Today's song is: Poison by Alice Cooper .. reminds me of a Russian girl I know :-).
Yamaha recently came out with their 2016 320 cc MT-03 which may be the ultimate Bangkok traffic assault weapon.
Watch this video, obviously shot with a Go-Pro as the driver threads through rush hour traffic in downtown Bangkok. The overhead structure is the BTS train system, which is much preferred as a means to get around Bangkok. The drivers in orange vests are motorcycle taxis.
I am a little short on posts this week as the whole family is sick with a very bad cough, fever, and cold.
This is post #200 since I started ThaiTails. Lots of page views but very few comments and few followers. What do you like, not like, want more of? Leave a comment :-)
Well we are back in Bangkok but before we left the village we had dinner with some of Thavorn's high school friends. Couple of pics:
BBQ Pork and other non recognizable foods
Jaidan being a boy .. checking out roosters on Soi 22 .. not quite the same as in the village.
I received my new laptop (Alienware 13" laptop) tday and I am quite happy with it. A great deal at $1,699 from the Canadian Microsoft Store. SSD drive 512 GB, 16 GB of Ram and a modern I7 Intel 5th generation CPU. Display is 10 point touch , 13.3 ", and 3200 by 1800 pixels. The closest I could get to this was about $2,700 in any other laptop. Not only good specs, but it is cool looking and makes me smile.
Here is a pic with my new 34" curved monitor. Programming nirvana.
I also update my phone data plan to 4G (LTE) with a 20 GB download cap per month and I am getting speeds of 40 GBs for 1,799 Baht a month.
Today's song is: Let's Dance by David Bowie .. RIP
Robert Heinlein wrote 'Stranger in a Strange Land' which is a very good read if you are into Science Fiction. BTW, it is where the word 'Grok' came from.
Sometimes when I see farangs in the LOS of smiles I can immediately see they can not grok how Thais differ from farangs. Reminds me of the book 'Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus'.
However, if you are just passing through on a once in a lifetime visit to the LOS I am not sure it matters. If, however you are a 'lifer' I am not sure you will be happy log term until you accept that Thais are Thais and you are a farang, a stranger in a strange land.
Technology is great, and makes my life in Thailand far easier than it would be without it. However, sometimes ...
Today's song is: Eight Miles High by the Byrds ...
There is one very big advantage to living in a Thai village that resembles those that Rambo attacked with his bow and arrow in the hopes of freeing American soldiers MIA. Nature is on your doorstep.
Jaidan terrorizes the chickens, hens, and roosters, chasing them all over the place. I even recognize a Rhode Island hen, thanks to Miss Moore, my grade 3 teacher at Fisher Heights Public School in Ottawa.
Today was special as Jordan and I joined a small herd of 20 buffalo as they moved from one pasture to another. I had him on my shoulders as the buffalo did not seem keen on walking a straight line from one pasture to another, although they did follow the road. Jaidan was impressed with how big they were until ...
10 minutes later when an elephant came strolling down the road complete with mahout on top. A Thai in front was selling 20 baht bags of sugar cane so I bought a couple and back up on my shoulders went Jaidan. I passed up a length of sugar cane and I am sure Jaidan was just below the elephants eye level as up came the trunk and picked the sugarcane out of Jaidan's hand. I wish I could have seen his face or better yet had taken a picture, but it is hard to do that and hang onto Jaidan, and the bag of sugar cane and get the phone out of my knee pocket in my shorts.
Thavorn managed to get a pic of the elephant sent to her from a cousin.
I had way too much sugarcane, so after the elephant plucked the 3rd piece form Jaidan's hand, I passed the rest out to the Thai children who were all following the elephant down the road. Smiles all around ...
Elephants are banned within Bangkok city limits as I guess, from time to time, they caused some problems. Your truly has ridden an elephant through the jungle for an hour but, frankly, after 10 minutes, it is pretty boring.
So far, I have yet to see a live rat or live snake .. just on the dinner plate :-)
Today's song is: Reflections .. a blast from the past .. the Supremes .. until Diana left
It is almost 1 week so I thought I would post some reflections.
Motorbikes are ubiquitous. 125cc mostly and everyone rides them in the village. Everyone from 7 - 77 years of age. Anywhere from 1 person to 5 people. Four stroke or 2 stroke. Motorcycle companies consider themselves successful if they sell 10,000 of a unit in North America but their bread and butter are the 125cc motorbikes that they sell in the millions. Problem is, no one walks anywhere. Even if it is 100 feet they fire up the bike and off they go.
Jordan loves going for a ride .. he stands up front
Thavorn and all 3 children heading off to a friend's house
There is no garbage pickup. The villages simply throw all garbage on the ground and once a week, rake it into a pile and burn it. I can't help but think this is really harmful for the environment. They burn everything, even plastic bottles. Most cooking is done outside on charcoal burners. Charcoal must be even dirtier than coal!
Thais like their music loud and there is no noise police. They seem to compete for sound and at all hours of the day. I awake to roosters crowing (same in Bangkok) and at night it is really weird as the dogs start communicating (same in Bangkok). If you are old enough to have seen the Disney movie 'Lady and the Tramp' then you know what I am talking about. One dog starts baying away and it is immediately taken up by other dogs and passed along. In Bangkok this invariably happens about 1 am as the dog news is spread.
The village people seem genuinely happy. The major activity is visiting your friends and relatives and sharing gossip, food and drink. Thai families are anywhere from 2 - 5 children.
There is quite a range of housing from corrugated shacks to rather opulent 4-5 bedroom houses that would sell for 750k+ in Canada. Indoor plumbing occurs in the better homes, but everyone has a dish for television reception. Smart phone acquisition is not as widespread as in the city. Farangs are still an oddity in many villages.
I could survive 3 weeks in Thavorn's home at a time. To live in the village I would need a modern air-conned house and a fast motorcycle to explore the rest of Thailand with. It could be done as long I I visited one weekend a month in Bangkok for some bar hopping fun.
The internet is more than adequate in the village and much cheaper than Canada.
The health care system is very, very good in Bangkok. I was just reading about a farang who was involved in a motorcycle accident and had to have his leg amputated at the knee and spend 7 days in the hospital and the total bill was $1,000 US. Try that in North America. In Thailand, you can really afford to self insure. Best of all, when you press the red button asking for help, 2 beautiful Thai nurses come running within 5 seconds with smiles on their faces :-) Just like Canada EH?
Lots of dogs in the villages but no cats. The exact opposite of Malaysia where there are lots of cats and dogs are persecuted.
Banana trees are everywhere so fresh bananas are always available. Ditto for mangoes.
Thai people are friendly and inquisitive. It is my guess if I open a pool bar here in the village there would be lots of Thais dropping in to play pool and practice or learn English while having a good time. I could definitely tutor in English.
It is January 1 2016 .. Happy New Year. On the first day of the year, all throughout Thailand, the local monks walk around their district and receive alms from their constituents. In Bangkok, the line of monks is kilometers long!
Today's song is: Don't stop the music by the Village People .. bit of a theme while I am there :-)
If yesterday was the epicenter of my intestinal maladies then last night was the calm of the eye of the storm and I foolishly ate (because I was starving) a spicy chicken hamburger from 7/11. Big mistake as I paid for it all night! The good news is I appear to be getting better today ( a 7 out of 10) and I only ate a slice of bread and a boiled egg and it stayed down and is causing no discomfort. However, the toilet trips are still occurring albeit not as frequently.
Pictures tomorrow, I promise. Last night I missed the school extravaganza and everyone asked Thavorn where Jimmy was and of course all the girls wanted to hold Jaidan (for a short period - 18 kilos) and they all say ... Jaidan so cute! Thavorn could not shoot any photos or videos as she was concerned about where Jaidan was at all times.
The lost boys (16-24 are all in the woods and have been having a bush party for over 24 hours. It is starting to quiet down down that the temperature is climbing past 30 degrees. Alcohol can only take you so far. What is the saying ... mad dogs and Englishmen?
That is it for the time being, time for another recovery nap .. after a toilet stop :-)
