The Noodle Curtain

My 7 Links at Behind the Noodle Curtain

It must be my journalism background but once a post is in the public domain, the only thing I focus on is the next one. I do not dwell on what’s past and find it hard to think of some posts that would meet the criteria of My 7 Links, a challenge to bloggers originated by travel blog Tripbase.

The goal is to “unite bloggers  (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.”

Well, maybe I can construct something that meets the challenge thrown down to me by my very good friend Talen at Thailand, Land of Smiles. What may help me to do this is to recall my underlying theme to this blog:  remove the veils of my ignorance about Asian culture,  Southeast Asian in particular, and more particularly, Thai culture.

For me, my time here on the blog is about educating myself. If someone else finds something useful when reading a post, that’s great too. You see, you can live in this culture and yet let a lot of things escape your notice. But if you write about something, you’d better look closer at your day to day life, which will lead you to a better understanding of your next topic.  That’s exactly what this blog has helped me do, pay attention to my surroundings, whether cultural or historical or social.

It’s a great exercise in learning to really live here.

Coincidentally, this month, July 2011, is the third anniversary of Behind the Noodle Curtain. I will have more to say about my three years of self-education in a later post.

My most controversial post on Behind the Noodle Curtain

I was in a rant mood after an extended stay in Southeast Asia in the spring of 2009. But it was some months later that I wrote Female temptations in west bring predictable endings. While I tempered my remarks -- in fact, re-edited and re-published it after removing some incendiary stuff -- I still hold to every word I wrote about male-female relations in my home city of Toronto. In short, I’ve never seen so many unattached, unhappy 30-something people, both sexes. And if there are liaisons, they appear more like business relationships: he is a graphic artist, she an interior designer and both go into business together. Oh, that sounds like fun.

Most popular post

That’s easy, all you have to do is write about bar girls, eh? However, I did not write this one but wish I had. My Bangkok friend and film director Paul Spurrier wrote all the important bits in Wise advice on relationships with Thai bar girls l, a sensitive and balanced post that may have some surprises in it. That is my current No. 1 post by far.

Most beautiful post

I decided to go to farthest Isaan, Nakhon Phanom on the Mekong River after Stickman and Talen wrote positively of the place over a couple of years. And I took to it immediately and wrote Beauty comes in many forms in Nakhon Phanom. I think it has as much to do with the view into Laos across the river (see photo at top) than any one thing about the town on the Thai said. But the town has its attractions, too, being a cross-culture of Thai, Laotian, Vietnamese and Chinese.  And maybe being as far away as possible in the northeast from Bangkok also played a role. 

Most helpful post

When you’re over 50, as I am, it’s a good idea to get the “usual” blood tests such as PSA, blood sugar, cholesterol and vitamin B12. After a six-month stay in Thailand, I returned to Canada and followed my own advice. I was deficient in vitamin B12, which comes mostly from red meat, little of which I ate in Thailand. It happened again after a recent extended stay. The first post, Keep eye on your vitamin B levels if on Thai food diet, got linked on a Russian language web site and has been popular ever since. The second one, Vitamin B12 deficiency recurs after long Thailand stay, has been picked up by many.

Successful post that surprised me

My post on a cheap haircut -- The 100 baht haircut that will last a lifetime  -- managed to draw out long-time friends and admired bloggers who have never commented on my blog. LOL. Must be something about the universality of getting old and hiding that fact as best as one can.

Post that didn’t get the attention it deserved

I got a lot of comments on my lengthy post, Canadian boys need to toughen up, but none from Canadian readers or (presumptuously on my part) authorities or other interested parties. Maybe no one outside of Thailand read it.   I am surprised that this post didn’t get linked to here and there. Did not even get any objections to my slandering of Canadian men.

Post I’m most proud of

I suppose I’m most proud of this post, Make changes and the world changes with you, because I was changing for the better. I wrote it from my home city Toronto (although Bangkok is my home now). On my fourth trip to Thailand, I resolved to look under the hood of Thai culture and see what I could see and hope to take the best of it into my soul. On that 2007 trip, I think a made a few small breakthroughs that I’ve continued to feed off of. I was chilling out.


Conclusion
When I looked at the requirement for 7 example posts, I thought it would be  real challenge and frankly, not very fruitful for readers. I looked through the headings of the 290 plus posts and realized, hey, this is an interesting list. Maybe I could find 7 if I stretched. Well, I had trouble narrowing the list down to 7.

 

I'm also supposed to nominate five bloggers for this Tripbase challenge. Some of my faves have already been nominated but I am very very happy to recommend the following:

Boonies Thailand Photos  When I want to relax, be amused and just take a break from the seriousness of world, I love visiting Boonsong Somboon and his village where he and his wife tell stories through photography with often very amusing results. This Thai writer has sure hand for a  English and Thai word play that will have you chuckling and laughing out loud. There's much to be learned about Thai culture here, too.

My Thai Village Life  The Village Farang's blog, set in Chiang Rai province, is written by an American who moved to Thailand more than 30 years ago and has made a life here and achieved wedded bliss. But don't expect a view of the world through rose coloured glasses. He doesn't write often but this posts are very thoughtful about farang and Thai cultures, and sometimes provocative.  Although recently he admits he has mellowed a bit. Always worth reading, especially if you're a motorcyclist!

LTO Cambodia There are not many blogs on Cambodia that I have found but LTO Cambodia author Casey Nelson collects news bits, photo stories, opinion pieces and amusing anecdotes on life in Phnom Penh and Cambodia.

Life in Rural Thailand - Ubon Ratchathani  Author MeMock has a home in Ubon and Australia and business in Laos, as well as a young family.  His blog mixes delightful and serious family stories with local issues, history and just life in general. You will also find much amusement as his two daughters and new son grow up.

The Thai Pirate Ben Shingleton writes a wry amusing and sometimes serious blog about Thai life in Suphanburi province, often using pictures and video

 

 

 

Thai Isaan beauty is the poetry of form

 

Once you have experience of Thailand, maybe this image is the one that forms in your mind as you wish for that perfect union of Thai girl characteristics.

Or you just like a good picture of another gorgeous brown-skinned Isaan girl.

Make your picture, so to speak.

I imagined myself back in my Toronto apartment and conjured an image that might metamorphose  into a hometown scene, with a kind of "same same but different" tone to it. 

I looked at the above Thai girl's hair and well, nothing in my experience matched that shining mane of soft, perfect black hair.

Look at the straight back and narrow waist, flaring out into two slim hips, connected by an almost concave tummy. Then there's the delicacy in the way she holds the broom.

The pretty, colourful Thai skirt adds great contrast to her brown skin, topped by the bra, in a black that seems to perfectly match her midnight hair.

The skirt falls just a couple of centimetres above the floor, with her colourful sandals just peaking out.

Really, trying to describe a Thai Isaan beauty is like trying to explain the emotion of a Ferrari when it's standing still.

I'm afraid my Canadian experience draws a blank and the conjury fades to the same white blank canvas I started with.  Which only says that I simply had a lot of mundane experiences or none at all to compare.

In any case, the photo was not posed. We have Bangkok-based mystery author Dean Barrett (Kingdom of Make-Believe, Skytrain to Murder, Permanent Damage)  to thank for this beautiful work of art, and as well, blessed thanks go out to all the good Thai genes.

Khun Dean posted this on his Facebook page the other day and I just had to have it for the entertainment of my  readers -- you three know who you are!!! (Permission to republish asked and granted.)

Before you ask, there are no other related photos, I don't know who she is or where she lives exactly and any republication must be accompanied by the copyright owner's photo credit, Dean Barrett who can be also be reached at his book pages.

 

 

 

Isaan tour 2011: Wedding in Sakon Nakhon

 

 

We were on the road to Sakon Nakhon and had just climbed Highway 213 to a flat part, maybe 40 plus klicks to SN. We  stopped at a 7-11, loaded up with drinks and snack foods for our "isloated" resort cabin where we would stay. Four foreign guys going to an Isaan wedding the next day. My first ever.

Later that evening, we revisited the 7-11 for some strategic party essentials but, SHOCK!, this store did NOT stock booze. What's wrong with Sakon Nakhon? What were we to do? I’ve never seen that before. Nothing to do but hope the resort had stocks of beer at least. (Even in the big cities of the northeast, 7-11's are not as liberally sprinkled in the districts as they are in Bangkok.)

After we left the store, we passed by more than a dozen roadside stalls with everything. Maybe? I spotted bottles. Driver Khun Miken (and fellow celebrants K Jannik and author K Dean Barrett), ever alert for opportunity, threw out the anchors.

Indeed. Beer Leo could be had. Our little gathering of four farangs (white foreigners) suddenly became the centre of a throng of locals. About 10 local girls and three or four guys. They peppered us with smiles and questions. It can't have been because  we were  a rare commodity -- white guys in deepest Isaan. And it can't be because there's nothing on TV because most don't have a TV. Maybe the new BMW we arrived in had the eye appeal. Buddha knows we're not such handsome men anymore.  We got the usual questions:  where we come from, where we were going, what were our names, and if we had "fan" ("lady Thai" or girlfriend) or "palayaa" ("lady Thai" or wife)?

Such was the press at times, we couldn’t physically move. We found ourselves conversing for some time, with each of us at different levels of Thai and Lao, me definitely having the least  fluency and Dean, with 10  years here, taking the lead. So Khun Miken says let’s open a “pop”. We did and offered “pops” all round. But most of the girls declined.  The gathering continued for some time as girls, some in the 40-plus range, continued to keep up the light-hearted, sometimes suggestive patter. It was all in good fun and we got invited to come back for Songkran water festival next month. 

I have experienced this Isaan friendliness in many of my travels throughout the northeast of Thailand. But never with this many eager listeners.  It was just about the best experience I’ve had in Thailand.

We couldn’t let this go to our heads though. We had to get ready for the wedding of two Thai friends just off Highway 213, in a little village of dusty driveways, stilted wooden homes, ancient motor scooters, water buffaloes, raggedy children, sun-blackened faces and rice farms. And I’m saving the best adjective for last: happy! The smiles and friendliness would have been hard for even a committed curmudgeon to miss.

We made it to the resort, which did indeed have beer.

But earlier in the day, we had been invited to the family house for a warmup and what a warmup. Incredible food (laab moo or stir fried spicy minced pork with salad, grilled pork strips, and the most amazing grilled beef with the astounding naam jim jao spicy dipping sauce), store-bought beer, and homemade sticky rice cider (satoh, Lao for a cider like drink)  and rice whisky (lao khao). We were treated like honoured guests.

They had set up a picnic table for us types that have to sit to eat and drink, while a few metres away, Thai people squatted or reclined on the low wooden decks, with 60-years-plus Isaan folks embarrassing us with legs folded nimbly underneath them, watching our every move. Fortunately, several of us visitors can speak some Thai and Lao, the latter being the unofficial language of Isaan, along with the Isaan dialect. Laughing and smiles never stopped.

    The ladies and men laboured in the outdoor kitchen, with its coal-fired hot pots and grilles, pans full of chilis, cold leafy vegetables, and ice chests full of meat, beer and lao khao. No one misbehaved.  It was one of the best experiences of my life, well worth the 700 km journey from the Kingdom’s capital.

The next day would dawn early, with wedding to begin at 7 a.m. You can imagine how in a steaming hot country, you want to get anything important done as early as possible. However, there was still the matter of dressing the house for the ceremonies, the arrival of the groom’s party of 40 or more in a bus from distant Ubon Ratchathani and gradual buildup of the bride’s friends and colleagues some of whom, after getting off work at 11 at night, boarded a minibus in equally distant Bangkok for Sakon Nakhon.

I won’t describe the village or our friend’s home. Look at the pictures. I think of the joyous time everyone had during the wedding; then look at the surroundings and forget about your first thoughts. People of Isaan have a rough life but you would never guess that from the proceedings or indeed, of those of any other day of the week. A ready smile and willingness to help anyone out despite the daily burdens make you look at yourself and your life and “how rough” you had it.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give that some thought for a while. Think about what you would give up just for one day. Would you really be less happy? Doubtful. These people have far, far less; others have almost nothing.

"Less is more" is one phrase that is easy to toss onto the table of discussion.  I am not focusing on the accumulation of products and services. Much of those things really exist to distract us from conversation, companionship, loving, sharing, listening, observing and analyzing in the sense of the need to survive.  I think you will have a rich life if you observe, listen, converse, share and love. There can be time for modern conveniences but I think it's unwise to let them rule your life.

I question myself about the following thoughts. I can remember being embarrassed, as a kid, about not having this or that thing. Or my parents not being cool. Or not having a nice winter jacket. But I had food, warmth, a roof over my head. Well, some of my Thai friends and many acquaintances never had anything and I never detected any reticence among my two Thai friends in welcoming us into the humble rice farming community in which they were born. I've heard many storeis from Isaan farm girls who come from the same or worse conditions. My GF recently showed me pictures of her family’s village home. It has a thatched roof, dusty ground floor and no electricity. She was proud of her parents and would do anything for them.
 

Photo notes: top, family home on wedding morning decorated to receive the couple; four foreigners visit the night market and gain an unlikely audience;   the completed meals plus beer and satoh or Isaan country cider from sticky rice; food preparation that would never be complete in Isaan or Thailand without killer chilis; and last, below, the village on early morning wedding day.

Background note: With the wedding in our sights, we decided to make this part of a larger tour of Isaan. We drove from Bangkok to Chaiyaphum the first day. Then after one night there, went to burgeoning, lovely Khon Kaen. The wedding was held about halfway between Kalasin and Sakon Nakhon. Post wedding, on day 3, we continued. On heading south, we passed through Kalasin again, then visited Roi Et (practically every bar and restaurant is called 101 plus something, hardly surpising considering the city's name is, in Thai, 101).  Then  the roads  carried us to Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima) Tuesday and finally to Bangkok  Wednesday. More reports to come.

Not the Bangkok photo album

I was pacing through some of my photos from my last visit to Thailand and Laos this past winter. I was attempting to transport myself there as a kind of replacement therapy, as I wait out my next trip, which will be the start of a semi-permanent residence. Exciting prospect, as you can imagine.

Some of these you may have seen before. If not, all the better. I certainly enjoy looking at them again. My favourites are the ones from Isaan and Laos. The countryside, in fact, where the smiles are more real and welcome warmer -- as if these two countries need any more heat.

I'll put up some photos from time to time, may even post some words. As you may have read here, I am planning to ease off the blog till I return to the Land of Smiles when I can dig up more worthy stories.

Above, the morning starts at sunup, with a (quite lousy) Nescafe coffee and some cigs in the train food/booze car. Out the window the countryside on the Korat Plateau passes by, on the way to Ubon Ratchathani. Beautiful sights along there. I think I hit the coffee bar just around Sisaket. The sign in the third picture, top row, says Nakhon Ratchasima, I think, back to where I came from and forward to, well, I don't know exactly, but I think it's Sisaket. Between this point and Sisaket is Buriram and Surin.

   

     

   

 

Happy 30th birthday, Tai Orathai!

This Saturday (March 27) is the luk tung superstar’s  30th birthday.  I love her voice and her songs, although I haven’t a clue what Tai Orathai is saying in the  songs, only that it’s the usual story of unrequited love. Although she does sing about her home village, her fans and other very related subjects.

I really like other Thai singers, too, both male and female, but I don’t even know their names. There’s just not much on the web in English about these Isaan- and Lao-speaking singers and their works. Or so I thought.

I came across a reader submission at Stickman a few days ago by “Peter.” His Thai Music, Part 2 (published March 3)  was all about the singers’ relationships with their fans and the rather generous gifts of money and flowers they bestow upon their favourites right at the stage.  The artists are judged by how they accept the gifts and what they do with them. Apparently many singers  carefully take the gifts to the back of the stage for holding and take them home. Yes, the money goes right into the singers’ pockets but some give it away. (And why shouldn’t they keep it since most of the audience probably bought pirate CDs.) The flowers and related gifts are taken home and cherished. Some will  get the giver’s name and phone number, and even call them on their birthdays, according to Peter.

Fascinating article. So what is luk tung, you may ask. Well, I then found Thai Music Part 1, written by “Peter” Jan. 16, 2009 at Stickman. This article is what got me bouncing around the web and skittering back into the music recesses of my iPhone for some Tai songs. What a joy.  FYI, there are dozens of videos on YouTube of Thai country stars, including Tai Orathai.

Peter goes into detail on the source of Thai country music, which has its roots in Laos, which is famous for mor lam music, a similar country music. He goes through some of the older stars and their musical styles. He appears to be the author of even lengthier opuses on Lao and Thai music at Teakdoor.com, under the nickname of Crazy Dog. The wording and style are the same as the Stickman submissions, and so are the images and video links.

A rather anonymous website called Morlam-Luktung has  pieces that are very readable and extremely helpful in discovering the past and present of what is probably the biggest music segment in Thailand.

As I write this I’m listening to 95 FM in Thailand, an all-luk tung station. The link is for thairadiotoolbar.com, which I wasn't able to get to work on my Mac, but the promo website for the toolbar provided audio link to different radio stations.   The sound was superb and the announcers speak, to my ears, perfect central Thai. Or maybe it’s because it’s a sexy Thai girl DJ.

LINKS:

• By Thai38, subject Thai Music, focusing on the Lao source of luk tung, January 2009, at Stickman.
• By Thai38, Thai Music part 2,  focusing on the singers and their fans, March 2010, at Stickman.
• Quick bio on Tai Oratai at Thai Guide to Thailand
• Of course, Facebook has Tai Orathai fan club pages.
• Many photos of Ubon Ratchthani-born Tai Orathai at her official fan club site, linked off her record label’s site, Grammy, which is where I got the photos:
• Crazy Dog’s posts at Teakdoor.com on Lao music,  Thai singers and their fans and links to luk tung music.
• The  website Morlam Luktung offers concise  history, albums reviews and general remarks, but overall, lacks evidence the author has kept up with the music and even less so the site. And there’s no About page or even source of the material and dates of posts. However, it’s still very useful.
• Thai radio toolbar, which has 95 FM, an all-luk tung station, but did not work in my Safari browser because I didn't have a certain something or other, according to a dropdown notice after I selected 95 FM on a (attractive)  toolbar button.

Canadian boys need to toughen up

It sounds rather harsh but I’m telling you this for your own protection: protection of self and protection of cash and other valuables.

[Photo note: Smiles everywhere and so there should be because everyone's having fun. This was taken in Chiang Mai several years ago. Photos just used to dress up this long, long post. You'll thank me for it later!]

One of the most amazing things about Thailand, for example, is the abundance of beautiful women,  and available women. There’s so many of them but particularly in Bangkok and some of the hot tourist destinations, such as the southern islands of Krabi, Phuket, Samui, Chang, plus such cities as Udon Thani and Chiang Mai. 

A fresh, young fellow from Vancouver or Montreal or Winnipeg or Halifax arrives in Thailand and can’t believe his  luck or his eyes.  Soon our Canadian newbie discovers he’s catching the eye of not a few young ladies. Older ones, too.  In the squares, the high-end malls, the main streets, the markets, the bars, even the online dating sites. Good for the ego. But stop!

You may have noticed I’m focusing on women. Frankly,  you’re going to have the most interactions with women. Whether bars, shops, markets or public transportation, women seem to populate the service industry to an extraodinarily high degree and fill the streets.

What I’m going to say though applies very much more to the people you will meet in the Thailand tourist centres and districts. This applies to just about any Southeast Asian country that's become a tourist magnet. Remember, too, that  you will be in a very poor country where people try to scratch out a living and if that means trying to make a baht from tourists, then so be it.

So let’s get down to some tips to avoid a very deep abyss. Below that I’ve included summaries and URL references to several stories of Canadians -- let's face it, they're all men -- who have tasted the bitterest lessons:

Do not fall in love: You’re only in Thailand for a few weeks. You do not understand the culture, you do not understand Thai girls. You do not understand the laws.  You’re in a very hot, exotic, sensual tropical paradise. Far from home. Nothing is what it seems. At all. On the surface, most things seem normal to western eyes, but you are gravely misreading the entire situation. First, get educated,  which means you will get  burned a bit. I have some small burn scars. Not fatal, however. But you’ll need to conduct your research over several visits.

Yes, Thai girls make wonderful companions, they’re very beautiful, sensuous, and frankly make wonderful wives, from what I’ve read  But you don’t know anything about the girl you just met, or her condition. For example,   more experienced and talented girls know exactly what to tell a foreigner to gain sympathy and that love connection.  Ultimately, it’s all about the money for them. Brand that into your brain. I’m talking here about the players who can come from any level of society, although a significant proportion of players come from the poorest region, called Isaan,  a group of 13 provinces in the northeast of Thailand. Why? Because playing foreigners in the romance game is one way of gaining a huge amount of cash for little effort, in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes multiple streams of cash for foreigners dumb enough to send money from afar. See below.

Do not ignore red flags: In Thailand,  you will come across all extremes of people. I know, I know, you’ve heard that it's the Land of Smiles. It’s largely true. I’ve met some wonderful Thai people who went out of their way to help me in so many ways, big and small. (See link below to a previous post.) That’s been the majority of my experiences there.

But you have to be aware those smiles  can hide many things. They can distract you from some important  messages. Watch the body language, the tone of voice, the overall demeanour, the reflections in the nearby mirror or store window, the reactions  on the face of nearby Thais behind the counter or sitting on a stool at a food vendor, the walk down the shop aisle, the touch of a girlfriend and yes, the exchange of smiles between Thais is like a secret foreign language.

I’m not saying you have to analyze every moment and distille the messages to an essence -- just don't ignore the messages from the faint, sometimes, pulsing red flags that start to invade your consciousness:

'She seems to be calculating our shopping trip rather than enjoying the moment."

"At the  night market shop, she was testing me to see if I’d buy her that more expensive  Buddha medallion.

"Last night she seemed to rush through the meal.

"When we got home her ‘friend’ called. 

"This morning she didn’t answer her mobile.

"She said a couple of times she likes to travel.

"Lately she’s been asking me questions about back home. ‘Where do I live?’ ‘Do you have a car?’ ‘What do you do?’

You will be tested. She will test you to see how far she can manipulate you for whatever agenda she has cooked up in her mind. If you keep giving time and money and gifts, they won't be enough. You'll find you have to keep upping your level of generosity. Sometimes it seems, by her reactions, you can't give enough. You should have jumped the train long before this.

My reaction? Run. Don’t look back! Change your mobile phone number! Maybe even your hotel. You are being set up for a short-term or long term function, whose abbreviation is ATM.

Do not give money: Would you give money to a complete stranger back home? Highly unlikely. So why do it in Thailand. Have a response to a request for financial help already prepared in your head. “I won’t receive any money for a while so I can’t.” Don’t be exact about when or how much. Just keep in mind: Never. If that deflates the asker, good! The problem will likely go away soon and you’ll be better off for it. So if you are asked directly for money, you are being set up. See above, Run!

Do not send money: If you leave on good terms and feel you want to help out her impoverished family, Do Not! You’ve only met this person a week or two ago and you’re thinking of wiring her money?  If she convinced you, how do you know she hasn’t hooked two or three or four other guys? She may be getting 20,000 to 50,000 baht a month. In Thailand, that’s a lot of money considering a store clerk earns 4000 or 5000 baht a month. If she asks, just point blank say you will not. She disrespected you and herself by asking. That says enough about her character right there. When you leave, make it a positive goodbye, as in, hope to see you next time, etc. But stop there. I repeat: Do Not Send Money. Ever.

Do not be a pussy: Here’s where I’m going to be insensitive to my fellow Canadians. You’re too damned nice. It’s probably the same back home but you let women walk all over you. Since I live in Toronto (soon to be past tense . . .), I’ll refer to its citizens only . It’s full of very cool dudes, a lot of nice guys, easy going, good demeanours, generous, good-hearted guys. But you’ve got too much of one thing going for you. You need to rediscover your tougher male hide. And then find the balance.

I have two extreme examples to tell you about, how two Canadian guys in Thailand were victimized. As well, a well known Bangkok columnist and former Canadian cop express their shock at  the ease with which Canadian men become victims. All recent stories.

The first is a very, very sad story. From all media and online reports, Dale Henry from  Calgary was just a super guy, kind and generous to a fault.  He worked the oil rigs and always went back to his Thai wife and her village every chance he got. He loved her. He lavished cash and gifts on her and the family. He took care of her in his will and made her the beneficiary of his company’s life insurance coverage. One day police found him shot dead. His wife had hired a hitman who did the deed while Dale Henry slept in bed. All of this information is in the Thai public records. The perpetrators were caught, charged and convicted, which in and of itself is surprising blessing. Meanwhile, the wife and co-conspirators had drained Dale Henry’s bank accounts.

The second is the story of a Canadian man who writes under the nickname of Tom on the  popular website, Stickman’s Bangkok. Tom reveals the entire  sordid tale, leaving no self-incriminating moments out. He was sucked dry again and again -- by the same girl -- in a series of abominable lies and deceptions. Each time he fell for her claims of innocence and love. It’s a really long story but I couldn’t stop reading it and then I felt like vomiting. The guy went so deep I’m amazed he could pulled himself out after about the seventh calamity. He writes: “I could have kept this story to myself, but that would be a waste of a good lesson for others.”

Stickman has received so many reports of Canadians falling victim to players that he moved to ask several times, what is wrong with Canadians?  Stickman is a nom de plum for a 40-ish New Zealander married to a Thai woman. He has about a dozen years of experience in Thailand and consequently speaks almost fluent Thai. He writes at the end of a reader submission, Aug. 21, 2009:

“There is something I have to say here and please to all you Canadians, don't take offence.  I have found the Canadians to be a great bunch, friendly and for the most part they have given me a great impression of their country to the point it is a place I'd like to visit.  But man oh man, when you read these "Thai girl did me wrong" stories it is invariably the Canadians who get hit hardest.  Countless times it is the poor Canadian.  I have no idea why that is, but there is a definite trend!”

Last, just recently, a Canadian policeman, retired after 37 years, submitted an article to Stickman signing it John the Cop.  It starts:  “When Canadian men go to Thailand, for some reason they become the victims of the most ridiculous scams.”

In a nutshell, smile, be kind, easy-going,  but there's no need to be  an ass or  set any traps. Let the evidence come to you. It inevitably will. Red flags? Then bail!

I rest my case.

LINKS:

• Earlier post: Wonderful experience with Thai people
• Original thread about death of Dale Henry on Thaivisa.com
• Thread on court verdict  in Dale Henry case on Thaivisa.com
• Queen of Lies and Deception by Canadian victim Tom at Stickman
• Canadian policeman's view at Stickman

Musings on friendship bridges and rush to build them

It always amuses me to read about “friendship” bridges, the ones that tie Thailand and Laos.  The two peoples are natural constituents, sharing a similar language, culture and geography. The two Thai-Lao bridges, at Nong Khai-Vientiane and Mukdahan-Savannakhet, are symbols of their ties.

A third one is under construction (Artist's sketch,  right). The first was finished in 1994. The next was in 2006 and third, based on news last weekend from the Lao government, is three or four months ahead of schedule. The bridge linking Nakhon Phanom province, Thailand, on the west bank of the  Mekong, and Tha Khek, Khammouan  province, Laos, according to project coordinator Xaysana Fasavath, will be finished roughly the end of summer 2011. It’s 30 per cent completed overall. Immigration facilities are also being built.

A fourth is about to get underway in March. It will link Chiang Rai province, Thailand, with Bokeo province, Laos.

That’s three major bridges linking the two countries in the span of about 8 to 10 years. The third was begun in May 2009 and will be finished in 2011. I’m guessing No. 4 will be finished in 2012, a similar  two years and handful of months. What’s the rush?

Laos, with such a small population of a bit over 6 million and a few agricultural and metals exports, couldn’t afford a couple of planks across a creek. But it never seems to be short of infrastructure cash for such things as highways, railways, bridges and hydroelectric projects. Funny that, but they all seem to connect China and Vietnam, with the south, namely Thailand.

And this just in, Thailand is supplying more than $300,000 for a design study for a rail link inside  the Lao border, running the roughly 17 km from Tha Na Lang to Vientiane, the Lao capital. (A Thai-Lao overnight train from Bangkok runs to Nong Khai, where you go through Thai departure immigration, get back on and cross the Lao border to Tha Na Lang for Lao arrival check-in. You guessed it: no further rail line into the city, but it looks like there will be. Thailand is covering 30% of the funding and offering a low-interest loan for the rest, according to DPA, the German news agency. By the way, March 5 is the first anniversary of the Thai-Lao train.)

If you marry up this little generous gift to the Lao PDR with the announcement by Thai PM Abhisit that it recently signed various memorandums of understanding with Lao for its future electricity production (from controversial Nam Thuen Dam 2), well, you get the obvious. That’s small scale.

China is playing big and for the long-term.  If you were a big exporting country with a big bottleneck on your southern border, namely Lao, plus the Mekong,  you might try to do something about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair hunk of Chinese money is being spent and will be spent on clearing the bottle neck. (Japan has put a lot of money in these bridges, too -- all over SEA, in fact.)

With three new bridges and one old one connecting arterial routes through Chiang Rai (future), Nong Kahi, Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan, south- and northbound traffic some day will increase. The region, at first, could serve as a thoroughfare, with possible subsidiary industries and maybe even factories setting up. 

Suddenly, my amusement turns serious. It wouldn’t surprise me that China is manipulating everything in its favour. But I guess the Southeast Asian nations will ultimately benefit. I hope the Isaan people will benefit, too.

As always, I’m just talking into my bowl of noodles.

LINKS:

• Pretty good travel report on the rail link and wonders of Isaan from The Guardian.
• PM Abhisit speaks during laying of cornerstone for third bridge, mentioning the rail link and several memorandums of understanding regarding the purchase of future electricity from Laos.
• Nam Thuen Dam 2 project problems at International Rivers website
• Thailand offers rail aid to Laos.
• The happy website for Nam Thuen Dam 2.
• Laos seeks China aid for huge transportation projects
• Thai government’s release announcing the third bridge.

Thanks to all the wonderful Thai people who helped

I was sitting outside   of the Windsor Hotel in Nakhon Phanom on my second morning. There was a comfortable bench where I could watch the town coming to life. More like I was. I had a cup of Nescafe (the taste of it now almost makes me gag) in hand. I decided that if I was going to find a real coffee and had no idea how long it would take, I decided to start with some caffeine in the system.

I had my big Canon DSLR and was taking some shots of “interesting” people -- okay, girls -- walking and riding by, as well as some local scenery. One of the cleaning ladies came out to chat. She spoke very good English and turns out she’d worked for an American NGO for 10 years. Some of her sentences had no trace of Thai accent. Earlier I’d asked her if there was a place to get good noodle soup (baa mee naam). We’d agreed earlier there was not a chance I was goig to go to the big empty restaurant next door. I never saw a single customer in it during my stay. She admitted she got sick there once and never went back.

She pointed to a good kitchen across the street and insisted on taking me there so she could order for me, after asking in English what I liked. So she did. Everything went smoothly. The food indeed was good and she gave me some background on the place. The owner once thought of moving her food business to much bigger Khon Kaen to make more money. The cleaning lady said she’d helped talk the woman out of it.

I tell this story to make a point about the helpfulness of the many Thai people during my two-week tour of northeastern Thailand. I wanted to write something positive about every day events in my life as a foreign visitor. I get tired of reading all the  whining and complaining on a certain big expat Thailand forum. Especially when I’ve had mostly very good experiences with so many local people.

More examples from the beginning of my tour. A salute to:

• Khun Ann, the girlfriend of a Danish friend, who told me a lot about her hometown of Ubon Ratchathani and which hotels were good in terms of ambiance and location.
•   The SRT security man at Hua Lamphong railway station in Bangkok who took me to the proper platform and put me on the right train and car after being informed incorrectly by the ticketing office which platform my train to Ubon would leave from.
• The SRT canteen lady in the overnight train to Ubon who, when asked if I could buy a shot of whisky (bottles only), offered a whisky and Coke from her co-worker’s (yeah, right) stash behind the counter. 
• The cleaning lady at the Ratchathani Hotel who not only found my iPhone recharging cable but two long-sleeved shirts I’d left behind and kept them in case I called back to the hotel. I’d actually changed hotels after two nights there and did indeed walk back to see if my cable could be found. The shirts were a surprise bonus.
•  The owner of the Phadaeng Mansion in Ubon, where I’d moved, for including so many nice touches in his new hotel such as balcony with sink and clothes drying racks, and ceiling fan as well as air-con. Not so common. Second, making sure to ask me how the restaurant food was that he sent me to. Turns out it was his eatery and it was very good and a lovely setting. And last, flying the Canadian flag at the entrance because he’s in love with a brochure of British Columbia. Sniff . . .
•  The food vendor on the busy Chayangkul Road in Ubon who,  seeing me fumble with a street map to see how close I was to the bus station, came running out. I was able to say bus station in Thai and she immediately pointed farther up the road and that I’d got off the No. 11 too early. She flagged down a No. 10 and told the driver where I was going. I gave her a sawutdee krap and wai.
• To the two poor high school girls who tried so hard to discern where this stupid farang was going (Ying Charoen Parhk, a mall) but couldn't understand my Thai. I now can say it perfectly but got the wrong tone on the first word (high falling tone, dammit).
• The two No. 10 baht bus passengers who guided me to the bus station stop, both got off and one took me directly to the correct ticket window and ordered one ticket to Nakhon Phanom at the time I wanted. He was an elderly man who spoke some English.  Since he was older, I waied him and said cop khun krap and sawutdee krap.
•  The No. 11 city bus driver. Ticket in hand, I got on a No. 11 and noticed we headed north instead of going south back into Ubon’s core. After a kilometre, I got out and pointed the other way. No he said, so he honked his horn as an inbound No. 11 was coming by. The driver smiled and held up traffic waiting for me as I dodged four or six lanes of traffic to get to the other side. You pay at your destination but the first driver smiled and waved me away.
• The intercity bus attendant  at Ubon who reorganized the cargo bay for my big backpack, knowing I was headed for Nakhon Phanom. Then at the rest stop at Mukdahan where I dashed out for a cig, kept watch over me and made sure the bus didn’t  leave me behind.
• The three ladies in the night food market of Nakhon Phanom who had a serious dialogue about what it was I wanted and decided it must be that wonderful thick Thai coffee and Carnation on ice. I had a brain cramp and forgot the Thai for cold coffee,  cafe yen. All I could think of was cafe ron (hot coffee).

And there were more, I’m sure, but the incidents escape me. I noticed many of my examples were from Ubon Ratchathani, which I seemed to be pretty hard on in an earlier report. I may have to eat my words, if not now, then some day soon.

Beauty comes in many forms in Nakhon Phanom

A ferry crosses the Mekong from Laos to Thailand, at Nakhon Phanom. Shows off the beauty of the Lao side.

Another beautiful feature is the riverside promenade in Nakhon Phanom.

And yet another beautiful feature of Nakhon Phanom, very pretty girls crossing a major street in town.

A nearby river can sometimes give a town a very pretty setting. Nakhon Phanom certainly benefits from the storied Mekong, which separates Thailand from the Lao PDR, represented by the much smaller but lovely Tha Khek. The small Thai city also benefits from the stunningly beautiful  jungle hills on the Lao side as well as some of its own significant temples and hillsides.

But I’m going to  give Nakhon Phanom the beauty crown overall. While I spent too-short a time in the river city and have promised myself to go back soon, I came away impressed by the number of beautiful girls I saw around the place. My Isaan tour started in the sizeable city of Ubon Ratchathani where I doddled for an extra two days, four in all. I now regret my laziness. I should have moved on sooner and enjoyed more time in  NP.

I took a five-hour milk run bus ride from Ubon, passing through Mukdahan. I’d left Ubon  in an unsatisfied state of mind. After I disembarked at the small bus station in NP and set off on a back soi transit on a three-wheeler taxi to a hotel, I was already far ahead of Ubon in my count of pretty girls. Upon stretching my legs in front of the Windsor Hotel, my mood was buoyant. Not all the pretties had left for Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Phuket. Of course, your mileage may vary, but this was the so-called high season and yet Nakhon Phanom seemed ripe with surprises . And they were not shy of staring at the white stranger.

I met a young Austrian traveller that evening and he was tired of the place after two days there. While I accepted his observation that first evening, I walked a lot of the town the next day and frankly, I think the town needs a fairer shake. Yes, it’s small, yes, the evenings could be quiet, the bars and restaurants on two late week-day evenings were largely empty, the traffic really thinned out, but somehow I think the place deserves another look. And so I shall later this year.

I rather liked the wide open main streets. The smaller, narrower ones closer to the riverside, were interesting and sprinkled with bars, karaokes, restaurants and yes, some shacks. Not pretty. Here's a Thai town that, if it shows some foresight, could beautify its setting even more by cleaning up some of the riverside properties. Still, it has a beautiful riverside promenade. It probably won't be long before more is done.

An American expat I met in Ubon had lived in NP for a year. He said that if you are a single person, you will likely find the place rather disappointing but if you married a local girl, you would find your life a busy one. You would also enjoy the quiet and the beauty of the province and Lao. Oh, almost forgot: he said the most beautiful Thai girls come from the southern portion of the province, from the ethnic clan, the Phu Tai. I wouldn’t recognize  a Phu Tai look, but a beautiful girl rarely escapes my radar.

The hotel cost me 350 baht a night. The room had long ago seen better days but the air-con worked, there was good water pressure and the bed was big and comfortable. I also had a nice fourth-floor view of a major street and the Lao hills.

   

   

   

   

   

   


The first evening I ate at an outdoor street market. First I had one of those thick, Thai coffee sludges with condensed milk. Love this stuff. I was attended to by no less than three smiling ladies at the coffee cart. Then came a delicious khao mun gai (sliced chicken on rice but with no spicy ginger sauce, although there was a chili sauce). I complimented the sole female vendor who struggled to ask me if I was alone (using the term “one”, which I didn’t get for a moment or two) and said she was alone. Hint, hint.

I collected a number of smiles that night. I don’t know but I must have been looking particularly handsome that night. Maybe my wallet was showing. I noticed that the younger girls, gliding by on scooters or walking,  were not shy about looking at the stranger. It was altogether the opposite of  Ubon. Maybe they're shy in Ubon and in NP, not so much. Or just more curious.

Later, I bumped into my Austrian acquaintance, which is easy to do in such a small city centre. We checked out a country fair, a concert venue, the overflowing Indochina Market, then a couple of karaokes (including one populated by three ladyboys, though we didn’t know that before we walked in), a disco kind of place and a bar or two. Action was to be had but the spirit was weak, on my part.

The next day I knew I was going to go to the Lao PDR, crossing the Mekong to Tha Khek. While I gave some thought the next day to staying on, I had to be in Vientiane on the weekend to forage for motorcycles for our Lao tour.

Nakhon Phanom is a pretty town, in a beautiful setting, great location (being on the Mekong and near Lao and Cambodia borders), friendly people (hotel clerk, who spoke pretty good English, insisted on taking me across the street to tell the Thai-speaking lady what I wanted to eat), lovely girls, great international market, good food, and a town with air service direct to Bangkok.

I’ll be back. 

LINKS

• The Tourism Authority of Thailand's very helpful website describes Nakhon Phanom
• TAT's map of Nakhon Phanom
• Stickman writes glowing report of the City of Hills
  
• Talen at Thailand, Land of Smiles reports on one of the finest, ancient features of the province, namely Wat Phra Tat Phanom, just one story among a huge collection of stories and photos on the province.
  

VIP bus the way to go in run to Vientiane

 

The colourful VIP bus sits at the Tha Khek terminal.

I took a six-hour bus trip last weekend and enjoyed it. I had read about the once-a-day VIP bus that covers most of the Lao national highway from the south, at Tha Khek to Vientiane, Laos. When I saw the tall,  sleek Scania bus at the Tha Khek terminal, I breathed a sigh of relief. 

I’ve been fooled before by descriptions of levels of bus service in Thailand.  I usually ended up taking the first-class air-con buses and was just as frequently disappointed. The air-con usually worked but at low volumes. Sometimes the driver would shut it off for a while and turn it on in the next station. The seats were pretty poor, the drinks holder was hanging on to its next few hours of useful life. Space for my 186 cm frame was usually tight. Most of these vehicles had seen 10 to 20 years hard life in the tropics and showed it.

There are a few VIP bus routes in Thailand but I hadn’t found a schedule that worked for me so ended up taking the first-class buses. They’re the ones that stop frequently in and out of towns. So a 2.5 hour distance takes close to 5 or more, like my run from Ubon Ratchathani to Nakhon Phanom before crossing the Lao border.

With a 70,000 kip ($9 Canadian) ticket in my pocket for the 9:15 am departure, I jumped on at  Tha Khek, Laos. The seats were form fitting, well supportive, tall enough for my torso, with a bit of space between you and your co-passenger. Near as I could tell on the ticket, some seats were not assigned, even though they are numbered. Bit lazy at the ticket counter in the humble, bare concrete and wood station.

The bus goes back to Tha Khek each day from the southern bus terminal at 1 pm. Same fee. There’s VIP service to the north too, but I failed to get some photos of the sked. Will add later.

It was not all laokhao and som tam on the trip. National Hwy. 13 is full of obstacles (see the photo) so the bus has to slow down, dodge vehicles, animals and people. One time a hand tractor was in our lane and he wasn’t going to move, so the bus driver swung out into traffic -- which he does a lot.

 

At the break, 187 km from Vientiane. Village serves as food and toilet stop.

 

A regular first-class bus heads to Tha Khek, with motorcycle tied to roof.

This is the main national north-south highway, No. 13, filled with obstacles against fast, efficient service, including slow vehicles and passing village children.