Life in the Village

[klongmaster]

This is great stuff Keda: thanks for taking the time to put it all together...nice mix of humour, irony, pathos and empathy...

Oh and re: the donation after the funeral...a little generosity never hurt anybody, especially in a needy situation...kudos to you...

[keda]

Tx. Just returned today and another gonner (woman, 37) this time of liver c, which makes 6 in the past 3 months and one other's not expected to make it through the week.

That's a lot of deaths from a population of around 300...what is it about the village that kills them off so fast? I could answer that as a farang, but they were all born and bred here.

[Udonite]

Keep it up Keda, a great thread.
So many parallels with life in my wife's village.
A Greenie on it's way.

[Tom O]

Great thread. I live in Ban Na Yo, 6 km out of Sakon on the road to That Phanom. I will be back in Jan. Hope to see you then.

[daveboy]

I've read parts 1&2 really enjoyed them very nicely written.

[Propagator]

A great read again Keda, very well written.

[keda]

Great thread. I live in Ban Na Yo, 6 km out of Sakon on the road to That Phanom. I will be back in Jan. Hope to see you then.

I don't know Ban Na Yo but PM when you're in the area...I need farang companionship, doesn't matter if you're a junkie, alkie or serial killer.

[Troubled]

Fascinating read. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to write about day to day life in the village.

[keda]

Life in the Village
05 – Patching up the Road

Our digs are conveniently located between the only (satellite, 256/128) internet place and probably the largest village store.

Between us and the store, a 30-40cm chunk across the road had disintegrated over time, which left a jagged dip, forcing traffic to slow right down. It wasn’t too bad for pickups, because they’re sturdy and can handle rougher conditions, but most village traffic is of some two wheeler variety, and the dip had been taking its toll on tyres and suspensions for several months, or years; difficult to get a straight answer.

The rest of the high street is acceptable by Thai standards, and as we know it’s common in Thailand for road sections not to fit together, but in one other part they’re several inches apart, which causes the occasional careless biker to wobble and thereafter it’s between him and Buddha. Otherwise, a few potholes and misaligned sections, but nothing serious, and the condition of the high street is better than those of nearby villages, where some sections of road have simply been replaced by troughs of up to 6” deep, compelling drivers to crawl through in 1st.

Anyway I’m hardened to these things now, but during my early days at the village I still had residual standards that needed reinforcing and wasn’t sure anyone had noticed the dip between our house and mamasan’s store. Still fresh with traces of enthusiasm after a couple of weeks, and already of the opinion that Isaani villagers are so laid back they’d never be able to get out of their own way in an emergency, I decided to bring it to their attention.

Who’s attention? Well, whoever was within earshot whenever I had to negotiate the pit, with a yell to nobody in particular that the road is caving in, has anyone noticed, and will anyone do anything about it before or after someone gets hurt.

This usually drew embarrassed smiles at the crazy farang from passer bys, the store mamasan and her customers, and we left it at that. Naturally, when Kim was on pillion she’d drum hopefully away at my back and whisper sweet things as we approached, then shrink to rat belly level.

As a misguided newbie I toyed with the idea of bringing someone in to fix that patch of the road, estimating around 3-4k at village rates upped to 4-5k for the ongoing farang promo. Mentioned it to Kim and she said good idea, but, always a but, the village Committee (in their perverse wisdom, and through them the easily goaded villagers) might take exception to a farang fixing up the place. Another learning experience. Seems the Committee receive an annual budget from the local government for this sort of thing, but much like the village Co-op (see: The Village Co-op) everyone involved is on a pension for life from the moment they reach level two, according to their personal needs and available profit.

Anyway, the saving grace was that this didn’t need to happen, because Kevin was working in the family plot on the dragon fruit (see: Dragon fruit).


Now, let’s take this slowly...what’s the connection between dragon fruit and road building? Give up? Easy. Kevin’s a great worker, but not too bright on how come his friends are always around when he’s on an earner. I believe this could be Nature’s intricate balance, zeal in exchange for acumen, otherwise he’d go hungry.

In this case, his working our dragon fruit had the scent wafting through the village like a bitch in season, drawing a pack of hounds to the house to help him commemorate the event, coincidentally just before he would finish for the day, which would give them time to settle in and loosen up.

During the course of one celebration, Top (see: The People/Top) mentioned the state of the road by his mother’s store, and you know how it is with drunks, once they get their teeth into something it could end up anywhere. Could be the concept of a moon landing was born at a drunken gathering.

At first I didn’t know they were talking about the road because I tend to ignore the locals when they yak, and anyway my hammock is for contemplation not serious stuff, but when someone mentioned 500 baht I asked Kim what’s going on. You see, wherever I may be wandering, my radar is configured to ping and return me to base when numbers are bandied, because the amount usually has some correlation to how much something is going to cost me.

She was on my wavelength, laughed, and told me they were talking about the buckled road by our house, and that someone said it would cost about 500 baht to fix. This sent me reeling, overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling of warmth and harmony with the world, because it meant at least one other person had noticed the pit.

Also, being business minded, I did the math and reckoned I could save a bundle here if handled properly. Next, checked and carefully clarified the verbal fine print, with Kim mediating between me and the lads, because if there are any losers guess who it’s going to be, so priority was given to making sure everything slotted in neatly with no losers. Next, one final check to look for potentially expensive loopholes, before giving her the nod to offer a contribution of 500 baht towards the cost – on the understanding that any extras would be met from their own or someone else’s pocket, but with 500 being her and therefore our max liability on the arrangement.

They agreed enthusiastically, as drunks tend to, and found themselves...



...now compelled to either rise to the challenge or lose face as the smart farang eased back into the hammock, thousands richer.

Well, credit where it’s due, when I came out of the house next morning half the road was cordoned off with a barrier on both sides, and some had already started bashing away with smiles and a sledgehammer that someone had weaselled from somewhere, while the others watched and gave boisterous encouragement from the sidelines. More tools appeared, and the others took turns helping out; even I almost succumbed.






Note 3 of them with tools, and Ai staunchly protecting his.

To be honest, as one that has rarely to never worked with my hands, I expected them to simply remove the loose debris from the dip and fill it with cement, so the joint effort far exceeded my lay expectations and it looked as though they were going to end up with a better section of road than its original builder had come up with.

Pa, being the resident road building expert on account of his job with the government, was foreman and supervisor.

Kevin put down the sledgehammer as soon as I appeared, and rushed over to give me one of those spray thingies. Then he asked me to write on the barriers,



...and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper on which someone had scrawled, “PLEASE DRIVE SLOLY, WE ARE WORKING ON THE ROAD - WE WILL FINISH TOMOLLO”.

I figured that’s a bit of a mouthful seeing as few people in the village can read English and those who can are probably bright enough to figure a barrier with workers meant caution. Also, the spray thingy was quite cumbersome and not designed for fine print, and even if it could be sprayed finely enough to get all of that in, any misplaced English reader driving close enough to read it would already have collided with the barrier. As a compromise I printed



instead, which fitted neatly and they were all happy with the farang contribution; our 500 baht didn’t count.

Over the course of the next hours everyone participated in fits and starts, backing off to admire their work. I fairly estimate that Kevin ungrudgingly did some two-thirds of the work on his own, about 10% goes to BigBoy (see: The People/The BigBoy), Top, whose mother stood to gain most as the wanabe pit was outside her store, sharing another 15% with pa, with Ai and The Quiet Lad taking up the slack.



Note Ai still hiding...









Fine spirit all round, and even Top’s miserly mum was infected and uncharacteristically leaped in with a round of coke, rapping her son’s hand as it reached for 330ml cans and guiding it to the 200ml bottles, then moving up a notch to high alert to ensure she got all the bottles back.

Some villagers smiled or gave a word or nod of approval on their way through, while others turned up their nose at what was going on, possibly fearing this was the beginning of the end for their high street. Not that that would matter too much to an Isaani villager.

Then it started going wrong, wrong being against expectations, because by noon the section had been pulverised, expanded by a few cm and cleaned out, now a neatly squared trough ready for cement.



The experts will note that they had also recovered and straightened out those wire thingies from inside the original piece of road, which they would use to reinforce the concrete, or whatever it’s used for. Must say I was thoroughly impressed.






Pa did the intricate bits.




Lunchtime, everyone happy and at ma’s place, and I sensed a problem. Someone asked Kim, which implied a relay to me, who is going to pay for their labour, and being the nature of these things once that’s mentioned it gets around like an eggy fart and could easily end in a riot.

One step at a time...I analysed the intel with Kim. Seems pa was up bright and early and had gone to the cement factory a few km away for 3 bags of the stuff at 150 apiece. I reckoned the remaining 50 baht of our inflexible budget should go to him for petrol, she agreed, and handled diplomatically we averted a potential firestorm. She pulled out a 500 baht note, placed it on the 3m by 3m seating/eating/everything platform and declared this to be her contribution as promised, whereupon pa’s hand reached forth to scotch careless notions of revolt. He’s a quiet and unassuming guy, but the lads have been around long enough and know better than to try it on with him, especially with hard currency at stake.

Lunch over, farang forgiven for being a tightwad, or not, like I care a toss, and sand and gravel needs to be piled into the pickup. Conveniently, the family plot has a sandpit and also a pile of gravel that have been there for yonks on the off chance they might be needed someday; what’s left will be there till the next time it’s needed.

First to the shovel was, no prizes, Kevin, though Ai grabbed it from him for two scoops as I remarked to his sister with words to the effect that he’s a useless crunt and could do with a good whipping. She agreed and turned away, whereupon he handed the shovel back to its keeper.

By mid afternoon, the trough was filled with cement under Dad’s watchful eye, levelled off, congratulations all round on a job truly well done, and the barriers left overnight. Next morning it was dry, and work began on the other half of the road, the crew now whittled down to Kevin, pa, BigBoy and Top, who would be there anyway on account of his mother’s store being his lazing ground.

Top came up with the creative idea of building a ramp on the second half of the road; possibly figuring if everyone has to slow down over the section then more people would stop at his mum’s store, in which case can’t see why he wasn’t happy with the dip in the first place. Anyway the others agreed, and though they ran out of cement partway through there was enough to produce a mild ramp, which is why the villagers now use the other half of the road.

[sunsetter]

^ that was great !! better keep it coming!

[nanthicha]

We arrive SN 28/10 late evening will bring you some
2 weeks in Dong Mafai / town
looks so similar to where you are but I suppose thats true for 99% of Isan.
Dunno if we are staying in village or MJ Majestic.....only there 2 weeks so its a holiday for me. I love the evenings down on the night market in SN.
Plus theres half a chance that if I stay in the village I just wont want to go home...thats how it was last year...my 5th time back with the in laws in Dong mafai and the first time that I never felt the need to call home. genuine tears at Udon airport. In front of all the in laws too ! (about 15 of them piled in the back of the pickup). Have to say that I am dreading the last couple of days this time. I hope we can afford to stay soon. If the financial crisis carries on soon it may force my hand...I have 20 years with a leading financial company as an IT/business analyst so the redundancy money will top up the pension and then who knows ?
We have the wifes house from her marriage which is a shed in the village but have 2 field very near the entrance to SN airport.
ok getting boring now see you soon

graham and kung

[jizzybloke]

Wonderful entertainment thanks Keda!

[leehut]

I've stayed in Sakon Nakhon a couple of times in a small village maybe 15/20 km out...also on the road to Kalasin... (Moo 2, Bangkoksawan, Tambon Thardnaweng) if it meams anything to you. I loved it when I was there....not sure if I could live there though...a little bit too quiet for me.

[Zpete]

Great monologue, keda, loved it all.

Kiwi here, who has an English guy, resident in Thailand, originally from UK boarding for awhile.

He just loves his village life, Thai wife and son he is devoted too.

Always wanted to try life in a village, but opportunity never found me.

Guess I will have to make do with the bustling metropolis of Chalong, my regular Thai place for hols,..... read boozing and wot goes with it.

[Phuketrichard]

i dont know how you all do it.
I went once to my ex's village in Kalasin and that 3 days was enough. Yea your treated like a king as long as your paying the bills and you find out what an "extended " family really menas and when you object then the trouble begins and time to leave. For me Kamala in Phuket was village enough.

But now gave that up and moved over here to Phnom Penh and LOve it. Its a village that claims its a city!! Thailand 20 years ago

[terry57]

Great thread. I live in Ban Na Yo, 6 km out of Sakon on the road to That Phanom. I will be back in Jan. Hope to see you then.

I don't know Ban Na Yo but PM when you're in the area...I need farang companionship, doesn't matter if you're a junkie, alkie or serial killer.

I spent time in a village last year with a Scotsman and his wife.

The man things I gained from it was that drinking could become a real problem, farang company is real important and being isolated in a village would do my head in after a while.

Glad I done it as it cured me of ever wanting to live out there, I met some great locals and ex pats at the local corner drinking hole. What surprised me was the size of the gaffs they where building but if your going to live in the bush you need all the fruit.

Too bad they had no security as it was all in the wifes name but they were giving it a crack.

Good luck out there mate.

[keda]

Thanks...my biggest problem out here is no farang company, but it's a source of strength to know it's only temporary and soon I'll be back with the normal people of Pattaya...did I say that? - gawd my standards have hit rock bottom.

[Andrew Hicks]

The missus and her family are dead keen for me to visit in the village. I've managed to make half-arse convincing excuses for the past four years. When I did go there, I was treated like a king, but, the boredom just crushes me in a few hours. It's a shame, but, if I'm honest, I'd have to say I hate it.
Dunno how you guys do it, living in the boonies. To me it's the closest you can get to a living death.

About the only thing that keeps me sane is my mystery tours, usually within a 15-20km radius of the village, the equivalent of enjoying a round of golf not just for the golf but to get me out of Pty.

Also hit a wall with my boook, which will probably never be finished but it's something to relieve the mind from the tedium of life in the jungle.

Oh, and sometimes I do get off on silence.

The story of you and Kim is quite poignant. It reads well!

Don't give up on the book. It's worth persisting even if you don't ever put it between paper covers. Posting it on the web, possibly opening a Blogspot account may get you a much bigger readership than conventional publishing. Getting a book printed here is relatively easy... it's getting it distributed and sold that's more chancy.

Anyway I empathise with many of your experiences having served more than five years in a remote village south of you in Surin, the story of which is in my own recent book, MY THAI GIRL AND I.

It was a huge job to complete it and in many ways the real pleasure is my blog at Thai Girl which I can update with photos whenever I feel like it. Posting a story is just so immediate and satisfying. Getting a book out is slow and agonising. Doing the design and type setting we sat at a computer for over a week.

Anyway hang in there. Writing could be your salvation as it has been mine.

Andrew

[Travelmate]

normal people of Pattaya

umm...Nawty is there. Do you still consider Pattaya to be normal?

[El Gibbon]

Keda, great read and thanks for the details.

I was in a similar situation when we moved to Angkrillee, the family's village. I by nature can be a 'loner', yet do need the occasional interaction with other like humans. A couple of ways I kept from going bonkers was to provide my own entertainment. Bought a couple of books on wildlife (butterflies and insects) and another on orchids. I spent hours with my camera chasing critters and then trying to identify them.

The orchids were a never ending source of entertainment and kept me in a daily routine of feeding pruning etc.

Between the two I was never bored and if I was getting close I always had by satellite internet to amuse me.

Natural history and gardening can provide an especially fullfilling time waster if your so inclined.


Best of Luck

E. G.

[keda]

The missus and her family are dead keen for me to visit in the village. I've managed to make half-arse convincing excuses for the past four years. When I did go there, I was treated like a king, but, the boredom just crushes me in a few hours. It's a shame, but, if I'm honest, I'd have to say I hate it.
Dunno how you guys do it, living in the boonies. To me it's the closest you can get to a living death.

About the only thing that keeps me sane is my mystery tours, usually within a 15-20km radius of the village, the equivalent of enjoying a round of golf not just for the golf but to get me out of Pty.

Also hit a wall with my boook, which will probably never be finished but it's something to relieve the mind from the tedium of life in the jungle.

Oh, and sometimes I do get off on silence.

The story of you and Kim is quite poignant. It reads well!

Don't give up on the book. It's worth persisting even if you don't ever put it between paper covers. Posting it on the web, possibly opening a Blogspot account may get you a much bigger readership than conventional publishing. Getting a book printed here is relatively easy... it's getting it distributed and sold that's more chancy.

Anyway I empathise with many of your experiences having served more than five years in a remote village south of you in Surin, the story of which is in my own recent book, MY THAI GIRL AND I.

It was a huge job to complete it and in many ways the real pleasure is my blog at Thai Girl which I can update with photos whenever I feel like it. Posting a story is just so immediate and satisfying. Getting a book out is slow and agonising. Doing the design and type setting we sat at a computer for over a week.

Anyway hang in there. Writing could be your salvation as it has been mine.

Andrew

Thanks for your comments, but Life in the Village? No that'll never be a book, it was put together exclusively for TD...the book is Mon£y, another thread.

[Andrew Hicks]

The missus and her family are dead keen for me to visit in the village. I've managed to make half-arse convincing excuses for the past four years. When I did go there, I was treated like a king, but, the boredom just crushes me in a few hours. It's a shame, but, if I'm honest, I'd have to say I hate it.
Dunno how you guys do it, living in the boonies. To me it's the closest you can get to a living death.

About the only thing that keeps me sane is my mystery tours, usually within a 15-20km radius of the village, the equivalent of enjoying a round of golf not just for the golf but to get me out of Pty.

Also hit a wall with my boook, which will probably never be finished but it's something to relieve the mind from the tedium of life in the jungle.

Oh, and sometimes I do get off on silence.

The story of you and Kim is quite poignant. It reads well!

Don't give up on the book. It's worth persisting even if you don't ever put it between paper covers. Posting it on the web, possibly opening a Blogspot account may get you a much bigger readership than conventional publishing. Getting a book printed here is relatively easy... it's getting it distributed and sold that's more chancy.

Anyway I empathise with many of your experiences having served more than five years in a remote village south of you in Surin, the story of which is in my own recent book, MY THAI GIRL AND I.

It was a huge job to complete it and in many ways the real pleasure is my blog at Thai Girl which I can update with photos whenever I feel like it. Posting a story is just so immediate and satisfying. Getting a book out is slow and agonising. Doing the design and type setting we sat at a computer for over a week.

Anyway hang in there. Writing could be your salvation as it has been mine.

Andrew

Thanks for your comments, but Life in the Village? No that'll never be a book, it was put together exclusively for TD...the book is Mon£y, another thread.

Okay, so we agree! TD is a good forum for your story.

I haven't gathered what the book is all about but I sure hope it makes you loads of m$ney.

Today my 'Thai girl's' building yet again so like me I'm sure you'll need it.

Andrew

[hellofriends]

i stayed at my ex-wifes village in seka , nongkhai
The family house was very basic and in need of repair , they had an old truck but there was an atmosphere of FAMILY , they were proud of their achievements and hopefully they would progress .
i did feel uncomfortable because i was outside my safety zone and i didnt know the everyday customs and the thai culture and i didnt want to offend anyone .
my ex-wifes family were good people who had dreams of a better life and wanted their daughters to marry westerners who would help the thai family financially .
our thai village wedding was fantastic and i will never forget it and i have no regrets about it even though our marriage didnot survive , i am still grateful for the experiences i had in thailand and with my young thai wife .

[Loy Toy]

Great thread Keda and thanks for sharing.

I have tried going bush once and hyper-ventilated within the first few days. Needed a paper bag and there wasn't any around (and for miles).

Gotta give it to those that can make the changeover and expect they also enjoy the experience.

My wife and I have 10 Rai of land up at Utteradit, Pichit about 1 hours drive from Pitsanaluk and we were only talking about doing something up there today. Lovely land with great views but am I ready.

[jandajoy]

Today my 'Thai girl's' building yet again so like me I'm sure you'll need it.

More fockin advertising from sad, can't sell my jeep. bastard.