The week that was in Thailand news: Swapping Bangkok for the boondocks - and not missing the news!

[rooster59]

The week that was in Thailand news: Swapping Bangkok for the boondocks - and not missing the news!

 

 

Readers of this column will know that Rooster - a translator on Thaivisa who is obsessed by the kingdom's news - is also a die hard Bangkokian. Despite having visited most of the kingdom's 77 provinces for me it has always been Krung Thep number one and the rest...well, pretty much nowhere. 

 

When I was  head of Thai language and culture at Harrow International School , however, I really enjoyed sticking it to the Thai parents for their lack of knowledge - and sometimes prejudice - of the countryside. Rather than tirelessly beat the capital's drum I made every effort to ensure that Thai studies topics were chock full of traditions, festivals and above all daily life from the provinces, especially from the north-east.

 

It was a bit like "do as I say not as I do" that has caused many a teacher to come a cropper!

 

To make my "cunning plan" more relevant and the antithesis of touristy I organised trips to the Thai heartlands where the parents feared to tread. One such place was a small village in Loei that is on no tourist route. It nestles somewhere between Phu Kradung and Nong Bua Lamphu - even after visiting 30 times I'm not sure exactly where it is, my map reading skills being on a par with Mrs Rooster. 

 

It is my second wife's birthplace and the home of her mum and dad and some of the extended family. It is also the place where I held eggs and was covered in symbolic local mud and holy string; my second Thai wedding day took place here 15 years ago inside what was then just the broken-down family shack. 

 

Following that I brought some of the well-heeled students here to meet the down-to-earth mother-in-law. How fascinated were these city folk to watch Khun Yai just doing things she had done all her life. Collect insects to fry for dinner from a purple light contraption set up at night. Use her loom to make bright mats from free, natural materials that she sold for a few baht in the market. Use a charcoal fire to rustle up a lovely, hearty meal containing leaves she picked on the roadside accompanied by a slaughtered chook. 

 

She wondered what all the fuss was about - this modest woman couldn't really grasp why the city slickers and her son-in-law from a world away found her clever, wise and interesting.

 

We did community service in the village school and slept over in the classrooms. The older children from Bangkok taught English or PE to the local kids. My Head of Drama colleague did a fun acting activity to break the ice further with the shy local kids. We painted a few things to spruce the place up a bit. Encouraged the kids to pick up litter.

 

Ceremonies were held and connections were made. Promises to reciprocate in Bangkok were made. When our youngsters went back to school in Don Muang they presented their findings to others in assemblies. 

 

On one occasion my sister-in-law had just given birth and was going through a traditional kind of sauna treatment for post-natal mothers called "Yoo Fai" - or being beside the fire. The process is designed to help a mother recuperate mentally and physically after childbirth while other relatives do some of the child rearing. This formed a central theme to a topic on "Birth" that centered on the traditions of country-folk compared to the experiences of city folk (It helped that one Bangkok kid with an English dad was delivered in a traffic jam in a taxi in Sukhumvit!)

 

The Bangkok based parents accepted that it was a good idea to teach their kids about those "baan nork" folk one usually only saw as stereotypical  downtrodden maids in the soaps. It got them off the cultural hook as they didn't have a clue what anyone did north of Saraburi or south of Ratchaburi! And for crafty Rooster it meant that by concentrating on what I knew I couldn't be found out lacking knowledge on some more highbrow Thai subject that the parents would appreciate infinitely better than me. Win-win!

 

Students that I took to the countryside were helped to realize that city and country folk were essentially very similar if you scraped away some of the superficial veneer. They appreciated that people have similar hopes, dreams and aspirations wherever they are raised. And despite the lack of money in the boondocks some of the more astute realized that those in the country might even have been better off, especially spiritually and morally. 

 

Both my children from my first marriage went to Harrow. Though they visited the countryside frequently with me and with the school they still grew up in something of a bubble. I was reluctant to immerse them with their Chiang Mai relatives in the holidays choosing to take them every year for long sojourns in London and Europe. I could afford it then and I was obsessed by making them citizens of the world at all costs. In the process I may have lost sight of them also being fifty percent Thai. 

 

My son joined the British army, albeit briefly before he suffered a career ending injury while still a teen cadet. My daughter - a high flyer - ended up at Oxford then Canary Wharf. Yes, they never forgot or will ever forget their Thai roots but it's true to say that their Thai language skills and knowledge of Thai culture lags behind mine. While I shall go up in smoke in Bangkok my daughter is a Londoner and my son is most at home in the north of England. When it comes to politics they wouldn't have a clue or care about what is happening in Thailand - though they would still cuss and complain about the Brexit vote. That went against their multiculturalism.

 

Yes, along with their school I was successful in helping to make global citizens of them!

 

Six years ago I started a second family and now have daughters aged six and nearly three with my second wife - the lady from Loei that I teamed up with after losing the battle to cohabit with my schizophrenic first wife. I quit Harrow to retire on savings and play Scrabble. 

 

It was a question of "needs must" as much as a bit of a social experiment when considering about how to raise my next two chicks. I knew from day one that they would be much more Thai, would go to Thai school - and would spend most if not all of their holidays in the Isaan countryside rather than abroad. This was dictated by dwindling finances and the fact that Thaivisa could hardly compete with a Harrow salary and benefit package, not to mention free 'international' schooling.

 

So it was that when Thai school in Ratchayothin broke up last week for a ten week sojourn we headed up Route 201 via Chayaphum to Loei. The children will stay with their mum, grandparents and cousins for six weeks. Rooster lasted four days - for while I talk a good game about the boondocks my Bangkok heart beats strong and besides, I could do with some peace and quiet!

 

About ten years ago my brother-in-law built my wife's parents and extended family a large house. Muggins paid for it.

 

This I had promised the parents on that wedding day. But when it went over budget I insisted on the residue being paid back to me which it was in time. I may have played my part in supporting the family but I wanted everyone to know that I was not an ATM and that everyone had responsibilities. 

 

To their credit all the Thai side of my family came to an understanding of who I was and what I was prepared to do.

 

And for my own part I appreciated who they were. I was never going to be some all dancing guy who arrived twice a year with a crate of beer and bonhomie. It helped that we could communicate well enough in Bangkok Thai. And it helped that they knew I wanted my space on visits. In short we developed a mutual understanding, essential in a Thai "extended marriage". 

 

Ten years later the house is poorly maintained but structurally still sound. Gran has diabetes and may not have too many years left but still plays "dummy" (a Thai card game) slightly better than me. Granddad had a stroke and is a bit grumpier than he used to be but is still a lovely guy. He tends ducks and only has a drop of "lao khao" at Songkran. (A bit like my own dad having pale ale only at Christmas). They are decent hard working people who, if they ever visit me in Bangkok, would rather sit on the floor than be culturally uncomfortable on the sofa.

 

But, like many of their age, they have had two young kids dumped on them after their second daughter disappeared.

 

She left owing everyone - including me - a considerable sum of money. The circumstances lead none of us to believe that she is dead. No one has heard from her in two years and while her estranged husband sends a few thousand baht a month he does very little else for his kids. 

 

The shame this situation has brought on this respectable family has been hard for them to bear at times. They have told me that this sense of shame is felt most acutely because Rooster - an original outsider who kept his promises to the family - has been let down too. I can take the financial loss, but. like them, the hardest thing to accept is that someone we loved and trusted has shafted all of us. Fortunately, in some ways it has made the rest of us stronger by galvanizing us. 

 

The grandparents, despite their ongoing health problems, are raising the sister-in-law's children well. The kids are kind, well-mannered and considerate and embrace my own children on their thrice yearly visits to the village. The grandparents have become an integral part of the life of my brood. 

 

So far that "social experiment" is progressing well. My children are essentially more understanding of Thai ways and speak better Thai. They converse in the vernacular while gorging on sticky rice and playing in the dirt around the duck feathers and chickens. But they appreciate Marmite and Branston with cheddar, an air-conditioned bed in a high rise Bangkok condo and why daddy loves Harry Kane and the Premier League. When the time comes to visit London we shall go but Thai and English-ness will go hand in hand this second time around.

 

I hope I am doing something right because when I quit my lucrative job it was not just eyebrows that were raised. Some people said to my face that I was barking.

 

Spending most of the week so far away from my usual stomping grounds meant the news seemed equally far off. It was hard to concentrate on the usual round of Thaivisa stories that my English editor sent to me to translate from Thai to English; what with the chickens crowing outside and gran shouting to put a bucket under a leak in the roof as an un-seasonal storm passed through! 

 

But true to The Week That Was here is my top ten list for the last seven days if, like me, you missed most of the news: 
1. Thai thugs terrorize school after being told to keep the music down at ordination
2. Italian/Thai couple in murder suicide because they couldn't get to Italy
3. Sathian murdered Picharat for hexing his massage skills
4. Drunk Brit with one arm slams his Fortuner into motorcycles in Pattaya
5. Child rapist turned to younger sister after elder sibling was not at home
6. PM calls himself Loong Tu as new devotional book issued by Palang Pracharat party
7. French woman deported for vaping in Phuket
8. German finally arrested for murder of teen lover in Chiang Rai in 2010
9. Motorcyle taxi driver can't pay more for three year old's treatment after his dog pack attacked
10. "Kim Thailand" arrested at Hanoi summit and seen off the premises. 

 

Just another week - but who really needs the news! The folks in Loei wouldn't have given a flying locust for any of it! Granddad asked what I was doing at the computer. My answer, though in Thai, might have been Alpha Centauran for all it meant to him.

 

Seeing the simple life in Loei that was dependent on the sunlight - everyone was tucked up in bed after just one early evening soap - and more down to earth realities like eating together, really brought home that "life" as many of us vicariously live it though a site like Thaivisa is far removed from the experience of most people.

 

I've never thought that road rage was getting worse, that murder and violence were on the rise, that dogs bite more than they used to, that Thai society was going to those self-same dogs or is more xenophobic or insular than it ever was. It always had bits and pieces like that. It was just less in-yer-face without social media and online news. And easier to ignore! 

 

Thailand may have lost some of its innocence, may have shed some of its charm after nearly four decades for this "visitor" but it still feels like home, still pleases and amuses me and remains the only place I could live and one where I am proud to raise my daughters. 

 

Reading some of the forum and Facebook comments on Thaivisa on every story under the sun one wonders how many of these negative people actually live in Thailand and if they do how the Thais perceive them. Not so well, I'd wager. I may be wearing some rose tinted specs this week but I am no apologist. However, when I read the appalling negativity displayed by so many online towards Thailand, when I am obliged to stomach the pack-mentality Thai bashing that so many purport to condemn, I wonder why they bother commenting about Thailand at all. 

 

If they do live here it sounds like self-inflicted torture. If they don't I wonder what their motives are. I'd like to think it was just sour grapes but I doubt it. Having spent a large proportion of my life being positive about Thailand - despite all the difficulties like anyone else here long term has faced - I wonder why they bother giving Thailand the time of day. 

 

Fortunately, people who have come to be known as "the curmudgeons" in this column, remain a minority. They appear to be in the majority only because of how loud and how viciously they shout. The reality is that Thailand in general - and let's face it there are plenty of those - remains a country that helps visitors appreciate a different culture and a different way of doing things. And, I wholeheartedly believe, it is a country that, sometimes grudgingly, ultimately learns from those visitors.

 

Especially if they are persistent, pleasant and, above all, positive. 

 

Rooster

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-03-02

[leeneeds]

I  enjoyed the article, many truths in its content,

as my self have a 7  year old and have done similar things of trying to give her an expanded mind (some by overseas travel) with some future ones to come,

the pace in the north east  is slower and costs lower, for sure, and I agree it is not all roses here but the faults are overlook - able, once you get the Thai way into you, 

And for all the complaints I get from friends back in Oz of red tape and continued erosion of take home pay after paying utilities and food on the table,etc 

I am so thankful I have my Thai abode and family.

[overherebc]

Taking off the rose tinted glasses might give you a different view.

 

Just sayin'

[Samui Bodoh]

Interesting column as always...

 

However, while there are many negative comments on TVF (few, if any, would disagree), I would point out that there are many positive comments as well. And, many neutral comments, many constructive comments, many comments which represent a particular point of view, of opinion, of religion, of culture, of gender, of ethic origin, of level of education, of native birth, etc. In short, there is a wide variety of commentary on TVF if one takes the trouble to find it.

 

Respectfully, it might be better to not throw such a wide net when one complains of negativity on TVF; there is perhaps more nuance there than you realize.

 

I can't remember where I read it, but a sentence from some book has stuck with me for a while;

 

Beware that the shadow you cast is not the shadow you chase.

 

 

 

 

[overherebc]

12 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Interesting column as always...

 

However, while there are many negative comments on TVF (few, if any, would disagree), I would point out that there are many positive comments as well. And, many neutral comments, many constructive comments, many comments which represent a particular point of view, of opinion, of religion, of culture, of gender, of ethic origin, of level of education, of native birth, etc. In short, there is a wide variety of commentary on TVF if one takes the trouble to find it.

 

Respectfully, it might be better to not throw such a wide net when one complains of negativity on TVF; there is perhaps more nuance there than you realize.

 

I can't remember where I read it, but a sentence from some book has stuck with me for a while;

 

Beware that the shadow you cast is not the shadow you chase.

 

 

 

 

Or Benjamin Franklin.

A false friend and a shadow only attend when the sun shines.

Edit.

As my MIL once said in UK

When all the money has gone out the window love soon follows.

Edited March 2, 2019 by overherebc

[Soi Dog]

Well written piece.  My sentiments exactly.

[Boon Mee]

Good piece, Rooster. 

My sentiments exactly on the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism that always seem to find fault with everything. 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Boon Mee

[villagefarang]

I always open this weekly topic in a separate tab and come back to it when I have the time to read it uninterrupted.  There are just so few people who have been around as long as I have and share some similar reference points.  It is also fascinating to examine our very divergent paths through these past four decades in Thailand.

 

For my first thirty years I too was very much a Bangkok boy and still know people who would be reluctant to visit us here in Chiang Rai, as we live so far from town.  Others appreciate that a visit to VF-vil is more of a five star nature resort than a hill-tribe homestay and use it as a getaway from their hectic lives.  I suppose it helps that we live in such a scenic part of Thailand.  Some of your Bangkok friends are a bit more adventurous and come for the Thot Kratin or perhaps a meditation retreat once a year.  Others come up to do volunteer work in schools, villages or the prison.  The more athletic come for running or cycling events.

 

I am not certain whether it is out of fear or respect but no-one in my wife's extended family approaches me directly for anything.  Everything goes through my wife, we talk about it and she has my permission to use me as an excuse if she can’t think of another way of saying, no.  We have tried with varying levels of success to explain our lives to family, villagers and our Bangkok friends.  Sometimes it is just better to let people believe what they wish.

 

I have listened patiently to those predicting doom and gloom for the last forty years as I watch things get better, from my perspective.  I acknowledge that Thailand is not a good fit for many but that is not going to deter me from enjoying my amazing life here in Thailand.  If someone doesn’t like Thailand, fine, but why insist that everyone who thinks differently is either wrong or stupid.

[connda]

Thanks for sharing your story.  Having lived in the city, and now retired out in a rural mountain valley in Lamphun province where the only farang I see are passing through on motorcycles or bicycles on the way to one of the surrounding national parks or national forest - yeah, I can identify.  I like rural life.  It's life in the slow lane where many of those my age and older still remember to good old days when there was neither running water or electricity, and well-off villagers had bicycles, rich villagers had motorcycles, and wealthy villagers and visitors had cars or trucks - and the family buffalo served as transportation and the muscle in the fields.  These are folks who could still survive if the power grid went out tomorrow, and honestly, I can identify with most.  They are simple folk, but many have an earthy wisdom and generally good hearts.  Yeah, visiting the city is Ok, but I don't miss the glitzy patina of civilized society nor the buy, buy, buy culture where the cosmopolitan class worship at the alters of consumerism nestled in the nooks, crannies, shops, and departments at various Malls that have become the nouveau temples of sophisticated city-dwellers and the urbane. 
Yep, I like life in the slow lane where it's still 'real.' No looking back.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by connda

[George Aylesham]

Rooster - I have never read a better love letter to Thailand - realistic, honest and affectionate. Thanks - it has made my Sunday. Best wishes, keep up the good work  - from a happy British immigrant.

[Jane Dough]

2 hours ago, villagefarang said:

I always open this weekly topic in a separate tab and come back to it when I have the time to read it uninterrupted.  There are just so few people who have been around as long as I have and share some similar reference points.  It is also fascinating to examine our very divergent paths through these past four decades in Thailand.

 

For my first thirty years I too was very much a Bangkok boy and still know people who would be reluctant to visit us here in Chiang Rai, as we live so far from town.  Others appreciate that a visit to VF-vil is more of a five star nature resort than a hill-tribe homestay and use it as a getaway from their hectic lives.  I suppose it helps that we live in such a scenic part of Thailand.  Some of your Bangkok friends are a bit more adventurous and come for the Thot Kratin or perhaps a meditation retreat once a year.  Others come up to do volunteer work in schools, villages or the prison.  The more athletic come for running or cycling events.

 

I am not certain whether it is out of fear or respect but no-one in my wife's extended family approaches me directly for anything.  Everything goes through my wife, we talk about it and she has my permission to use me as an excuse if she can’t think of another way of saying, no.  We have tried with varying levels of success to explain our lives to family, villagers and our Bangkok friends.  Sometimes it is just better to let people believe what they wish.

 

I have listened patiently to those predicting doom and gloom for the last forty years as I watch things get better, from my perspective.  I acknowledge that Thailand is not a good fit for many but that is not going to deter me from enjoying my amazing life here in Thailand.  If someone doesn’t like Thailand, fine, but why insist that everyone who thinks differently is either wrong or stupid.

Thanks for your support. Your post is, as ever, interesting and thoughtful.

 

I think it is right what you say about letting people believe what they wish. Even as a school teacher I spent very little time persuading anyone about anything!

 

Rooster

 

 

[Jane Dough]

56 minutes ago, George Aylesham said:

Rooster - I have never read a better love letter to Thailand - realistic, honest and affectionate. Thanks - it has made my Sunday. Best wishes, keep up the good work  - from a happy British immigrant.

Thank you for your comments and please keep reading the column. 

 

Rooster

[Cutty Shark]

4 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Good piece, Rooster. 

My sentiments exactly on the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism that always seem to find fault with everything. 

As a Marylander, I found it amusing to read a quote from my former governor and disgraced vice president. 

[willow wilson]

3 hours ago, connda said:

Thanks for sharing your story.  Having lived in the city, and now retired out in a rural mountain valley in Lamphun province where the only farang I see are passing through on motorcycles or bicycles on the way to one of the surrounding national parks or national forest - yeah, I can identify.  I like rural life.  It's life in the slow lane where many of those my age and older still remember to good old days when there was neither running water or electricity, and well-off villagers had bicycles, rich villagers had motorcycles, and wealthy villagers and visitors had cars or trucks - and the family buffalo served as transportation and the muscle in the fields.  These are folks who could still survive if the power grid went out tomorrow, and honestly, I can identify with most.  They are simple folk, but many have an earthy wisdom and generally good hearts.  Yeah, visiting the city is Ok, but I don't miss the glitzy patina of civilized society nor the buy, buy, buy culture where the cosmopolitan class worship at the alters of consumerism nestled in the nooks, crannies, shops, and departments at various Malls that have become the nouveau temples of sophisticated city-dwellers and the urbane. 
Yep, I like life in the slow lane where it's still 'real.' No looking back.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing your'e story, lacked the angst ridden  statements often read here ,really reminded me about the things I fell in love with ,  along with that idyllic photo and quotes like"glitzy patina of civilized society"  , "cosmopolitan class worship at the altars of consumerism" (there's a song in there somewhere),  that's the Thailand i want to read about.

[PaDavid]

An excetionally good read Rooster, probably because I could relate to a lot of what you said. I too live in Changwat Loei, which added to the relevance. 

 

I'm writing this from a hotel in Bangkok where, if the promises made during last week's visit come to fruition, tomorrow I'll be making an honest woman of the love of my life.

 

Personally, I can't see how anyone could stand living here, but there again I was brought up in a small village in rural Oxfordshire. The noise, the smells, the filth, the interminable traffic queues (Bangkok not Oxfordshire). Where's the enjoyment in that? And to live in a high rise appartment where you need to take a lift just to get a sniff of real air (albeit smog-ridden) is my idea of hell. No wonder the people who live here complain so much.

 

I've only been here a couple of hours and already I miss my home: My patio and comfortable chair from which I have views of the countryside, not just acres of concrete. The ponds and lakes where I can fish to my heart's content. The quiet roads where I can cycle for hours and hardly see a motorised vehicle (but don't mention the dogs). I could go on, but enough said. 

 

Keep up the good work Rooster. But, please can we have mentions of the boondocks every week. Too often the only places that get your attention are down South (with occasional sprinklings of Chiang Mai). It doesn't have to be just Loei as I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of farangs living in rural villages all over Thailand. To most, I suspect, Bangkok is as much an alen place and dirty word as it is to me!

 

 

[GarryP]

Very interesting column this week. Thought provoking and enjoyable. Obviously Rooster was on leave and his alter ego Jane stood in for this one.  

[StevieAus]

A great read as always, personally I wouldn’t want to live in Bangkok but neither would I want to return to Sydney where I spent most of my life, each to their own as they say.

I am pleased that you keep mentioning the posters who constantly criticize anything and everything that happens in this country, sure everything isn’t perfect but I don’t think you will find a place on this earth where it is.

I would suggest that they look around the world and see what’s happening in other countries and perhaps their own, they might be surprised, but then they would have nothing to complain about.

[villagefarang]

@PaDavid  I suspect you may have missed my recent Country Living topic.  I'm in Chiang Rai not Loei, still it is about Thailand's beautiful countryside.

 

 

[overherebc]

39 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

A great read as always, personally I wouldn’t want to live in Bangkok but neither would I want to return to Sydney where I spent most of my life, each to their own as they say.

I am pleased that you keep mentioning the posters who constantly criticize anything and everything that happens in this country, sure everything isn’t perfect but I don’t think you will find a place on this earth where it is.

I would suggest that they look around the world and see what’s happening in other countries and perhaps their own, they might be surprised, but then they would have nothing to complain about.

Some posters may have lived and worked in many countries around the world, going somewhere for a holiday for a few weeks never gives anyone the slightest idea about that country.

Whether people want to accept it or not the first experience that many expats, let's say at 50+, have of Thailand is usually a holiday and the warmth

( climate ) and dare I mention the availability of night time comfort is too difficult to reject. It doesn't take long for them to upsticks and move here and get involved in a 'permanent' relationship, and, very soon after the 'extended family' starts to emerge from the woodwork.

The end game has been decided for them from day one and the whole thing is carried through with smiles and praise of the provider.

Eventually the move to the countryside happens, why pay rent in BKK or Pattaya when you can live so much more cheaply in the village? That means the moving of the rice bowl to somewhere with much more control over it and away from the risk of it being stolen.

It doesn't take long for a couple of rug-rats to appear and they're ( the expats ) stuck here.

Instead of a nice easy retirement doing what they please and going where they want, as retirement should be, in my mind anyway, they have to defend the lifestyle by saying how wonderful and peaceful it is.

Obviously it's not my idea of a retirement and I ( we ) live our lives in a different way. No kids, no extended family, no discussions of so and so wants/needs some money for this or that.

So, anyone can reply and tell me how wonderful their life is in the village/countryside and I will say 'good for you.'

For me I would hate it.

 

[Jane Dough]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

Very interesting column this week. Thought provoking and enjoyable. Obviously Rooster was on leave and his alter ego Jane stood in for this one.  

Actually it could be said, Mr P, that Jane is my "altar ego".

 

Rooster

[overherebc]

24 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

Actually it could be said, Mr P, that Jane is my "altar ego".

 

Rooster

Religion rears it's ugly head. ????

 

I know, we all make keyboard slips now and then. ????

[Mark mark]

Very Nice Piece Rooster, and yes, Humanly Intelligent, and Spiritually Helpful also, to look for the better things of life .... or just be able to see them alone, like Grandpa. Right ... It all adds up to a very calm, positive feeling. Thanks.

 

... I skimmed down and hit it, to my view of the truth of it, ... in the second Post, where the fellow, politely suggested that you take off you rose colored glasses, like so you can see the shit, ? that he sees Right ?  ..... But I think that it is probably more a case of Success in Life, that is coloring your view, .... Like You obviously have had it, ! Success, ... and in pretty bound full amounts of it by the sound of it, .... So good for you for keeping on writing !!! ... Saluteee !  .... And stick with the Rose colored glasses, .... like I do also.

 

But well, .... "The Curmudgeons" as you put it, the ones that complain about the Thais, and well, about every thing else often also at times .... I would guess that they really, probably are NOT so successful !!! ....  Like other than in Surviving in Shit !!! right  ... (Like I have been there, ... and done that, also, but only on a surface Skim, right.) .....

 

... But it is Frustration, that often makes people very negative I think, .... Like when I posted, the night that my Dog had died, by my car, ... Waiting, .... for me to take him to the vet the next morning, ... I must have had 2 Leos while he died, probably I think ? ... Like YES, very bad timing. ....  I should have taken him that afternoon, but I thought he was not that bad ... a bad mistake on my part I think. ... And my post on TV. that night, was suitably bad also, due to the frustration. ? I guess ? ... Though well, it did not get Pulled, so well, the Moderators must have agreed with me I guess ! ? ...  Even if I was just verging on .... Going Off !!!) ....

 

,,,  Like the Buddha might not have put it that way, ... but well, that WAS what his Theseus was about it also I think. ? Reducing the Frustration ! of Humanity  .... "Reduce Desire" hence reduce Failure ? ... So reduce the Pain of it ? .... "Reduce Desire" and reduce the Frustration, ... from when it doesn't work out. ... ....  So write a whole lot of shit to TV Har Har !!! ...   (And blame every one else for your own failures ? ... NO Blame the Thais Right Har Har !!! ) ? .... Only Kidding.

 

.... I got one of my bits pulled this last week, when I just went off, well, only after a couple of Leos !!! ...  But well, I was going off at the Americans, NOT the Thais ! .... Which the "American Back Packer sleeps with Woman in 10 person Dorm" in Changmai story, was obviously encouraging us to do ? Right ... Like it went on for just pages, and pages, .... I lost interest at page 14 I think ? ..?   And it was not stopped by then either, like you do stop others, when they get a bit out of hand .... (Or your people have made a mistake ? God Forbid it ? Right ? ...) .... but yes, I went to far, insulting the present Americans, and well in my view, their political historic, Arrogance ... But I WAS out of order, and I knew it, I went to far, and my language deteriorated ... Possibly OK, in the front bar of the Cumberland on Friday night, ... but not here right ! ? ....  So I was quite happy that the Moderators Removed the story. .... Obviously not a problem that you have to much trouble with Right ? Good Mr BKK, well thought out, and edited, Rooster.

 

...  Thanks for a good, and Intelligent, and ON subject read, as usual mate. I live in the country side also, but before Salarburi, so well, we know Bangkok pretty well, ... as they all know US. (Ayuttahya, and out side Ayuttahya, not in it, which DOES make a difference)

 

... ....  (A Lot of Muslims around here, and you would never know it, every one gets on so well !!! ... Even if they actually Do Not like each other ! ... They DO get on !!! ...  as they all know that they have to !  ....  Still, that is another story I guess, ... crossing religious divides, as well as Cultural and social ones, ... ) ...

 

Mark mark ... ...  But still OK with the Thais ! .... (I Hope) ... Really the only Bottom line right Rooster. Other then paying the bills ? ... 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Mark mark
Selling and grama as usual, and adding a bit at the end ?

[overherebc]

11 minutes ago, Mark mark said:

Very Nice Piece Rooster, and yes, Humanly Intelligent, and Spiritually Helpful also, to look for the better things of life .... or just be able to see them alone, like Grandpa. Right ... It all adds up to a very calm, positive feeling. Thanks.

 

... I skimmed down and hit it, to my view of the truth of it, ... in the second Post, where the fellow, politely suggested that you take off you rose colored glasses, like so you ca see the shit, ? that he sees Right ?  ..... But I think that it is provably more a case of Success in Life, that is coloring your view, .... Like You obviously have had it, ! Success, ... and in pretty bound full amounts of it by the sound of it, .... So good for you for keeping on writing !!! ... Saluteee !  .... And stick with the Rose colored glasses, .... like I do also.

 

But well, .... "The Curmudgeons" as you put it, the ones that complain about the Thais, and well, about every thing else also at times .... I would guess that they really, are probably are NOT so successful !!! ....  Like other then in Surviving in Shit !!! right  ... (Like I have been there, ... and done that also, but only on a surface Skim, right.) .....

 

It is Frustration, that often makes people very negative I think, .... Like when I posted, the night that my Dog had died, by my car, ... Waiting, .... before I could get him to the vet the next morning, ... I must have had 2 Leos while he died, probably I think ? ... Like YES, very bad timing. ....  I should have taken him that afternoon, but I thought he was not that bad ... a bad mistake on my part I think. ... And my post on TV that night, was suitably bad also, due to the frustration. ? ... Though well, it did not get Pulled, so well, the Moderators must have agreed with me I guess ! ? ...  Even if I was just verging on .... Going Off !!!) ....

 

,,,  Like the Buddha might not have put it that way, ... but well, that WAS what his Theseus was about also I think. ? Reducing the Frustration ! of Humanity  .... "Reduce Desire" hence reduce Failure ? So reduce the Pain of it ? .... "Reduce Desire" and reduce the Frustration, from when it doesn't work out. ... ....  So write a whole lot of shit to TV Har Har !!! ...   (And blame every one else for your own failures) ? Only Kidding.

 

.... I got one of my bits pulled this last week, when I just went off, well, only after a couple of Leos !!! ...  But well, I was going off at the Americans, NOT the Thais ! .... Which the "American Back Packer sleeps with Woman in 10 person Dorm" in Changmai story, was obviously encouraging us to do ? Right ... Like it went on for just pages, and pages, .... I lost interest at page 14 I think ? ..???   And it was not stopped by then either, like you do stop others, when they get a bit out of hand .... (Or your people have made a mistake ? God Forbid it ? Right ? ...) .... but yes, I went to far, insulting the present Americans, and well in my view, their historic, Arrogance ... But I WAS out of order, and I knew it, ....  and I was quite happy that the Moderators Removed the story. .... Obviously not a problem that you have much to do with Right ? Good Mr BKK well thought out, and edited, Rooster.

 

...  Thanks for a good, and Intelligent, and ON subject read as usual mate.

 

Mark mark ... ...  But still OK with the Thais ! .... (I Hope) ... Really the only Bottom line right Rooster. Other then paying the bills ? ... 

Stunning post, in more ways than one.

[overherebc]

Thanks Markmark. Not sure what else to say.

[Mark mark]

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

Thanks Markmark. Not sure what else to say.

No need to say any thing else, the posts and the original article. are still there ... maybe I should not have added to mins but well, .... All good stuff, ....  and On On !!! 

 

Thanks Mate,

 

Mark mark

[Mark mark]

Just now, Mark mark said:

No need to say any thing else, the posts and the original article. are still there ... maybe I should not have added to mins but well, .... All good stuff, ....  and On On !!! 

 

Thanks Mate,

 

Mark mark

Thanks BKK Rooster also. ...

[overherebc]

9 hours ago, connda said:

Thanks for sharing your story.  Having lived in the city, and now retired out in a rural mountain valley in Lamphun province where the only farang I see are passing through on motorcycles or bicycles on the way to one of the surrounding national parks or national forest - yeah, I can identify.  I like rural life.  It's life in the slow lane where many of those my age and older still remember to good old days when there was neither running water or electricity, and well-off villagers had bicycles, rich villagers had motorcycles, and wealthy villagers and visitors had cars or trucks - and the family buffalo served as transportation and the muscle in the fields.  These are folks who could still survive if the power grid went out tomorrow, and honestly, I can identify with most.  They are simple folk, but many have an earthy wisdom and generally good hearts.  Yeah, visiting the city is Ok, but I don't miss the glitzy patina of civilized society nor the buy, buy, buy culture where the cosmopolitan class worship at the alters of consumerism nestled in the nooks, crannies, shops, and departments at various Malls that have become the nouveau temples of sophisticated city-dwellers and the urbane. 
Yep, I like life in the slow lane where it's still 'real.' No looking back.

 

 

 

 

All true but complying with/to the fast and expensive life is not compulsory. Everybody has a choice.

People who love to spend money to impress others are really a bit sad. If they are happy in themselves to do it, fine with me, I don't care, up to them really.

The biggests leveller at the end of the day is the fact that everybody's sh-t stinks.

Well, except for the queen in UK who has had a fartectomy and poops little pink sweeties.

[lamyai3]

Like Rooster, I'm a lover of the city, and have always been happiest in the big cities in every country I've lived in. The thought of a few days stuck in the country almost makes me shudder in terror.

 

I remember the comment of a famous 19th century writer who described the English countryside as like a long tedious novel that rambles on and on without a plot, but I can't find the quote now. So this one from Dr Who legend Tom Baker will have to do instead:

"The countryside is incredibly boring. There's lots of shagging, lots of murders, lots of sarcasm, lots of treachery, and lots of bad cooking, but it's all hidden. You've got all the space and the flowers, but it's dull!"

[Nyezhov]

I like it here. Im living the dream. 

[Farang99]

18 hours ago, George Aylesham said:

Rooster - I have never read a better love letter to Thailand - realistic, honest and affectionate. Thanks - it has made my Sunday. Best wishes, keep up the good work  - from a happy British immigrant.

The final paragraphs in Rooster's post echo my sentiments. If they dislike Thais and Thailand so much why are they still here?