Diary of a farang in Isaan

[Kadilo]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thanks for your photos, and no bike in any of them:-)

 

You seem to have a problem taking level photos though. If you have either Photoshop or windows 10 it's simple to rotate and crop. Up to you.

Most of them were taken by the gf or her 4 year old niece. I guess I’m a bit old school and never messed around with pics and been quite content to receive them and keep them as taken/ received. 
 

Maybe i should use this lockdown time to have a go. 

[Kadilo]

5 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

An excellent post and thanks for the photos Kadilo!

 

I am very glad that you are able to keep in close touch with your family and please stay safe and well in one of the centres of the storm...

 

These are very difficult times.

Cheers. I am actually spending this time off in Aberdeen. By choice I am only onshore for a week then back to work so rather than travel back to Essex for a few nights to stay with my elderly folks I decided to stay put. 
 

I figured me going back just adds another risk to them as they have been quite happy self isolating for many weeks as well as the fact that I can stay here and do nothing just as easy. The company kindly paid for me to stay in an apartment. 
 

We are all being tested now before mobilising offshore so it will be interesting to see if I have, or had COVID 19.  The testing started last week  and there have already been 3 positive cases, all from guys with no symptoms so I dread to think how many have been carrying and passing it around the rigs over the past few months. The tests may turn out some surprises. 

[Assurancetourix]

9 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Most of them were taken by the gf or her 4 year old niece. I guess I’m a bit old school and never messed around with pics and been quite content to receive them and keep them as taken/ received. 
 

Maybe i should use this lockdown time to have a go. 

I also noticed it but didn't say anything.
On the Photography of the month line, we have similar ones; it does not seem to gener generously those who post them, nor the jury for that matter 

 

 

[Kadilo]

13 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

I also noticed it but didn't say anything.
On the Photography of the month line, we have similar ones; it does not seem to gener generously those who post them, nor the jury for that matter 

 

 

Like many Thais ladies my gf uses some App that makes her look 10 years younger when she posts on social media. I tell her not to bother using the “magic app” if it’s just for me and remind her I wake up in the morning  next to her and know the truth. ????  

[owl sees all]

44 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Cheers. I am actually spending this time off in Aberdeen. By choice I am only onshore for a week then back to work so rather than travel back to Essex for a few nights to stay with my elderly folks I decided to stay put. 

There was a rig off Aberdeen called 'Constellation'. Is it still on the go?

[Kadilo]

9 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

There was a rig off Aberdeen called 'Constellation'. Is it still on the go?

No, it’s not one I’m familiar with and probably one of many that has bitten the dust. 

[owl sees all]

6 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

No, it’s not one I’m familiar with and probably one of many that has bitten the dust. 

OK. The only rig that I even went on was Mr Louie. Worked for a company called Reading and Bates; ring a bell Kadilo.

 

When my posting came through for REME. I left for the British army.

[pineapple01]

Dice Airport in the late sixties was fun. That windy planes took of on their own, Boarding was via a Rain-soaked Dash across the parking area and everyone smelt like a Wet Dog on the way to London City I went to give Enlish chap my mile of Green Shield Stamps from a 2 Week Car rental but they had glued themselves up from the Dice Deluge

[Kadilo]

9 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

OK. The only rig that I even went on was Mr Louie. Worked for a company called Reading and Bates; ring a bell Kadilo.

 

When my posting came through for REME. I left for the British army.

I had a quick Google and see that R&B was taken over by Transocean the deep water Drillers implicated in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010., apparently R&B designed. 
 

That’s my learnings for the day...........photoshop can wait for another. 

[pineapple01]

Reading n Bates seemed to be the No 1. Brits only supplied cheap labour by US standards mainly. Dutch only a bit.

[Bredbury Blue]

1 hour ago, Kadilo said:

Cheers. I am actually spending this time off in Aberdeen. By choice I am only onshore for a week then back to work so rather than travel back to Essex for a few nights to stay with my elderly folks I decided to stay put. 
 

I figured me going back just adds another risk to them as they have been quite happy self isolating for many weeks as well as the fact that I can stay here and do nothing just as easy. The company kindly paid for me to stay in an apartment. 
 

We are all being tested now before mobilising offshore so it will be interesting to see if I have, or had COVID 19.  The testing started last week  and there have already been 3 positive cases, all from guys with no symptoms so I dread to think how many have been carrying and passing it around the rigs over the past few months. The tests may turn out some surprises. 

The number of infected cases and deaths in the UK is frightening, while here new infected cases are single digit this week and deaths probably less than motorbike deaths here. Here (BKK area), it is so rare you spot anyone outside without a mask on, while i hear from my brothers in the UK only about 20% of people wear a mask. Is that your observation?

[Kadilo]

13 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

The number of infected cases and deaths in the UK is frightening, while here new infected cases are single digit this week and deaths probably less than motorbike deaths here. Here (BKK area), it is so rare you spot anyone outside without a mask on, while i hear from my brothers in the UK only about 20% of people wear a mask. Is that your observation?

Yes. The official Government line is that there is little to no evidence that wearing a mask benefits the wearer in terms of prevention and only very little benefit in passing it on. The numbers now reflect the number of deaths in Care Homes as well as hospitals as they were heavily criticized for not giving the whole picture. They are now intimating that compared to the rest of Europe we stand out because they are still not reporting as we are here. 
 

Nicola Sturgeon up here in Scotland has gone out on a limb and suggested people wear one or cover their mouths with a scarf in public areas such as Supermarkets but I was out shopping yesterday and your 20% was probably about right. 
 

The Government get quizzed on it daily and only yesterday a question was raised that even if there is little benefit surely the fact that people are dying should be enough to change their advice. The answer was that if they  are worn publicly then their availability may harm the front line workers. 
 

Therein lies the real problem. They do provide some protection even if it helps to slow down the passing on, but they don’t want everyone wearing one because the supply and distribution is still not how it should be which is one of the ongoing failures and complaints from the NHS among others. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Kadilo

[Kadilo]

Apologies for going off track. 
 

Im longing for this, basic yummy Thai food. 

 

 

[GarryP]

16 hours ago, Kadilo said:

HI all. Great to see and read the updates from you all especially the photos from both now and the past. 

 

Have just completed a 3 week spell offshore and would usually be making my way to the airport to head for Thailand for a couple of weeks to chill and enjoy. Alas, things over here are not much improved. Lockdown still in full flow with no real hope of being lifted. Cannot realistically hope of coming back this year. 

 

My girlfriend speaks every every day and keeps me updated with events over there. Village life does not seem too affected for a typical Isaan family. She says a ferang in the village topped himself because he could not get any more whiskey and all the local mom and pop shops are running dry. 

 

She has been busy planting some trees, some from her parents garden, some new on the land I bought recently. I’m happy for her to plant away,  keeps her happy and she takes her brothers kids sometimes to have a dig around. 

 

They have some nice nice mango trees in the garden. She has been busy collecting. 

 

I love to see them just eating together as a family, it’s one of the things I miss most. The evening meal looks a bit bigger when I’m there ????

 

 

 

 

The land looks to be in a really nice location (I'd love to have land with a river or lake view like that) but I would be worried about flooding.  Is the river/lake bank quite high?  

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

The land looks to be in a really nice location (I'd love to have land with a river or lake view like that) but I would be worried about flooding.  Is the river/lake bank quite high?  

There is about a 50-70 metre gap between the land and the edge of the lake. I’ve seen it during the rainy season and doesn’t come too close to the bottom of the land. I will be looking even more closely this year but the land is about 120 metre long so no need to build close to the end. 
 

Depending on how it looks this rainy season I may well put down more soil.  

[owl sees all]

4 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Apologies for going off track. 
 

Im longing for this, basic yummy Thai food. 

 

 

This is my favourite meal in Thailand; poon pap a pow.

 

In Big C (when it's open) I have prawn fried rice or shredded chicken on rice with soup. Don't know the Thai, and can't ask the wife 'cause we are still not speaking, and Milly is at her Grandma's at the mo'.

 

7 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Depending on how it looks this rainy season I may well put down more soil.

Looks like a very dry, wet season to me. Not off to a great start.

[Kadilo]

4 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

This is my favourite meal in Thailand; poon pap a pow.

 

In Big C (when it's open) I have prawn fried rice or shredded chicken on rice with soup. Don't know the Thai, and can't ask the wife 'cause we are still not speaking, and Milly is at her Grandma's at the mo'.

 

Looks like a very dry, wet season to me. Not off to a great start.

Mine too. Always have it in Lotus when we go shopping. 
 

Time to make the peace with the missus Owl. 
 

I read some graffiti along the beach front in Aberdeen here today whilst out strolling which read “time flies by.........but you are the pilot”

 

Gonna stick with me that one. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Kadilo

[faraday]

Owl, go & say sorry.

 

My Dad used to say: 

 

"Be sincere, even if you don't mean it"

 

555!

[hotandsticky]

12 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

This is my favourite meal in Thailand; poon pap a pow.

 

In Big C (when it's open) I have prawn fried rice or shredded chicken on rice with soup. Don't know the Thai, and can't ask the wife 'cause we are still not speaking, and Milly is at her Grandma's at the mo'.

 

Looks like a very dry, wet season to me. Not off to a great start.

 

 

Looks like a Pad Krappow Mu at the top

[owl sees all]

12 minutes ago, faraday said:

Owl, go & say sorry.

 

My Dad used to say: 

 

"Be sincere, even if you don't mean it"

 

555!

That's a good thing to keep in mind.

 

I haven't actually done anything wrong; at least from my standpoint. Just want to plant the euca trees. BUT, what's upset her - to the point where she threatened to give me heart attack - is that I want them planted my way.

 

Anyhow, she is doing me chips at the mo', so there is a glimpse of reconciliation. She knows I like them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by owl sees all

[owl sees all]

9 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

Looks like a Pad Krappow Mu at the top

 

Yes. you are correct. I speak French, German, Spanish, Creole and English. Can't get to grips with the Thai, even after all these years.

[bluesofa]

7 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

That's a good thing to keep in mind.

 

I haven't actually done anything wrong; at least from my standpoint. Just want to plant the euca trees. BUT, what's upset her - to the point where she threatened to give me heart attack - is that I want them planted my way.

 

Anyhow, she is doing me chips at the mo', so there is a glimpse of reconciliation. She knows I like them.

I hope they're to your liking and don't contain anything dodgy - ha ha!

 

Regarding your language skills, perhaps giving it another go at Thai might just help things along a bit?

You know a heck of a lot more other languages than me. I had to learn French and German at school. I put more effort into avoiding learning them, as I knew I wanted to pursue a career in electronics.

 

For me Thai was the first language I really wanted to learn. When I came here permanently I wanted to be able to talk to locals in their own language.

Anyway, enjoy your chips. Got any Sarsons?

[bannork]

10 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

 

Yes. you are correct. I speak French, German, Spanish, Creole and English. Can't get to grips with the Thai, even after all these years.

Learn to read Thai owl, then the pronunciation is a thousand times easier, believe me.

But Issan people together don't speak Thai, so then there's another language/ dialect to learn!

 

[owl sees all]

7 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

For me Thai was the first language I really wanted to learn. When I came here permanently I wanted to be able to talk to locals in their own language.

Anyway, enjoy your chips. Got any Sarsons?

No Sarsons bluesofa. A sprinkling of salt (locally produced) and some tomato sauce in a dish.

 

I get on OK with Thai mathematics. Don't really want to learn Thai now. Just content to hear Mildred speak decent English.

 

 

[bluesofa]

27 minutes ago, bannork said:

Learn to read Thai owl, then the pronunciation is a thousand times easier, believe me.

But Issan people together don't speak Thai, so then there's another language/ dialect to learn!

That's true.

However central Thai is used and understood throughout the country (virtually!).

I learnt Thai at school in Pattaya before moving to Udon.

At home we never speak Engrish, only Thai. My wife and her family all speak Lao (wash my mouth out - Issan!) between them, obviously,

I've picked up a few words, but talking to any of the family is in Thai, as they all can speak it.

 

Don't forget (nearly) a hundred years ago during the "Thiaification of Issan" by the Thai government, schools here were forced to teach Thai and Lao was banned.

So to this day, they are all bi-lingual in that respect. Any "Issan" words they might write is done using Thai script, not Lao.

(sorry for the waffle again!)

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by bluesofa
grammar

[Assurancetourix]

38 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

I speak French,

That interests me a lot;
so you won't hear my terrible french accent when i speak english 

[GarryP]

4 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

That's true. However central Thai is used and understood throughout the country (virtually!).

I learnt Thai at school in Pattaya before moving to Udon.

At home we never speak Engrish, only Thai. My wife and her family all speak Lao (wash my mouth out - Issan!) between them, obviously,

I've picked up a few words, but talking to any of the family is in Thai, as they all can speak it.

 

Don't forget (nearly) a hundred years ago during the "Thiaification of Issan" by the Thai government, schools here were forced to teach Thai and Lao was banned.

So this day, they are all bi-lingual in that respect. The "Issan" words they might write is done using Thai script, not Lao.

(sorry for the waffle again!)

I will join you on the language waffle. One of my biggest regrets is in relation to Thai language. My wife did not speak English so we only spoke Thai with each other. When my son was born I continued to only use Thai even when speaking to my son. I felt it was easier than speaking English to him and then translating to his mother. As a result, while his English is not bad, he is far from bilingual. I have apologized to him several times about this as it could have opened many more doors for him, but he has always said that I have nothing to apologize for.  I still feel that I was wrong, though.

 

My then wife's family were from Ubol and as a result, I understand spoken Issan well, or at least as spoken in Ubon (there are a multitude of variations across the North East), but do not speak it myself. This has never been a problem as they all understand Thai, although not all speak it. However, being married to a North Easterner for so long, people at work notice that some of my pronunciation and phrasing has a decidedly Issan flavor. That comes with learning by total immersion.

 

Moving on, my wife died and I remarried to a woman from Kalasin and am able to communicate fine with her parents and sisters, as we each understand what the other is saying. I have noted some big differences in the Kalasin dialect though. Also a reasonably large community in my wife's area speak Puthai, which I do not understand at all. However, most can also speak Thai and Issan too.  

[bluesofa]

35 minutes ago, GarryP said:

{snipped}

Moving on, my wife died and I remarried to a woman from Kalasin and am able to communicate fine with her parents and sisters, as we each understand what the other is saying. I have noted some big differences in the Kalasin dialect though. Also a reasonably large community in my wife's area speak Puthai, which I do not understand at all. However, most can also speak Thai and Issan too.  

Yes, I've read about Puthai before. As you say, not understanding it isn't surprising as it's a different language again.

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

That's true.

However central Thai is used and understood throughout the country (virtually!).

I learnt Thai at school in Pattaya before moving to Udon.

At home we never speak Engrish, only Thai. My wife and her family all speak Lao (wash my mouth out - Issan!) between them, obviously,

I've picked up a few words, but talking to any of the family is in Thai, as they all can speak it.

 

Don't forget (nearly) a hundred years ago during the "Thiaification of Issan" by the Thai government, schools here were forced to teach Thai and Lao was banned.

So to this day, they are all bi-lingual in that respect. Any "Issan" words they might write is done using Thai script, not Lao.

(sorry for the waffle again!)

 

I would be interested to know details about your school in Pattaya, how long, whereabouts etc. 
It is my intention to do similar when I finally move over as I’m keen to be able to speak the language. 

[bluesofa]

It's been bugging me (but no one else I'm sure) trying to find a link regarding Thaification.

I originally came across it years ago in the book 'A History of Thailand' by Chris Baker & Pasuk Phongpaichit.

 

Eventually I managed to find a link for your reading pleasure:

 

"From the 20th century onwards, Siam gradually consolidated its control over Isan through a programme of Thaification. The introduction of a national school system in the 1920s replaced instruction by monks in the Isan Lao language with teaching in the Thai language only. Radio and television, when they began, also broadcast in Thai."

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Isan#Siam