I shall soon be off to Thailand to get married. This will be to my girlfriend Wanpen Soonklang (Jen), a thai national. I have been single too long. Being single is easy, you only have yourself to think about, being in a relationship means having to think about someone else.

My other half being thai is good on many levels, not least of which is that she has to think about speaking in english and this always makes me realise that I have to think about what she means; it could be different to what she actually says.

I find myself extremely patient with her. I guess this shouldn't be a surprise really as I am marrying her, but as a long-term 'single man' I can see how annoying she can be and often is! She can be very demanding and a bit of a 'drama-queen', but 99% of the time I find this aspect of her behaviour amusing. When we go over to thailand soon, I should see this in spades, I think I will see her becoming 'the boss' and ordering her family about. I will try not to laugh too loudly to spare her family members feelings.

I will write a report on the wedding festivities in greater detail after the event. I hope it will prove interesting to other people as it is planned as a traditional thai wedding. This will involve a procession going through 'silver' and 'gold' gates, monks blessings, water blessing ceremonies. It will also mean that I will be wearing a white (or more accurately a cream coloured) silk suit.