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TONY T's 6th THAILAND TRAVELS BLOG   
Page 4

PHANOM DONG RAK:

(continued)



START OF SONGKRAN



A very big day for all of Thailand; the Songkran festival.
Songkran is the Thai New Year's national holiday. It is held on 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April.
In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to five days, 12–16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday
Rather than fill this page with details of Songkran they can be found here on the
All about Songkran page.


WEDNESDAY 13th APRIL:
At 4am Aom was woken by a phone call from her other brother, James. ;   James is the elder of the two brothers, Aom being the only girl.
James works as an engineer down in Chonburi and has difficulty getting time off work. Consequently he was unable to leave early and avoid the mania of people struggling to get back to families out in the villages for Songkran.
He manged to get a coach as far as Buriram (a neighbouring province to Surin) but all busses from there to Prasat were booked solid, so he was stuck there.
There was no option other than go and pick him up, so Aom roused Joe, her younger brother to drive a good hours drive away to collect James.
They were all back by 07:30. Good to see James again.
Aom and I were supposed to join her parents on a visit to the local temple for blessings, but with James arriving late we had to give that a miss... a pity because it's good to attend these ceremonies.

At this stage I don't think it too late to remind any reader of this blog exactly were Phanom Dong Rak is. Phanom Dong Rak is the southwesternmost district of Surin province, in northeastern Thailand, close to the border with Cambodia. In fact, the Cambodia bordern is in walking distance from our village which is actually Bak Dai.
It is possible, because I have done it a few times, to walk along the jungle tracks and enter Cambodia illegally. Needless to say I didn't stray far.
Also, you have to stick to the tracks and pathways as there is still a lot of ordinance from the Vietnam War all over the area, Even to this day childern are getting maimed and even killed by UXB devices in the jungle. I certainly watch were I'm putting my feet, but I rarely venture there these days.
Take alook at these maps to see where I am, as I write, located.
Map #1 Thailand
Map #2 Isaan
Map #3 Phanom Dong Rak
Map #4 Approximate house position


 Songkran out here in the 'backwoods' is considerably more relaxed than in the cities. I spent Songkran in Pattaya back in 2012 and it was absolutely manic! Wherever you went you were constantly sprayed by water from all manner of guns, pumps and the like. The pavement were adorned with 40-gallon drums brim full of water with chunks of ice in there.... crazy. Here it's more family oriented.
Also, the Thai government have issued an edict making it illegal for "revellers" to meet in large groups over Songkran because of the Coronavirus pandemic. In my personal view out here in a remote area everything to do with Songkran is done outdoors and with a scorching sun there is not a cat-in-hell's chance of the virus being transmitted. By all accounts the bug can only survive for a few seconds in the UV light from the sun.
In any case this edict is nigh-on unenforceable.

Well I didn’t think I’d be spending Songkran morning laying blocks.
One of the pigs was heavily pregnant and due within the next few days meaning the pig enclosure had to be extended. The concrete base was laid the day before and had already set (rapid in this heat)
Chet, my father-in-law already had a guy helping with the block laying but another pair of hands were welcomed.
So, I started laying out cement on a course of blocks ready for them to be bunged on. One course done I went off to bring several wheelbarrow loads of new blocks.
However, my assistance was short lived as it was just way to hot for me; sweat getting into my eyes and steadily dripping off the end of my nose. So, reluctantly, I had to return to the house for a shower and a litre of drinking water…. PHEW!!


       




Pig-pen extension building.



Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Joe. Aom's younger brother got stuck into fitting the wall units I bought yesterday. I did my bit by supervising. Alas, Chet appeared and was not impressed with Joe's handywork so that was that for another day.
Later in the evening it was party time with the whole family. Beers, wine, gin, vodka… you name it available along with the usual Thai fayre. Music too, loud, (Thais love loud music with a deep thumping bass). Good party atmosphere.




The more formal Songkran with blessings, etc will be tomorrow at one of the aunts/uncles house.



       



LEFT:    Yours truly and, wife, Aom partying.
RIGHT:    The family. left to right, James, Joe, Jack, Somjit, Chet, TonyT



I have said this before, but one has to live here to appreciate just how hard these people work on the farm. I must point out that there is a lot of alcohol abuse; drugs as well, in Thailand, particularly so here in the remote villages. I have seen this at first hand and it's a sad sight. No such problems here; Somjit is tee-total and Chet merely dabbles as the occasion suits.
I have noted many workers who get to the farm at 7 or 8am will happily slug away at beer, strong Thai whiskey and/or vodka. This seems to be the accepted norm and raises no eyebrows; only glasses ;-)
Drug abuse, like most places on the planet is a problem here. The drug od choice appears to be Yaba or Ya Ba.
Yaba has one too many nicknames to keep up with, but this little tablet, regardless of its name, was outlawed in Thailand in the early 1970s. However, it continues to make appearances every now and then in headlines across the country. Some call the madness drug.
It was formerly sold legally at gas stations and used by long-haul drivers to stay awake.
It is typically produced in a round pill form and there are many different versions of ya ba, the most common are red, pink, orange, or lime green in color and carry logos such as "R" or "WY". They are small and round, roughly 6 millimetres (0.24 in) in diameter, which means they can be packed inside a plastic soda straw for easy transportation or in a reusable "mint" container.
Typical ya ba users are working males, aged 16–40 years old, and its use is not uncommon among both female and male sex workers in Thailand and Cambodia.