WELCOME TO THE BIG WORLD
When I first came to the village the people had nothing, they planted rice, had chickens, caught fish and frogs. Western goods, cars, motorbikes, TVs were few and far between. Families lived in one room wooden stilt houses, that was life. Most had never left the area and knew no other way. Having seen no other life, they were happy, there was plenty to eat, no cares or worries. Each day was the same as the last, time was measured in the planting and harvesting of rice, but change was coming and it came fast.
First came the paved road and electricity, then TV. For the first time many could see another world outside of the village. Not the real world, but a Television depiction of the world.
Thai soap operas, showed a world of beautiful people in expensive cars, living in mansions. Commercials showed a never ending list of products that you needed to live the good life. To most of the village the one thing that said, I have made it, was the car. A little cheap car was no good, it had to be a big twin cab 4 by 4. People would sell their kidneys for one. Few would ever be able to afford one, until the coming of rubber.
The Government had promoted rubber, giving free land and trees, many took up the offer and planted. Others laughed at them, for wasting their time, but rubber was planted and grow. When the time came to tap, the money flowed. Now to a westerner it may not seem big money, but to a people who seldom saw cash for much of the year, it was a fortune and unlike westerners this income was expendable. There are no mortgages, rent or taxes, no food bills or repayments to be make. It was money to be spent and the banks and car companies were happy to lend and sell.
Over the last few years, I would say there are more big new cars in this and surrounding villages than one would see in the suburbs in Australia. First the cars came, then the concrete brick houses began to appear. To make the homes look like the TV ones, washing machines, widescreen TVs and other good were bought, on credit, rubber would pay.
As I sit here today the village has entered a sombre mood, people are, for the first time in their lives, worrying about money.
The rainy season has settled in and not much rubber can be tapped, but with the world commodities price fall, it has dropped to a point, where hired tappers are leaving for better paid jobs in BKK and those that tap their own can't make the repayments on all the cars and goods they have bought. New house building has stopped, throwing the builders out of work.
A recession has hit the area, a thing that none had ever seen, things have always got better, never worse. Kids are used to drinking coke and eating ice cream, Men have taken up drinking beer at times, instead of cheap rice whiskey, driving cars and going to town to shop.
Everyone blames the Government, little do they realize that when you enter the big world the rules change. What happens on the other side of the world dictates whether it's sticky rice and frogs or ice cream and coke.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
HARD TIMES AND A NEW CARS.
We were back in the rubber business, the rains had been kind and rubber was flowing. A new Chinese chopper motorbike sat in the driveway. The Father in law had knocked down the old stilt house, which was attached to the new house. He was to build 2 new bedrooms similar to our side of the house. With the old teak wood I started on a new stilt patio at the back of the house. All was good, the rubber price was not great. but we were producing more and we were in talks with a Vietnamese company who were interested in setting up a direct buy at the factory, to export to their company in Vietnam. It seemed that money worries were over, kids were at a invite only Government pre school, workers were buying new bikes and cars. Our new twin door fridge, plus slide out freezer was full of western foods, cheese, steak, lamb and all those goodies you miss.
When you think all is well, you should expect to get a kick in the teeth and that kick soon came. First, 2 of my tappers, who had worked for me from day one planting the trees, sold some land and decided they were now rich and didn't need to work for someone else. We could live with that until replacements could be found and they were a few weeks later.
The new tappers, husband and wife, were ex locals who had been working rubber in the south, but they were broke and needed help to move back. They seemed to know their business and I was happy to help. They started and I watched, they were good skillful tappers. Now when you start up tapping and making sheet rubber , there is a lag time between making and selling, 4 to 6 weeks. Told the wife to lend them money when needed, as they had car payments to make, as long as the rubber they had made covered the loan.
Rubber began to fall in price, there seemed no bottom, down it came and tappers and us were going to get a lot less than expected. I was not happy, then I was told that a family of workers were seen selling rubber to a local buyer. This family had worked for us for a year, a husband, wife and wife's brother. We had even hired the wife's father as a care taker at the factory, which is where they all lived.
The word pissed off would be an understatement, I have always helped my workers as well I could, gave them rice in the dry season, money if needed. I had even give the girls father a job and he was as lazy as you could be, he would do nothing unless he was told, but they were good tappers and paid their way.
That night I spoke with the wife and family, made it clear that if I can not trust someone they are gone and in the morning they are gone. This is not the Issan way, things are done differently than in Australia, wife says, let us take care of it.
Next day I ride to the factory, where my family has already arrived. Now I feel sorry for the family that is to be fired, it's not a good feeling to throw a husband, wife, 2 kids, a brother who was sleeping and eating in our house and their parents out into the street, but you can't let people steal from you. I want to get it over and call them over and tell them there's the road. Wife says go for a ride, we will take care of it.
Gather no mention of the rubber stealing was mentioned, no face was lost. Everyone knew why, but they were allowed to leave without disgrace, still feel bad in some ways, their family hut is a one room affair no electricity or running water and the amount of rubber they stole was very small, we are talking maybe a kilo a tap, around $3 US. In a good month they would earn, as a family somewhere round the $1,500 US, a lot of money here.
Rubber prices keep dropping and the new tappers, just hired are hearing prices off 50 Baht a kilo for ribbed smoked sheet. wife has lent them 25,000 Baht over the last 5 weeks. One night they just pack up and leave, believing that their share of the rubber would not cover what they owed.
Now I am really short of workers and am sitting trying to figure out whether we have enough money to make the car payments and pay the electricity bill, I hear some voices. Go out to look and ask the wife who are these people. Don't be mad she says. but they are here with our new car. Now our means family and the father in law has bought it. I have a look and start laughing, we live in the jungle, roads are few and far between and he has bought a Mazda 2 sport. How he will pay, I have no idea, but he better not look at me.
Things may look grim, but a few days ago I posted in an Issan forum this.
Advanced Members
PipPipPipPipPip
1,503 posts
Posted 2012-09-02 03:11:25
*
POPULAR
Power gone again, only the light of the laptop in the night. I buy rechargeable flash lights, which no one re charges and have hurricane lamps and no kerosene.
Power goes, but no rain or wind, in the distance you can see the lightening and hear the dull roar of thunder. The village goes black and dogs bark, the dogs go silent, then the village dogs, which are dingos which can not bark, but howl. They go silent.
All is silent, but without the lights of man the wild dogs come and maybe some of the bigger predictors. All dogs, people, chickens, pigs and ducks stay quite. Who knows what lurks in the dark.
The lack of sound drives the kids to bed and I sit upon my stilt porch, watching the coming storm.
It maybe the jungle. but for me it is a better place than I have ever been. Jim
We were back in the rubber business, the rains had been kind and rubber was flowing. A new Chinese chopper motorbike sat in the driveway. The Father in law had knocked down the old stilt house, which was attached to the new house. He was to build 2 new bedrooms similar to our side of the house. With the old teak wood I started on a new stilt patio at the back of the house. All was good, the rubber price was not great. but we were producing more and we were in talks with a Vietnamese company who were interested in setting up a direct buy at the factory, to export to their company in Vietnam. It seemed that money worries were over, kids were at a invite only Government pre school, workers were buying new bikes and cars. Our new twin door fridge, plus slide out freezer was full of western foods, cheese, steak, lamb and all those goodies you miss.
When you think all is well, you should expect to get a kick in the teeth and that kick soon came. First, 2 of my tappers, who had worked for me from day one planting the trees, sold some land and decided they were now rich and didn't need to work for someone else. We could live with that until replacements could be found and they were a few weeks later.
The new tappers, husband and wife, were ex locals who had been working rubber in the south, but they were broke and needed help to move back. They seemed to know their business and I was happy to help. They started and I watched, they were good skillful tappers. Now when you start up tapping and making sheet rubber , there is a lag time between making and selling, 4 to 6 weeks. Told the wife to lend them money when needed, as they had car payments to make, as long as the rubber they had made covered the loan.
Rubber began to fall in price, there seemed no bottom, down it came and tappers and us were going to get a lot less than expected. I was not happy, then I was told that a family of workers were seen selling rubber to a local buyer. This family had worked for us for a year, a husband, wife and wife's brother. We had even hired the wife's father as a care taker at the factory, which is where they all lived.
The word pissed off would be an understatement, I have always helped my workers as well I could, gave them rice in the dry season, money if needed. I had even give the girls father a job and he was as lazy as you could be, he would do nothing unless he was told, but they were good tappers and paid their way.
That night I spoke with the wife and family, made it clear that if I can not trust someone they are gone and in the morning they are gone. This is not the Issan way, things are done differently than in Australia, wife says, let us take care of it.
Next day I ride to the factory, where my family has already arrived. Now I feel sorry for the family that is to be fired, it's not a good feeling to throw a husband, wife, 2 kids, a brother who was sleeping and eating in our house and their parents out into the street, but you can't let people steal from you. I want to get it over and call them over and tell them there's the road. Wife says go for a ride, we will take care of it.
Gather no mention of the rubber stealing was mentioned, no face was lost. Everyone knew why, but they were allowed to leave without disgrace, still feel bad in some ways, their family hut is a one room affair no electricity or running water and the amount of rubber they stole was very small, we are talking maybe a kilo a tap, around $3 US. In a good month they would earn, as a family somewhere round the $1,500 US, a lot of money here.
Rubber prices keep dropping and the new tappers, just hired are hearing prices off 50 Baht a kilo for ribbed smoked sheet. wife has lent them 25,000 Baht over the last 5 weeks. One night they just pack up and leave, believing that their share of the rubber would not cover what they owed.
Now I am really short of workers and am sitting trying to figure out whether we have enough money to make the car payments and pay the electricity bill, I hear some voices. Go out to look and ask the wife who are these people. Don't be mad she says. but they are here with our new car. Now our means family and the father in law has bought it. I have a look and start laughing, we live in the jungle, roads are few and far between and he has bought a Mazda 2 sport. How he will pay, I have no idea, but he better not look at me.
Things may look grim, but a few days ago I posted in an Issan forum this.
Advanced Members
PipPipPipPipPip
1,503 posts
Posted 2012-09-02 03:11:25
*
POPULAR
Power gone again, only the light of the laptop in the night. I buy rechargeable flash lights, which no one re charges and have hurricane lamps and no kerosene.
Power goes, but no rain or wind, in the distance you can see the lightening and hear the dull roar of thunder. The village goes black and dogs bark, the dogs go silent, then the village dogs, which are dingos which can not bark, but howl. They go silent.
All is silent, but without the lights of man the wild dogs come and maybe some of the bigger predictors. All dogs, people, chickens, pigs and ducks stay quite. Who knows what lurks in the dark.
The lack of sound drives the kids to bed and I sit upon my stilt porch, watching the coming storm.
It maybe the jungle. but for me it is a better place than I have ever been. Jim
BAD EYES AND NO MONEY
Here we are again, guess a year has passed since I stared this blog and the rains have come again. Much has passed and yet little has happened, like most the years roll by and all we get is older.
Took the wife and kids back to Australia for the dry season, no rubber, so no money. Wife will spend like there is no tomorrow, Buddha will prove. Not a western logic, but we have been married near on 10 years and Buddha has done his bit.
Arrived back with $300. wife was going to get a job, which meant I was going to get a job. First problem, I couldn't see. My eyes were getting worse, I was unable to drive or read a book, off to the optician. Sit in the chair, girl looks into my eyes through the scope they use. You can't see because you have very bad cataracts, relief on my part as I was not going blind from some incurable eye disease. OK Australia has free medical care, can sign on the sick benefits and kill 2 birds with one stone. Get paid by welfare while I wait my turn to get the 10 minute operation.
Next week off to see the specialist eye surgeon, bad news, waiting list for Government Medicare is 3 plus years. No way am I living here on welfare for 3 plus years. I will have to pay and pay big if I want it done privately, but I have no money and can't see to work. Time for Buddha to give a helping hand.
I had turned 55 years old and had some superannuation, not much thanks to the system, it added up to less than I had paid in and was losing money each year. Enough though to pay for the eye operations, have a good holiday in Australia and a bit left over for me to buy my new chopper in Thailand. Done deal in my book, only draw back is when you take the money there is no more unemployment benifits and you are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a week, but as I was now classed as a non resident I was not entitled to benifts unless I return on a permenent bases.
Three months later I was on the plane back home, the wife and kids had left a month earlier, so the kids could go back to school, plus they were bored and cold.
HOW ISSAN HAS CHANGED ME.
Think it is hard to see change in yourself, but change is part of life, you adapt, grow and learn. There are things you can see when you look into the mirror, little hair that is grey, a fat belly and sore bones, but it's the things you don't see that are more important.
In my old life violence was a daily occurrence, prison fights, stabbings, ODs and suicides, were to be expected. It is not the incidents that wear you down, but the waiting for the next one. Every time you check a cell, will the occupant be swinging, or covered in blood. One day while sitting a my desk a prisoner walked over carrying a TV. I thought it must be broken and he wanted a replacement, but no, as he approached he raised the TV over head and throw it at me. He had had a bad day and I would have a bad moment from then on, every time I saw a prisoner carrying a TV.
There is what we call the real world, which most of us live in and any form of denial of it's reality is escapism, but children see the world differently.
My kids watch videos about fairies, Peter Pan etc. One night the littlest one calls, all excited, daddy, daddy fairies. I walk to the front of our house, where she is standing in awe. There is a star fruit tree and it is alight with fireflies, she does not see fireflies, but fairies with little lamps, Tinker Bell.
I pick her up and we stand and watch, I know they are fireflies, but I have changed and I see fairies with little lamps, flying and dancing in the tree.
Here we are again, guess a year has passed since I stared this blog and the rains have come again. Much has passed and yet little has happened, like most the years roll by and all we get is older.
Took the wife and kids back to Australia for the dry season, no rubber, so no money. Wife will spend like there is no tomorrow, Buddha will prove. Not a western logic, but we have been married near on 10 years and Buddha has done his bit.
Arrived back with $300. wife was going to get a job, which meant I was going to get a job. First problem, I couldn't see. My eyes were getting worse, I was unable to drive or read a book, off to the optician. Sit in the chair, girl looks into my eyes through the scope they use. You can't see because you have very bad cataracts, relief on my part as I was not going blind from some incurable eye disease. OK Australia has free medical care, can sign on the sick benefits and kill 2 birds with one stone. Get paid by welfare while I wait my turn to get the 10 minute operation.
Next week off to see the specialist eye surgeon, bad news, waiting list for Government Medicare is 3 plus years. No way am I living here on welfare for 3 plus years. I will have to pay and pay big if I want it done privately, but I have no money and can't see to work. Time for Buddha to give a helping hand.
I had turned 55 years old and had some superannuation, not much thanks to the system, it added up to less than I had paid in and was losing money each year. Enough though to pay for the eye operations, have a good holiday in Australia and a bit left over for me to buy my new chopper in Thailand. Done deal in my book, only draw back is when you take the money there is no more unemployment benifits and you are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a week, but as I was now classed as a non resident I was not entitled to benifts unless I return on a permenent bases.
Three months later I was on the plane back home, the wife and kids had left a month earlier, so the kids could go back to school, plus they were bored and cold.
HOW ISSAN HAS CHANGED ME.
Think it is hard to see change in yourself, but change is part of life, you adapt, grow and learn. There are things you can see when you look into the mirror, little hair that is grey, a fat belly and sore bones, but it's the things you don't see that are more important.
In my old life violence was a daily occurrence, prison fights, stabbings, ODs and suicides, were to be expected. It is not the incidents that wear you down, but the waiting for the next one. Every time you check a cell, will the occupant be swinging, or covered in blood. One day while sitting a my desk a prisoner walked over carrying a TV. I thought it must be broken and he wanted a replacement, but no, as he approached he raised the TV over head and throw it at me. He had had a bad day and I would have a bad moment from then on, every time I saw a prisoner carrying a TV.
There is what we call the real world, which most of us live in and any form of denial of it's reality is escapism, but children see the world differently.
My kids watch videos about fairies, Peter Pan etc. One night the littlest one calls, all excited, daddy, daddy fairies. I walk to the front of our house, where she is standing in awe. There is a star fruit tree and it is alight with fireflies, she does not see fireflies, but fairies with little lamps, Tinker Bell.
I pick her up and we stand and watch, I know they are fireflies, but I have changed and I see fairies with little lamps, flying and dancing in the tree.
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