Wednesday, December 14, 2011
DREAMS, REALITY AND NIGHTMARES
For many who come to the nether regions of Thailand, it all starts as a dream come true. There is either a girlfriend or wife half their age, beer, sun and leisure time in abundance. It is what most of us dream of in our daily grind in the west. The dream and magic will soon wear off and the reality will settle in. To some it will become a nightmare, they can not leave.
Enter any western bar in Issan and you will hear non stop complaints from many of the expat community. Too hot, too many bugs, the Thais can't get anything right, life is hell with out this or that. These are men who are trapped, they have no life in their home countries to return to. Their children have grown up, ex wives don't care to see them again. All that awaits is a meager existence on a tiny pension or investments, a small flat or appartment. Living in a cold and friendless country. All will say they have lives back home, but they know their friends and their old lives have gone and there is nothing to return to. Many will turn to the bottle to fill in their days and to shorten the number they have left.
We people of the west have spent our lives setting goals, working to achieve things and it has all come to nothing in the end. We can not just live in the moment, we live for tomorrow. The waiting to die with no reason for existence is a nightmare to many. Some rural expats turn to small scale farming or businesses to fill the void in their daily lives. This keeps them occupied, but as it is not their main income, the need to succeed is not there. It is a hobbies, for some it is all they need, for others it will never be enough.
Over the years I have met a few westerners that had made the switch from goal orientated to the Thai way of just living day by day. They seldom go to western bars or seek westerners out, they just live and are content with their lot These people are few and far between. Mores the petty I can not claim to have made the jump yet. I am always on the look out for something new to try. Losing our 9 to 5 mentality is a lot harder then most would think. When you wake each morning and there is nothing that needs done and no where you need to be, your day has little meaning.
2011 A BAD YEAR FOR RUBBER AND A POOR YEAR FOR ME.
At the start of this year we had plans, we were going to be kicking goals. The money would finally be flowing in, at a rate that would allow us to expand, finish the house and live the good life all round. Holidays for the kids to the beach another car etc. Little did I know that the weather and the financial markets would conspire to throw a monkey wrench in.
As I wrote in an earlier post, the rains came and did they come You can't tap rubber in the rain and it just didn't stop. By the end of the wet season a great part of Thailand was under water, even Bangkok. The wettest year in 40 or 50 years I believe. Our rubber out put was well down on what we had planned, then when the rains stopped the Greeks were found to be broke. This set off a chain of events, next we know not only are the Greeks broke, but most of the western world. As the rubber began to flow the commodity prices [ rubber ] began to fall. It dropped over $2 US dollars a kilo. Things were not good, my wife understood what was happening in the world, but her family just could not understand that the world outside was what governed our lives.
Somethings would have to go and cut backs were needed to get us through the trees dorment season. The biggest single luxury expense is the car. We could trade down to a smaller sedan and cut the payments in half. When I said this, the mother in-law began to cry, the father in-law wanted to know why I hated them. Here is what makes western thought different than that of rural Thais. To me better to lose the big car and have food, milk for the kids. To the in-laws it would be such a loss of face in the village, they would be disgraced in the eyes of all. Arguments began, the wife was caught in the middle. The Thai way is the father is head of the household and he should make the decisions.. His first try was that I gave him more trees and he would make the payments. A child's or perhaps an international bankers logic. I give him money from trees that will not be producing and he will pay with the non existence money. After that it went down hill, mostly ideas of living on sticky rice, frogs and bugs. When I had had enough I said, you want to keep the car, it's yours. You would have thought he had won a million dollar lottery, smiles all round, he couldn't wait to tell all that the big black SUV was now his, not mine. To make the payment his Government salary and the sons Government salary will be used. Between them they earn just enough to cover the payments and will live on sticky rice and frogs. We still have use of the car, as it is really the household car. Nothing will change, I will still ride my motorbike and drive the pickup truck and we will use the car when we go away. Next year if the rubber prices go up we will buy a small sedan for taking the kids to school and shopping and the father in-law will live on the bread line to make the payments, I will of cause help out if we have the money. Think this just goes to show, what's important to some is not that important to others.
I believe in the earlier post on buying the car. The father in-law had pledged to pay his salary toward the repayments, if I allowed him to tap 400 trees and keep the money. Never a penny was paid, when the arguments started over the car, I of course said if the father in-law had paid what he was meant to, there would not have been a problem. Again we see the child like way of seeing things, he honestly believes he is head of the household and not only should the car have been put in his name, but all the rubber money should go to him to, dispense as he sees fit. Some may think this is a western rip off, but it is the way it is done here. The brother in-law, who works as our head tapper was living with his wife's family before. They are a big time rubber and palm oil family in Krabi. Now he had to work 6 days a week and received no wages. His father in-law would feed them and give him a few dollars [ Baht] every now and then.
It is often said if you marry a Thai girl the closest you want to live to her family is in another country. It maybe true for many and it may explain why so many Thai husbands pack up and leave their wives and kids. It is an extended family system and the father is head of the family. Times are changing, but in the small rural areas the ways of the rest of the world are still a long way away.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Panic and the earthquake that never was
I said in the previous post, this has been the wettest wet season in 30 years and it is still raining
About 2 weeks ago during torrential rains from the tale end of a typhoon, the village was in panic, everyone was preparing to evacuate, we were all going to be swollowed in into the ground. The wife comes to me to say that we have to pack the car to get out fast, if the warning sirens go off. Now I am confused, first I ask what warning sirens and a warning for what. Seems the sub district Governor has swished on or put in sirens in the local public announcement system. For those who don't know, Thailand has a PA system in each village. This is mostly used by the local headman to address the village on local issues, normally at about 6 in the morning.
The father in-law and brother in-law, both work for the Government. they are now dressed in their best uniforms and are off to an emergency meeting with the Sub District Governor and village heads. Many of the villagers have moved their cars to what they perceive to be safer places and the rest have packed up to go. I am more confused than ever. The wife, who by now is in full panic mode, keeps saying we should get the kids and go, I keep asking where are we supposed to evacuate to and from what. The only answer I get, is everyone knows that there is a thing in the ground that causes earthquakes.
Now it begins to dawn on me what it is all about. There is a small fault, that runs through the 3 villages on our road. It is no pacific ring of fire, just some type of geological fault where the mountains meet the flat lands, or something like that.
The locals have know about it for years and never cared.. We do not have earth tremors and such, but with the coming of electricity and television, the village has seen news of earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, New Zealand and China. So we are doomed to a major earthquake. I ask the wife, who has predicted the earthquake. as I know that the science is far from exact, on earthquake predictions. She tells me it is on the radio and the Government is telling people to prepare to evacuate the area. We have only 2 radio stations and they are single man operations, not BBC or CNN affiliates.
The brother in-law returns, he not only has a nice uniform, but is also the emergency first response fireman and rescue chief. His news is bleak, the bridges are under water or damaged by the floods. There is no way out. Word spreads fast and the villagers are now out in the street waiting for the father in-law to return from the emergency meeting, as he will tell them what to do. The other brother in-law and many of the villagers with cars have already fled to places unknown in the jungle. The wife, kids and mother in-law are in the car ready to go on the old mans return. Our pick up truck is ready to take the neighbors. She is telling me to get in, I say I am not going anywhere, you are all off your heads, there is no earthquake coming, As is normal she says I don't understand, but the army will come and get me and anyone who is left here later. I look at her and say how is the army going to get here when there is no bridges.
Father in-law returns, everyone is waiting, word has spread that the evacuation siren has gone of in the last village and the army is on the way. The father in-law asks me if I can check on the inter-net to get the latest reports. There are no latest reports, there are no warnings at all, either on the net or the TV. The father in-law is waiting for the sub Governor to tell him what to do, the Sub Governor is waiting for someone up the chain to tell him. That someone is probably running around trying to find out what the hell is happening.
The rain has stopped and night has fallen, the village is still standing. The panic has subsided. With the wife translating for the father in-law the story of the days events unfolds. Just as in the Orson Welles radio broadcast war of the worlds, a radio broadcast started it all.
The forestry department issued a warning about landslides in the mountains and flash floods.
The 2 local radio stations broadcast the warnings, but mudslides became sink holes and underground rivers were going to collapse the upper soils.
The Sub district Governor hearing the radio warnings put 2 and 2 together and came up with 5. All the rain was going to fill the fault and cause an earthquake. So he sets up the emergency siren system.
The radio stations are told about the sirens and begin to broadcast that the Government has set them up, for the impending earthquake, that will occur from the heavy rains and everyone should prepare to evacuate the area.
The border and forestry soldiers have left there river side camps, which are subject to flash floods and moved into the safer bases near the 3 villages. The army is coming.
Now we have the radio telling everyone that not only is there going to be flooding and some landslides in the mountains, but the Government has put out earthquake warnings and the army is on the move to help out in the evacuation.
Outside of the 3 villages on this dead end road into the jungle no one knew what was happening. A simple phone call in the beginning would have put it all to rest, but asking questions is not the Thai way.
Monday, September 12, 2011
THE RAINS CAME
To a rubber planter rain is money or lack of it. Like most farmers there are only 2 types of rain, too little or too much. To an Australian, even from the wetter state of Victoria, there is not enough rain. Here it is a different story.
Thai new year, Song Kran, around mid April saw the first of the seasons rain. It was a good sign, the trees sprang to life and the rubber flowed. It rained most days for a few hours, not heavy, but good soaking rain, the trees loved it and out put rose. Rubber tappers bought new motorbikes and paid back money borrowed in the dry season. We paid back our fertilizer bill and started some more house improvements. A new front veranda and air conditioning for the kids bedroom. There was even hope of a new Chinese copy Harley for me. Alas this was not to happen.
By August the rains became longer and tapping dropped off. You can not tap rubber in the rain. More and more tapping days were lost and less and less money was made, but tapping continued. The tappers would tap and at the first sign of rain would run around collecting the latex.
The start of September brought the monsoon rains. These are not wet days, but a down pour that stops you driving a car, the sound of thunder and the driving rain on the roof is constant. We have not tapped a tree in 11 days. You can not go out or you may not get back, as bridges and roads turn into rivers.
Last years a tapper and his family ventured out to the plantation, in the hope they could do some tapping. Luckily for them , his mobile phone worked. We received a call. they were stuck in the workers stilt hut, surounded by water. They had no food or drinking water and a rescue mission had to be mounted. they had a one year old baby with them.
To the Thais out here, this is a yearly occurrence, they know no other way. In our house the Mother, Father in-law, 2 brothers, their wives and children and 3 of the tappers whose family are not local, settle in. We are lucky as the house is a fair size and we have ducks, chickens and fish. Much food will be prepared and everyone will eat, talk and sleep. The men will drink some. Eating and talking will fill 10 hours of the day, sleeping the rest. That is not to say they eat and talk for 10 hours, no they will eat talk for a few hours, go to sleep for a few hours, then start again.
For a soft white man this is a time that can drive you from a few beers at night into the bottle of whiskey a day. As I write this, I am sipping whiskey and drinking beer. You are stuck, for much of the time with nothing to do and no where to go, often without electricity. No matter how good your Thai or Lao is, you can not have a conversation about world events etc and mine is not good. There you are listening to the rain and thunder, day in day out, lost in your own thoughts.
The brother in-law said one day. You are like a Buddha monk with beer, you can just sit and watch the rain fall on the jungle. Little did he know, that if it wasn't for the mind numbing effect of the booze, I would probably be standing out side screaming at the sky, STOP THE RAIN.
Thai new year, Song Kran, around mid April saw the first of the seasons rain. It was a good sign, the trees sprang to life and the rubber flowed. It rained most days for a few hours, not heavy, but good soaking rain, the trees loved it and out put rose. Rubber tappers bought new motorbikes and paid back money borrowed in the dry season. We paid back our fertilizer bill and started some more house improvements. A new front veranda and air conditioning for the kids bedroom. There was even hope of a new Chinese copy Harley for me. Alas this was not to happen.
By August the rains became longer and tapping dropped off. You can not tap rubber in the rain. More and more tapping days were lost and less and less money was made, but tapping continued. The tappers would tap and at the first sign of rain would run around collecting the latex.
The start of September brought the monsoon rains. These are not wet days, but a down pour that stops you driving a car, the sound of thunder and the driving rain on the roof is constant. We have not tapped a tree in 11 days. You can not go out or you may not get back, as bridges and roads turn into rivers.
Last years a tapper and his family ventured out to the plantation, in the hope they could do some tapping. Luckily for them , his mobile phone worked. We received a call. they were stuck in the workers stilt hut, surounded by water. They had no food or drinking water and a rescue mission had to be mounted. they had a one year old baby with them.
To the Thais out here, this is a yearly occurrence, they know no other way. In our house the Mother, Father in-law, 2 brothers, their wives and children and 3 of the tappers whose family are not local, settle in. We are lucky as the house is a fair size and we have ducks, chickens and fish. Much food will be prepared and everyone will eat, talk and sleep. The men will drink some. Eating and talking will fill 10 hours of the day, sleeping the rest. That is not to say they eat and talk for 10 hours, no they will eat talk for a few hours, go to sleep for a few hours, then start again.
For a soft white man this is a time that can drive you from a few beers at night into the bottle of whiskey a day. As I write this, I am sipping whiskey and drinking beer. You are stuck, for much of the time with nothing to do and no where to go, often without electricity. No matter how good your Thai or Lao is, you can not have a conversation about world events etc and mine is not good. There you are listening to the rain and thunder, day in day out, lost in your own thoughts.
The brother in-law said one day. You are like a Buddha monk with beer, you can just sit and watch the rain fall on the jungle. Little did he know, that if it wasn't for the mind numbing effect of the booze, I would probably be standing out side screaming at the sky, STOP THE RAIN.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
There's good and bad and lots of things to drive you mad
My nearest English speaking neighbor once said to me, it takes a special type of person to live out here. I would not be so kind and would say you need to be a little crazy. If you are not a bit soft in the head when you come, chances are you will end up mad.
The entire concept of western logic is alien here. Aesop's fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper comes to mind, except that in rural Issan it is the Grasshopper that is the role model.
Several years earlier I had tried setting up a small fish farm. Without much success, I must say. The factory had a long trench along the back. This was dug for soil to raise the factory, office etc. In no time at all the rains had filled the trench and we put some cat fish fingerlings in. These fish grow at an incredible rate. Before long everyone is sick of fish and we began to sell them in the village.
When the big monsoon rains came the ponds became deep holes in a small lake and the fish set off down stream. A few lessons were learned. Too many fish in a small area, they just grow so fast and they needed food, which cost. Plus the fact they all made good their escape. Another problem was that the ponds dried out in the dry season.
This year I was to try fish again, armed with what I had learned. A big deep dam was dug. The dam was below some old rice paddy, which acted as a catchment for water run off. In no time at all it was full. Shade cloth was string on poles around the dam, no fish could make a swim for freedom. 500 catfish fingerlings were put in. I had picked 500 as a test number, the dam was big and if I strung some solar lights to attract bugs, there would be little need for extra food.
The fish had hardly settled in to their new home when the Father in-law rolls up with a 1,000 fingerlings and puts them in one of the same ponds we had originally used. Up to him, not my money or problem. Now his fish are doing fine and eating bags of food, just not enough water for them to keep growing.
Mother in-law seeing the fish, comes up with a brilliant plan and without asking anyone goes and buys 5,000 fish. Into another of the old ponds they go. How could you lose, fish grow and you sell them and make lots of money.
Her fish had not been in the pond 24 hours when the big monson rains hit. Bye bye all the fish, just as last time, to the Mekong. My fish in their enclosed big pond are still happily growing fat. I will bet money that the same will happen again next year.
Everyday this lack of forward planing and consequential though, comes up. Last week they filled the 2 wheel tractor with petrol, not diesel. These iron water buffalo are every where, but petrol was handy that would do. Off course it would not start and the tank had to be drained. The Brother in-law has crashed his motor bike twice this month, no brakes. He didn't want to spend 100 Baht to have them fixed, but is happy to fill up his big new Isuzu 7 seat and go for a drive to town. The aunt build a duck farm out back of our house, by the river. 2 doors for the ducks, 600 of them to just walk into the river, but no doors at the back for people to get in. Bills are placed in the car glove box and forgotten about, until the bank or tax man comes a calling. Then it's panic. There have been 3 or 4 young children drown in the area in the last few months, but as I write, the rivers are in flood and you will see small kids playing in raging water. It's all up to fate and Buddha, if you crash your car into a tree, it was meant to happen, not because you were blind drunk.
You really do have to be a touch crazy to live here.
Just as I was about to post this a big bull elephant turns up out front. All the women with young babies are now doing the baby walk under the elephant stomach. think the only luck is if he doesn't fall on you.
The entire concept of western logic is alien here. Aesop's fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper comes to mind, except that in rural Issan it is the Grasshopper that is the role model.
Several years earlier I had tried setting up a small fish farm. Without much success, I must say. The factory had a long trench along the back. This was dug for soil to raise the factory, office etc. In no time at all the rains had filled the trench and we put some cat fish fingerlings in. These fish grow at an incredible rate. Before long everyone is sick of fish and we began to sell them in the village.
When the big monsoon rains came the ponds became deep holes in a small lake and the fish set off down stream. A few lessons were learned. Too many fish in a small area, they just grow so fast and they needed food, which cost. Plus the fact they all made good their escape. Another problem was that the ponds dried out in the dry season.
This year I was to try fish again, armed with what I had learned. A big deep dam was dug. The dam was below some old rice paddy, which acted as a catchment for water run off. In no time at all it was full. Shade cloth was string on poles around the dam, no fish could make a swim for freedom. 500 catfish fingerlings were put in. I had picked 500 as a test number, the dam was big and if I strung some solar lights to attract bugs, there would be little need for extra food.
The fish had hardly settled in to their new home when the Father in-law rolls up with a 1,000 fingerlings and puts them in one of the same ponds we had originally used. Up to him, not my money or problem. Now his fish are doing fine and eating bags of food, just not enough water for them to keep growing.
Mother in-law seeing the fish, comes up with a brilliant plan and without asking anyone goes and buys 5,000 fish. Into another of the old ponds they go. How could you lose, fish grow and you sell them and make lots of money.
Her fish had not been in the pond 24 hours when the big monson rains hit. Bye bye all the fish, just as last time, to the Mekong. My fish in their enclosed big pond are still happily growing fat. I will bet money that the same will happen again next year.
Everyday this lack of forward planing and consequential though, comes up. Last week they filled the 2 wheel tractor with petrol, not diesel. These iron water buffalo are every where, but petrol was handy that would do. Off course it would not start and the tank had to be drained. The Brother in-law has crashed his motor bike twice this month, no brakes. He didn't want to spend 100 Baht to have them fixed, but is happy to fill up his big new Isuzu 7 seat and go for a drive to town. The aunt build a duck farm out back of our house, by the river. 2 doors for the ducks, 600 of them to just walk into the river, but no doors at the back for people to get in. Bills are placed in the car glove box and forgotten about, until the bank or tax man comes a calling. Then it's panic. There have been 3 or 4 young children drown in the area in the last few months, but as I write, the rivers are in flood and you will see small kids playing in raging water. It's all up to fate and Buddha, if you crash your car into a tree, it was meant to happen, not because you were blind drunk.
You really do have to be a touch crazy to live here.
Just as I was about to post this a big bull elephant turns up out front. All the women with young babies are now doing the baby walk under the elephant stomach. think the only luck is if he doesn't fall on you.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
What happened to down time and Losers, Boozers, Drifters and Dreamers
Inter net is down, again, it's raining, again, kids are playing in their cousins house, wife , aunt and mother in-law, plus some cousins are down the street, eating som tam. I have no books left to read and so am at a lost as to how to fill my day . I could of course crack a bottle, but much too early for that. So I thought I may as well add another instalment to the story. This will really be about nothing, just some observations on life in general.
When I was younger, time seemed different, my father would go to work, come home watch TV with the family. Saturday night out with the work mates to the pub, for a few beers. Sunday was a neighbor time, The men of the street would gather in someones house, garage or if the weather was good, the back yard. They would sit drink and talk. BBQs were more often than not lit and wives and children would attend. That was Australia when it was a lucky country. Later in my life, living in the UK, there was always time to stop for a few pints after work. Life just drifted along.
About 15 years ago, a friend of mine returned to a small village in Yorkshire, after 23 years in Australia. He went to his old local pub for a beer. The first words he heard were, hi Jeff, haven't seen you for awhile, been away. It was the same with the wife in our village. After all those years away, at school in Bangkok and living in Australia, it was like she had never left. I wonder how many of us could return to our home towns and say the same, not many I would bet. Time has stood still in a few places, but these places are disappearing fast.
At first I hadn't noticed that the way of life was changing, it was just me getting older. Now when I look back I see that it was not age, but the way the world had been programmed, by social engineering. There was no longer down time, every hour was accounted for. A get together with the work mates was no longer, coming out for a beer, It had to be planed months in advance. Days off were no longer free time, but had to be used productively.
A friend one day said , that he and his wife were going to travel around South East Asia. They were to start in Singapore, head up through Malaysia, across Thailand and Lao to Vietnam. I said sounds good, how many months do you have off. He looked at me and said, it's a 10 day package tour. Seems you have to cram in more and more in less and less time. Whether in your job or in your life.
Think this can be seen very clearly in the binge drinking culture, which has come to most of our cities. How can you expect people to work longer, work faster and do more. Then go out on a Friday and Saturday night and drink at their fathers pace. When you can get 5 or 6 hours of alcohol down your throat in 2. Governments blame everyone else, but they are the ones that turned up the speed. At least in Australia, there is no time to stop and smell the roses, anymore.
Here is where much of Thailand marches to a different drum. Your local shop keeper is more likely to be asleep in a hammock than stacking shelves. When the locals have down time, which is most of the time, it is spent eating and talking or sleeping. If there was an Olympic sport of sleeping, Thailand would be undisputed champions. I have always found it amazing that, a cousin or visitor , after eating and talking, can lie on a bench with an empty coke bottle as a pillow and be asleep like a baby within minutes. Only wish I could do the same. There are no Saturdays or Sundays, work is done when it needs to be done. If there is a reason for a bit of a party the Lao Khow [ rice whiskey ] is just as likely to start flowing at 6 am as 6 pm. Things are done when the time comes to do them, not by a clock. No one says lazy so and so sleeping at this time of day or look at him drinking at breakfast. They live in the moment, not by some man made concept of the right time and place.
Losers, Boozer, Drifters and Dreamers
Now what sort of westerners find themselves in these forgotten places. The vast majority come first because of wives and girlfriends. For most of them it is something they have to do to keep the wife happy. Their best memories of the place will be boarding the plane home.
The boozers
There are quite allot of ex servicemen, cops, fireman and public servents of one form our other. Mostly yanks and Brits who live a better life on their pensions here, than, they can at home. Of these, most will have an Issan wife and live in a big town or city. They will buy or rent modest homes or apartments. After a life of disciple and routine, they find themselves somewhat a at lost as to what to do with their time. They then settle in to a regular daily cycle, which almost always means beer with the boys each night. Normally they will not be big drinkers, as their pensions don't allow for nightly binges. When I enter a strange farang bar, it is to this table I usually end up . I call these the boozers. Not in a derogatory way. They have done their service, lost most of what they had in a divorce, lasted to get their pensions. Their biggest worry in life is exchange rates. It's just their time to relax and kick back.
The losers
This group are people who have made some money in their home countries. These are the guys who will be talking money, world economics etc, If you ask them what they used to do, they will say things like, I was the owner of a transport company [ owned their own taxi cab]. Had a plumbing construction company,[ a father and son plumbers.] Many more will say they were into real estate and got out before the bubble burst [ Had bought a second house and had to sell when they got divorced ]. All will be doing on line consultancy work and have some vague idea of starting some business in Thailand. They come from all counties and live in houses 10 times bigger than they will ever use. This is to impress their friends, who will never come and visit. Often the homes are in the middle of no where, but near to the wife's village.
These people will more than likely be of the short stay type. After they have moved into their mansions, reality kicks in. They sit in their big homes alone, drinking. Their idea of being Lord of the Manor, soon disappears. They have spent big to impress, but there is no one to impress. They will head back to Pattaya if the money permits, or head home to start again. Some with a small overseas income will simply sit and drink themselves to death. Theses are the real losers of Issan, just too smart for their own good. You will see the relics of their homes, doted over the countryside.
My nearest neighbor, a very sick man, lives with his Thai wife of many years, in a 5 story monolith. He can't climb the stairs and spends his days and nights in a small room on the ground floor, watching football and waiting to die. Last month a Norwegian , 52 years old died in his home. He refused to go in the ambulance on 3 separate occasions, he was diabetic. Died in the night with a bottle of Sam Sung by his side. Further down the road there is a big house with a medieval turret on it. Never have seen anyone ever live there.
They came, they spent and those who could went.
The dreamers
This group has 2 types, those with money and those without. Both have one thing in common, they suspend all belief in reality and commonsense, when they arrive in Thailand. This for some reason seems to inflict Americans more than other nationalities. Maybe due to some belief in US superiority, but more likely a lack of understanding, how the rest of the world really is.
Here I will tell 2 story's , each from one end of the wealth spectrum, hope none of them read this. I am sure anyone who lives in Thailand will have many such tales.
First the poor guy. I get many e mails from people who have watched one of my youtube videos. Most are questions on rubber farming and some about Issan weddings. So Joe citizen from the US writes after having watched my Issan wedding on youtube. His questions and story were simple. While on a 2 week holiday to Thailand he meet, would you believe it, a girl. She is 15 years older than him, I take that to mean he is one fat ugly SOB. He is madly in love and wants to move to Thailand, marry the girl and live, but has very little money. His questions are , does he have to tell anyone in the Thai Government that he is moving permanently to live here and how much money will he make from the girls 25 rai [ 10 acres ] of unused rice paddy, plus how much do I think he will need for the wedding. What can you really tell him, sorry you may as well just get used to the fact that you are a fat, ugly SOB and will live the rest of your miserable life alone. Of course not, you try to break the bad news with a few hopeful options, but really, there are none.
Second, the rich guy. Same as the poor guy, contacts me from the net. His girlfreind comes from a village about 60 km from me and could he come visit and have a talk, next time he is in Thailand. I tell him if he brings beer I will talk till the sun comes up. 2 months later up he rocks, a load of beer and one drop dead Thai girl.
His story, he has never been married, same age as me 54, worked his whole life building up his business, he's not mega rich, but could call it a day buy a villa and yacht in the Med and live the good life till he died. I am not one to believe many storys that I am told, so did a few searches on the net and found he was indeed who he said he was. On this first trip to Thailand, he had left his hotel walked into the first Go Go bar he saw. She said hello and that was it, all loved up. 2 weeks later he's on the plane home and she's heading back to the village with an ATM card that will not stop. Now he is a man of the world, been to Vegas and Thailand, knows what the go is and is 4 mil Baht a good price for 25 rai of rubber trees. I try to tell him to slow down. No a week later he calls to say do I want to come see his rubber plantation.
2 days later he's on the plane back to the states and that's it for 6 months. I get a phone call, I'm back and am getting married in the village in 2 days time. Never one to turn down a free party, we are off, wife, kids and mother in-law. When I get there, first thing I see is the new extensions on the house, a new small shop beside it and a brand new twin cab 4 wheel drive . This guy had only been with this girl in the flesh, for 5 weeks and he had spent over 5 Mil Baht.
He had also brought a friend with him, who I think was less than impressed with the goings on, but we had a good talk over the beer. Seems the groom had no intension of moving to Thailand for several years to come. His business was was his life and if he sold up now, he would be lucky to walk away with much over 4 Mill US dollars.
In all fairness to him, his dream may not seem that expensive if you have that kind of money. As for his new wife, she is really a nice girl and would have make a very good wife, but like all of us, wants to do the best for her daughter and mother and have a secure future. There will be no more GO Go bars for her.
The drifters.
These are a lesser seen type, but you will find them in the most unusal and unknown places. They are a combination of the losers, boozers and dreamers. They come in all ages and from most western countries. You will find them in any country in the world. They are looking for something, but don't know what. In Thailand in some unheard of place you will see a Swede bend over cutting rice in a paddy field. or a German plowing a field with his iron water buffalo. On a remote island in the flood plains of the Mekong, an Australian baking bread. Or a Brit moving his water buffalo to better grass, in the back of beyond. In my case a Brit/ Ozzy growing rubber in a place no one has heard of. They don't go out to towns much, but if you ever meet one, buy him a beer, he may just give you a few words about the meaning of life.
When I was younger, time seemed different, my father would go to work, come home watch TV with the family. Saturday night out with the work mates to the pub, for a few beers. Sunday was a neighbor time, The men of the street would gather in someones house, garage or if the weather was good, the back yard. They would sit drink and talk. BBQs were more often than not lit and wives and children would attend. That was Australia when it was a lucky country. Later in my life, living in the UK, there was always time to stop for a few pints after work. Life just drifted along.
About 15 years ago, a friend of mine returned to a small village in Yorkshire, after 23 years in Australia. He went to his old local pub for a beer. The first words he heard were, hi Jeff, haven't seen you for awhile, been away. It was the same with the wife in our village. After all those years away, at school in Bangkok and living in Australia, it was like she had never left. I wonder how many of us could return to our home towns and say the same, not many I would bet. Time has stood still in a few places, but these places are disappearing fast.
At first I hadn't noticed that the way of life was changing, it was just me getting older. Now when I look back I see that it was not age, but the way the world had been programmed, by social engineering. There was no longer down time, every hour was accounted for. A get together with the work mates was no longer, coming out for a beer, It had to be planed months in advance. Days off were no longer free time, but had to be used productively.
A friend one day said , that he and his wife were going to travel around South East Asia. They were to start in Singapore, head up through Malaysia, across Thailand and Lao to Vietnam. I said sounds good, how many months do you have off. He looked at me and said, it's a 10 day package tour. Seems you have to cram in more and more in less and less time. Whether in your job or in your life.
Think this can be seen very clearly in the binge drinking culture, which has come to most of our cities. How can you expect people to work longer, work faster and do more. Then go out on a Friday and Saturday night and drink at their fathers pace. When you can get 5 or 6 hours of alcohol down your throat in 2. Governments blame everyone else, but they are the ones that turned up the speed. At least in Australia, there is no time to stop and smell the roses, anymore.
Here is where much of Thailand marches to a different drum. Your local shop keeper is more likely to be asleep in a hammock than stacking shelves. When the locals have down time, which is most of the time, it is spent eating and talking or sleeping. If there was an Olympic sport of sleeping, Thailand would be undisputed champions. I have always found it amazing that, a cousin or visitor , after eating and talking, can lie on a bench with an empty coke bottle as a pillow and be asleep like a baby within minutes. Only wish I could do the same. There are no Saturdays or Sundays, work is done when it needs to be done. If there is a reason for a bit of a party the Lao Khow [ rice whiskey ] is just as likely to start flowing at 6 am as 6 pm. Things are done when the time comes to do them, not by a clock. No one says lazy so and so sleeping at this time of day or look at him drinking at breakfast. They live in the moment, not by some man made concept of the right time and place.
Losers, Boozer, Drifters and Dreamers
Now what sort of westerners find themselves in these forgotten places. The vast majority come first because of wives and girlfriends. For most of them it is something they have to do to keep the wife happy. Their best memories of the place will be boarding the plane home.
The boozers
There are quite allot of ex servicemen, cops, fireman and public servents of one form our other. Mostly yanks and Brits who live a better life on their pensions here, than, they can at home. Of these, most will have an Issan wife and live in a big town or city. They will buy or rent modest homes or apartments. After a life of disciple and routine, they find themselves somewhat a at lost as to what to do with their time. They then settle in to a regular daily cycle, which almost always means beer with the boys each night. Normally they will not be big drinkers, as their pensions don't allow for nightly binges. When I enter a strange farang bar, it is to this table I usually end up . I call these the boozers. Not in a derogatory way. They have done their service, lost most of what they had in a divorce, lasted to get their pensions. Their biggest worry in life is exchange rates. It's just their time to relax and kick back.
The losers
This group are people who have made some money in their home countries. These are the guys who will be talking money, world economics etc, If you ask them what they used to do, they will say things like, I was the owner of a transport company [ owned their own taxi cab]. Had a plumbing construction company,[ a father and son plumbers.] Many more will say they were into real estate and got out before the bubble burst [ Had bought a second house and had to sell when they got divorced ]. All will be doing on line consultancy work and have some vague idea of starting some business in Thailand. They come from all counties and live in houses 10 times bigger than they will ever use. This is to impress their friends, who will never come and visit. Often the homes are in the middle of no where, but near to the wife's village.
These people will more than likely be of the short stay type. After they have moved into their mansions, reality kicks in. They sit in their big homes alone, drinking. Their idea of being Lord of the Manor, soon disappears. They have spent big to impress, but there is no one to impress. They will head back to Pattaya if the money permits, or head home to start again. Some with a small overseas income will simply sit and drink themselves to death. Theses are the real losers of Issan, just too smart for their own good. You will see the relics of their homes, doted over the countryside.
My nearest neighbor, a very sick man, lives with his Thai wife of many years, in a 5 story monolith. He can't climb the stairs and spends his days and nights in a small room on the ground floor, watching football and waiting to die. Last month a Norwegian , 52 years old died in his home. He refused to go in the ambulance on 3 separate occasions, he was diabetic. Died in the night with a bottle of Sam Sung by his side. Further down the road there is a big house with a medieval turret on it. Never have seen anyone ever live there.
They came, they spent and those who could went.
The dreamers
This group has 2 types, those with money and those without. Both have one thing in common, they suspend all belief in reality and commonsense, when they arrive in Thailand. This for some reason seems to inflict Americans more than other nationalities. Maybe due to some belief in US superiority, but more likely a lack of understanding, how the rest of the world really is.
Here I will tell 2 story's , each from one end of the wealth spectrum, hope none of them read this. I am sure anyone who lives in Thailand will have many such tales.
First the poor guy. I get many e mails from people who have watched one of my youtube videos. Most are questions on rubber farming and some about Issan weddings. So Joe citizen from the US writes after having watched my Issan wedding on youtube. His questions and story were simple. While on a 2 week holiday to Thailand he meet, would you believe it, a girl. She is 15 years older than him, I take that to mean he is one fat ugly SOB. He is madly in love and wants to move to Thailand, marry the girl and live, but has very little money. His questions are , does he have to tell anyone in the Thai Government that he is moving permanently to live here and how much money will he make from the girls 25 rai [ 10 acres ] of unused rice paddy, plus how much do I think he will need for the wedding. What can you really tell him, sorry you may as well just get used to the fact that you are a fat, ugly SOB and will live the rest of your miserable life alone. Of course not, you try to break the bad news with a few hopeful options, but really, there are none.
Second, the rich guy. Same as the poor guy, contacts me from the net. His girlfreind comes from a village about 60 km from me and could he come visit and have a talk, next time he is in Thailand. I tell him if he brings beer I will talk till the sun comes up. 2 months later up he rocks, a load of beer and one drop dead Thai girl.
His story, he has never been married, same age as me 54, worked his whole life building up his business, he's not mega rich, but could call it a day buy a villa and yacht in the Med and live the good life till he died. I am not one to believe many storys that I am told, so did a few searches on the net and found he was indeed who he said he was. On this first trip to Thailand, he had left his hotel walked into the first Go Go bar he saw. She said hello and that was it, all loved up. 2 weeks later he's on the plane home and she's heading back to the village with an ATM card that will not stop. Now he is a man of the world, been to Vegas and Thailand, knows what the go is and is 4 mil Baht a good price for 25 rai of rubber trees. I try to tell him to slow down. No a week later he calls to say do I want to come see his rubber plantation.
2 days later he's on the plane back to the states and that's it for 6 months. I get a phone call, I'm back and am getting married in the village in 2 days time. Never one to turn down a free party, we are off, wife, kids and mother in-law. When I get there, first thing I see is the new extensions on the house, a new small shop beside it and a brand new twin cab 4 wheel drive . This guy had only been with this girl in the flesh, for 5 weeks and he had spent over 5 Mil Baht.
He had also brought a friend with him, who I think was less than impressed with the goings on, but we had a good talk over the beer. Seems the groom had no intension of moving to Thailand for several years to come. His business was was his life and if he sold up now, he would be lucky to walk away with much over 4 Mill US dollars.
In all fairness to him, his dream may not seem that expensive if you have that kind of money. As for his new wife, she is really a nice girl and would have make a very good wife, but like all of us, wants to do the best for her daughter and mother and have a secure future. There will be no more GO Go bars for her.
The drifters.
These are a lesser seen type, but you will find them in the most unusal and unknown places. They are a combination of the losers, boozers and dreamers. They come in all ages and from most western countries. You will find them in any country in the world. They are looking for something, but don't know what. In Thailand in some unheard of place you will see a Swede bend over cutting rice in a paddy field. or a German plowing a field with his iron water buffalo. On a remote island in the flood plains of the Mekong, an Australian baking bread. Or a Brit moving his water buffalo to better grass, in the back of beyond. In my case a Brit/ Ozzy growing rubber in a place no one has heard of. They don't go out to towns much, but if you ever meet one, buy him a beer, he may just give you a few words about the meaning of life.
Friday, July 15, 2011
A good bye for now
I guess we grow close to the end of this little saga, we have almost caught up to the present day . We saw 2011 come in, in Australia. We had returned for Christmas, Christmas in Australia had sent me broke. I thought about getting a job to tied us over the dry season, but there was little in the way of work, and we all missed the village. I sold my last possession, the car to get the air fare home. We lived frugally until the rains came, selling our first sheet rubber in June. Most of the money was owed, for fertilizer and loans, but we survived. Next week we sell again and there will be money left.
This year we have 8 workers and 2 of their wives help out. The factory grinds along, making a few thousand Baht profit per month. We just don't have the money to buy big yet, there is always next year. The house still needs work, but nothing major, things will come in there own good time. To most people, who have lived by the clock all their lives, my days would be boring. I get up when it is to warm to sleep, read books when I can fined any, play on the computer and browse the internet, when I have a signal. Once a day I ride or drive to the factory to feed the dogs. When the heat gets to much we take the kids to a small water fall, not far from the village for a swim. Each evening I sit out front watching our 2 kids play in the little street or under the neighbors stilt house, with the other village kids, usually with a cold beer in my hand. We eat, the kids watch a video and the women watch Thai soap operas, another day has has ended. When I sleep there are no bad dreams or nightmares. When money permits we head to Ubon or a small resort near the meeting of the Mun and Mekong rivers, for a few days. Sometimes we have visitors from the west, which adds a bit of variety to the week. Life is simple, the days come and go, our children play as children should, not locked indoors. If the world outside ended tomorrow, I would not care, we have chickens, ducks and a fish pond, we have land for rice, we will not starve. When my kids grow there will be more than enough money from the lumber from the rubber trees to put them through any University they care to attend. For me this is my Shangri-la, my lost horizon.
Thank you for reading this blog, I will update it when things happen, which is not likely to be too often. If one day I get access to reasonable inter net I will up load some pictures. So it is bye for now. Jim
This year we have 8 workers and 2 of their wives help out. The factory grinds along, making a few thousand Baht profit per month. We just don't have the money to buy big yet, there is always next year. The house still needs work, but nothing major, things will come in there own good time. To most people, who have lived by the clock all their lives, my days would be boring. I get up when it is to warm to sleep, read books when I can fined any, play on the computer and browse the internet, when I have a signal. Once a day I ride or drive to the factory to feed the dogs. When the heat gets to much we take the kids to a small water fall, not far from the village for a swim. Each evening I sit out front watching our 2 kids play in the little street or under the neighbors stilt house, with the other village kids, usually with a cold beer in my hand. We eat, the kids watch a video and the women watch Thai soap operas, another day has has ended. When I sleep there are no bad dreams or nightmares. When money permits we head to Ubon or a small resort near the meeting of the Mun and Mekong rivers, for a few days. Sometimes we have visitors from the west, which adds a bit of variety to the week. Life is simple, the days come and go, our children play as children should, not locked indoors. If the world outside ended tomorrow, I would not care, we have chickens, ducks and a fish pond, we have land for rice, we will not starve. When my kids grow there will be more than enough money from the lumber from the rubber trees to put them through any University they care to attend. For me this is my Shangri-la, my lost horizon.
Thank you for reading this blog, I will update it when things happen, which is not likely to be too often. If one day I get access to reasonable inter net I will up load some pictures. So it is bye for now. Jim
Bandits, Junkies and Rambo
During the time of house building and car buying, rumors of rubber, motorbike thefts and armed robbery's had been circulating around the area. I seldom took much notice of village tales as they always seemed to be blown out of proportion or happened 20 plus years ago. Yet there was more than usual, story's of bandits crossing over from Lao had become common. There is no shortage of dodgy characters up here, just as in the city. Petty thieves, stealing cup rubber from unwatched plantations. Isolated houses burgled while the owners were at the rice fields. Even my nearest English neighbor had caught a teenager trying to steal from his house. Then one day a Thai rubber farmer chanced upon a group stealing his rubber. he was armed. As he approached, someone in the group fired at him. A short exchange of gun fire ensued and the group fled. One of the thieves had been wounded, there was a blood trail to where they had parked their motorbikes.
There is no shortage of weapons around theses parts. The border war with the Vietnamese in Cambodia and communist insurgents aided by the PDR of Lao had only finish in 1985. The Thais had given weapons to villages to protect themselves and the other side had armed local communist sympathizers. Many of these weapons are still out there.
We live in a village, everyone watches out for everyone else, strangers stand out, but even to this day the village heads and some Government employees are issued with rifles. The father in-law is one. At rice harvesting time the villagers desert their homes and the families go and live in the rice fields, until all the rice has been harvested. At these times the village heads etc are supposed to patrol around to keep away thieves. Not that you are likely to see one walking a beat late at night. It is the jungle after all and this has been a lawless area for as long as people have lived here. Only recently have marked police patrols come this far, this is border soldiers country.
The factory was broken into one night, $500 worth of rubber had been stolen. We had the brother in-law and his wife staying there, but when he went to tap rubber he would bring his wife here for the night. It was on such a night that they came. I got the family and the tappers all together, to see what we could do. The story of bandits from Lao had scared them, none wanted to stay alone at the factory.
Later I got more of the truth as to what was happening. Seems that the bandits from Lao numbered 3, one of which was a Thai, wanted by the police. He had fled over to some cousins across the border and they were drug smugglers. Meths amphetamines, speed or yabba as it's called in Thailand. They would bring the drugs over to the Thai guys old village, which is deep in the jungle and sell. Word had got around of this abundance of cheap yabba and junkies from around the district had headed there to buy. Like anywhere in the world your average junkie has to steal to get the money. Where better to steal than near your supply, no travel involved and less chance of getting caught by the police. The police were powerless to do much, if they went in mob handed the junkies just melted into the jungle. The police are neither trained nor equipped to chase bad guys through the jungle and I am sure they were reluctant to do so encase the bad boys had a load of AK 47 assault rifles waiting.
A bunch of junkies were not going to be stealing my rubber, so I moved to the factory. On the first night the wife and father dropped me off, the father showed me a cupboard, inside was a muzzele loading bird rife. It was something Davey Crocket would have carried, except that it was for birds and was less than a 22 caliber. I looked at the wife and said one shot, then what, beat them about the head with it, I thought theses guys were all armed and afraid of nothing. She smiled and said, everyone has seen Rambo 4, no one would dare to rob the place, while you are here. I lasted 5 days, my back was broke from sleeping on a mat and I was bored. Grabbed the wife and kids. We all went to Ubon for the weekend, that night the factory was robbed again, they had been watching.
There was no way I was going to take up permanent residents in the factory. CCTV was the only answer, 15,000 Baht $500 I had a state of the art video surveillance system. It was installed the following Tuesday along with some sensor lights. I told everyone , that not only would it record anyone coming into the factory, but it was inter net linked and could be watched from any where in the world. We caught our first thief 2 weeks later. He wasn't stealing our rubber, but selling stolen rubber. The owner of the rubber came to see all the rubber buyers in the area, to see if anyone had sold some sheet. He identified his rubber . The police were called and a memory stick with the video was handed over. The man was arrested and given 12 months in the monkey house. The bad guys who weren't afraid of anything were afraid of prison. Word spread about the cameras and we have never had a problem since. As for the 3 bandits from Lao. I am told , but can't say how true it is. As I said earlier village storys go round, that they came to some is misfortune in i the jungle. Either way they have not been see since.
There is no shortage of weapons around theses parts. The border war with the Vietnamese in Cambodia and communist insurgents aided by the PDR of Lao had only finish in 1985. The Thais had given weapons to villages to protect themselves and the other side had armed local communist sympathizers. Many of these weapons are still out there.
We live in a village, everyone watches out for everyone else, strangers stand out, but even to this day the village heads and some Government employees are issued with rifles. The father in-law is one. At rice harvesting time the villagers desert their homes and the families go and live in the rice fields, until all the rice has been harvested. At these times the village heads etc are supposed to patrol around to keep away thieves. Not that you are likely to see one walking a beat late at night. It is the jungle after all and this has been a lawless area for as long as people have lived here. Only recently have marked police patrols come this far, this is border soldiers country.
The factory was broken into one night, $500 worth of rubber had been stolen. We had the brother in-law and his wife staying there, but when he went to tap rubber he would bring his wife here for the night. It was on such a night that they came. I got the family and the tappers all together, to see what we could do. The story of bandits from Lao had scared them, none wanted to stay alone at the factory.
Later I got more of the truth as to what was happening. Seems that the bandits from Lao numbered 3, one of which was a Thai, wanted by the police. He had fled over to some cousins across the border and they were drug smugglers. Meths amphetamines, speed or yabba as it's called in Thailand. They would bring the drugs over to the Thai guys old village, which is deep in the jungle and sell. Word had got around of this abundance of cheap yabba and junkies from around the district had headed there to buy. Like anywhere in the world your average junkie has to steal to get the money. Where better to steal than near your supply, no travel involved and less chance of getting caught by the police. The police were powerless to do much, if they went in mob handed the junkies just melted into the jungle. The police are neither trained nor equipped to chase bad guys through the jungle and I am sure they were reluctant to do so encase the bad boys had a load of AK 47 assault rifles waiting.
A bunch of junkies were not going to be stealing my rubber, so I moved to the factory. On the first night the wife and father dropped me off, the father showed me a cupboard, inside was a muzzele loading bird rife. It was something Davey Crocket would have carried, except that it was for birds and was less than a 22 caliber. I looked at the wife and said one shot, then what, beat them about the head with it, I thought theses guys were all armed and afraid of nothing. She smiled and said, everyone has seen Rambo 4, no one would dare to rob the place, while you are here. I lasted 5 days, my back was broke from sleeping on a mat and I was bored. Grabbed the wife and kids. We all went to Ubon for the weekend, that night the factory was robbed again, they had been watching.
There was no way I was going to take up permanent residents in the factory. CCTV was the only answer, 15,000 Baht $500 I had a state of the art video surveillance system. It was installed the following Tuesday along with some sensor lights. I told everyone , that not only would it record anyone coming into the factory, but it was inter net linked and could be watched from any where in the world. We caught our first thief 2 weeks later. He wasn't stealing our rubber, but selling stolen rubber. The owner of the rubber came to see all the rubber buyers in the area, to see if anyone had sold some sheet. He identified his rubber . The police were called and a memory stick with the video was handed over. The man was arrested and given 12 months in the monkey house. The bad guys who weren't afraid of anything were afraid of prison. Word spread about the cameras and we have never had a problem since. As for the 3 bandits from Lao. I am told , but can't say how true it is. As I said earlier village storys go round, that they came to some is misfortune in i the jungle. Either way they have not been see since.
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