon in the swing of things.  Parties on the beach, learning to play bridge and generally having a good time.  In the middle of this we were back in the UK while our daughter was born.  

Liz's Locations in the Far East

Liz and Gus went first to Kota Baharu on the East coast of Malaysia, then they moved to Bombay in India, and in 1988 they moved to Bangkok, Thailand.  In between India and Thailand, Gus went to Tunisia and Liz went to Pitsford.

The four Worralls

     After Malaysia, Gus was offered a job in Bombay.  I was pregnant with our second daughter during that time.  I didn't stay in Bombay permanently, but visited on a two-monthly basis.  The thought of staying there and having to put the kids through school just turned me off.  When I tell you I had to walk past the local rubbish heap with the pig, and then the local leper begging for food, to get to see the doctor you'll understand why.

Back in the UK for the birth of daughter number two, Gus's next job took him to Tunisia.  He had made his name in the Diamond Industry in Bombay and he was asked to go and sort out this factory in Tunisia.  I stayed at home in Pitsford where we had just bought a house.  He literally went off to Tunisia the day we moved into the new house.  One daughter in school the other in nappies, I was like a single Mum for a year.  

      Then in 1988 we were off again, this time to Thailand.  We have been here for 16 years now.  We have seen Bangkok sprout upwards at an ever increasing rate.  Sixteen years ago the tallest building was the Baiyoke Tower, which was about 24 floors high and boasted a restaurant on the top.  Now it is surrounded with even taller skyscrapers and you can't even see the Baiyoke Tower. 

      Bangkok has the tallest hotel in the world , so it says, but you won't get me up there.  The whole of the city is built on clay and every building has to be piled before they can start.  The water table is only a few feet below the surface. They opened the new metro yesterday, - it will be interesting in the next monsoon season to see if it floods.  

Our House, taken at Sunset

Two Views of Dolphin Bay

      Although we complain about the traffic and the pollution we must like the place as we have decided to retire in Thailand.  

     The city is alive and a shopper's paradise.  The cost of living is half that of the UK and the economy is on the up.  We have built a house at a place called Dolphin Bay, three and a half hours down the coast from Bangkok.  It is on the edge of a National Park called Sam Roi Lot, or the Mountain of Three Hundred Peaks.  In the park there is the largest wet land in Thailand and in the bay there are islands, and the dolphins really do come and play there.  Our house is in the middle of nowhere just across the road from the beach.  

      Needless to say we are looking forward to retiring in eighteen months.  Golf is high on the agenda for Gus and I am learning to play too.  That too, is cheap here.  Gus is trying to get life membership at the local club but they will only offer him a ten year membership.  This will cost him less that a one year membership in England.  

     Well, I have waffled on long enough I guess.  That is my life in a nutshell.  If there is anyone thinking of coming our way they can email me and I'll be happy to give them some pointers on Bangkok.

If anyone would like to contact Liz, then click on the e-mail link on the right.  This does not send e-mail via her normal e-mail address, but it will be forwarded automatically to her.