Happy Thai New Year – the year here is 2551!

The new year has started out with its usual Sangkron festivities which includes the world’s largest water fight. raditionally one celebrates New Year by sprinkling water on a friend’s head and wrists as a wish for a happy and prosperous year to come. This has escalated into people using huge plastic tubs full of water from which they take small buckets to throw onto passing motorbikers, walkers, etc. Of course those passing by are armed with huge squirt guns and, if in a pickup, the bed also has a large barrel of water for ammunition. This all occurred late morning until late afternoon of April 13, which fortunately was a warm sunny day – some fortify their water with ice, others with perfume and still others use hot water. Having been drenched during past Songkron days, I stay home now and watch the slow moving traffic with their cheers, jeers, blaring songs, some with drummers, etc. from my porch, some 50 feet from the “action”.

The day before Songkron – Saturday April 12 – was Thailand Senior Citizen Day. All Thais over the age of 60 who live in Rawai Municipality (we got upgraded last year) started gathering at 9 AM at the Lagoon Park at Nai Harn. A gentleman who I see each morning during my dawn walk had been elected to the new Municipal Council and had invited me to attend Senior Citizen Day. The Council had planned a “surprise” for me and during a ceremony at 10 AM gave me and several other Seniort Thais framed certificates of thanks for what we had been doing to help the community. In my case it was my daily garbage gathering along the street and beach near my home. I was only non-Thais in attendance that morning along with several hundred local seniors. The Council provided a Thai-style breakfast for everyone, a flower lei and a local t-shirt company gave each of us a nice batic t-shirt (very colorful).

Speaking of my home along the beach there’s been a big change there as well. My landlady has rented out the area in front of my house and as I write this they are marking construction for a mini-market. Fortunately it will not entirely block my view of the Andaman Sea and I will still look across the water at Bond and Raja Islands. By switching furniture around in the front room I will be able to sit at my desk and glance out the open doorway or windows and ignore the mini-mart building and enjoy the water view. Likely the building will block out some of the street noise (only noise is during daylight hours). The owner of the mart is a nice Thai gentleman who says it will be open just during the day (likely 9 AM to 8 PM).

Had started one of these emails last November but my “reliable” (you can laugh with me here) Internet Server (one of the local telephone companies) decided to cut service to the Rawai area and I never got back to you with what I had planned to write, So will add that story here.

My adopted Thai family (they adopted me) the Patamakanthins (father Somnuek and son Somwong [Jom]) are the ones whose shells are displayed in the gorgeous Phuket Seashell Museum just up the street from my home. Anyway, Jom had appeared on a Thailand TV Show “Hero of the Year” where a panel of five people, each an “expert” in the same field, are asked a number of questions which relate to their field (in this case shells) and each question becomes more difficult as the program goes on. Anyway, Jom won the shell panel show (and was awarded a trip for 2 to Australia, several hundred dollars worth of books and a credit of Baht 50,000 at a very popular Bangkok area restaurant.

Royal Dragon Restaurant

Jom had moved on and was scheduled to compete in the finale of the show where the grand prize was a new home, a new car and Baht 4,000,000 (more than U.S. $120,00.00). He invited me to come to Bangkok to watch the taping of the show. He also invited me, his father and the others against whom he had competed to dinner at the restaurant where he had won all that credit. It is The Royal Dragon (which Guiness recognized in 1992 as the largest restaurant in the world with more than 200 chefs, 400+ servers and the ability to seat more than 5,000 people at a time – servers here go about on roller-blades between the kitchens and the various dining pavilions. It was quite an experience as the manager of the restaurant oversaw our meal which was nearly entirely seafood, from lobster to oysters, cockles to conchs, abalone, mussels, arks, scallops, prawns, etc. We had a private dining salon right near the stage where dancers, singers, etc performed.

(National Science Museum)

Click here to

http://www.most.go.th/news/newsactivity/default.asp?GID=674
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Another reason for the trip was that the Thailand National Science Museum was opening an exhibit in their Natural History building called “Jewels of the Seas” and I had donated several specimens for the display. The opening ceremonies were around noon and a special lunch was prepared for us “dignitaries”. I got to cut the ribbon (with several others) opening the display (which was quite nice) – possibly because they kept assuming I was from Washington D.C. (though I kept correcting them, saying, “No, Washington State). Got follow up pictures in the Science Museum monthly magazine too, And another of the framed certificates of thanks. (and another very nice t-shirt) The former Thailand Ambassador to the Philippine’s shell collection was the main part of the display and he was a delightful man to talk to about shells. The main building of the National Sciens Museum is a really amazing bit of architecture – it is a large square block, seeming balanced on one of the four corners of the block – you expect it to tumble at any moment. The Science Museum is located quite a distance from downtown Bangkok (where I usually stay when in the city) and I had had quite a time finding a taxi driver who even knew where I wanted to go, so I was not looking forward to the taxi ride back to my hotel. One of the other men at the opening ceremonies heard of my plight and asked where I was headed in the city and when told Sukumvit said he lived in that area and would be glad to drop me off wherever I was headed (I was going to a travel agency to get my tickets for my November trip to the Philippines as they had a special offer that would save me nearly U.S. $200). He (unfortunately I never did learn his name) spoke perfect English, was a good conversationalist and the trip back to downtown went by quickly. He mentioned that he’d had a very nice time the previous evening – there was an Italian ballet company which opened the previous evening, presenting a new ballet based on Romeo and Juliet and he had attended that with the Queen of Thailand! Guess there really were some “bigwigs” at the museum that morning!

The TV studio where Jom’s contest was being shot was in another remote area of the city and it took me two taxi rides to get there. The first one knew the general area and when we got there I took a local driver who knew exctly where to go. I got to the studio early and a young man Jom had alerted to my arrival showed me into the area where the announcers, the MC and other on-camera people were getting their make-up, hair, etc done. I got to chat a little with the MC of the show (who early this year was the main announcer for the opening of the SouthEast Asia games in Bangkok), met his wife and cute little son. Jom and his father joined me shortly and then Jom was off for make-up, etc. Somnuek and I were there from 10:00 AM until after 10:00 PM and they accomplished taping of one contestant (not Jom – but a young popular Thai movie star whose category was old Thai movies – he was very good, but I found out later he did not make the cut for the final show). I later learned the taping continued until 2 AM. Fortunately during the day you could go outside the Stage area and more than a dozen companies (KFC, Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as The Royal Dragon Restaurant, had set up areas where you could get food, drink, deserts, etc. FOR FREE. I had roast duck with rice for lunch.And some Thai dishes for dinner.

I headed back here to Phuket the next day – with Somnuek – and Jom stayed to complete the taping of the show. Unfortunately, he did not win, but I think he enjoyed the experience and made a lot of new friends. The young man who did win is a pilot for Thai International Airlines. [Note: Jom again competed in the 2008 edition of the show; and again won the first stage – wish him better luck towards the finale this year!]

Well last time I told you of the visit of my Filipino “sons” – forgot to menion another “adventure” we had while they were here. We when to a mangrove area at a bridge which crosses a channel between Phuket City and small Sire Island (where there is an abalone farm). Near the bridge you can stop and watch Crab-eating Macaque Monkies. You take bananas with you and you toss them to the monkies from platforms along the edge of the road – the monkies are in the mangroves across a small channel. You don’t want to get close to these monkies as they bite and can become aggressive if you run out of bananas. The crabs they eat are fiddler crabs. Afterwards we went an area along the slope of one of the large hills in the middle of town and here you can feed another species of Macaque monkies who are gentle and will delicately take to food out of your hand – many mothers with young clinging to their backs or hanging on under their mom.

Well, the workers have removed the plants I had along the driveway as well as the Thai-style lamps. The large banana tree is next and we’ll re-install the lamps alongside the house and between the house and the sala.. Since it’s a rather small project will expect them to be done in a month or so. Sorry most of you never got here to enjoy the whole panoramic view that I did have. But a short walk to the beach will give you an unimpeded view still.

I see all the news from there either on TV (BBC, German TV or ABC Australia) and check out The Sun, The P.I. and NK Herald on the Internet. The economy worries me. As a retiree I have seen my income drop dramatically with the falling dollar. Just over a a year ago (and for the pervious 10 years) one U.S. dollar exchanged for 42 or so Thai Baht. Now one dollar U.S. gets you just 31 Thai Baht a drop of more than 25%! On top of that, as everywhere, prices are rising for nearly everything, +15% or so – so my expected income from State Retirement and Social Security is now only a bit more than HALF what I had planned. Time to cut down where I can.

July 2008

As I sit at my desk on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I am trying to think of what might interest you about my life here in Thailand. As I gaze out at the varied blue color of the Andaman Sea I note a small freighter in the distance, close to Raja Island, A colorful Thai fishing boat passes between me and the freighter, in the channel between Phuket’s Rawai Beach and Bon Island. It will soon make a turn just past Bon and head between Phuket and Lone Island owards the harbor at Chalong. The distance freighter, deck loaded with containers will likely round Hay (Coral) Island and head towards the deepsea port in Phuket City.

But I think what I’ll write about are my morning walks. For several years I have started walking around 6 AM along Rawai Beach from my home to the Sea Gypsy Village and return. Sometimes I get to enjoy a fabulously colorful sunrise with purples, oranges, reds and yellows as the sun rises from behind Lone and Hay Islands. When I first started this walk there were a number of grill stands along the shoreline and their owners would be up and about getting ready for a day of selling grilled prawns, crabs, eel, fish, chicken, conchs, clams, etc.
All these stands were there illegally as the shoreline is government (actually the King’s) property and so in July 2004 they were forced to leave, the local government had made a new area for them down the beach with concrete pads,
roofs, etc. and they had also built a building with toilets and showers for everyone to use. Unfortunately, as you recall, December 26, 2004 was the day of the tsunami and these new stands were demolished by the waves.

So the grillers moved back along the main road, across the street from the beach. This arrangement lasted two years and now the government has rebuilt the tsunami-ravaged area even better than before and the stands (more than a dozen) are back in business.

But back to my walk. I usually see the same people each day. Several local ladies walk the street and beach picking up recyclable cans and plastic bottles. Everyone calls me “Papa”. One of the more established seafood restaurants “Mama Klong” is along my route and the lady who owns it is always in front as I pass, sitting alongside a small table with food, soup, flowers, etc. for the monks from the temple on Promtheap Cape who come along on their “begging route” each morning. I have become friends with her and also with the monks and we all greet one another: “Good Morning”, “Morning” “Sawadee Krap”. When I first started my walk there was a single older monk who made this his route, today there are three separate groups (one to three monks per group) from three different wats (temples) who come along this way – good thing Mama Klong does a good business as she gives to each group every day.

The Sea Gypsy Village, as I mentioned, is at the eastern end of my original walk. Early on I noticed a Sea Gypsy woman and her young son (maybe seven or eight years old) picking up recyclables along that end of the beachwalk. Every morning they were there. So I started saving my cans and plastics and once every week or two they pick them up at my house. Now the boy (his name is Tin) is eleven and I also give him some baht each morning so he can go to school. (A German lady who lives near the village also gives him funds for his schooling).

The government has “improved” the seashore walk by putting up benches and “paving” the shore above high tide with large tiles – like the malacons one sees in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and other Mexican seaside towns). This “boardwalk” extends all the way from near the Sea Gypsy Village to the area where the grill stands have been moved, with a small gap in front of my house. They have also built a long pier by the village. It extends nearly 300 meters out into the channel so that the end has several meters deep water even at the lowest tides. It is planned that this pier will be used for boats that take people fishing and out to the nearby islands. The project was begun two years ago and then stopped when the contractor ran out of money. Now it’s again being worked on and hopefully this time will be completed. It does make a nice place for a walk and I regularly see the same people each morning either walking for exercise or going fishing at the end of the pier.

Not much in the way of wildlife along this route. I do see lots of mynah birds (but they are everywhere – I have a few dozen around my house most days). There are two sea eagles that on most mornings are gliding just offshore, occasionally skimming the waters surface and catching an unwary fish. And of course, because we have many bars along this route the “wild life” sometimes is left over from the night before – a bit more subdued than I imagine they were when the bars were open – sittung on the benches along the street.

Recently I started another route that I take every other day. This is longer (4-5 km each day) and includes a steep climb. Laem Promtheap (Promtheap Cape) is the southern most tip of Phuket Island and a popular tourist attraction –
especially for the sunsets. I have counted as many as 30 tour buses passing my home shortly after sunset during high season (end of November to mid April). I alter this route, one day I go along the southwestern shore of Rawai Beach and take the small road up the Cape. I seldom encounter more than one or two motorbikes and/or vehicles as it is so early. On this route I can observe more natural wildlife such as cicada (first time I heard these bug-eyed insects I thought of the sound around an electrical substation), many birds – though usually can only hear them since they can easily hide in the jungle along the road. Centipedes and millipedes cross my path often (not certain which arewhich – some are small, 2 inches and red; others 6-8 inches and black). I see snails if it has rained during the night; a small local species and the huge Giant African Snail that has been introduced throughout the tropicas worldwide and which will eat anything, even the paint on your house!. I do see a few local Thai people regularly, some who have small groceries or restaurant (huts) that are up early too, or one lady who I also see each day walking with her umbrella along Rawai Beach (I learned that she carries the umbrella not only in case of rain, but to use to discourage local dogs). Speaking of dogs I try to make friends with the dogs along whichever route I take on the walks. I am fairly successful. Some now will come to lick my hand and have me scratch their ears, others simply ignore me rather than their original barking and a few still only bark or run when I come along.

As an alternate route to the Cape I first walk to Ya Nui Beach (a fairly level walk) and then take the road from there up onto the Cape, a heartpumping switchback road that goes from sealevel to several hundred meters altitude in a very short distance (I originally stopped three or four times on this route to “catch my breath”; but now only stop once or twice). Along the way from the house to Ya Nui I pass several swampy areas and the toads and frogs are buffalo) and they occasionally will be bawling a bit. As I approach the beach I can hear the surf – or if it’s a calm day I can hear the huge electric producing windmill on the cape between Ya Nui and Nai Harn beaches. One recent morning I was very happy that I take an umbrella with me on this Cape walk. As I approached Ya Nui I could see the edge of a rainstorm rapidly approaching from the sea. Before I reached the beach the wind started howling and I quickly raised the umbrella as I could hear the downpour approaching me as it fell on the palms and other trees near the beach. The wind nearly tore the umbrella from my hand. Fortunately when I got to the beach I was able to take shelter under a small reataurant/bar’s open-air beachside structure. I stayed there for about 30 minutes as the wind howled and the rain came down so thickly that I could see only 20 meters. When the rain slackened and the wind subsided I continued up to the Cape and then back down to the house – umbrella in use the entire way and glad to get out of the wet clothing once home.

Along the Ya Nui route I am passed by more vehicles. Mostly motorbikes or songthau (pickups with canopies over the bed and benches for passengers) hauling kids off to school. There is also one big yellow school bus that runs along part of my route – though not up the steep strect.

One good thing about all of these walking routes is that they are all paved, though in a few spots recent rains will wash soil across the road or the large puddles impede my usual path. Well, ehough of this. I went along more than I intended, as usual, so hoped you didn’t get too bored

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