The Unfortunate and Sad Side to Life in Thamuang

I tend to write optimistic blogs about my life in Asia and Thamuang in particular.  I am sometimes cynical, sometimes grumpy but rarely have I had the need to write about sad news.  The truth is there isn't a lot of sad news to write about, but when something comes along, it is all the more shocking.

The other day news came in that a young boy, about 16 years old, had been missing from his home for a couple of days.  Apparently he lived with his grandmother and his parents worked in Bangkok where the money is better.  These circumstances are quite common for many families in most Issan villages, and indeed was the case with Khamma for two or three years.  Money is necessary for food, education and housing and there isn't much of it growing rice year and year out.  Families are forced to live apart and youngsters have to adapt quickly to a life with grandparents and basically fending for themselves.

In many ways this is good because the children contribute to daily chores like cooking, shopping and cleaning and working in the fields.  Everyone, regardless of age, has to chip in to make the home operate.  However, children do feel the pressures.  After all children are children wherever they are in the world.

Keeping up at school is difficult.  Class sizes often consist of 45 to 50 kids and the teacher has to accommodate them in two or three rooms.  This obviously has its affect on academic progress and as kids reach their mid teens they are often difficult to control - just like any kids.

Sadly this poor boy decided to leave home and did not tell anybody.  His body was found two days later in the river about five miles downstream.  He apparently took his own life because he could no longer handle the pressure.

The village follows certain procedure in these situations, because according to Buddhist tradition the body cannot be cremated, but has to buried.  And so it was that he was buried in a cemetery along with the victims of road accidents.  Apparently unless the death is one through illness or old age the body is not cremated.  I don't know the reasons other than it seems to a superstition.  There is no time wasted either.  The boy was buried the next day and apparently without his parents being there.  Very very sad and a reminder that pressures do exist in seemingly idyllic locations.

Tad Paxuam Waterfall and Uttayan Bajiang Village Pakse Laos

Thamuang is very close to the border with Laos.  There is also a twice daily international bus service to Pakse in Laos and it only takes about three and a half hours.  This is very convenient for me to re-new my visa to allow me to stay in Thailand a while longer.

We first visited Pakse last year - see July 2011 blog posts.

The border at Chong Mek (Thailand) and Vang Tao (Laos) has changed a lot in the last year and travellers now have go through an underground tunnel from Thailand to Laos (and vice versa).  It's different, and once in the tunnel it is rather James Bondish, but I can't for the life of me think why they have gone to so much trouble when the border control and customs procedures are so informal.  No luggage is checked so the transfer of anything one way and the other is easy.

An unusual way to cross borders

 We stayed at the Champasak Palace hotel again.  The quirky but good hotel that stands so dominant by the river Se and close to the enormous Mekong river.

After a good night's sleep we rented a motorbike for 60,000 kip (about £4.75 - amazing value) and rode the 35 kms or so to the waterfall known as Tad Paxuam and the ethnic village called Uttayam Bajiang.  I mentioned in last year's post that the driving in Pakse was at best mayhem, and I can report that after one year there is no apparent improvement.  I rode the bike with caution and still wonder how I picked my way through the traffic.  At one point I can remember being overtaken and undertaken whilst seeing bikes and cars coming towards me from the right and left.  It was like being in a real life video game.  

Once we left the outskirts of Pakse we could relax and soon reached Uttayan Bajiang.  The village is the culmination of years of hard work by a successful businessman Wimol Kijbamrung.  He describes how he arrived at the site in 1999 and set to work with the local villagers.  All they had was an old hoe between them and Wimol describes that the most valuable item then held between them was an old bicycle frame!  The site had been stripped of its wild life as the locals would kill almost anything with a heart beat and moving for food.  Gradually the site was transformed and given back to nature, for example 25,000 indigenous trees were planted.  The locals have survived and in the locality 13 tribes exist side by side.  Visitors can stay in traditional houses and enjoy a break next to the nature of the Bolaven Plateau.  The villagers produce crafts and generally manage the area.

Sadly Wimol was struck down with malaria just one week after the village opened and as a result he is blind.  However, his enthusiasm lives on in a quest and promise to support and sustain the culture and nature.

Main waterfall

Bridge constructed entirely of bamboo

Guest house

Guest house

Jungle house

Jungle house

Local explaining the pan pipes

Sorry the video is on its side - but its worth a look anyway

We had a very pleasant couple of hours wandering round this really beautiful conservation area.  The locals are friendly and the wildlife abundant.  

We then moved on to the Tad Fane waterfall, which we visited last year as well.  The area is obviously being developed at a fast rate for industry because of the proximity to the Thai border, and tourism with resorts, luxury villas and restaurants.  Nevertheless, it is a beautiful area and if you get the chance just go for it.  There are connections onwards to Cambodia and Vietnam by overnight bus at good rates.

Chiang Mai Doi Inthanon National Park

I have limited experience of organising family outings and especially trying to cater for tastes between awkward teenagers and elderly parents.  In addition, in Thailand, when you ask the question 'What would you like to do?', invariably the reply is 'Up to YOU!'  So it is best to make your own decisions and lo and behold, everyone will follow, possibly groaning and complaining about your choice, but if they do it doesn't show too much.

So it was up to me to decide to take the family on a day's trip to Doi Inthanon National Park, where we were promised a hotel pick up in the mini van, a trip to the highest point in Thailand, a visit to the Royal Pagodas and garden, a quick tour of fine examples of two waterfalls and a visit to a Karen tribe village - and lunch.  I thought this was an impressive menu of delights and should satisfy most of the wishes of the family, and certainly keep us occupied for a day.

The tour was organised by Journey Tours and easily booked by the hotel reception.  The mini van arrived Sunday morning, slightly later than anticipated, but our guide who was called Moon, greeted us all with a broad smile and a warm welcome as we joined the other eight people on board the comfortable mini bus.

About an hour and a half later we entered the National Park and started the long uphill drive to the top of the mountain.  In my former life as a mountaineer I have struggled with acute mountain sickness at 6,000 metres in the Himalaya, I have climbed ten 4,000 metre plus mountains in the Alps and walked up countless mountains in Great Britain.  However, I have never ever driven up a mountain in a mini bus.  I am ashamed to say I have stood on the highest point of Thailand, but actually I got there by a taxi.  My guilt seemed to accentuate when Moon informed us that the mountain was in fact on the eastern edge of the Himalayas!  Guests gasped with gratuitous gratitude and glee, I gulped at my guilt and looked out of the window into the rain, which increased my depression.  Has it all come down to this?

Entrance to the Park and the start of the drive up to the highest point in Thailand

The summit team at Doi Inthanon 2565 metres

Next stop was the site of  pagodas dedicated to Thailand's highly respected King and Queen .  These impressive structures were constructed by the Thai Royal Air Force to commemorate the 60th birthdays of Their Majesties The King and Queen in 1987 and 1992 respectively. Sadly the rain clouds would not part, so instead of spectacular views we got the atmospheric ones.

The Queen's pagoda in the foreground, the King's at the back, the family on the bridge

We then moved on to a waterfall, the name of which escapes me, but it did involve a short walk to its base.  This being the rainy season, the falls where in full flow and quite impressive.

Moon informed us that the park includes three distinct types of forest - rain forest, deciduous and evergreen. Whilst at the rain forest Moon informed us it is distinctive by its growth of fern on the bark.  She scoffed at my joke that it always seemed to rain in a rain forest.

The walk to the falls 

The falls falling and the family looking impressed

A view from down stream

An impressive fern

Next stop was lunch.  This was good and was included in the cost of the trip.  There was plenty of Thai chicken and fish dishes with a smattering of papaya salads, rice etc.  We then walked over to waterfall number two, which was much more impressive than the waterfall one.

First view of waterfall two

Mama and Khamma

Rainbow

 Finally, we made a short trip to a Karen village.  This area of northern Thailand is populated by many hill and forest tribes who are still trying to live their lives in the way of their ancestors.  Modernisation makes it easy to move to the city for a new life, but opportunities are not always what they seem to be.  The Thai government is keen to keep the old traditions alive, at least for the flourishing tourist trade, and invest in keeping the tribes and the their ways of life.  Crafts and agriculture help them and of course group visits like ours help with sales of textiles, coffee and other crafts.

Karen weavers

Karen rice fields

That just about wrapped up the trip.  A great day out for all the family, they were all tired out and fell asleep on the journey back to Chiang Mai - OK I did as well.

Moon did an excellent job, moving round from guest to guest explaining everything in Thai and English.  The driver was called Nick and although he drove very fast, he was good and several times he looked after Mama where the walk or the weather was too much for her.

If you ever decide to go on this tour - make sure you pick Journey Tours.

Click here for Journey Tours Chiang Mai

Royal Flora Ratchaphruek Gardens Chiang Mai

It was Khamma's inspired idea to take the family to Ratchaphruek Gardens for our first afternoon in Chiang Mai.  The weather was grey and dull but it wasn't raining and ideal for walking around this beautiful area of Chiang Mai.

I was a little bit disappointed that there was only a few other people there; maybe because it was a Friday afternoon, but nevertheless more visitors would have added to the atmosphere.  We sauntered around for a couple hours including looking at last year's international exhibition where several countries had a space in which to create a theme representing an image of their country.  It certainly looked looked like last year's stock!  It was ill maintained and in parts very run down.  It was, in part, the old Thai tradition of permanent temporariness. There is a stop and ride service to save you walking between the main sites, which is very useful in rather humid conditions.  

First Time Flyers and Air Asia

Khamma has obviously travelled extensively in the last five years since we met and is now a seasoned air traveller, but her children, Pell (24) and Yo (15) and mother have never been on an aeroplane.  In fact they haven't travelled any great distances at all and none of them have been outside Thailand.  So it was a special family treat to fly from Ubon Ratchathani to Chiang Mai for a short weekend break.  

Air Asia have revolutionised air travel in Asia and Thailand in particular.  Their low cost flying really does make it possible for everyone to fly and it is very affordable even compared to travelling VIP on the bus.  The cost of a return flight from Ubon to Chaing Mai was about £46 and takes just over an hour, compared to the overnight bus which costs about £35 and takes at least 16 hours! 

There are many reasonable hotels in Chiang Mai and we had no problem booking on line for three nights at the Anoma.

As the day drew closer, the family became quite excited about the flight and visiting Chiang Mai.  Mama, has not been too well recently, but she looked forward to the flight, and it seemed that telling her friends in the village about her adventure really perked her up.  Pell and Yo tried to keep cool about the whole thing, but their guard often slipped, especially as Pell was so excited she couldn't sleep the night before.

The flight was faultless and the excitement there for all to see.  After countless flights in my previous career, I had forgotten about the pure joy of travelling, but watching the joy of three people from Thamuang remind me not to be complacent.

Mama, Pell and Yo on their first aeroplane flight

Revenge of the Vermin

I suppose it was somewhat eccentric of me to get all excited about jet washing the yard.  Some people suggested I should get out a bit more and go to the pub, which is fine, but there is nothing like a bit of therapy now and again.
Thai people are not renowned for keeping the yard tidy, and our family is no exception.  Nothing is thrown away, or re-cycled as we now like to call it.  We have an old bike, rusty piping, cans, tubs, bits of old wood and even straightened out nails.  Those of you connected to a Thai family will know exactly what I mean, but can I get Khamma to at least tidy up never mind go down to the tip?  No chance.  So it was that the jet washer was left outside until we went away to Chiang Mai.
On the morning we left I picked up the jet washer only to find that a rat had chewed through the electric cable.  The cable was OK the day before because I had in fact used the jet wash again for a short burst of satisfaction!  But overnight the pesky vermin had wreaked its revenge on me for cleaning the place up.  Not even the dogs woke us up, which leads to me to think they might all be conspiring against me.

Any advice on how to catch Thai rats will be greatly appreciated.

Hair Cut the Thai way

Being a man who is follically challenged, I do not find it difficult to cut my own hair.  Or rather use the trimming shears I bought in Copenhagen in 1998, but that's another story!

A quick trim using the number three trimming gauge usually does the trick in about 5 minutes - saving the laborious trip to the hairdressers and saving anything from about £5 to whatever you are prepared to pay at the barbers.

However, on my travels I like to sample a barber experience in whatever country I am visiting.  I have had my hair cut in the United States, Laos, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shenzen (China), Thailand, Denmark, Spain and had cut-throat razor shaves in India and Nepal.  Every experience was different, but a trip to the barbers in Thailand is a pleasure.

I do not do glitz and style - I prefer basic, and the barber shop in Trakan Phutphon (about 18 kilometres from Thamuang) is just that.  It could be up market as far as your average Thai gent is concerned, but for me it is just the job.

The shop is open to the street.  It has three well worn (out) chairs facing faded mirrors.  The shelf in front of the chair has a plastic plate rack the type used to drain dishes after washing them.  On the top rack is tin mug, which I presume has water in it.  Next to this is a bar of shaving soap, a mildewed shaving brush, new packets of razor blades and a simple razor holder.  There is a collection of dirty towels with smears of caked-dried soap containing thousands of dark bristles from the morning's shaves so far.  The bottom rack has today's newspaper with a glob of dried soap from the shelf above smartly covering the face of whoever it is that made the headlines today.  There is also a small collection of plastic combs similar to the ones you get in Christmas crackers from Marks and Spencer back home.  The shelf itself is covered in a weary blue formica with a white pattern fighting for attention with white patches created from years of picking up and putting down the tools of the trade; the barber's ironmongery.  There is a minimalist display consisting of three pairs of scissors (big, medium and small), the electric razor and mixed bag of plastic trimming gauges.  Lucky for me he has a number three gauge and proudly shows me the number before slotting it into his shears, which I notice still have the trimmings of his last customer embedded in them.  I chuckle to myself that the number three is the only recognisable communication between us.

A combination of towels and covers is wrapped around my neck and held in place with peg.  I am certain that the last time these rags were anywhere near fresh was at the beginning of last week, they have been washed and used so many times they are transparent in places.

The shears spark (literally) into life and the shearing begins.  Clumps of grey and white hair fall onto the threadbare towels covering my chest.  I notice that the barber has fixed a mirror onto the wall behind me so that I can see what is going on at the back of my head.  This is a great idea that I have never seen in the UK, I would be more impressed if my eyesight could meet the challenge of seeing the action.  Sadly my spectacles lie on the shelf next to the newspaper.

All the while the barber is chatting away to Khamma who sits patiently as my chaperon, interpretor and dutiful wife.  Goodness what they are saying but I think most of it is about me.

Shearing complete, now the trimming with comb and scissors followed by a shave of the neck hairs with the trusty simple cut throat.  The barber wets the dodgy looking shaving brush in the murky looking soapy water festering away in the tin mug.  A thin veil of lather tries hard to make its presence felt on the skin on the back of my neck.  The coolness of the water feels surprisingly and worryingly fresh.  The barber then takes a fresh blade, snaps off the ends and inserts it into the simple razor holder.  At this point I feel vulnerable, but with skill honed from shaving the beards of thousands of Thai men who have passed this same way, he quickly scrapes away the wispy hairs that only a few week's before were standing on end at the success of the Team GB in the Olympics.
Then the chair tilts back at an alarming angle, and I am instantly reminded of trips to the dentist.  I notice the ceiling has being thoughtfully decorated by stapling sheets of paper to whatever flimsy substance lies behind  and the rust brown colour of the staples blending into the dusty once white paper adding texture, like a Damien Hirst artwork (this might be an exaggeration on my part or my vivid imagination - what do you think?).   The pre-shaving process is repeated on my face, or at least parts of it.  The dirty soapy water supposedly making it easy for the blade to cut my beard has a perfume of staleness lingering as he drags the blade across my face.  After a few more strokes of the blade, it did feel as if the stubble was beginning to surrender rather than being quietly taken away, but to my relief there was no blood drawn!

Just as I thought all was finished, I have a mildly scented cold towel unexpectedly swipe my face, neck and skull followed by a vigorous neck and shoulder massage.  Job done! Cost 40 bhat - about 90 pence.  At that price I would go every week. A pure pleasure.

Day to Day Life in Thamuang

This time of year is supposed to be the rainy season.  So far, it has been unpredictable and the farmers of Issan are getting a little worried that the rains will come too late.  Those fears have been washed away over the last few days with enough rainfall to bring sunshine into their hearts.  The rice fields have changed colour to a 'healthy green' as I described my interpretation of the scene to Khamma.  The fact I am hopelessly colour blind and therefore dis-qualified in every way to describe colour was cast aside - even I could see that green was green.

The sunset tonight was excellent and hopefully we have a few settled days - at least enough to get some 'chemy' on the rice.  We purchased a new fertiliser spraying machine on Sunday.  It's like a plastic back pack with a small petrol engine to create the pressure for the sprayer.  It can hold 25 litres of chemical fertiliser, that's about 52 pounds weight plus about 15 pounds for the machine and that's enough to give Khamma a good workout!!!

Officially we have two house dogs; Churlon and Kitty (I know that's an odd name for a dog), but the family also have Jacob who lodges with Mama in the village, but really belongs to Mama's grand-daughter, who claims it belongs to her mum.  Anyway when the three get together all hell breaks loose as they chase around the house in excitement. 

Churlon, Kitty and Jacob

Kitty - odd name for a dog

Churlon - the old man

More stories about them in due course, but for now - just like the postcard used to say; Greetings from Thamuang.

Tonight's sunset of the fields

A decent time for a beer

The farmer surveys her crops

Good night from Thamuang

Community Matters

During the last twelve months I have been part of a committee set up by Diggle's Community Association seeking to acquire the now defunct Methodist Chapel, known as Wrigley Mill, for the future use and benefit of Diggle's community.

After a lot of hard work, time and energy a bid was prepared and submitted to the Methodist Church, but it was subsequently rejected.  The successful bid apparently is based on a commercial child nursery with some, as yet unknown, add ons for the greater benefit of the village.  

The building was the focal point of Diggle for many years until the declining congregation forced the Methodists to close the church and sell it.  It is fair to say that during the preparation of the bid we asked ourselves several times if Diggle residents wanted a centre for its community; somewhere to meet, hold events, create opportunities for the residents, and on balance we thought there was sufficient support.  However, the fact that we had to ask the question in the first place, suggests that one outcome was that the village did not want a centre for amenities and that the residents are quite happy, thank you very much, without such resources.  

Diggle has two pubs, both of which would welcome more customers.  There is building serving the village brass bands, but financial difficulties have put its continued existence into doubt.  The only surviving church is on the edge of village and has a cosy hall and small meeting room, however, the committee is constantly looking to create interest in the events and clubs that they so valiantly promote.  Other than this there is a post office with a small shop that could easily expand to meet the demand.  There is a thriving fish and chip shop.  There are several small businesses operating from Wharf Mill and Ellis Mill - everything from beds, carpets, tiles, horse supplies, car repairs and knitting wools.  There used to be gym and an Indian take away but these have sadly closed.  There is small light industrial work at Shaw's Mill but agriculture is perhaps the dominant industry of the valley.

Wrigley Mill - Diggle.  Former Methodist Church 

The focal point for Thamuang's community is its temple.  It is used for many events from Thai boxing to pop concerts, polling station to weekly markets.  The temple and its facilities serve the community well, almost every day of the week.

Buddhism is central to the lives of most of the residents of Thamuang.  This obviously makes the temple a focal point for individual as well as communal prayer.  The temple is home to several full time monks. and tradition dictates that their meals are provided by the villagers twice a day, every day, at 6:00am and 11:00 am.

There is no other central point for the community - no pubs, band halls, churches.  There are many small shops; most selling household provisions, but you can buy petrol from three stations, and all sorts of diy hardware from cable clips to sewerage pipes from at least two shops.  There a three or four motor cycle repair shops, and several places to get a day time meal for about 50 pence (fast food Thai style - fresh and hot).  Thamuang's economy is agriculturally based with rice, cashew nuts, mulberry trees and the odd rubber tree growing in tropical monsoon conditions.

Thamuang's old temple was recently demolished and a new one is being built to replace it.  I have not seen any plans, but you can be certain it will serve the community better than the old one.  

Thamuang is a poor village.  There is little spare cash to spend on extras like computers, cars and posh kitchens (for example).  That does not mean to say people do not have mobiles, flat screen TVs and motorbikes.  The village functions during the hours of day light; from dawn till dusk the villagers go about their work.  Hours of darkness are for sleeping, and people rarely go out on any evening of the week.

The Old Buddhist Temple Thamuang - a new one is under construction!

So why does Thamuang have more community spirit than Diggle?  Or put another way, why don't Diggle residents want more of community spirit?

My simple answer is that Thamuang's community is united by Buddhist traditions with agriculture helping to bind the community together with a common structure.  There is a common understanding and a simple way in which the community works together.

Perhaps in Diggle (and the west in general?) we are individuals in a world dominated by activities and interests in which we can divulge from the comfort of our favourite armchair. The diversity of our options means we do not have rely on each other or other organisations any more.  We can, and do, for ourselves.  Look at the stories of 40 or 50 more years ago in working class England - I can remember being a member of the scouts and youth club, based at the church.  Our activities were less diverse and we needed each other to organise our lives and social activities.  Industry was based in the village - textiles, engineering and agriculture.  Because this way of life has changed; it has changed our our sense of community as well.