Case Of The Twisting Baby

[moe666]

Or you being thrown into the fire.

People are great, a friends dad served in the Navy during the korean war and he will not eat in an asian resteraunt because of what he saw in his many port calls in various asian countries. No matter how nonsensicaly that belief is he refuses to eat any type of asian food.

[IanForbes]

Where is the actual father of the child?

Hi Ian,

Mate the thai father did the bolt about 2 seconds after he found out about the pregnancy (of course). The grandfather (or father of the mother as it was) has been very actively involved in this all because this is the favourite daughter, the one who cannot do wrong nudge nudge, wink, wink.

Sad as it may be, that scenario is all too common in Thailand, and it's the number one reason why so many young Thai mothers head for the bars. They have no education that will do them any good, and few prospects for the future. For some strange reason, Thai girls don't seem to learn about condoms and birth control until AFTER they've gotten pregnant. Young Thai men have no intention of sticking around and playing "daddy". And, very few Thai men want to take on someone else's child to raise.

Unfortunately, there are not enough nice expats (willing to take on a premade Thai family) to go around either, and the girls in the bars only meet the short timers.

[Cuban]

....the monk actually had to come down to the house to check that stuff out, apparently one of them was responsible for disturbing the ghosts in the bannana tree.

Brilliant

The other night the 'family' were cooking up something foul smelling in a blacken pot over a fire - I took a charcoal stick drew a fire pointed star on the ground then stood inside it - the really scary thing is that none thought my action was strange.

[Harcourt]

....the monk actually had to come down to the house to check that stuff out, apparently one of them was responsible for disturbing the ghosts in the bannana tree.

Brilliant

The other night the 'family' were cooking up something foul smelling in a blacken pot over a fire - I took a charcoal stick drew a fire pointed star on the ground then stood inside it - the really scary thing is that none thought my action was strange.

That IS the really scary thing!

[bina]

There is no problem except for the masses of wet clothes and garments. There are so many garments because for some reason they prefer to wrap the baby in a flat cloth and let it crap inside that as opposed to putting a nappy on it to take care of the business.

called a diaper, and trust me in thailand much better then a pampers type thing; and better environmentally also...

[Meridian007]

Could this be another case of saving face? The grandfather didn't want to be told what to do, but polite society says that he can't directly disagree. He changes his method once, finds some problem with it, consults a "higher power" that will support his belief, and then has "proof" that he was right.

It's not so much that the farang is wrong, but that a lower status (son-in-law) suggestion cannot override a higher status decision? I see this in Thai business all the time between superiors and subordinates.

[ozzieovaseas]

Hey N.D..good to see you back

Must say i do miss the jowl flapping grumpy old man avatar though.

I was thinking as far as silly ideas go maybe the old bugger is onto something

Seeing how you mention "hand wringing" and keeping in mind that it was your good self who was partaking in the said "hand wringing", the theory might explain your exploits of "hand ringing" poor Mr N.D junior daily on waking up (as well as other numerous times throughout the day) as you detailed in a past post about your daily routine.

Superstition or not,i definately WOULDNT be taking any chances with the old machine wringer rollers

[neverdie]

Where is the actual father of the child?

Hi Ian,

Mate the thai father did the bolt about 2 seconds after he found out about the pregnancy (of course). The grandfather (or father of the mother as it was) has been very actively involved in this all because this is the favourite daughter, the one who cannot do wrong nudge nudge, wink, wink.

Sad as it may be, that scenario is all too common in Thailand, and it's the number one reason why so many young Thai mothers head for the bars. They have no education that will do them any good, and few prospects for the future. For some strange reason, Thai girls don't seem to learn about condoms and birth control until AFTER they've gotten pregnant. Young Thai men have no intention of sticking around and playing "daddy". And, very few Thai men want to take on someone else's child to raise.

Unfortunately, there are not enough nice expats (willing to take on a premade Thai family) to go around either, and the girls in the bars only meet the short timers.

Rest assured Ian, this kid (the mother of the baby) she wont end up in a bar, shes the fathers (the grandfather) pride and joy, she cant do wrong and he will probably end up parting with all his cash before she is done. Sadly Ive seen both this type and the same situation time and time again. Not my problem.

What you have said is so true and it really amazes me the amount of young girls (the sister is 21) that are running around with either a belly full or a kid in tow - meanwhile the irresponsible father is running around slotting another half a dozen potentials .

[neverdie]

....the monk actually had to come down to the house to check that stuff out, apparently one of them was responsible for disturbing the ghosts in the bannana tree.

Brilliant

The other night the 'family' were cooking up something foul smelling in a blacken pot over a fire - I took a charcoal stick drew a fire pointed star on the ground then stood inside it - the really scary thing is that none thought my action was strange.

Cuban, you are a real card, theres no doubt about that!

There is no problem except for the masses of wet clothes and garments. There are so many garments because for some reason they prefer to wrap the baby in a flat cloth and let it crap inside that as opposed to putting a nappy on it to take care of the business.

called a diaper, and trust me in thailand much better then a pampers type thing; and better environmentally also...

bina,

I know what a diaper is, back home we use them and I agree that they are great for the environment, however, these 'diapers' are made from the thinest material known to mankind and when the child passes a motion, it virtually spills thru the material and goes onto whatever the child is near, such as bed spread etc.

I have never seen so much balooney in all my life ....ohh and don't get me wrong, i dont give a <deleted> either, its just funny.

[neverdie]

Hey N.D..good to see you back

Must say i do miss the jowl flapping grumpy old man avatar though.

I was thinking as far as silly ideas go maybe the old bugger is onto something

Seeing how you mention "hand wringing" and keeping in mind that it was your good self who was partaking in the said "hand wringing", the theory might explain your exploits of "hand ringing" poor Mr N.D junior daily on waking up (as well as other numerous times throughout the day) as you detailed in a past post about your daily routine.

Superstition or not,i definately WOULDNT be taking any chances with the old machine wringer rollers

Ozzzzzzzie, Mate.

I must have had more than a dozen PM's from soft thai visa members complaining about the old neverdie avatar, so I decided it was time for a change .

All I can say about the 'hand wringing' you are talking about, if the sister had been doing a bit of that a few months back instead of acting as a (expletive expletive) then we wouldnt be talking about this now. Theres nothing wrong with an early morning 'hand wringing'

[phetaroi]

Wasn't all that long ago people in the west used to think you'd die if you travelled faster than 30 miles per hour (48 kph).

Think of the changes the great grand dad has seen in his life and it's no wonder he has odd ideas. The problem in Thailand is the great deference they show to their old folk, good in a way and a shame it's lost in the west, but sometimes they just need to be told to keep out.

Respectfully of course.

I'm not sure people in the west are that far behind the Thais when it comes to superstition. The classic is a guy I once worked for. He lived in a tract right next to the cemetery. Sometimes in the evening he and his wife would walk through the cemetery for a little light exercise. One evening as they were walking across the cemetery toward the road, one foot sand down into the ground up to his knee. His wife said that he began screaming and crying because he thought the dead were pulling him underground.

Watch westerners NOT walk under a ladder.

Most still are nervous if they accidentally break a mirror.

Many hotels still don't have a 13th floor.

Some people are still nervous about all-black cats.

[PhilHarries]

and even more westerners read and BELIEVE all that astrology claptrap!

[neverdie]

Phet & Phil,

What you both say is so true. However, this just keeps getting better and better.

This morning whilst we were eating a late breakfast I asked, how the baby was going, has it stopped twisting yet, its been almost a week since anything baby orientated was washed in the machine. The father pipes up and tells me about on of the other children on the property (theres more than a dozen houses scattered accross the property). This other child, who is now 6 years old, his mother also carelessly washed her sons baby clothes in the washing machine some 6 odd years ago and its had terrible effects on him. I asked, what effects? (As I know the child to be happy and healthy). The reply that come was simply this, "Now when the child showers he shakes" After that I went completely silent.....what can I say?

The the father, sorry the childs grandfather then starts to chew out all this other clap trap about farang and their machines and that when farang come to thailand they should do as thai do....yadda yaddda yaddda & I still remain silent, somewhat perplexed. Then both the girls (mother of the baby & her sister my gf start challenging his theory). I chose to continue eating, vaguely listening to what was being said and wondered to myself, "How can a 50 year old man be so <deleted> stupid"? Of course, I don't need an answer to the question, I only need to look around the place, the answer is just about in everything I see.

Anyway, I should warn the world about this Phenomenon, "Washing machines will destroy your life" !

[IanForbes]

Thanks for the humorous, ongoing saga, neverdie. Keep them coming. It gives good insight into the thinking process of some people. As a few of us have learned the hard way in Thailand it is better to just watch and go along with the local plans, and try to keep our own opinions to ourselves.

I look after a Thai family in Kanchanaburi and it drives me crazy if I have to stay there more than a few days. I love the kids, but the adults are not very practical in many ways. Many are just like children in adult bodies. The grand father of the children I look after is probably younger than me, but he appears to be double my age. He just hides in the back and drinks. His wife looks after the grand kids while the parents are out working. The old (?) guy does nothing but putter around with old, broken bicycles.

[neverdie]

^nothing would surprise me Ian and yes I do keep my opinion about most stuff to myself, I just can't be bothered most of the time.

An example of this was, earlier this year whilst renovating around here, someone was building a wall and I went over and inspected the footing and steelwork just prior to pouring. I must have had the look of shock or disbelief on my face or something. Anyway, he, the father (prior to being a grandfather) approached me and asked me what I thought. I looked at him and nervously smiled, again he asked me what i thought about the footing, I replied, "Its a little footing, not big enough, I hope it doesnt fall over when you put a wall on top of it." Anyway, I was then given this big speil about how things are done in Thailand yadda yadda yadda, so again I just smiled and added, "Yeah, what would I know."

Anyway, later at lunch time the father could not be convinced that farang actually built their own homes in their own countries, by that he didnt believe that Australians had Australians building houses and that greeks didnt build greek homes etc. The father stated that he had heard that many thai builders are working overseas, he believes thais are building the world

Ohh by the way, the walls only a few months old and already got a bit of a lean happening, I havent said a word .....Not my house and my care factor is very low

Edited November 8, 2009 by neverdie

[yabaaaa]

^nothing would surprise me Ian and yes I do keep my opinion about most stuff to myself, I just can't be bothered most of the time.

An example of this was, earlier this year whilst renovating around here, someone was building a wall and I went over and inspected the footing and steelwork just prior to pouring. I must have had the look of shock or disbelief on my face or something. Anyway, he, the father (prior to being a grandfather) approached me and asked me what I thought. I looked at him and nervously smiled, again he asked me what i thought about the footing, I replied, "Its a little footing, not big enough, I hope it doesnt fall over when you put a wall on top of it." Anyway, I was then given this big speil about how things are done in Thailand yadda yadda yadda, so again I just smiled and added, "Yeah, what would I know."

Anyway, later at lunch time the father could not be convinced that farang actually built their own homes in their own countries, by that he didnt believe that Australians had Australians building houses and that greeks didnt build greek homes etc. The father stated that he had heard that many thai builders are working overseas, he believes thais are building the world

Ohh by the way, the walls only a few months old and already got a bit of a lean happening, I havent said a word .....Not my house and my care factor is very low

Ever thought of getting hold of gGrandpa's clothes and giving them a real good wringing out ????

[neverdie]

great idea

[mca]

I have to say neverdie I admire your resolve. In a similar situation I'm sure I couldn't avoid blurting out the Thai equivalent of "You're a f#cking moron" at some point. I simply couldn't. It'd be beyond me. When I'm faced with complete outright idiotic behavior or comments I just can't help myself. Doesn't matter if they're Thai or not.

I remember once I was in a pub and some westerner was (with complete pompous authority) telling all who'd listen that outside of Germany Thailand is the biggest market for Mercedes Benz cars in the world. I just said "You're an idiot aren't you?"

Maybe I've got Tourettes Syndrome. I dunno. Usually you'd have to go far to find somebody politer than me but when I'm faced with rank stupidity all that takes a trip down the Swanee.

My hats off to you neverdie. You're a bigger man than me.

[neverdie]

^I dunno what to say, clearly irregardless of what I, you or anyone else irregardless of their education, skills or experience say, it won't matter one iota to him. In my thought the problem isnt worth worrying about but its funny and Im not the only one laughing.

Sadly there are more extreme examples of this type of thing around the world, such as parents subjecting their children to Exorcism and stuff like that.

Anyway, I hate to be disrespectful and all that, but this guy can be a real dikchead, Ive seen it first hand. I often wonder with people like him, if his father told him to jump off a bridge, would he actually go thru with it? Whatabout gargle scorpions?

Why is it people like this are willing to accept as 'the rule' what someone says just because they are older than them, irregardless of what the common sense of it is? Imagine the world if we operated on these principals, we'd still be doing things as there were being done in day dot and there wouldnt even be such a place as thailand.

[Moonrakers]

Reminds me of an 'event' when I was up-country once.

It was actually with an ex-gf up in Surin. We had been there for a couple of weeks and had arranged a trip into the city at night for drinks, after 2 weeks in the sticks I was looking forward to experiencing some degree of civilisation again.

As we where getting showered and stuff, somebody who was washing up broke a plate and that was that. The plate breaking was clearly a bad omen that something terrible would happen and so the whole thing was called off. Of course I protested but "this is Thailand, yadda yadda yadda".

What really me gape in disbelief was the following day. Of course, nothing terrible happened in the night which to them was absolute proof that the broken plate omen had saved us all from a grizzly death. Again, I protested but alas I was just the stupid farang who knew nothing.

[mca]

Why is it people like this are willing to accept as 'the rule' what someone says just because they are older than them, irregardless of what the common sense of it is?

That's one thing that makes me smile about Thai culture. My sister in law is about 3 years older than me and had a flat battery in her driveway. She lives near us so I popped round with my jump leads to help out. She kept asking my wife if I knew what I was doing despite my wife telling her that my father owned a vehicle recovery and haulage firm and that I'd jump started 100s of cars. MY SIL wanted to wait for her dad (my FIL) to come and sort it out. For Christ's sake. He owns a furniture company. He'd most probably get the cables on the wrong terminal and have the battery blow up in his face.

Edited November 8, 2009 by mca

[neverdie]

moonrakers, mca, theres definately a pattern in this stupid foolish behaviour and none of us are ever going to figure it out. THANK GOD!

[mca]

Reminds me of an 'event' when I was up-country once.

It was actually with an ex-gf up in Surin. We had been there for a couple of weeks and had arranged a trip into the city at night for drinks, after 2 weeks in the sticks I was looking forward to experiencing some degree of civilisation again.

As we where getting showered and stuff, somebody who was washing up broke a plate and that was that. The plate breaking was clearly a bad omen that something terrible would happen and so the whole thing was called off. Of course I protested but "this is Thailand, yadda yadda yadda".

What really me gape in disbelief was the following day. Of course, nothing terrible happened in the night which to them was absolute proof that the broken plate omen had saved us all from a grizzly death. Again, I protested but alas I was just the stupid farang who knew nothing.

You ought to have rented the entire "Final Destination" series of movies Moonrakers. That would have had them shitting bricks.

[ThailandLovr]

Thanks to the brilliant wit of neverdie and some other members, this thread has been a great, entertaining read. Unfortunately, thanks to the volumes it speaks for Thai life, it is also concurrently a bit disturbing.

Edited November 8, 2009 by ThailandLovr

[neverdie]

^ years ago some things use to alarm or disturb me ....... now I feel as if im always disturbed, only the level of disturbence changes from time to time

[Moonrakers]

There was another time when the lady of the house was telling us of her ghost experiences, supposedly there was a ghost in the field behind her house which she would see at night with her own eyes from time to time.

Her neighbour admitted that he himself had never seen this ghost even though he has kept an eye out for it, especially as he is known to walk through that very field himself at night sometimes when returning home drunk from a friends house.

Knowing the solution of 2+2, I offered the obvious answer to the mystery of the haunted field but alas... "This is Thailand, yadda yadda etc."

[Geekfreaklover]

Reminds me of an 'event' when I was up-country once.

It was actually with an ex-gf up in Surin. We had been there for a couple of weeks and had arranged a trip into the city at night for drinks, after 2 weeks in the sticks I was looking forward to experiencing some degree of civilisation again.

As we where getting showered and stuff, somebody who was washing up broke a plate and that was that. The plate breaking was clearly a bad omen that something terrible would happen and so the whole thing was called off. Of course I protested but "this is Thailand, yadda yadda yadda".

What really me gape in disbelief was the following day. Of course, nothing terrible happened in the night which to them was absolute proof that the broken plate omen had saved us all from a grizzly death. Again, I protested but alas I was just the stupid farang who knew nothing.

Ah, the old broken plate trick.

I lived in Surin for a number of years. You didn't miss much by staying in mate.

Anyone with an upcountry girlfriend. Try this one. When you wake up in the morning tell them that you had a very strange dream about "snakes" during the night. Watch the fireworks commence.

[Tonto21]

Why is it people like this are willing to accept as 'the rule' what someone says just because they are older than them, irregardless of what the common sense of it is?

That's one thing that makes me smile about Thai culture. My sister in law is about 3 years older than me and had a flat battery in her driveway. She lives near us so I popped round with my jump leads to help out. She kept asking my wife if I knew what I was doing despite my wife telling her that my father owned a vehicle recovery and haulage firm and that I'd jump started 100s of cars. MY SIL wanted to wait for her dad (my FIL) to come and sort it out. For Christ's sake. He owns a furniture company. He'd most probably get the cables on the wrong terminal and have the battery blow up in his face.

I have a similar story, I have, an 4x4 pick-up and 6 months ago, one morning, it wouldn’t start, OK, so I go and get a mechanic from my local garage. He has a look and tells me I need a new Battery, fine no worries sound right. Long story short! New battery fitted all OK.... so I think. Well I don’t use my pick-up every day, sometimes a week or two apart. Next time I come to use the motor..... Flat Battery!!!!!! Mechanic out, new bty in, no charge, or attempt to charge, (me! Not the bty) all working, 4 days later Flat again..... Hang in there its coming! So! To my mind, I’m no electrical mechanic, but this to me is a leaky earth! I have been to, what feels like every garage in N Thailand to get it sorted, even the dealership, I tell them the history and what I think, I know big mistake!!! Every single garage Knows what the problem is! With a wary smile and shit eating grin, (dumb Falang) they tell me really, really slow so I can understand, “It you batrry” and just want to send me away with a new battery........ I’ve given up!!! And have now bought a bty charger. I get so mad, My wife to whom I took a long time explanting, and she do’s understand what I’m saying, will go all “flip flop” at the first sign of a Thai telling her that he, (me) is a falang........... what do’s he know!!!

[Harcourt]

To think that I replied with concern and seriousness when my first feeling, which a dad's sensitivity overcame, was to make a comment about the Ally McBeal dancing baby dancing to Chubby Checker.

[Harcourt]

^ years ago some things use to alarm or disturb me ....... now I feel as if im always disturbed, only the level of disturbence changes from time to time

I could have told you that.