MONDAY 30th: Sun's out again this morning, but mud is everywhere after yesterdays rains. The farm ducks love it though. Up a fraction before dawn at 05:35, showered and dressed and wondered what this day would bring. Temperature still a chilly 25ºC at 07:00, but rising quickly. Off to Surin City today but a visit to the Phonomdongrak District Amphur* to sort out Jack's Thai registration. This means Jack is registered to the Khongjaidee household and is necessary should he need future medical attention.
* A Thai Amphur office is best described as a civil registry office. The office is tasked with keeping a record of marriages, divorces, births, deaths in Thailand. In a way, the Amphur office is something of a “Jack of all trades,” office. Another accurate name for this office is a “civil registry.”
Thailand is a very large and somewhat polyglot Kingdom. There are many different dialects of Thai as well as many religious and cultural traditions present throughout the Kingdom. Keeping track of the comings and goings of the Thai citizenry can be a difficult task, luckily there are Thai Immigration authorities deal with these concerns. However, a more important concern, particularly for the common Thai person, is keeping track of the vital statistics records for those resident in the Kingdom of Thailand.
The visit to the Amphur took just under an hour; the bureaucracy being speeded up by Aom's cousin Own who used gto work at the office.
That task done it was off to Surin City to a B&Q type place that apparently does good tiles for the new house. Almost the whole family came along; Chet, Somjit, Joe, Aom, Jack & me, only James was missing.
The tile selection for both floors and walls took forever, made worse by the fact that every colour/pattern combination we chose was either out of stock or low in stock. Add to this the Thai way of doing most things slowly, it was a tiresome process. In the end the deed was done and the tiles ordered.
I opened my big mouth about the low temperature early morning; it's a very sultry and VERY humid 34º at 13:00. On the way back from Surin, we stopped off at a coffee shop but I have to admit I was a bit tired and grumpy and just wanted out of the heat,
A stop at Prasat town was necessary for Somjit to buy food whilst Aom, Jack & I shopped for baby food and nappies. A welcome swift beer in a bar was enjoyed whilst we waited for Somjit. That done it was back to Nhong Rak.
17:30, extremely humid now and there's more rumblings of thunder in the air. Quite unpleasant, actually... maybe an excuse for an icy beer. You may recall my rant over last night's dinner offerings, namely the insects, frogs and such. Tonight's dinner, I have to say, was much better. For a start the whole family +1 sat around the huge table and a really good meal was had. A typical Thai meal is numerous bowls & dishes of varied foods and it's just shared around; tonight's dinner was really good.
TUESDAY 31st: Our last full day in Phanom dong rak. Back to Bangkok tomorrow for a few days before flying back to UK on the 4th April.
As usual up and about at dawn. Last nights thunder-rumbling long gone and there's no clouds (06:30) with the promise of a hot and, hopefully, less humid day. Apparently, the rains have come several weeks early this year; it's normally mid-April when the storms develop.
The maize crop is good but the price is abysmal. Chet (Aom's father) was offered an almost insulting 20 Baht per 7 cobs, maybe there's a bit of a glut on the market but it's still a disappointment. Chet was up and away before dawn with a load of cobs destined for the market in Prasat, hopefull getting a better price. Breakfast at 07:30. Breakfasts in Issan, and in Thailand generally, are a world away from the typical farang breakfasts. It usually consists of numerous bowls of stir-fried vegetables and/or noodles, dips and sauces, some spicy some not, various meats but usually farm produce (bought meat is usually pork), and, of course, rice. One has to be little adventurous and Aom usually advises and warns if I go for a particularly lethal spicy dish. I like hot curries, but some of the Thai hot spices are HOT .... The family seem to appreciate my joining them for meals (not that I have a lot of choice other than booking into a hotel which would be insulting). Many farang do just that and refuse to eat and sleep in the family homes. Needless to say their relationships with their Thai wives or girlfriends will be strained. You opt for a Thai lady and you have to accept much that goes with her; it works both ways of course and I have been most fortunate in that respect.
35ºC today and no wind so it feels hot, especially out in the sun. Bit of a lazy day to be honest. Just did some reading, started packing the big suitcases ready for the morrow. We had hoped to use Aom's cousin to take us to Bangkok but he's got too much on so's it's the bloody bus from Prasat I'm afraid.
TOP LEFT: Somjit grating out coconut flesh on a wooden anvil. Used as flavouring in Thai dishes.
TOP RIGHT: Excuse me Madam, that's my beer.
CENTRE LEFT: Aom's 94-year old grandma still scoots about on the back of motorbikes.
CENTRE RIGHT: A family snap.
BOTTOM LEFT: A typical array of dishes for a Thai lunch.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Aom & Somjit buying veg at Prasat market.
LEFT: Looks like it's duck for dinner then. Chet's just bumped this Muscovy off.
RIGHT: Aom's brother, James.
Below is a short movie of creating timber planks... Thai style:-
And another short showing some basic food preparation by Somjit:-
WEDNESDAY 1st APRIL: Again up just before dawn and started to get organised for our retun to Bangkok from Pratas Bus-sataion. The day is going to be a hot one by the looks of it but we'll be on a bus for at least 6-7 hours.
Aom's cousin Me arrived 30 minutes early so we rushed breakfast and were on the road by 07:45 after saying our goodbyes to Somjit and James. Chet and Joe were in Prasat as of 3am selling the maize crop at the market there.
Arrived at Pratas and bought the BKK tickets; bus due to arrive ca 09:30, so its an hour+ wait in Prasat's hot and bust bus terminal.
TOP LEFT: One of Prasat's open taxis.
TOP RIGHT: Main square, Prasat.
CENTRE LEFT: Prasat bus station; hot, noisy and dusty.
CENTRE RIGHT: "I've just bought this pipe so I'll just hop on a bus and take it home". Unbelievably they got it to fit on the roof of the bus. It could only happen in Thailand.
BOTTOM: Examples of Prasat's elite local bus service.
