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This is www.tonytollitt.com
TONY T's 6th THAILAND TRAVELS BLOG
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PHANOM DONG RAK:
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Page 6
PHANOM DONG RAK:
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SONGKRAN - Day 3
FRIDAY 15th APRIL
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FRIDAY 15th (continued):
*In Buddhism, parinirvana is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained nirvana during his or her lifetime. It implies a release from the Saṃsāra, karma and rebirth as well as the dissolution of the skandhas.
First new of the morning was the birth of 11 piglets. These were the 'usual' pink ones as opposed to the more rustic black ones which have less value. The pink piglets at birth are valued at approximately 1500THB each.
Breeding livestock is now bringing better profits to the farm since the reduction of rubber and sugar cane harvests. Breeding livestock may not be to everyone's taste, but this very much a working farm and the only source of income for the family. Aom and I reckoned some years back that a change of strategy was needed as the staple crops of sugar-0cane, rubber and casava were not making anything like enough profit. Sugar cane in particular is very labour intensive for very limited profit.
This seems to be a nation of followers; they appear to copy things that their neighbours do.
I have seen a great many example of this. A typical example was back in 2017 when Aom & I went to buy a new mattress. We drove to Pratas town and found two sellers of general furniture right next door to one another. Entering the first, they seemed to have what we wanted but the staff were clueless and didn't even know the prices of anything. Feeling frustrated we went next door. The owner, surprisingly, happened to be a distant cousin of Aom’s (Aom used to live in Prasat). The owner told us that they had set up the business some 4 years previously well away from any similar business. Within 12 months the other business cranked up right next door… crazy way to do business.
Going through the towns and cities this copying is commonplace. You will see salons, fruit & veg, butchers, etc all grouped to together instead of looking for a niche in the market where no such business yet exist.
Farming is very similar. They all grow the same crops; no diversity. Consequently, the severe competition drives the prices down for the farmers. A bit of individuality can lead to a big increase in profits. Hence the swerve from intensive crops to livestock. No other farm in the vicinity has yet to adopt this philosophy…. But they will in time because they are copiers.
Click here to see my blog on how labour-intensive sugar-cane growing is.
Please scroll down the bottom part of that page.
Another hot day. I don't know why I bother stating this because it's hot every day; lowest day time to date 35°C up to 41°C.
It was a Songkran Blessing for just this family today. Same rituals as yesterday and this is the last one for this year.
In fact, this is my 3rd Songkran.
Songkran is the Thai New Year's national holiday and is on 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April.
Today’s date at time of writing is Friday April 145h 2565
This is because Thailand uses the Buddhist calendar as the official calendar, in which the calendar's epochal date (year zero) was the year in which the Buddha attained parinibbāna*. This places the current year at 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar. The year 2022 CE or AD) is indicated as 2565 BE in Thailand.
After the ceremony, it was a lull before dinner at around 7:30pm. A couple of cold beers and a celebratory bottle of champagne we brought from UK just for this day.
It was also the last time we will see James (Aom's eldest brother) as he has to travel back to work in Chonburi tomorrow at noon. James is a very gentle, kind guy who adores young Jack. He is also an excellent cook.
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Saturday 16th APRIL:
Pictures show various parts of the Songkran Blessings ritual. This entails cleansing the host's hands and feet by various family members. As I was the newest family member I was subjected to the ritual.
BELOW: Just to prove I don't drink beer all the time; freshly picked and decapitated coconut with a tasty coconut milk drink.
The distinct difference with this visit on the farm is that we have done virtually no traveling other than to purchase things for the farm. We usually get out and about to one or more of the local sights (of which there are plenty). This is partly because we have visited them in previous years and partly because of the various coronavirus restrictions still in place at time of writing.
Also, Songkran has played a part. The actual family blessings and rituals apart it is madness to try to travel anywhere as the road traffic is chaotic.
We are thinking about trying to squeeze in a genuine holiday, probably to one of the islands. Ko Chang was considered or a drive to Trat for a ferry crossing to one of the more offshore islands.
The plan was to take the pick-up truck and drive the 5.5 hours to Trat and drive direct to a resort and stay for, maybe, a week. However, that leaves a slight problem. The car is mine; I paid for it and it is registered in my name so I can do what I like with it. However, the farm has become so reliant on it that it may cause difficulties. There is the original so-called tuk-tuk but that's in bad state. I'll leave that dilemma with Aom to sort out.
A lazy morning with me writing this blog and Aom doing housework.
One of those non-days today. Nothing much happening other than routine farm stuff.
Jack was taken for a haircut; how exciting is that?
Another cloudless day with usual high temperatures, but....
One very different thing though was a change in the weather at around 3pm big thunderheads started to form and at least once a very distance rumble of thunder was heard. The air smelt differently too; more damp and threatening. Temperature had fallen 9°C to an almost comfortable 30°C. No rain yet, but I bet it’s on its way.
Well the threatened rain never arrived; at least not here in Bak Dai, but it was giving someone somewhere the good news.
Usual al-fresco dinner/supper.
SUNDAY 17th APRIL:
After breakfast we started to plan the remaining weeks of our visit. We are due to fly out of Bangkok on Saturday 30th April. Allowing for a couple of days in the capital and working backwards, 3 or so days back on the farm which leaves 7 days maximum for a true holiday.
We are now looking at Ko Chang. Ko Chang, one of the largest Thai islands in the Gulf of Thailand, contains dense, steep jungle and the Mu Ko Chang National Park. We selected this as we can take the pick-up on the car ferry and drive directly to the (yet to be booked) resort; very few of the islands have this facility.
12:15:
Job done, resort booked. We will need to leave the farm at around 7:00am to ensure we arrive at Trat for the ferry across to Ko Chang. I estimate the journey to be 375km which should take under 6 hours.
I've brought my TomTom sat-nav from UK which should make the journey easier seeing as I'm crap at reading Thai road signs (yes I know many are written in English as well). I'd already purchased maps for South East Asia some years ago and now installed into the sat-nav.
Early evening spent packing cases to take. Using our own vehicle should make a big difference; being independent for a start.
Normally we would have to travel to Bangkok (6 hours) book a hotel overnight, get a taxi to Don Mueang Airport and fly to Trat, then get a taxi to the ferry terminal and resort pick up from the Ko Chang end. Now we can drive all the way there.