My Little Buddhist

Jaidan has dual citizenship (CDN and Thai) and dual passports ... no problem. He will also speak, read, and write Thai and English. The Thai language has its own alphabet which baffles me. I really should learn it at some moment in time and space. At some point in time he will be exposed to Christianity and Buddhism. It will be his choice which religion ... if any he chooses to embrace.

Here is a pic of my little Buddhist visiting a temple with Thavorn. Jaidan is about 3 months old in this picture.

Visits to a temple are quite common for Thais. It is usually a monthly kind of thing but the visit will last at least half a day. An offering to the temple will be made which goes to the support and upkeep of the temple and monks. A common sight at sunrise is a long line of monks walking down the road receiving gifts (mostly food) from Thais who line up along the road. This happens all over Thailand and I am not sure of the schedule but I will endeavour to find out and get back to you.

This males will choose to do a couple of years as a monk or armed services. I am not sure if one trumps the other but I will also find out and get back to you.

Big Screens in Bangkok

I previously mentioned that Bangkok has some of the largest advertising screens I have ever seen.

Here are a few examples:

This is actually a mural on the side of the Holiday Inn Express at the corner of Soi 22 and Sukhumvit. It is lit by huge floodlights from the top. It is about 30 stories high. This is quite common to see in downtown Bangkok.

This screen is huge ... at least a basketball court in size. Asoke and Sukhumvit.

A couple of medium size screens also at Asoke and Sukhumvit.

Queens Park

There are actually 2 Queens Parks. One is on Soi 22 and is a naughty bar area and the other is a real park constructed and dedicated to the people of Bangkok by the existing Queen (sorry, do not know her name).

Soi 22 is the soi I live on and so I frequent the Queens Park bar area frequently. One of my favourite bars is the open area Rendevous Bar. It opens onto the soi so it is a great place to watch and meet people from all over the world.

Below is a picture of the bar, as well as one of the girls who works there and is 5 months pregnant with her first child (boy) so she wants to hold Jaidan all the time and hopes her baby will be as good as he is.

The bar looking inwards - an offering to Buddha is on the central counter.

 Jaidan gets well looked after and there is no shortage of young ladies who want to hold him.

Street food just outside the bar is always freshly cooked and yummy.

View from the bar stool in the afternoon.

The real Queens park - at dusk

There are lovely walking and running paths and they are well used in the early morning and evening.

Raison D'être

What is your reason for being? Businesses, companies, and even school boards have a mission statement which is effectively their reason for being. But what about individuals?

For many of us it is propagation of the species. Reintroducing our genes to the species gene pool. In other words, raising a family. For others, it may be altruistic, such as making a difference in the lives of others. For some, it may be hedonistic, taking as much from society as possible without giving back. Where are you on this spectrum of being?

The 'walk like a duck' approach is really the measure that accurately reflects who we are. When you get together with your friends do you talk about your volunteer work, the things your children have accomplished, your latest cruise, or the attributes of the automobile you just purchased?

It raises the age old questions of  'Why are we here?' and would the world miss me if I died tomorrow?

Many individuals are likely to experience different roles as they journey through life and often change as they age and perhaps gain a little more wisdom or perhaps get a little bored with a hedonistic life style. It is never to late to make a difference.

Why the philosophical tone to my Monday morning post. In the words of my friend Thavorn ... 'Why not!'

ttyl

Thailand Economy

My previous post about the Health Care system in Thailand raises the question of 'How can they do it'?

I am not an economist but I do have thoughts (as you can imagine) about it. Thailand recently hiked their minimum wage to 300 baht a day. I will do the math for you. That is $10 a day. Yes, day, not hour and a day is often 12 hours, not 8.

Here is a chart that displays the wages for high school, college, and university grads.

As you can see, the wages are much, much lower than in North America. When doing the conversion, simply divide by 30 to get US$.

It begs the question, how do Thais survive? You can have a delicious meal for 40 baht on the street. Most Thais live in a one room apartment at a rate of $5,000 baht a month. There are usually at least 2 staying in the apartment. One must remember I am describing lo-so Thais not hi-so. There is not much of a middle class and lo-so make up probably 90% of the population which is largely agrarian in nature.

Now for the kicker ... Thailand has approximately 0% unemployment! Everybody that is able bodied and sound of mind has some kind of job and income. How does this happen? well, for one reason, there is no welfare system so if you wish to eat, you work. The second reason, is there are no unions that jack up the wage rates for jobs that do not rate a salary higher than the free market would grant.

It also means that you will see 4 Thais doing the job that one farang would do in North America. There is little automation. You will always have a parking lot attendant rather than an automated pay system. In North America we automate and lay off an employee to save costs of doing business.

Thailand produces most of the world's pickup trucks, computer hard drives, motorcycles (Ducati, Triumph, Honda, etc.). These companies locate in Thailand because labour costs are low. Where did these jobs come from? North America and Japan. Labour unions priced their workers out of the global marketplace. Government social assistance programs make work optional for those unemployed. This all leads to very high taxes in developed countries.

Most Thai workers do not pay income tax. Instead, the vat (value added tax) brings in most of the government revenue. Remember there is no social assistance programs, unemployment insurance, or free health care (past a certain point) to pay for.

The bad news is that cars, trucks, and motorcycles (despite being made in Thailand) are twice as expensive as they are in North America due to the vat.

It's a very interesting country especially from a farang perspective. More later ...

Bangkok Birth

Jaidan was born on July 31st in a middle class (if middle class exists in Thailand) Thai hospital. Due to its nature, English is present somewhat but in practice is limited. I became a spectator in the event rather than a participant which is the role back in Canada. That is probably the only negative thing I have to say about the experience.

In Bangkok there are some expensive farang-targetted hospitals such as Bumrungrad Hospital and Samitivej Hospitals that frankly make Canadian hospitals look like Russian proletariat hospitals of the 70's. They cater to international medical tourists and expats living in Bangkok as well as hi-so (high society) Thais.

However, their birth plans started at 50,000 baht (about $1750 at the time) and I could not afford them as I was in the middle of a very costly divorce back in Canada.

A good Thai friend, Trey, suggested I try Kluaynamthai Hospital which was located quite close to where I lived. It turned out to be an excellent choice and the birth of Jaidan turned out to be a very enjoyable experience at a cost of 30,000 baht (about $1,000 at the time).

I was unable to watch the birth but I was booked into the private hospital room where I had a kitchen and could order room service at the press of a button. The food was excellent. I was totally astonished when I pushed the red button and not 1 but 2 beautiful Thai nurses showed up within 5 seconds. hat a change form Canada! The room was also cleaned 3 times a day! I really can't say enough about the 4 start treatment we received.

The room was equipped with an iPad, free wifi and TV as well as a large flat panel display.

The price included all medical and doctor charges as well as 4 days and 3 nights in the room.

Here are some pics.

The washroom belonged in a 5 start hotel

 The 2 white robes were a nice touch.

The rain shower was a great way to refresh after a night's sleep (my own bed)

A great bed for mom and a nice bed for yours truly.

My work area and entertainment center.

The kitchen complete with microwave, kettle, etc.

The end result was Jaidan at 4.5 kg

All in all a great experience with the health care system in a developing country.

Schools on Soi 22

There are 2 schools on Soi 22 and I have yet to figure out what type of school they are. I think one of them is a private Thai girls school. It appears that the students are quite affluent as they take Tuk Tuks and taxis home after school. They is a fat food industry that has sprung up around this school and they prey on these young girls. many of them are fat or quite chubby. I have been tempted to stop in and talk to the principal about getting all the fat food vendors banned from the soi, but farang opinions are usually not valued by hi-so Thais.

They have a uniform policy, but the uniform varies by the day but they all seem synchronized in what they wear.

Further along the soi is a school that may be public but it puzzles me. It has young boys that appear to be primary aged and has girls up to at least grade 6. They just had some sort of celebration. When you look at the first picture you will see 2 motorcycle drivers (orange vests) who have just dropped a parent off as well as the number of motorcycles choking up the entrance way. Motorcycles are the method of transportation for lo-so Thais so I tend to think this is a public school of some sorts.

It was a real party atmosphere but I am not sure what the celebration was celebrating. I would like to learn more about the Thai school system.

Meanwhile, back in the village Dun and I watch the local school performance.

This is a primary class doing a typical Issan dance routine.

I did get a chance to talk with the principal, who remembered Thavorn as a very good student and visit a couple of classrooms. The classrooms looked very similar to Canadian classrooms but there was no technology present.