Christmas Day 2005

I am in Perth in Western Australia now with my partner Waree and our lovely 14 month old boy Adam.

I normally stay with my parents in Mount Helena but currently we are housewarming for my daughter Kyla and her husband Michel while they are on holiday.

We are in a large house in a suburb fairly close to the city.  Its a new subdivision and the houses fill their small blocks.  There is paving everywhere and almost no privacy in the tiny back yards as the houses overlook each other.  You rarely see people outside and all the houses have their blinds drawn.  Every door and window is locked or double locked and alarmed.  The concern about security is paramount at all times. The contrast with Ban Pho could not be greater.

Recently we have celebrated Christmas down here at Kyla's but as they are away this morning I will be driving up to my parent's place in the Hills to cook a brunch for the family and exchange presents.

Very quiet here.

My life - Thailand - Temple Market Day in Ban Pho

On the 9th and 23rd of each month the Wat Ph Ti-ya-lam has a market. This is one of the three temples in Ban Pho. We take the motorcy about 1km to the market to buy minor items as prices are cheaper in the cities. There about 10 stalls with brightly coloured canopies to create shade. As always it is very noisy as several of the stalls have trucks beside them belting out Thai music trying to drown each other out. You get used to it after a while. The stalls mainly sell trinkets, clothes or kitchen/laundry/personal hygiene products. Today I took several photos outside but none inside as I was relegated to holding the baby while Waree shopped.
  Temple Market Day

A stolen phone

Yesterday somebody stole Rat's (Waree's sister) mobile phone. It was an expensive one camera and all for her eldest son Edt (who has five fingers on one hand) to stay in touch when he is at technical college in Nong Khai. She can afford it as her husband Adt is working as a farm labourer in Israel.

So today we had to go to a Wat near Nong Khai about 40 kms away to see a monk who for 1 baht (about 3 cents) will tell your fortune and who we hoped would tell Rat who had stolen her phone. Unfortunately the Wat appeared to be abandoned so we didn't find out who stole the phone.

I tried to help by looking into the past with the aid of the silver side of an old CD but I could only identify the perpetrator as being dark and having black hair, which applies to almost everybody in the village so Rat would not reward my efforts.

Today I frightened several babies. Its really strange as soon as they see the huge white bloated farang they burst into tears. Obviously they think I am a pii (ghost). Maybe I am.

Losing a phone and looking for a fortune teller

Yesterday somebody stole Rat's (Waree's sister) mobile phone. It was an expensive one camera and all for her eldest son Edt (who has five fingers on one hand) to stay in touch when he is at technical college in Nong Khai. She can afford it as her husband Adt is working as a farm labourer in Israel.

So today we had to go to a Wat near Nong Khai about 40kms away to see a monk who for 1 baht (about 3 cents) will tell your fortune and who we hoped would tell Rat who had stolen her phone. Unfortunately the Wat appeared to be abandoned so we didn't find out who stole the phone. I tried to help by looking into the past with the aid of the silver side of an old CD but I could only identify the perpetrator as being dark and having black hair, which applies to almost everybody in the village so Rat would not reward my efforts.

Today I frightened several babies. Its really strange as soon as they see the huge white bloated farang they burst into tears. Obviously they think I am a pii (ghost). Maybe I am.

Tying the houses together

I am back in Thailand after a difficult and sad time in Australia when my brother Andrew passed away from cancer.

The weather has been hot and humid but dry here in Ban Pho but at last a storm came and flooded all the dry rice fields. Since the monsoon has broken we have rain most afternoons.

After the rain there was much fishing and many insects to eat. People here catch the insects overnight with florescent tubes over sheets of corrugated iron at an angle so the insects are directed into a container of water. In the morning they fry them up and during the day delicately eat the bodies taking off the wings. They even eat the termite nymphs which they collect in their thousands.

There has been great excitement as after a long hot dry period many small round mushrooms appeared. They are mainly underground and have no stem looking a bit like small round truffles. It’s quite unusual they tell me to have these delicacies and everybody has been eating them for several days. On the way to Phom Pisai we saw many people with baskets coming out of areas of bush carrying mushrooms they had collected.

Yesterday was a special temple day and all the houses in our section of Ban Pho (Moo 7) tied their houses together with the white ceremonial string I call magic string. Then late at night people and monks came around the houses and through earth on the roofs. Fantastic that the community should bind itself together with long continuous strands of string.

Today Waree's mother sprinkled water which had come from the temple over us. We are very blessed and have good luck I am sure. A sort of miniature Thai New Year. Did I tell you about that? Well another time maybe.

Tying the houses together

I am back in Thailand after a difficult and sad time in Australia when my brother Andrew passed away from cancer.
The weather has been hot and humid but dry here in Ban Pho but at last a storm came and flooded all the dry rice fields. Since the monsoon has broken we have rain most afternoons. After the rain there was much fishing and many insects to eat. People here catch the insects overnight with florescent tubes over sheets of corrugated iron at an angle so the insects are directed into a container of water. In the morning they fry them up and during the day delicately eat the bodies taking off the wings. They even eat the termite nymphs which they collect in their thousands.

There has been great excitement as after a long hot dry period many small round mushrooms appeared. They are mainly underground and have no stem looking a bit like small round truffles. It’s quite unusual they tell me to have these delicacies and everybody has been eating them for several days. On the way to Phom Pisai we saw many people with baskets coming out of areas of bush carrying mushrooms they had collected.

Yesterday was a special temple day and all the houses in our section of Ban Pho (Moo 7) tied their houses together with the white ceremonial string I call magic string. Then late at night people and monks came around the houses and through earth on the roofs. Fantastic that the community should bind itself together with long continuous strands of string. Today Waree's mother sprinkled water which had come from the temple over us. We are very blessed and have good luck I am sure. A sort of miniature Thai New Year. Did I tell you about that? Well another time maybe.

The street where I stay in Issan

Monks on morning round in street where I stay

A view of the street where I stay with snake

The street where I live in NE Thailand near the Mekong River

Waree in her street

A horrible accident and reparation

I was with a group of people standing in the road chatting outside our house. It was Temple Day and Waree wanted to go to the Temple Market so I was sitting on our motorcy waiting for her to stop gassing. It was about 8.30 am and cool, children were walking and riding bicycles to school. Our street is concreted and the road is wide enough for 2 cars to pass but there are always many pedestrians, children, vendors etc so most people go very slowly.

We were occupying about half the road. Suddenly a motorbike with three teenagers on rushing to school went past at high speed. At the same time the little two year old boy who lives in the house opposite toddled out to his grandmother who was standing in our group. The motorbike ran straight into him and dragged him underneath about five meters down the road, running over him in the process. The bike carried on down the road and stopped about 100 meters away.

Waree’s brother Tau with great presence of mind started his motorbike and carried the boy’s grandmother and the boy off to the village nursing post.

The young men who had caused the accident just drove off to school. I was incensed that nobody even tried to stop them and they had not even returned to see how the boy was. The next hour was taken up with many people jabbering away in Thai (Lao) and me trying to convince them that they should pressure the appropriate Head Man to put in speed humps. This is another story but suffice to say that of course I didn’t succeed.

Eventually the boy returned from the Nursing Post and with a whole crowd of people set of in a truck for the nearest hospital in Phom Pisai. There are no police in the village with the nearest police post some 15 kms away. In any case nobody was interested in involving the police. I couldn’t understand how they could let the young men ride away from the scene with no punishment of any sort.

There is a continual problem with teenager boys riding motorbikes too fast and they kill themselves regularly usually because they are drunk on Thai whisky. I think that part of the problem is that this is a “kindergarten village”. Most of the children’s parents are working overseas as maids or labourers, or in factories in Bangkok or in Phuket as bargirls. They send back good money but all their children are brought up by the grandparents. So there is a lack of parental supervision which is not a problem so much in the girls who are brought up to be responsible and care for younger children, but is a real problem with rebellious adolescent boys.

After a couple of days the boy returned from hospital where he had been under observation and amazingly he was unharmed. That seemed to be an end to it, but a few days later in the evening about 20 people were assembled in the front of the house opposite.

Houses are not separate from the road to the same extent as they are in Western countries so typically in a gathering like this some people are in the house, some in the sitting platforms in front of the house and some in the road.

Waree tells me that they have come to work out compensation for the boy who was run over. The grandmother approaches Waree and they talk in low voices. Apparently the family of the injured boy want 7,000 baht (about $210) compensation and the young man’s mother has offered 1,000 baht (about $30). The grandmother is asking for advice as to how to negotiate a higher price.

As a farang I am well acquainted with the arguments used by people suing for millions of dollars in compensation claims, so I make some valuable suggestions such as on going mental trauma, loss of earnings etc. Naturally these are dismissed out of hand as the usual ravings of the imbecile farang.

The longer I stay here the more I realize that everybody here is related in some way, so these negotiations are really in the extended family. I drink some beer with the men and everybody is very jovial and there is the usual continual badinage and joking.

The sister of the mother of the young man who was riding the bike is doing most of the negotiating sitting on a rush mat near the centre of the group. I can tell from her body language that she is not so happy. The young man’s mother, who has come from Bangkok, where she works, sits behind her along with his grandmother.

The young men involved are squatting outside in the road with their motorcycles watching the proceedings. Suddenly the young man’s aunt gets up and shouts at him in strident Lao. Waree translates for me “You no study or get any money”. She is very angry it has cost her sister 5,000 baht (about $150) in compensation. A paltry amount to a farang but a lot in a country where a person only earns 100 baht ($3) for a day’s work in the rice fields.

The young man’s family depart and the young man races off angrily at high speed on his bike. Obviously he has not yet learned a lesson. The rest of us stay behind and drink beer. The episode has been concluded satisfactorily, but there will be no speed humps and it will happen again.

I was with a group

I was with a group of people standing in the road chatting outside our house. It was Temple Day and Waree wanted to go to the Temple Market so I was sitting on our motorcy waiting for her to stop gassing.

It was about 8.30am and cool, children were walking and riding bicycles to school. Our street is concreted and the road is wide enough for 2 cars to pass but there are always many pedestrians, children, vendors etc so most people go very slowly. We were occupying about half the road.

Suddenly a motorbike with three teenagers on rushing to school went past at high speed. At the same time the little two year old boy who lives in the house opposite toddled out to his grandmother who was standing in our group.

The motorbike ran straight into him and dragged him underneath about five meters down the road, running over him in the process.

The bike carried on down the road and stopped about 100 meters away. Waree’s brother Tau with great presence of mind started his motorbike and carried the boy’s grandmother and the boy off to the village nursing post.

The young men who had caused the accident just drove off to school.

I was incensed that nobody even tried to stop them and they had not even returned to see how the boy was.

The next hour was taken up with many people jabbering away in Thai (Lao) and me trying to convince them that they should pressure the appropriate Head Man to put in speed humps. This is another story but suffice to say that of course I didn’t succeed.

Eventually the boy returned from the Nursing Post and with a whole crowd of people set of in a truck for the nearest hospital in Phom Pisai.

There are no police in the village with the nearest police post some 15 kms away. In any case nobody was interested in involving the police.

I couldn’t understand how they could let the young men ride away from the scene with no punishment of any sort. There is a continual problem with teenager boys riding motorbikes too fast and they kill themselves regularly usually because they are drunk on Thai whisky.

I think that part of the problem is that this is a “kindergarten village”. Most of the children’s parents are working overseas as maids or labourers, or in factories in Bangkok or in Phuket as bargirls. They send back good money but all their children are brought up by the grandparents. So there is a lack of parental supervision which is not a problem so much in the girls who are brought up to be responsible and care for younger children, but is a real problem with rebellious adolescent boys.

After a couple of days the boy returned from hospital where he had been under observation and amazingly he was unharmed.

That seemed to be an end to it, but a few days later in the evening about 20 people were assembled in the front of the house opposite. Houses are not separate from the road to the same extent as they are in Western countries so typically in a gathering like this some people are in the house, some in the sitting platforms in front of the house and some in the road.

Waree tells me that they have come to work out compensation for the boy who was run over. The grandmother approaches Waree and they talk in low voices. Apparently the family of the injured boy want 7,000 baht (about $210) compensation and the young man’s mother has offered 1,000 baht (about $30). The grandmother is asking for advice as to how to negotiate a higher price. As a farang I am well acquainted with the arguments used by people suing for millions of dollars in compensation claims, so I make some valuable suggestions such as on going mental trauma, loss of earnings etc. Naturally these are dismissed out of hand as the usual ravings of the imbecile farang.

The longer I stay here the more I realize that everybody here is related in some way, so these negotiations are really in the extended family. I drink some beer with the men and everybody is very jovial and there is the usual continual badinage and joking.

The sister of the mother of the young man who was riding the bike is doing most of the negotiating sitting on a rush mat near the centre of the group. I can tell from her body language that she is not so happy. The young man’s mother, who has come from Bangkok, where she works, sits behind her along with his grandmother.

The young men involved are squatting outside in the road with their motorcycles watching the proceedings. Suddenly the young man’s aunt gets up and shouts at him in strident Lao. Waree translates for me “You no study or get any money”. She is very angry it has cost her sister 5,000 baht (about $150) in compensation. A paltry amount to a farang but a lot in a country where a person only earns 100 baht ($3) for a day’s work in the rice fields.

The young man’s family depart and the young man races off angrily at high speed on his bike. Obviously he has not yet learned a lesson.

The rest of us stay behind and drink beer. The episode has been concluded satisfactorily, but there will be no speed humps and it will happen again.

Waree Adam and two monks

The artist relaxing floating on the Mekong River

How's the weather in Europe?

Bathing in the Mekong

The kids have been pestering me about going to Chai Hat (the beach) and as we are several hundred kilometers from the nearest sea I assumed they meant the Mekong River.

We stopped in the shade of trees at a Wat overlooking the Mekong, which even in a dry season with one of the severest droughts for years, must be a kilometer wide. At this point it is even wider due to a major tributary coming in from the Lao side of the river. On the far bank in Lao I could see houses along the river bank with beautiful large spreading trees.

We went down the 15 meters cliff to the beach which was a large sandbank with a large covered area giving shade with the usual collection of stalls selling food and drink. We ate a meal of Issan style sticky rice, delicious fish and papaya salad which I washed down with a bottle of beer.

We all had a great time messing about in tyre inner tubes and inflatable mattresses that you can hire for a few cents. Tipping each other up and splashing. The water was interesting warm for the first 10 cms but then quite cold and the current was very fast so you were quickly swept down the sandbank to the back eddy downstream where everybody accumulated in the slack water.

It was a great day.

 

Jeremy Holton
http://www.jeremyholton.com

The kids enjoying the Mekong River

Bathing in the Mekong

The kids have been pestering me about going to Chai Hat (the beach) and as we are several hundred kilometers from the nearest sea I assumed they meant the Mekong River.

We stopped in the shade of trees at a Wat overlooking the Mekong, which even in a dry season with one of the severest droughts for years, must be a kilometer wide. At this point it is even wider due to a major tributary coming in from the Lao side of the river. On the far bank in Lao I could see houses along the river bank with beautiful large spreading trees.

We went down the 15 meters cliff to the beach which was a large sandbank with a large covered area giving shade with the usual collection of stalls selling food and drink. We ate a meal of Issan style sticky rice, delicious fish and papaya salad which I washed down with a bottle of beer.

We all had a great time messing about in tyre inner tubes and inflatable mattresses that you can hire for a few cents. Tipping each other up and splashing. The water was interesting warm for the first 10 cms but then quite cold and the current was very fast so you were quickly swept down the sandbank to the back eddy downstream where everybody accumulated in the slack water.

It was a great day.

A funeral

Aou’s funeral is taking place just up the road. I can hear the monks chanting at Aou’s and I want to shower and film the proceedings.  Aou hasn't died and I think the funeral is for her husband who died a few year's ago.  It seems strange to me but they often celebrate somebody's death long after they have died, perhaps when they have the funds.

From dawn to dusk, there was a steady stream of people going in small groups up to the funeral at Aou’s. They all carried ornate silver (I presume aluminium) bowls and Waree tells me that these contain gifts of money to the funeral. Later I would see them come back with their bowls full of food, some with little but others with great quantities.

In a true Thai fashion those who can afford give more and those who have greater need take more. A truly communist society where without coercion or even social pressure the rich give more and take less while the poor give what they can afford and take what they need. In doing so they all gain merit which is more important than wealth or possessions.

A truckload of monks (about a dozen) chanted at Aou’s house in the early evening and everybody sat with templed hands.

That night there was entertainment all night with the street completely blocked by a stage and huge banks of speakers with dancing girls musicians and singers all playing in the lovely Issan style. Vendors line the road with their three wheeler motorcycles and stalls. Everybody sits on rush mats in the road and it goes on all night again.

Waree tells me that the people in the house will have almost no sleep for the 3 days of the funeral.

At the same time there is another show near Joi’s shop in about half a kilometer away. This one is bigger with more dancing girls and we travel between the two on our motorcy.

The next morning at Aou’s there is more chanting from monks and more eating but by the end of the day everything is back to normal.

Since I have been staying here these celebrations have been taking place in the village or nearby villages every week or so. They involve hundreds of people in preparing, sharing and eating food, worshiping together and being entertained. It must be a fantastic unifying force within the village as everybody is involved in these activities on a regular basis.

Aou’s funeral is taking place

Aou’s funeral is taking place just up the road. I can hear the monks chanting at Aou’s and I want to shower and film the proceedings

From dawn to dusk, there was a steady stream of people going in small groups up to the funeral at Aou’s. They all carried ornate silver (I presume aluminium) bowls and Waree tells me that these contain gifts of money to the funeral. Later I would see them come back with their bowls full of food, some with little but others with great quantities. In a true Thai fashion those who can afford give more and those who have greater need take more. A truly communist society where without coercion or even social pressure the rich give more and take less while the poor give what they can afford and take what they need. In doing so they all gain merit which is more important than wealth or possessions.

A truckload of monks (about a dozen) chanted at Aou’s house in the early evening and everybody sat with templed hands.

That night there was entertainment all night with the street completely blocked by a stage and huge banks of speakers with dancing girls musicians and singers all playing in the lovely Issan style. Vendors line the road with their three wheeler motocycles and stalls. Everybody sits on rush mats in the road and it goes on all night again. Waree tells me that the people in the house will have almost no sleep for the 3 days of the funeral.

At the same time there is another show near Joi’s shop in about half a kilometer away. This one is bigger with more dancing girls and we travel between the two on our motorcy.

The next morning at Aou’s there is more chanting from monks and more eating but by the end of the day everything is back to normal.

Since I have been staying here these celebrations have been taking place in the village or nearby villages every week or so. They involve hundreds of people in preparing, sharing and eating food, worshipping together and being entertained. It must be a fantastic unifying force within the village as everybody is involved in these activities on a regular basis.

Loud music

I just wrote this to my cousin Paul in Canada where it is minus 12. Yes sunny days in the low 30s here. Some blue haze probably due to some burning off as its still the dry season. At the moment its pitch black though as its only 5.30 am.

The water supply is off again same as yesterday early in the morning so havent been able to shower and shave yet. I am usually first up as people here sleep 9 hours a night as well as having a siesta which is a bit too much for me. We dont have any hot water so my shower is cold. I could have a heater fitted but I like a cold shower. The air temperature is warm anyway and after the intitial shock the shower is stimulating.

The monks in one of the temples sounded their great gong at 5am but for the moment it is quiet except for a cock crowing.

A friend of ours Aou just up the road is having a funeral for her husband who died two years ago in a motorcycle accident (a common occurance). She could have had this celebration at the time or one, two, three years later. His ghost will still be around anyway. Yesterday 50 to 60 ladies were preparing food at her house, mostly sticky rice with banana in banana leaves tied up in little bundles and cookedn but also a freshly slaughtered pig.

A few men about drunk on Thai whisky. It will last three days and they have blocked off the road with a Marquee (they always do this) and have huge speakers blasting out Issan music (not thai but local from the NE - Issan). I love the music but its quite clear from our bedroom and it only stopped at about 5 am. Before that people were singing Issan songs karaoke style into the early hours. In western terms the noise polution here is incredible with trucks going up and down the street all the time blasting out Issan music and advertising their wares, fruit, eggs, rice, furniture, clothing, childrens toys, icecream (tricycle) and my favourite roti, made with eggs butter and condensed milk - definitely adictive.

Tonight there will be more music and dancing with professional musicians at the funeral and more eating and drinking. The more people eat the more merit for her and her husband and the more there will be for his ghost to eat. So everybody mucks in and makes food and eats and gets lots of merit. I think I need a lot of merit not to come back as a slug but never mind. The ghosts are always with us here in rural Thailand. After a time even sceptical Farangs may start to believe.

Back in Thailand

I just wrote this to my cousin Paul in Canada where it is minus 12.

Yes sunny days in the low 30s here. Some blue haze probably due to some burning off as its still the dry season. At the moment its pitch black though as its only 5.30 am. The water supply is off again same as yesterday early in the morning so havent been able to shower and shave yet. I am usually first up as people here sleep 9 hours a night as well as having a siesta which is a bit too much for me. We dont have any hot water so my shower is cold. I could have a heater fitted but I like a cold shower. The air temperature is warm anyway and after the intitial shock the shower is stimulating.

The monks in one of the temples sounded their great gong at 5am but for the moment it is quiet except for a cock crowing. Makes a change a friend of ours Aou just up the road is having a funeral for her husband who died two years ago in a motorcycle accident (a common occurance). She could have had this celebration at the time or one, two, three years later. His ghost will still be around anyway. Yesterday 50 to 60 ladies were preparing food at her house, mostly sticky rice with banana in banana leaves tied up in little bundles and cookedn but also a freshly slaughtered pig. A few men about drunk on Thai whisky.

It will last three days and they have blocked off the road with a Marquee (they always do this) and have huge speakers blasting out Issan music (not thai but local from the NE - Issan). I love the music but its quite clear from our bedroom and it only stopped at about 5 am. Before that people were singing Issan songs karaoke style into the early hours. In western terms the noise polution here is incredible with trucks going up and down the street all the time blasting out Issan music and advertising their wares, fruit, eggs, rice, furniture, clothing, childrens toys, icecream (tricycle) and my favourite roti, made with eggs butter and condensed milk - definitely adictive.

Tonight there will be more music and dancing with proessional musicians at the funeral and more eating and drinking. The more people eat the more merit for her and her husband and the more there will be for his ghost to eat. So everybody mucks in and makes food and eats and gets lots of merit. I think I need a lot of merit not to come back as a slug but never mind.
The ghosts are always with us here in rural Thailand. After a time even sceptical Farangs may start to believe.

Jeremy