Thailand Land of Smiles» Thai Life

A Perfect Thailand Day

Talen — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:41:39 +0000

Last I left off I had moved into the new condo and had a few minor leaking problems and no hot water, but I was satisfied with the efficiency in which it was handled and was just waiting for Tuesday to get the hot water back up and running. Well Tuesday came and the maintenance man didn’t come in to work that day, no biggie the cool water actually felt pretty good. Today I go to the office to report that I still have no hot water and the manger tells me I need to go down one floor to the Juristic office. Juristic office?

juristic [jer-is-stick], juristical

adj

1. (Law) of or relating to jurists

2. (Law) of, relating to, or characteristic of the study of law or the legal profession

Now, maybe I’m a little off my game today but for the life of me I cannot figure out how juristic relates to building maintenance. Anyway, I head down to the juristic office and one of the Thai ladies who works in the office and a maintenance man followed me back to the condo. 5 minutes later I had hot water “kop koon kup” I say and they are on their way. 5 minutes after that a flood of water comes out from under the sink.

So, I turn off the water and head back down to the juristic office and let them know the hot water is great but there is a large leak again under the sink. They assure me a maintenance man will be up in a few minutes. 5 minutes later a new maintenance man shows up with only a caulk gun…FacePalm. I explain to him he needs tools, he smiles and nods in agreement and then we stand there looking at each other for another minute or two until Pookie tells him he needs tools in Thai.

The juristic maintenance man leaves and comes back in 5 minutes with the first maintenance man and the caulk gun. They asses the problem and come to the conclusion they will need tools. Off to the juristic office they go for tools and 5 minutes later they are back and working on the problem. After a half hour they realize the valve is bad and get a new one installed and just to make sure this one doesn’t leak they made sure to caulk it real good after tightening it down…Facepalm.

Pookie heads off to take a shower and just as I was about to go out and look for a bigger table for my balcony office Pookie walks into the kitchen wearing only a towel and laughing…” Teelac, we no have hot water again”. FACEPALM!

I know the deal, it’s not like I haven’t been to Thailand before but at this point I was getting pretty irritated, I just want to go find a nice table. Instead I head back down to the juristic office. The head lady is in and I tell her my problem, she shakes her head and utters something under her breath in Thai which made the cleaning lady in the office bust out laughing, I can only imagine she had some not so nice words to say about hiring the handicapped.

5 minutes latter the head lady is at my door with tools in hand, she shakes her head and says ” I head lady not engineer” as if to say, why the hell am I fixing things when I pay people to fix things. 5 minutes later I have hot water again but head lady tells me valve still leak nit noi. She told me she would have a real plumber out in the morning.

I decided I needed to go for a long walk down to the open air furniture shop behind Big C…I picked up 2 stray dogs, a stray sunglasses salesman who gave me his pitch for 8 blocks and a very manly ladyboy who escorted me, her arm in mine, from soi 6/1 all the way down to Big C, she assured me that she would boom boom me too good.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for table hunting…

Epilogue: While wrapping up this post and getting ready to hit the publish button a welder appeared above my balcony showering sparks and molten metal everywhere, I think when things go well from now on I’ll keep it to myself because things have a way of coming back and biting you in the ass if you know what I mean.

Thailand in the News Week Ending 8/07/2010

Talen — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:49:03 +0000

Thailand Gets a New Province

Tuesday the Thai cabinet upgraded Bung Kan district of the northeastern province of Nong Khai as Thailand’s 77th province comprising eight Nong Khai districts, as proposed by the Ministry of Interior. The new Province will close to 400,000 residents who are all probably none to happy at the moment as they will all have to change a lot of paper work starting with house registrations and going down the line.

Thailand’s newest province will do little to change the political landscape for the time being as the 6 MP’s from Nong Khai will be split evenly among the two provinces giving them 3 MP’s each.

Marut Massayavanich, deputy government spokesman, said Tuesday:

the cabinet agreed in principle for a draft bill to elevate Bung Kan district to provincial status before submitting it to Office of the Juridical Council for further consideration

Local residents have been requesting the upgrade for years due to administrative issues and border problems. They were so confident that this day would come most of the provincial infrastructure has been in place for years including the electric grid, telephone and sewage systems.They have even had government offices ready for almost a decade.

The 77th province will encompass 4,305 square kilometers and consist of eight districts including; Bung Kan, Seka, So Phisai, Phon Charoen, Pak Khat, Bung Khong Long, Si Wilai and Bung Khla.

To find out more about the new province and anything related to the administrative subdivisions of Thailand head over to Changwat, Amphoe, Tambon, Andy knows much more than most anyone when it comes to these things and does an excellent job bringing us all up to date information.

Convicted Pedophile Gets A Longer Sentence

Steven Erik Prowler who at one time called Los Angles home found out this week that he probably won’t see the outside of prison for another 20 years or so.

Prowler was arrested in Thailand back in 2005 , where he was an English teacher, for having sex with a 15 year old boy. After a small amount of time in a Thai prison he was remanded to American Authorities who jailed him until his 2007 U.S. trial where he pled guilty to several lewd acts performed on minors. In 2007 the judge in the case gave Prowler 10 years in jail. The Justice Department appealed, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the sentence and remanded the case to the lower court for re-sentencing.

In that time investigators for the Justice Department uncovered numerous handwritten journal where prowler described in graphic detail just what he had been up to in the past 5 years in several different countries including Mexico, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall told Prowler on Friday that his depraved nature demanded a sentence of no less than 25 years. Unfortunately Prowler will be spending that time in a U.S. prison instead of the Thai prison he should be in…they don’t call it the monkey house for nothing.

Elections Only After Peace & Stability?

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal not long after two separate grenade attacks killed one bystander and injured 11 others in Bangkok over the past week. Thailand’s prime minister said he won’t call national elections until next year at the earliest as the government promotes programs intended to bridge the economic gaps that fueled deadly protests earlier this year.

Constitutionally elections are called for either way next year but it would seem the PM is trying what he can to win hearts and minds before elections take place. Oppositions leaders are still calling for the PM’s ouster citing the lack of representation for lower income Thai’s. The opposition would prefer to see ex-Prime Minister Thaksin back in place as he reached out to the rural Thai’s and instituted many programs for their benefit. Unfortunately Thaksin also robbed the country blind while doing good for the rural poor.

Until such a time as a new party or individual steps up that understands the complexities of the Bangkok political game and the needs of the rural poor there will continue to be unrest. If the current government stays in control then the Red shirts will continue with their efforts, and if the Red Shirts happen to get one of their people elected then we will be sure to see another Yellow Shirt uprising. Maybe it would be best if all Thai’s went shirtless for a while. When the elections finally do happen I’m sure a very popular Thai phrase will be on all our minds…”Same same but different”.

Sex in Thailand’s Universities

Talen — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:18:23 +0000

Above is a short video made by a Thai college student exploring the sexual attitudes of Thai teenagers and how the Thai culture is slowly changing because of it. While it’s not an in depth study the responses of the university students and adults to the questions posed are quite telling.

Obviously teenage sex has been going on since the beginning of time but in Thai culture it has largely been a thing that wasn’t spoken about in the past. Showing affection in public such as holding hands and kissing has been frowned upon culturally in Thailand but those taboos are changing with the younger generation.

Western influence is sure to have played some role in the changing attitudes but listening to the responses you hear a fair bit of safe sex talk which includes condoms and also the potential risks of teen sex such as pregnancy, something western society still finds hard to discuss openly.

Another interesting tidbit is one question about how University uniforms are being made more sexy by the students or being discarded altogether for more casual and sexy street wear and how at least in one mans mind that could lead to rape.

Like I said it is a short video but something I found very interesting.

The Faces of Songkran: Thai New Year

Talen — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:18:31 +0000

You can see over 600 pictures of Songkran around Thailand in the Songkran Gallery

In Loving Memory

Talen — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:54:36 +0000

Russell A. Bull

1936-2010

Pop, I know the last year and a half of your life was the hardest. Losing your wonderful wife and dealing with terminal cancer at the same time would have been more than enough to make anyone lay down and give up, but you fought hard. The past year was very hard on all of us but we did what we always do, pulled together as a family and shared the tears, pain and laughter. It was hard to let you go but it was a relief that you are no longer in pain and you could once again be with the woman you loved and missed dearly.

It was fitting that you passed on a beautiful spring morning, this was always your time of year. Planting flowers, taking care of your lawn and getting your gardens ready were what you lived for. Even though you couldn’t do those things this spring it had to give you some measure of joy that you made it through the ugly winter and could feel the cool spring air as it passed through your room.

You and Mom instilled in your children a strong sense of family, and though you are gone we will always be here for each other. As parents you taught us how to make our way through life in good times and bad but the biggest gift you gave us was the gift of laughter, something we have always relied on.

Your trips to Mexico, Italy and Great Britain opened my eyes up to the world around me and instilled a sense on wanderlust and adventure in me and that is something I will forever be grateful for.

You have no worries now so you can move on in peace knowing that the family you left behind will always be there for each other and will remain as your living legacy of love and laughter.

When you get to where you are going give Mom a kiss for us and let her know we are going to be just fine…God knows she worries.

Transcending the Cultural Divide

Talen — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:35:19 +0000

Few things transcend culture easily, and while we all may have different customs, the end of ones life is always a very sad affair. As I write this Pookie’s 86 year old grandmother is fading fast in a hospital in Nakhon Phanom and my father is quickly losing his battle with cancer.

The cultural divide quickly erodes when it comes to the simple joys of life or the sadness of losing a loved one, it’s a universal understanding that we all share and brings us closer together. While sometimes language and customs can be a barrier it’s these simple truths that let us know we aren’t so different after all.

Although our cultures are different the feelings are very much the same. Wanting our loved ones to pass quietly with as little pain as possible, as our families come together to support one another and do all we can for our loved ones. Death is never easy, even when it is expected and you have followed the long slow decline.

Pookie’s grandmother had been at home until this past week when the family could no longer care for her in the way that was needed. She slept most of the 24 hour day and when she did occasionally wake she would take very little food and water. My father on the other hand wishes to be at home and this is where he will pass. It has been a long hard battle for both of them and hopefully their last days will go peacefully.

It’s a feeling of helplessness as we watch our loved ones lose their struggle with life. We can only be there for them and help to make them more comfortable and let them know they are loved. It’s the one thing that binds all of us as human beings across the world. The process is as hard in America as it is in rural Thailand. The family pulls together and does all they can, little sleep is had and many tears are shared. Although, there are still bright spots and small fits of laughter as our loved ones help us to come to terms with the inevitable.

Sleep has been hard to come by in the past 2 weeks for my family and Pookie’s family as we wait and do what we can to ease our loved ones on. As the rest of the world moves on in what seems a very slow procession of events it becomes very clear what is really important in life. Rich or poor, Thai or American, life is a very finite and precious thing that shouldn’t be measured in time but in memories and feelings that will last much longer than any one life.

Two very different people from two very different cultures sharing one single aspect of life that we all must endure. We come into this world with nothing but hopefully everyone leaves taking with them the thought that they are loved and those that remain behind will always keep them in their memories.

Live, love and touch as many lives as you can. Explore the world around you, while what life we have is finite the possibilities are infinite and the only thing that matters are those people that have shared in our journey.

Children at Play in Rural Thailand

Talen — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:44:09 +0000

There is something about children at play in Thailand that takes me back to when I was a kid. Rural Thailand for children isn’t much different than when I was growing up in the States during the late sixties/early 70′s. There weren’t computers or cable TV and our parents didn’t have a lot of money to buy us all the toys we wanted, but we made do. We would spend hours playing with card board boxes, wrapping paper tubes and string that became forts, swords and bows. We had the best toy of them all, our imaginations.

All the kids I have seen playing n rural Thailand have pretty much the same imagination and can play for hours with some paper and a few small toys. Their counterparts in the west are already getting fat watching TV, playing on computers and their favorite gaming system.

It seems to me that the children of Thailand are quite a bit more healthy than their counterparts in the West in more than a few ways. It will be interesting to see where these children are in 20 years compared to the children of the West. The rural Thai children may not have all the advantages that a child growing up in the west does but they aren’t too bothered by what they don’t have.

It seems with all the new technology we are making our children lazier in the West while at the same time putting much more stress on them. The children of my generation had it good and did just fine without all the gadgets kids have today. We were more social, less careful and definitely more thoughtful. Sure, we did stupid things and have the scars to show for it but we were living or lives, not wasting time in front of a screen.

Hopefully their imaginations stay with them and they help to build a better Thailand one paper airplane at a time while considering the plight of those poor disadvantaged children in the West who are coming to the conclusion that one to many Twinkies and too many video games haven’t done much to help them in life. The bigger hope is that they can remain children as long as possible before having to take on the responsibility of family, as all Thai children do much sooner than they should.

The Disparities of Rural Thailand?

Talen — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:00:31 +0000

Martyn over at Beyond the Mango Juice wrote an excellent post entitled Red Red Whine about rural Thai’s and just what little amount of money they actually live on. He ended the post with a challenge for anyone living in Thailand to try and live on 170 baht a day. The post has really opened up a great discussion in the comments section that got me to thinking.

Obviously as a westerner any of us would find it hard to get by on any more than the basic necessities out of 170 baht a day. We would basically be able to eat and drink water. Self sustaining but not much more and with no overhead for emergencies or shelter we would most definitely be living in card board boxes. But, here’s the thing, as I pointed out most rural Thai’s own their own land, grow their own food, have at least a motorcycle, have TV’s, DVD players, etc. Now this isn’t representative of all rural Thai’s but I would say it isn’t far off the mark. Obviously some regions are poorer than others.

Martyn’s post and the many great comments it received really had me wondering how the Thai’s I have seen in Rural Thailand do it? While they aren’t living by Western standards they are doing much better than the Western poor I have seen my whole life. At least one comment brought up the girls working in the sex industry sending money home, and yes, that definitely plays a role in rural Thailand but with less than 4% of all Thai women working in the sex industry that can’t account for what I’ve seen.

I can only speak to the rural Thailand I have seen in Nakhon Phanom, That Phanom and Mukdahan. Mukdahan is a very poor province and the town is very small. The people there Don’t have a lot but they do have homes, a farm, shop or some sort of business and generally make enough to take care of the necessities. A fair many cars and motorcycles are owned in Mukdahan and of course every Thai owns a cell phone. I have also seen quite a few old computers, stereos, karaoke machines and the like at many Thai homes I’ve visited.

Nakhon Phanom though is quite another matter. A large city in comparison to Mukdahan and a much better standard of living for the most part. Many Westerners would still see the majority of people here as poor, but maybe they aren’t looking closely enough. Walk through the cities center on any given day and you will see what I mean. While, as a city, it lags far behind Bangkok, for the most part these poor people who depend on farming, fishing and flowers as their main export seem to have everything you could need as a Westerner.

I went through my pictures of a stroll I took through town one day and I knew I had a few examples but I was shocked as I looked deeper at just how much business is done in Nakhon Phanom. Appliance stores, cell phone shops, new car dealerships and on and on. I wasn’t shocked that they had them because obviously I had seen them …I was shocked that there were so many of the same type of stores. Several of each kind on many blocks. Two things I made note of while there last trip were not one but two high end bicycle shops and two high end camera stores.

Now, it should be said that the majority of these things are imported from Korea and China and while they may not be the name brands most westerners are familiar with, these cheaper alternatives are still very good and not at all cheap by Thai standards. These brands are cheaper but then again the average rural Thai doesn’t have much money to spend as Martyn pointed out in his post.

There is also something else apparent throughout Thailand that many Westerners don’t catch onto quickly, repair shops. Where we used to have a repair shops for just about everything, as Westerners we have turned into a disposable society where the Thai’s haven’t. Perhaps they are lagging a little behind the times but I think they are just that much more frugal than us. What can’t be repaired becomes something else such as old tires being made into trash cans where we just fill up garbage dumps with them.

There is no doubt that Nakhon Phanom is in rural Thailand, and as Martyn pointed out in his post the average rural Thai doesn’t make much more than 170-200 baht a day ( Province dependent ). So, as the discussion has worn on I keep coming back to Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom. Mukdahan in contrast to Nakhon Phanom has very stark differences for towns no more than 15 minutes apart by car. And while I think we all agree that the average rural Thai makes very little in daily wages a rural city like Nakhon Phanom belies this fact. The question for me now becomes just how are rural Thai’s in Nakhon Phanom coming up with enough money to support so many varied higher end businesses?

The following are some pictures from my walk one day in Nakhon Phanom and are representative of the town. I didn’t post many multiples of any one business but wanted to give you an idea of whats on offer in a rural Thai city. The first picture is a necessity and might give a clue.

It may also be good to keep in mind that many bigger purchases can be paid for on time plans. Also don’t be fooled by what you see, while Nakhon Phanom is a larger city the majority of the province is farm land with many poor villages and most of the big shops are at the center of the city with the rest of the city being houses, apartments and Wats.

Either way you cut it there are variables at play in rural Thailand. Head over to Martyn’s post at Beyond the Mango Juice and join in on the discussion and if you live in Thailand see if you can take him up on his 170 baht challenge, it could be very interesting if a few people took him up on this. I don’t think I could do it but then again I couldn’t live on a middle class Thai’s salary for a month.

Knit One Pearl Two the Thai Way

Talen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:21:01 +0000

It wasn’t long ago that knitting and crocheting were a popular pastime for women in the United States, as a matter of fact it was a pretty big industry as well. Obviously these were serious skills that were needed throughout the beginning of the country that took a back seat after the industrial revolution when machines made clothes faster and cheaper.

Even so knitting and crocheting were still very popular especially through the periods of the 1950′s to the 1970′s. There were yarn stores on every corner and it was commonplace to see a knitting basket in most living rooms with an ample supply of yarn and usually a half finished piece laying on top. Since the 70′s it’s a rarity to see any of these things in America. Sure, there are still women that enjoy the craft but they are few and far between these days.

During my first trip to Bangkok I found myself wandering the city most days, getting lost and enjoying the new sights I would see during my exploration. One day I stopped in a small beer bar to escape the afternoon heat and replenish myself with a nice cold beer when I saw something I hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. The cashier was intently crocheting rounded patterns and her friend was knitting them into a sweater.

The first thing that ran through my head was the fact that Bangkok holds the title of the hottest city on the planet followed by just what were these Thai women knitting sweaters for? Through my travels I ran into more and more Thai women knitting and crocheting. They were not only very good at it they wasted not one stitch. Sweater, hats, the occasional scarf and drink coasters…lots and lots of drink coasters.

The majority of knitting that I saw being done was by women from rural Thailand who were working in the tourist area’s to send money home. It wasn’t until my first trip up country to North East Thailand that I realized the truth behind the sweaters. From January to the middle of March it can get quite chilly at night. There was more to it than that of course. While spending time in rural Thailand over many trips it became apparent that many women still knitted and crocheted to clothe their babies and small children. Baby blankets, booties and hats to keep their little heads warm were just a few of the things they made.

While these crafts are slowly dying out in America they are still going strong among rural Thai’s but you can see it won’t be long before the slow decline begins here as well. All of Pookie’s Aunts and older cousins knit and crochet but Pookie and the younger family members can’t be bothered with it.

My last trip to Mukdahan had me spending some time in the village with the grand parents and Pookies cousin. Her cousin was 4 months pregnant at the time and she was furiously crocheting away. I only spent a few days in Mukdahan before moving on to Nakhon Phanom but I never once saw Pookie’s cousin without needles in her hand intently working on more pieces that would be knitted together at a later time.

Keep an eye out during your travels though Thailand and you’ll start to see it more and more, and if you are real lucky you might get a scarf or a hat out of the deal…I did.

Thailand in the News Week Ending 1/30/10

Talen — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:00:45 +0000

Thailand to Ask U.S. to Take it Off Piracy Watch List

This week the powers that be in Bangkok suggested that they would once again ask to be taken off the piracy watch list by the United States, fat chance.

All you have to do is walk around Bangkok or Pattaya for 5 minutes to realize the proportion of pirated items in Thailand is a huge problem for companies world wide. The day a hit movie hits the theaters it’s also on sale on the streets for 100 baht note. And movies are just the tip of the iceburg, clothing, music and everything else under the sun gets copied as soon as it hits the market and is on sale to you on the streets of Thailand within days.

Although there are highly publicized raids on markets and shopping centers throughout Thailand these raids usually net a very small amount of pirated goods and the sellers are back at it within 24 hours. Just this week in Pattaya Mikes Shopping Mall was raided and a total of 101 bags, 47 wrist watches, 35 shirts and 10 hats with a combined street value of around 20,000 Baht were confiscated. Anyone else with half a clue could have found 20 times that amount in the same mall just casually perusing the outside vendors and those on the first floor. Seems the vendors had an inkling that the man was coming.

Until Thailand owns up to it’s piracy problem and actually does more than make a modest show of doing anything about it they will be on the piracy watch list for a very long time. And that’s good news for you and me because you can find some decent quality pirated goods at a very good price, especially when you are talking about video games.

Filmmaker Oliver Stone Still Irrelevant

Ever since his hit film JFK was released the self proclaimed conspiracy theorist has been giveing lectures world wide on the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy. And this week found Mr. Stone expounding on said conspiracy to a host of 300 Thai high school students who were no doubt bored to death.

Stone was in Bangkok as part of a series of talks facilitated by the Vienna-based International Peace Foundation. Who, no doubt, couldn’t procure anyone more interesting to speak. While I’m all for a good conspiracy and the JFK assassination is the mother of all conspiracies, Oliver Stone is just way too far out there for anyone with an actual brain in their heads. Aside from the fact that his film on the assassination fudged some very real facts and created new characters out of thin air and is widely regarded as being a bad speculation as to actual events, who actually cares anymore?

JFK is more relevant today than Oliver Stone is and that’s saying something considering the former has been dead for 47 years! Maybe if Stone would stop boring Thai students to death and found a good movie to make the studios might give him some money and he might make the news again for something other than a long dead conspiracy.

13 nations vow to save tigers

This week a dozen nations including Thailand and Russia met in Hua Hin, Thailand to discuss the wild tiger population throughout Asia. The nations which also included China, India, and Myanmar vowed to join together and double the population of wild tigers by 2022. The plan includes cracking down on poachers as well as limiting the building of roads and infrastructure in the tigers natural habitat.

Tiger numbers in the wild have plummeted because of human encroachment and poaching. From 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century, the number of tigers today is less than 3,500. Hopefully this pact between the nations holds up and is much more than a diplomatic meeting. These beautiful creatures need to be preserved and it will take a multi-national collaboration to make that happen.

Thailand Land of Smiles» Thai Life

A Perfect Thailand Day

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