Postcard from Thailand 2002

After a tiring 22 hour journey (but no burning tubes this time) I’m back at my desk at work, slowly falling asleep as my flight got in at 6.30 this morning and I came straight here…… oops.

Having a lovely time - wish I was in Thailand,

Our last day and a lot of the liaisons appeared to wave us off. It seems that for some reason we were the most popular team out there and we seem to have adopted other teams' liaisons. We then began our scary trip to the airport (we were going at 80-85 mph the entire way in our minibus with no road rules and the driver seemed to be falling asleep)! We made it in one piece and after a tearful goodbye to our liaison and the Finnish team’s liason we continued on our journey home…….which was not uneventful.

So how does this trip compare with others? It was awesome. I got to see people who I had competed with in both Thailand and Madrid and I also got to meet a lot of new people and make some new friends who I hope to keep in touch with (I could do with free accommodation and guides in Thailand and Spain!). I also hope to keep friends with certain people to stop incriminating evidence from being released ;-)

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

Today we went to a Tiger zoo (which also had crocodiles) which was interesting, we then went to Pattaya again, although I did stay in the air conditioned shopping centre getting some more presents. I also ate far too much at the food court. Following that it was more dinner at the hotel followed by drinking and more karaoke (I think we’re hooked now). Even the hotel manager joined in.

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

Team day. Americans again. Same old story, they shoot well and we can't compete. Oh well. The Thais next which won't make us popular. We start 1 point down. 2nd end we are 1 point up. Third end... and we've won. I'm still shaking and I'm sure some of our guides were cheering for us.

Well we’ve won a medal. Can’t really do much better than that. I do seem to have a huge bruise in the palm of my right hand though- I think that’s from where me and Tim “high 5’d” afterwards - ouch.

The medal award ceremony went quickly and it was kind of cosy up on the podium with the 3 of us up there. The medals are pretty nice. Afterwards it was the closing ceremony which involved some Thai dancing and some Thai ladyboys which were quite disturbing. Especially as one was wearing a very short skirt and kept on flashing something that we really didn’t want to see!

We then trooped off to get changed for the closing banquet. We dressed up in our suits and were by far the best dressed team. Then Met, our liason, appeared with a bag of locusts for us to eat. They were strangely moreish and we had fun trying to get other people to eat them.

We then retired to the hotel to drink more. I can report that the British team put in a sterling effort which included drinking more than anyone and still being the last left standing at the end of the night. We also spent plenty of time doing karaoke and it seems that “I can’t take my eyes off you” is now officially the British University archery team song. We even managed to corrupt the liaisons and got them to join in the singing and dancing. And Richard, well he just continued with the corruption he started earlier in the week!

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

I shall be know as Andy Somers II from know on. I shoot 56 or 57 every time on the practice Bosses then move 30m to the left for the real thing and put them all miles out. My worst H2H ever. And I would have won the next round easily just shooting average. Oh well, team it is then, providing I can get up and running again. Rich also went out, but Tim is going well. Tim had to meet all the good people and had a much tougher route than the American, but as usual, our American jinx hit and he lost the gold medal match, but you can't really complain with silver.

Went to Pattaya in the evening. The highlight of the day so far being Rich getting triple Thai action. He was suffering from sunburn and was seen lying on the floor with a Thai on each arm and one on his face....applying ice of course! I haven't mentioned the Koreans yet either... they have sent over an army. They are lacking a couple of compounds but they have team managers, coaches and archery researchers (PhD students I assume). They are also VERY quiet and reserved, even during the team round.

Back to Pattaya. It's known for the sex industry as loads of navy boats moor up there. We were taken by coach and then let loose. We walked to the markets and got some souvenirs, then walked past a load of pool halls and bars. To start with we were just called at and waved at to come in. Then we were grabbed, groped and generally molested, but we managed to escape. Then came to a cabaret with some of the famous lady boys. They are impressive. They get cheap plastic surgery out here so have real (well almost) breasts etc. Quite amazing.

The bus ride back to the hotel was dull, but we stopped in the bar for a quick one. When we got in the bar the Koreans were doing karaoke, dancing on tables, dropping their trousers and generally unable to speak as they were so drunk as they had won 2 medals. We had our beer and then ended up going and doing karaoke as the performers dragged first me, and then Tim on. I ended up doing 3 songs, one of which was filmed by a Dutch archer. Wee then were offered free accommodation by the hotel manager whenever we come back (we have been drinking with him every night).

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

Now it starts to count. Qualification. It's hot as usual. Practice goes well and it looks good until... 2nd arrow of qualification and something bounces off my head and then down the range. One of my limb savers has snapped off. As a consequence my sight starts getting shaken to bits. I managed to scrounge another pair and set them up but its already 2doz down by the time I get it sorted. Then my D loop goes AWOL. I'm not a happy chappy.

In the meantime Richard's sight starts to move. And then, to top things off, Tim starts having problems in the second half. Marvellous. We all drop down and end up qualifying 10th, 18th and 21st. I have shot a personal worst. Very embarrassing. This means the team are seeded last at the moment. James is shooting now and is up against some class competition, including the Korean champs, the champ from Madrid and the Olympic silver medallist. Not sure where I got to. Anyway, James picked up in qualifying and finished 10th.

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

Seemed a little cooler this morning when I went out onto the balcony. Must be the cloud cover. Time to go to Official practice. It seems a little strange that we've been dropped off at the practice field for the official practice, sure this can't be right but that's what we're being told.... time to check it out. After a short walk to the stadium I find out that we should be in there. Have to move all our gear. The 200m walk seems like 2 miles, forget what I said about cool.

Practice goes well apart from the fact we are sweating so much that it's running into our eyes. Hope it's not this bad tomorrow.After lunch it's off ot the practice field to do the team round. It's going well and we seem to be doing better than the French.

Now it's time for the opening ceremony. After the usual walking about we are treated to a fantastic display of Thai kick boxing and other martial arts. There are also 2 English girls who are taking part, and they get nicknamed the "Foxy Boxers" for obvious reasons. Then we are surrounded by locals wanting to talk to us in English and get our autographs, don't know why. Then it's the opening banquet. We head off to get changed. Only us and the Italians have got dressed up, the rest are in team gear. We then get some presentations followed by a thai dancing display, then the food starts which is, as usual, fantastic. All the other teams run off between 7.30-8, don't know why, there are plenty of people to talk to. Perhaps it was the thought of doing karaoke? We did get to chat to our Thai helpers for a while though and learnt a lot about thai culture and the language.

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

Well today we get to practice shooting. At the practice field it's hot and very windy, scores may be low. By 10.30 it has reached 42 degrees in the sun. After a couple of hours we pack up. We don't want to know what temp it is by the time we leave at 12.

This afternoon its swimming for James and Richard, admin for Ken and John and shopping for me and Tim. Our guide met and his friends Bin and Dow take us to a local shopping centre. We get a few things and then have a coffee when the Thai lessons begin. The girls are great and tell us all sorts of useful words and phrases (I'm sure you can guess what they are!). Then it's back to pick the others up.

Now we're off on a local bus to a bigger shopping place. To give you an idea it's a pick up truck with a cage on it and only costs 15p for a 30 min ride! Walking around, we seem to be the centre of attention. All the girls look and giggle! We love it! Then it's the same kamikazee journey back to the hotel. James and I have to hang off the back on a metal platform a few inches off the road... and remember what I said about the driving out here! Luckily today though there has been no rain... hope it stays like that!

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,

Got to the airport eventually, was only really slowed down by a burning tube train which was a slightly concerning prospect. Things can only really get better.

Got to the airport to see everyone there but no kit. Mark Brian did turn up eventually and we relieved him of everything he was carrying. Flights were long but comfortable. We arrived in Bangkok and were greeted by a thunderstorm....and a golf course between the two runways-these people are mad! We met our liaisons by the plane and were then whisked through the diplomatic channel-we must be important. Even more surprising was the fact that all our luggage arrived intact.

We then got in our little (though thankfully air conditioned minibus) for the ride to our hotel - 2 hours away. There seem to be no road rules in Thailand, anything goes. Overtaking, undertaking and trying to run people off the road as well as going the wrong way down the road. We arrived safely though and met other teams at our hotel. Dinner was big and good and then we had a few beers with the organising committee (me and Tim)....

Having a lovely time - wish you were here,