Icha

4 hours ago, jmurch said:

Hairdresser and beauty salons open first? People have to look good before they can go back to work? Sorry I don't understand this!

I think this is a nice concession to the lower-income population. Many poor families, especially single-mother ones, rely on selling food and necessities (exempt from closing under conditions), running hair salons or laundry shops, etc. in the soi's and villages for their livelihood. They serve the close community and, if the infection breaks out, they are easier to trace and contain within the neighborhood.

My wife and kid just got on board from Japan to Thailand. She made a mistake not getting the letter from embassy but it's application form. We emailed from airport to the consulate with photos of the passports, doctor certificates, tickets and the application form that has such information as ID number, Thai address, etc. Then called the consulate, saying that the flight departs in 2 hours. Despite being before its opening hours, the consulate prepared the letters and emailed back to us in 10 minutes! Bless these guys!

These are old country folks. Tougher for them to fit the urban life. I also understood that in their culture (or in other Asian countries too), marriage is social, and not just between individual man and woman. So, I made an effort to make my stay a bit more comfortable there. 

- The bathroom was really a wooden outhouse with a clay pot of water. In the second time, my wife suggested using the aunt's living next door, which was at least tiled and with running water. If the folks stayed longer there (they moved into her sister's when got old and sick), I would have bought and fitted a western toilet and pulled in water. Labor is cheap and you can buy some comfort there.

- I used to go there stoking up the books. Changed to e-books later.

- When we moved to a new apartment, sent up the old bed. Normally, the grandma and kids sleep on it. When I went there, they naturally gave me the right to sleep on it.

- A couple of times, I rented a car nearby the airport to get there. Such a difference it made to my sanity. No longer the feeling of being stuck in a place, knowing that I could go to a nearby town or to a lake to enjoy the beauty of nature, as I wish. Definitely worth the cost. Once, I dented it, but the nearby garage perfectly fixed it and charged me the wholesome amount of 100 bht.

- Young girls (and some wives too) are always curious and make excuses to come and peek on me. I smiled at them and watched them as foreigners do. This eventually led my wife not to take me there.