Back to Bangkok again

We have been home for a week now and trying to keep it quiet and simple to get the kids back into their routines and to get their behavior back under control.  Being away for 6 weeks is a long time for adults and it must feel even longer for kids.  I tried to keep up the discipline but who wants to yell and scream while on holidays?  Not me, I get sick of the sound of my own voice sometimes and I just end up sighing and saying to myself "their just kids, let them be kids" but since being in Thailand where the tolerance of small children is far greater than back in Melbourne the line between playful and naughty has become blurred.  I like the freedom they get over here and I like that we can eat out in a restaurant and not be too worried about the kids being noisy or not wanting to sit still, but when we were back in Melbourne I felt very conscious of them and avoided taking them to too many places where I would get the disapproving looks from the other mothers.  Or maybe I was just too sensitive.

My plan to keep things quiet back fired yesterday when we had to drive back to Bangkok again for our Visa renewals.  We thought that Marcus had plotted our trip better this time since our last trip back in November was a disaster and we even had our Thai nanny with us to help and we still got lost.  Yesterday was no different, I was in charge of navigation and told Marcus to take the exit that I thought was the same as what was on the map that he gave me but alas I was wrong again and we ended up miles away from where we needed to be with absolutely no idea what road we were on or what turn to take to get back on track.  The freeways in Bangkok aren't like the ones back in Australia where if you miss an exit you can take the next one do a u-turn and try again, but in Bangkok there isn't that option, once you are off you are off and very very lost.
Thankfully we found a sign for Sukumvit Rd which is the main highway that runs through the center of Bangkok City.  Unfortunately this road is a nightmare with traffic hardly moving so what should have been a 2 hour trip turned into a 3 1/4 hour trip.  It is hard to not argue with your spouse when lost in traffic but I think we did a pretty good job of keeping our tempers cool.  The kids were great, they read their books and ate their morning tea and didn't get too grouchy until just before we arrived. 
We had to meet a immigration lawyer at a building called Chamachuree Square on Rama IV which has what they call a "one stop shop" for work visas and long stay visas.  Sounds simple and pain free?  Its not.  Our lawyer was 1 hour late and I was not impressed, then we had to sit and wait while she copied passports, filed and signed many forms, then after over an hour of waiting she comes to us and says that the office is closing for lunch and we have to come back in another hour before we can continue the waiting process.  I had to bite my tongue very hard to stop myself from telling her what I thought.  The kids were over tired and losing their patience and I was starving so we attempted to have some lunch in peace which was impossible as Lillie was being a rascal and refused to settle down and I can't blame her, I was feeling the same frustrations she was.
Thankfully once we went back upstairs our wait wasn't too much longer and after we forked out another huge some of money and received our stamps and signatures of authorisation we could leave Bangkok and not have to return to that building for another 12 months.
Finding our way our of Bangkok is always easier than getting in for some reason and just as the kids fell asleep and I was dozing off we went through a toll way and we were greeted by a Thai police officer who asked us to pull over to the side of the motorway.  "Here we go" I thought asd he popped his head into our window and realised we weren't Thai I am sure I could see the dollar signs flash up in his eyes.  Marcus got out and went to speak to him as best he could since he cant speak Thai and the police officer couldn't speak English.  In the end he was told we had gone through a speed camera and had a speeding fine.  Normally from what I have been told the police are usually happy to take a smaller amount than the fine as a "bribe" but this guy would take no less than 2000baht!  I was fuming.  There was no proof that we were speeding, he produced no photo from the speed camera, it was his word against ours.  Marcus didn't argue, he just wanted to get his license back off of him and get home so he paid him off and we were able to get out of there. When you receive a fine from the police the process is that they take your drivers license to a police station and hold onto it until you come to pay your fine, the problem for us is that we couldn't find out from him which station we had to go to.  Then to top off our day the kids woke up while Marcus was talking to the officer and didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the day.  I couldn't talk for the rest of the trip, I was too tired and angry.  To prove my point about us having to pay too much Marcus got pulled over for speeding again today (Wednesday) and he only had to pay a 240baht fine (bribe) and he was going way faster than he was on Monday in Bangkok.  You can understand my frustration.
Eventually we got home, with a much lighter purse mind you, but now at least it is done and we don't have to worry about our visas expiring until at least May next year.

Now I look forward to spending some much needed time at home, eating good food and watching my new 50 inch TV that my darling husband bought for me for Mothers Day.  It is huge and I love it.  The TV's that came with this house are really very small by today's standards and the colours were starting to go weird.  So now I have this lovely new and huge TV to watch all of my favourite shows on and to have movie nights with my family.  I also have purchased new cushions for our pleather couch and I plan to buy a rug and some more pictures and ornaments to decorate the house with since we are now staying here for another 18 months and I want to make it feel more homey.