The money is something a lot of people pick up on. Sure, I live on swee FA but that's because there's nothing foe me o spend money on anymore. When I got here it was a little too rutic. A kitchen without shelving, no sink just a tub, and a th gas hob on a tripod made from reo, welded by one of the brothers. Soon fixed that up so I could cook, too. In comfort. And none of it was asked for, I asked if I could modernise the kitchen ever so slightly (it's outside as is the way) and it was accepted for what it was. Same with televisions and I built a computer for the then Grade 7 / Mor 1 girl. I already had a powerful laptop with me. Then,as the laptop aged, I built myself something that could probably be used to run NASA and gave my laptop to the girl. WIth AC units, three TVs, two fridges (the one that was here when I got here was more likely to give you legionnaire's disease than cool your food, and one a couple of years later for out the back) and all the other stuff that brings a house into the 20th century, never mind the 21st. But, in the end, after years of buying things I deemed necessary, and accepted with grace, there's nothing left to buy except for something cacks itself. The other thing which is important: they have a lot of land. And all the men (brothers and BiL and their offspring) work (except the eldest son ~37 y.o of one of the sisters who Became One with a tree at 60 kph in 2016, his LHS is paralysed but even so he gets around on a motorbike with a sidecar carting tools and whatnot for other family members) one of the sisters works the cucumber fields, one - whose daughter is severely disabled - works locally bundling up shallots, one sells fruit & veg at the market, my landlady sells fried snacks at the market and runs the banana plantation, one of the BiL and his son are multi-skilled labourers and built my backyard sala. One brother worked in construction in Cha Am but returned during COVID, another works in a factory, another has land 45km away. But they all down tools when the fields require preparation. Three tractors, two dozen staff and them level out and seed hundreds upon hundreds of acres for rice. The extended family also plants cassava, tobacco, and corn. One of the BiL (the one withe the disabled daughter) harvests our rice which "apparently" is the best type of rice you can plant. While they get in some blokes with rice harvesters to do the rice which is sold to some government-run or government-accredited which is "the normal rice" whatever that means. You'd expect these people to have cars and big houses and remote controlled gates. Nup. No cars except a cousin has a Ranger Wildtrak. The houses were made by the families as they left the original house. Which was torn down after my landlady had this one built while she was working in Hong Kong and Shenzen for Philips. One of the houses is 60% corrugated iron. But, without exception they have MASSIVE televisionsand a PSI terrestrial satellite dishes on the roof. They must be loaded but they don't spend money. One didn't even have a fridge until last year - they're 67. None of them have airconditioners except us (thanks to me after my first full Hot in 2017) The one thing they've bought? Two tractors (plus those used by contractors) wasn't enough. So one of them trotted (well, I actually drove him) to the Iseki dealer (not Kubota or Yanmar - they have on of each) and he bought a tractor and drove it home. He paid cash. They don't do holidays. Their meals are, well, meals. Their phones - with the exception of children under, say, 35 are all cheap no-name phones. The sister that lies in Bangkok is an exception. Her father in law imports well-known brands of alcholo from USA and Canada. HEr husband - educated in the US works in a fibreglass manufacture plant for Disney she works in a beauty salon: they have Apple phones and tablets. As does the daughter of this house. The old folks around here still work into their eighties. Or basically until they can't any more. Then they help bring up their grand children. Or great-gret grandchildren. But this exended family? Family of eight. Must have millions stored away. Not all them need to work; my landlady definitely doesn't need to considering she's the largest landowner of the lot (she bought some of her siblings' share when she was overseas) but it's what they do. "Why do you work, if you do not have to?" "I work otherwise people will think I'm lazy" And that, in rural Thailand, is that.
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