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Book Review: by Lang Reid
A Fool’s Diary
 A
Fool’s Diary (ISBN 978-0-9756950-8-8, Mitraphab Center, Australia) is
the third book in Neil Hutchinson’s “A Fool” series. These followed his best
seller Money Number One.
The book follows the usual ‘Dear Diary’ approach, where author Hutchison
documents his experiences for that year.
He explains very well just why Pattaya is his preferred option of where to
live, and why he does not choose to live in Australia, his homeland. On his
first visit home in five years he found that it had become a nation of
gamblers. Not that this was something new for the sunburned land Down Under,
but the scale of the gambling was what took him aback. He also found
Australia not only over-regulated, but also boring. He muses, “Give me a
touch of anarchy, a pinch of mayhem, a tablespoon of lawlessness, a cup of
vice and a ton of fun. In short, give me Pattaya.” He has many mates in
Thailand with the same sentiments, and they don’t necessarily drink in the
same bars as the author.
Much of the reminiscences deal with the author’s experiences, but many are
also taken from the lives of people he has met, more often than not tyros in
Thailand. He details a bar encounter (one we have all had) where he states
the facts of Thai life to Paul, a 62 year old British newbie, who has fallen
madly in love with the 24 year old met last week. “You look like an
intelligent bloke, I lied. Do you really think she is interested in an old
fart like you, for any reason other than money?” In the diary, Paul does see
the truth in the advice and leaves sadder, but wiser. Unfortunately, not all
the Pauls are as lucky (as the letters to our Ms. Hillary attest).
The book also deals with the aspects of living with a Thai woman, which make
relationships tenuous at times. He outlines difficulties with
communication/pronunciation. “This morning I was awakened by my Thai angel
saying we urgently needed to buy something she called kit chi nut en sil.”
He was unable to find the translation in his Thai-English dictionaries, but
dutifully went to the supermarket with her, to find that he was not supposed
to go to the foodstuffs, but to an area called in English, Kitchen Utensils!
By the time New Year is almost upon him, Hutchison becomes philosophical and
discusses companionship, admitting that he would be disappointed if his
girlfriend left him, but concludes, “Companionship is not a problem in
Pattaya although it does take time and effort to find sincerity.”
Whilst the cover follows the same basic design as his previous books, I
personally believe that author Hutchison lets himself down with the
‘cartoon’ artwork. The message between the covers is far from being
trifling, but is being trivialized by the delivery. However, it is on
Bookazine’s best seller listing, so perhaps he should just keep going the
way he is. I did enjoy the book, and though not belly laughs, there were
plenty of sniggers. At B. 450 a very pleasant and amusing read.
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