Songkran Soon

The Songkran Festival is also known as the Thai New year or Thailand Water Festival, originally celebrated as a way for the Thai people to sprinkle water on their family members and elders for good fortune and pay their respects to images of the beloved Buddha. Today, the festival has transitioned into 3 days of water play fun, splashing locals and visitors alike with buckets of water, water hoses and super soakers as they gather in the streets.

The above paragraph is the politically correct method of describing the world's largest 3 day water fight. Down in Pattaya it is actually 5 days long. In Bangkok the city swells to 12 million people and you can run but you can't hide. You will be found and soaked. There is no escape!

Some tourists arrive in Bangkok unaware of the soaking they will get. You must prepare. Put your phone in a baggie as well as your passport and wallet. You must be prepared for a bucket of ice water to be poured over your head when you least expect it.

I must admit the Thais know how to have a fun time. Unfortunately the death toll is usually around 500 for the 3 day holiday. Motorcycles crashes, people fall out of or off pickup trucks. It is utter mayhem for 72 hours! Alcohol plays a huge role in the party atmosphere.

Here are some pics of the typical action during Songkran (April 13-15 in 2015).

Poor unfortunate did not expect the water drenchin.

 A free for all drenching

Weapon of mass destruction.

Farang friendly

Armed and dangerous - and lovely. 

Young boys being boys with no limits.

Somebody had it coming.

Add a little detergent.

The fire department likes to play as well.

What can I say?

Resistance can be futile.

Grin and bear it ... with a pint or two or three.

Farang couple under gunned.

You will be in her sights!

March Madness Rant

Is it just me or has college basketball sold its soul. I just read an editorial on USA Sports today that debated whether '1 and Done' players should have their jersey's retired. For those of you who do not follow NCAA basketball, '1 and Done' refers to players recruited on a scholarship and then leave after their first year to go to the NBA. They don't even attend classes 2nd term and it's my guess they finish with zero credits.

So what do I consider wrong about this? A couple of things.

Why would you celebrate the career of a College drop out?
What don't they get about the concept of student athlete?
Why should these '1 and Done' players take the place of bona fide student athletes?
Do they even understand the meaning of bona fide?

There is a simple answer and that is the NCAA has sold its soul for the money that winning teams bring to their institution bottom lines.

There is the age old argument that players that stay the whole 4 years are taken advantage of because few of them make the NBA and therefore one can make the argument that the university is milking them for all they're worth.  The answer to that is 'not true' if they graduate. They get a free degree and at a place like Duke, that is worth at least a quarter of a million dollars. If they don't get a degree out of it and do not make the NBA then they have squandered the chance to get a degree.

So, how would I fix this sad situation where a great 'Programs' like Wisconsin and Gonzaga get beat out by the Kentucky's of the NCAA. BTW, it was great to see Connecticut win it all last year! It even encouraged a few '1 and Done' Wildcats to stay on for another year.

The fix is to award a scholarship to an incoming student athlete for 4 years. Tie it up for the full 4 years and if the player bolts for the NBA then that scholarship money is not available to a new recruit for another 3 years. When college coaches went recruiting they would then be looking for players who would stay the course, play at a high level, and show a little loyalty, and graduate.

A league for those athletes that do not want to put in the 4 years at college should be created. That is the way hockey players are developed in Canada. There is a junior league, where players up to the age of 21 hone their skills and get ready for the NHL draft. There is also a college/university league where student athletes also develop their skills and earn a degree. The NHL receives talent from both of these venues.

It is time to celebrate the student athlete, not to reward the '1 and Done's' by retiring their jersey!

Pics of New Apartment

 Here are some pics from my new apartment. It has a much nicer feel to it than the two bedroom unit. I think it is because it is more bright and airy. The aircons are also positioned better and the unit does not really catch any sun until 3 pm and then only the bedroom, so the electricity costs should be less.

My new prized possession - a bathtub!

Queen sized bed is okay - note dirty diaper on bed.

Jaidan's crib and staging area.

Mirror and closet area.

Bathroom sink and mirror.

Thavorn feeding Jaidan at kitchen table.

My second prized possession - Ilea chair.

My programming area.

Moving Day

I started off living in Thailand by couch surfing with friends. I then moved to a studio apartment for a year and that was cheap and cozy at 12,000 Baht a month. I then acquired a full time GF and I acquired a 2 bedroom apartment at 24,000 Baht with the hope of some visitors dropping by. Shaun did drop by as he was in the vicinity but no one ventured halfway around the world to visit me.

I really liked the building I live in. It is semi modern, having been constructed in 2005 and has a nice pool, but lacks a gym. What to do?

I asked the building management, which are great people (Thai Chinese) and they said they had some similar size apartments with one bedroom. I decided to take a look and was immediately impressed with a bright well appointed unit with, wonders of wonders, a bathtub.

Now that Jaidan is here I really wanted to start up my old routine of taking a bath with the kid for 20 minutes every night. Well, today we moved, and tonight Jaidan and I enjoyed our 20 mins in the tub! The new apartment is cheaper at 22,000 Baht and I plan to use the 2,000 savings a month to get gym memberships for both Thavorn and myself.

I will shoot some pics tomorrow in daylight and add them to this post. That, and buy a rubber ducky for the tub!

For those of you who did not visit last year, I have a great couch that easily sleeps 2 for couch surfing :-)

There are also 5 studio apartments that I can rent by the month. They rent for 17,000 Baht and are the equivalent of a very large hotel room. So, I save 24,000 a Baht a year and when family (Jaime, Jordan, Ann, and Elaine) and friends come to visit, I can put them in their own studio apartment for a month and still be saving money. It's all good!

After a day moving, I am bagged so, TTYL ...

Rock and a Hard Place

Thai economics play an important part in many Thai's decisions. This is the story of a friend of mine who I will refer to as T.

T is a vivacious fun loving 27 year old Thai woman that I have known for about 3 years. She is also a very good friend of Thavorn's. T makes her living as a bar girl.

Like most Thai girls, T had an early relationship with a Thai boy in her village. She has 2 children, a 9 year old girl and a 6 year old boy. If you do the math, she had the first child at 18 and the second at 21. Like many early Thai relationships it failed and I think the big stressors were children and male infidelity. T's children live with the boyfriend's mom, which is a little bit unusual as they typically end up with the girl's mother.

Grandmother's often are the primary care givers for children. It is a role they are often eager to embrace as the parents (usually the female) provide funds to the grandparent that supplement their eager incomes.

T works as a bar girl which results in an income that is greater than a Thai college or university graduate. The life of a bar girl is hard and they usually party hard as well. Their income ends up being sent home and/or spent on partying or supporting their latest Thai boyfriend. Thai women prefer a Thai boyfriend over a farang boyfriend, all else being equal.

However it is seldom equal. Most Thai men have little income and earning potential due to a lack of education and poor employment prospects. This leads to dual relationships with the Thai bar girl indulging in relationships with a farang man while maintaining a Thai boy on the side. This is not something that a farang will accept while the Thai boy is willing to accept, often dropping the girl off at the bar, knowing what she will be doing to earn money that often goes towards supporting a lifestyle the Thai boy would normally not experience.

Now, back to T. T has had her share of farangs who would of been happy to spend their lives with T. Sometimes cohabiting, sometimes in marriage. However, they are often older than T and T prefers young Thai boys. Her latest Thai boy (I will call him P) is 19 and I know him quite well. He is lots of fun and is a typical 19 year old with little education and poor job prospects. While in a relationship with P she met a 32 year old Aussie who fell deeply in love with T. I will call him L. L had a good job in Australia and was a good looking young man. However, he was a little possessive and wanted to see T all the time which meant T saw little of her Thai boy P.

Eventually L twigged on what was going on and decided T was a lost cause.

The story does not end happy. T is now 6 months pregnant with P's baby. P does not want a family but T loves P and hoped he would eventually agree to try raising the baby as a family unit. P is smart enough to realize that he will forever be poor as T can not work while trying to raise a baby. Both T's and P's mothers do not want to take on the raising of a baby. P's mom has a farang boyfriend (she is a former bar girl) and does not need the money. T's mom is quite old and is physically not able to look after a baby.

T came to realize that P would not come around to being a family man and went to the hospital looking for an abortion. The hospital refused because the pregnancy is too far advanced. T looks to the internet and orders some weird cocktail that supposedly aborts late term pregnancies. I can't imagine that it is safe.

So what does a friend do? There is no local ProChoice or adoption agencies to turn to.

This situation is not all that unusual in Asia and many of these babies end up in dumpsters.

There is free hospital births for Thais but T has to return to her village of registration but loses face by doing so. There will also be a lack of support for T in the village as her mom lives with relatives and does not have her own home. T also has no income as she can not work as a bar girl while 6 months pregnant.

Last night I lay awake for quite some time pondering what, if anything, Thavorn and I can do and what alternatives, if any, are available to T.

What would you do?

Awesome View

Shaun sent me an awesome panorama view from the top of the Holiday Inn Hotel at the corner of Sukhumvit and Soi 22.

Thavorn and I are looking forward to having Shaun visit again in October of this year.

Thanks for the pic Shaun :-)

Emporium Expands, Optics, and Dentistry

Emporium was one of the smaller high end malls in Bangkok. However, smaller just meant it was missing H&M, Banana Republic, Victoria Secrets, etc. but had Dolce and Cabana, Prada, Hermes, etc. However it was the closest mall, next to Terminal 21 for me to walk to. It also had a large bookstore whereas Terminal 21 did not.

Over the past 3 years I have watched Emporium double in size as workers from Myanmar, working 3 shifts a day, constructed the new building which is accessed via the BTS station walk through.

Today, the new building was getting ready for its red carpet opening and most of the stores were open. Here are a few pics. As always, any of these malls put Canadian malls to shame.

The view from the older building with a new big screen display.

Preparing the red carpet for the media Thai superstars to open the mall.

Thavorn on the Red Carpet (with new glasses)

A pillar covered by an ever changing videoscape.

There are about 5 of these video transitions.

I mentioned Thavorn's new glasses. I had suspected that she needed glasses as she often squinted when trying to view writing at a distance. I asked her if she had ever had her eyes tested and she said, 'Why would I do that, I can't afford glasses?'. That is the typical pragmatic response to situations beyond their control. The vast majority of Thais do not get knee replacements, costly prescription drugs, etc. Many women get pregnant because she and her partner can not afford condoms at the local 7/11. There is no regular dental checkup. What we take in North America for granted is a luxury to lo-so Thais.

So Thavorn had her eyes checked and sure enough she needed glasses as she could not really focus much past 20 feet. I found out why she did not like to watch English movies with Thai subtitles. She could not read the subtitles and was too embarrassed to tell me.

The next item on the agenda was the dental checkup and thankfully Thai have good teeth and she had only accumulated 3 cavities in her lifetime. She had the 3 fillings and a general cleaning for 4,000 Baht which is about $125 CDN which is not too bad but still outside the realm of someone in a country where the minimum wage is 300 baht a day. BTW, the dentist was trained at UCLA. Obviously, he comes from a hi-so clinic. During the day, he works at a Thai hospital and off hours during the week and on weekends he augments his salary by working at a dental clinic on Soi 22.