Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

As a follow up to how i got into watches , when Tony died i told the story of how i met him at his funeral and this is what i wrote on my blog in February 2006.

Death can be funny sometimes

On 20th March i got a call saying one of my closest friends had died in Thailand , not believing it as he had lived with me for the best part of 16 months before flying out there in November i got my best mate Nigel to verify it through his Thai contacts , apparrently he had a heart attack and was dead on arrival at the hospital.

Now normally i wouldn't share what happened next but Lynn his wife of 32 years gave me the OK as Tony would have seen the funny side.

I had known Tony for over 20 years , he was my mentor in watches, one of my passions, and we had flown on Concorde together after i told him his fear of flying was preventing him from having an amazing experience, he told me after it was one of his lifes best , we also holidayed together in Barbados and for his 60th i took him on a track day to drive the cars of his youth including E-Types and Aston Martins .

Sadly he and Lynn split 4 years ago but during the 16 months he stayed at mine they saw each other every day and when we both heard of his death we flew out together the next day to collect his personal effects and arrange the funeral , what could possibly go wrong ?

We had spoken to the Foreign Consulate in London who had given us the contact details of the British Consul in Pattaya , we were told he would meet us take us to the hospital and then assist with the paperwork.

After leaving 9pm the following night we arrived at 4pm Wednesday then took a Taxi to Pattaya arriving 7pm , the Consul was busy and although he had recieved an email did not know he was supposed to meet us and wasnt free till the following afternoon , we decided to visit the hospital anyway and sort out the rest in Bangkok at the British Embassy Thursday as we were due to fly back Friday lunchtime ,that was until we found out Tony was now on his way to Bangkok for a post mortem and his death certificate was written expressing a burial when Lynn wanted a cremation and his ashes returned to the UK , after several calls via Nigel back in the UK who was a star i was told to expect a call with an update at 8.30 the following morning.

Bang on time Gary Wright the British Consul in Bangkok called me , " good news he said , i have located Tony he is here in Bangkok at the Police Forensic hospital , i have put off the PM till you arrive and if you come to the embassy first all the paperwork can be sorted out including the death certificate ".

I called Lynn , we organised transport for the 3 hour drive to Bankok and after checking out of the hotel we were off for a 1pm appointment at the British Embassy.

At the last toll bridge before Bangkok we were pulled over by a Police Officer , after a heated discussion resulting in a 200 Baht " Fine " or bribe whichever way you look at it we were on our way , we arrived at the Embassy but had nowhere to park so paid a scooter taxi to show us where to , having accomplished this we walked back and found a 50m queue waiting for the embassy to open at 1pm , luckily Gary was on the ball and at 12.50 came out to get us.

Once in his office he advised Lynn of the fact that 200 British nationals die each year here and that there is a specialist funeral company that could handle everything so not to worry , everything was sorted including arranging for release of Tonys ashes to Nigel who would bring them home in May.

After all the stress finally we were off to see Tony and say our goodbyes. Gary warned us it could be a raw experience as the police forensic hospital was pretty basic and that Tony would probably be on a stretcher in a corridor .

We got there and Gary went to make arrangements for Tony to be brought up , i went to get tissues and discovered the loos there just have a bowl in a tub of water hmmm , oh well at least we were at journeys end.

Gary came out of a side door and took Lynns hand as we had agreed she would go first , after 20 seconds she came out and said to me " IT'S NOT TONY ! "

After calming down i asked Gary how this could happen , aparrently they dont tag people just go on sight , Lynn said " but that man had hair " i explained Tony was bald with tattooed arms and two scars on his back , Gary took another look as in Thailand due to muslim custom most people are buried the same day hence they dont have many freezers , more detail than was neccesary i think , anyway he confirmed it definitely wasn't Tony , well i was emotionally drained by now and could only see the funny side which i explained Tony would have appreciated , Lynn wasn't laughing but saw my point .

So had they brought the wrong man out or was Tony still in Pattaya where we had just driven 3 hours from ? As you can imagine Gary was profusely sorry and embarrassed , to be fair it was not his fault and he has been fantastic in helping sort everything out then and since. So where was Tony ?

Yes the officials held there hands up , they had transported the wrong guy from Pattaya , i now had this dreadful thought that they may have buried him by the time we get back , however the real problem was having located him we were told he was in the city morgue , no visitors allowed , Gary said "you head back i'll make the arrangements" and an hour later we were assured thay had found him and would keep him there and allow us to see him , at last !

We made good time to Pattaya , i rang Nigel who rebooked us into the hotel we had left that morning and finally we were in the right place. We went to reception and was asked to follow a porter , we went through one block, into another and out the other side , here we found ourselves in a courtyard with a double garage at one end , our guide was walking towards it and i was thinking " you have got to be fxxxxng kidding " Nope , he walked up to the garage door took off the 50p padlock and pulled it up , i half expected to see Tony waiting on a stretcher but instead we were faced with 8 morgue freezers .

Now after all that had happened you would think he would know which one to open ? He went to the top right opened it and gestured as if to say " is that him ? " No we said , his name is Anthony Walker , now the penny dropped and he actually checked the names on the doors before opening the right one.

I had mentally been prepared to see Tony in Bangkok but after this farce had been played out i was so drained i found it hard to let go and although there have obviously been tears i guess i will have to wait untill the memorial.

I loved Tony and will miss him terribly i know he wouldn't have minded me sharing the unbelievable drama Lynn and i experienced and you'll understand if you play me in the future if i take bad beats like water off a ducks back.

All the best

ACES

Bloody hell Simon, if that was a film script, people would say it was too far feched.

Kudos to Lynn for allowing you to share it

[RED-DOG]

Did you make a good few quid though Tom ?

No. As I remember, we blewed a little bit, but we were richer for the experience.

[Karabiner]

Did you make a good few quid though Tom ?

No. As I remember, we blewed a little bit, but we were richer for the experience.

I find it really amusing that because you were so ready to believe that Sylvino had had you over, understandably imo, the other guy now took full advantage and put the boot in. Do you think he sold it back to him ?

[Colchester Kev]

Did you make a good few quid though Tom ?

No. As I remember, we blewed a little bit, but we were richer for the experience.

I find it really amusing that because you were so ready to believe that Sylvino had had you over, understandably imo, the other guy now took full advantage and put the boot in. Do you think he sold it back to him ?

Wasnt Francisco had up on match fixing as well ... I am sure I remember something about it ... might have been his bruv, they were both snooker players yes ?

[TightEnd]

a wrong un

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvino_Francisco

[Colchester Kev]

a wrong un

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvino_Francisco

See, thats what happens when you knock about with Red Dog ... Tikay will get done for sub letting his bus pass soon enough, mark my words

[tikay]

a wrong un

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvino_Francisco

100%, pure bad.

[tikay]

a wrong un

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvino_Francisco

See, thats what happens when you knock about with Red Dog ... Karabiner will get done for sub letting his bus pass soon enough, mark my words

FYP

Bus? BUS? Me? On a BUS? With like, you know, the public?

You're having a larf. I've been on telly, & alll sorts.

[Ironside]

a wrong un

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvino_Francisco

See, thats what happens when you knock about with Red Dog ... Karabiner will get done for sub letting his bus pass soon enough, mark my words

FYP

Bus? BUS? Me? On a BUS? With like, you know, the public?

You're having a larf. I've been on telly, & alll sorts.

you doing panto this year tikay?

[Tonji]

Top quality photos Woodsey  you have a good eye! post more please.

Wonderful watch stories Tom & Simon. I've never owned one, & probably never will but my choice would be

 

[tikay]

For Simon Trumper.

Guess the reserve price at Auction.

[WarBwastard]

Peter Mandelson owns one of these watches.  A £25,000 one.  And Sarkozy.  I'd get one but my wrists are too narrow.

[david3103]

I bought a 'Motorway watch' for a tenner a few years ago following a misunderstanding with the guy attempting to sell them... he seemed to think that I was a policeman...

It kept remarkably good time.

[pokefast]

a wrong un

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvino_Francisco

See, thats what happens when you knock about with Red Dog ... Karabiner will get done for sub letting his bus pass soon enough, mark my words

FYP

Bus? BUS? Me? On a BUS? With like, you know, the public?

You're having a larf. I've been on telly, & alll sorts.

you doing panto this year tikay?

Odds on a dame.

[DTD-ACES]

For Simon Trumper.

Guess the reserve price at Auction.

Not really my field , but somewhere close to a £1,000,000