Sattahip, Thailand
I
t took ten days to buy the boat. Getting the 18 grand the Thai Navy was demanding was not the problem. Once Shake reached the man who calls himself Bayer and explained the situation, the cash blew in to a Bangkok account overnight. Armed with the draft that proved they had the cash and led by Pete Prasawai along to handle any haggling, they went to the Navy Base to close the deal. That’s when they sailed into a bureaucratic minefield.
Selling a confiscated boat to a couple of farang civilians with the requisite cash in hand was hardly as simple as it sounded. Thai Navy officials at Sattahip bounced the deal up to Bangkok for approval, and that request caused a major burble at the American Embassy. Shake and Mike were promptly summoned to the capitol and confronted b
