Loving the sounds of Thailand…

For the past four days I’ve been driving in and around the freezing Thai countryside as far as Khon Kaen and then back to the noisy city of Bangkok again. After leaving skyscrapers behind I drifted past wickedly green rice fields to mist covered mountain tops to dry hillsides creaking with bamboo.

For three nights I slept on either boards or lumps camouflaged as beds, waking up each morning to pains deep in my bones. Drugs R Us…

Along with a gazillion squat toilets and spirit houses I photographed Khmer ruins, ancient burials, dinosaur bones and communist hideouts. Oh, and I found some paraphernalia hiding in the leaves! But more on that stuff later…

I also took videos of the peace and quiet of the Thai countryside. Below are two.

The critters making all that racket are called cicada (or is it cicadas?) a known delicacy of the region. I’ve located two Thai spellings, จักจั่น and จั๊กจั่น but as Talking Thai Dictionary (reviewed here) has จักจั่น /ják-ga-jàn/, I’ll go with that one. You?

A motorcycle safety campaign in Thailand?…

Another campaign for motorcycle safety is being launched in Thailand. And while this campaign is not the first, with the graves mounting up the motorcycle accidents can’t be ignored.

I don’t often see babies hanging off the side of motorcycles in Bangkok. Or tucked in front of the driver, or between a second or third passenger even. But on my recent trip to Krabi it was the norm. Driving around, especially in the mornings and late afternoons, it was common to see babies tucked somewhere in the mix of motorcycles and people. Even with expats (who should know better).

Helmet laws have been in place in Thailand for quite awhile but most riders in the countryside ignore the laws. Police included. In Krabi I was stopped by the police in a school zone. And what were they doing? The police were waving through kids getting out of school – most of the kids on motorcycles were without helmets.

But on March 1, the campaign for motorcycle safety comes into play.

Will it work? Unlike the sign below, I’m not ‘sure’ because there are too many TiT variables. The only fact I am sure of is my plan to report back in a month. And again, with photos.

The campaign for the safety of motorcyclists and passengers…

สวม หมวก นิรภัย
sŭam mùak ní-rá-pai
Wear hat safety (helmet)

ทั้ง คนขับ และ คนซ้อน
táng kon-kàp láe kon-són
Both rider and passenger

1 มีนาคม 2554
nèung mee-naa-kom sŏng-pan hâa-rói hâa sìp-sèe
1 March 2011

เริ่ม ตรวจ จับ ปรับ แน่
rêrm dtrùat jàp bpràp nâe
start checking catch fine, for sure!

Basically, it says that on the 1st of March the authorities (in Krabi, anyway) will start checking to see if motorcycle riders and their passengers are wearing helmets. And if caught without, there will be a fine. For sure.

Motorcycle safety AND education is sorely needed in Thailand…

Ok, this family is traveling on the soft shoulder but how many vehicles in Thailand do you see swerving around? Tons. Weighing tons. And when a body is flying through the air, a helmet just might insure that it’s an accident without a fatality.

Check out this series of three photos. Two women. Two babies. One motorcycle. No helmets.

But who is driving? Who is in control of the motorcycle?

Are you sure? Really?

The female driver has a helmet but the back passenger in the headscarf does not (it’s Krabi, remember?) And the little baby tucked in front of the driver is sans helmet as well (but does sport a knitted blue hat).

Another noticeable and scary habit in Thailand is how close motorbikes travel to automobiles. There is no way this driver could stop on time if that car needed to brake fast; it’s an accident waiting to happen. Again, no helmets. And what’s going on up the road?

The ability to break fast is doubly important for trucks following motorbikes. Does that look like three car lengths to you? Again, an accident waiting to happen.

I was going to ask if scarves make a difference in an accident but my lovely Muslim friends would slap me upside the head right quick. So I won’t.

More on the motorcycle safety campaign…

On and off we hear about horrific traffic accidents on Thailand and sometimes motorcycle safety campaigns follow right quick. The Phuket motorcycle helmet campaign hit the streets of Patong in 2010. Do anyone know if it’s successful? I was there for the motorbike convention but those riding the big bikes tend to have mighty fancy helmets to show off.

And before I go, there’s a Thailand Motorcycle Safety Course on offer. In English. But they did share this ad in Thai, with English subtitles.

EDIT: I discovered this video over at the TV forum (CCTV of accidents in CM):

Will this latest campaign for motorcycle safety in Thailand take hold? We’ll see… we’ll just have to wait and see.

Rockhounds have fun on Buddhist holidays too…

Friday the 18th to Sunday the 20th was a religious holiday in Thailand – มาฆบูชา /maa-ká-boo-chaa/. It’s where Buddhists go in for merit-making in a big way.

Makha Bucha: The full moon day of the third lunar month. The Lord Buddha’s sermon to the first large gathering of monks. Celebrated on 18 February 2011.

I’m not Buddhist but I happily took off for the three days with a fellow rockhound. Ok. Ok. Ok. He’s the real rockhound as my days of studying the past through microscopes are long gone. But checking out rocks is interesting regardless because seeing what the earth’s structure is up to still grabs me, and to boot, my camera gets a massive workout.

After each day of poking around outcrops, and before heading back to the hotel, we drove to Ao Nang beach to watch the sunset. And what a spectacular view for a camera. Any camera. Wow.

Ao Nang’s Long-tail boats…

The only thing I know about Ao Nang’s Long-tail boats – besides the fact that they didn’t show my camera a bad side – is what I located by googling. And while I found them stunning, whoever wrote this wiki post holds an opposing view.

Wikitravel: Long-tails arrive on the beach near the junction of the two roads; these Long-tails, though, account for a problem: the level of noise-pollution, provided by an endless chain of undampened boat-motors, is substantial. As long as there is no schedule (or mufflers provided for the motors) and each tourist goes individually and numbers of visitors are ever increasing, this problem will continue to worsen and spoil the beauty of this beach.

I do get annoyed by Long-tails when staying at the Felix River Kwai Resort so I’m not totally opposed to his opinion. But… just not at Ao Nang beach. Long-tails on the river are all noise. Long-tails on the Andaman sea feel like they’ve been a part of the scenery forever. But they haven’t. That’s what this site is saying anyway.

kkkgroup: The concept was developed in Thailand as a simple low cost means of motorizing boats used in rivers, canals and seas where people and cargo must be transported through shallow waterways. It is also commonly used for coastal transportation, small scale fishing and tourism. It is ubiquitous sight in Thai river and sea Long Tail Boat was created by local people living in the middle part of Thailand around 1937 (BC) 2480.

Along with the ten gigs of photos I took a handful of movies. Apologies in advance, but there’s a spot on my lens that I could not locate. After first seeing the spot I took off filters and cleaned everything. Twice. But nadda. My camera will have to be cleaned professionally and the movies suffered for now. My sad movie skills are to be suffered as well I’m afraid.

I arrived around 4.30 and these two photos were taken a bit before 5 in the evening. So if you do want to take Long-tail boat photos in the evening sun, somewhere around there seems the perfect time.

Several families were digging through the sand looking for shellfish (?) mostly ignoring me waggling a camera. There was mom, pop, and several kids, all with buckets and shoveling away.

Like I mentioned, I took a zillion photos of the Krabi area. It’s not possible to share them all here so eventually there will be a gallery for just that. Time.

More about Long-tail boats…

Ko Phi Phi: Longtail Boats
Traditional Longtail Boating
Long Tail and Long Boat Racing
How and where to rent Long-tail boats on Krabi

Enjoy…

Bunny hunting in Bangkok’s Chinatown…

Before I get started on this post I want to give good warning. I did not succeed in my quest in Chinatown. I did not divide and conquer. But I did see red.

The main reason for going into Chinatown wasn’t to see about Chinese New Years. I was hankering to hunt down bunnies. You see, the year 2010 is the year of the rabbit. Asking around, K.Pi thought Chinatown would be the best bet. Me too. Me too.

And honestly, I expected not just bunnies plastered everywhere, but a town transformed for New Years’ celebrations. I was so wrong. Except for red banners down the street and a few extras, it was practically the same ‘ole same ‘ole: hordes of people pushing their way everywhere, not much room to swing a camera, and loads of red.

Curious, I asked Greg Jorgensen what usually happens during Chinese New Year in Bangkok’s Chinatown. Greg has resided in Chinatown for donkey’s years, so of anyone, he’d know.

Well, living in Chinatown as an expat during the new year is like living in Calgary as a non-hick during the Stampede, in that you want to keep as far away from it as possible. Truth be told, it’s kind of a nightmare and I avoid it at all costs, but I guess some people might find it charming. :P

I can’t remember ever seeing any huge statues of animals or anything like that – maybe there are lanterns or hats or things decorated with the appropriate animal, but nothing ostentatious. What you CAN expect is endless, sweaty, heaving crowds of people everywhere you go. The main road – Yaowarat – is closed for foot traffic, and there are stages set up with singing, dancing and acrobatic shows. Food is also a main attraction, but if you do stop for a bowl of noodles you’ll be sitting elbow-to-elbow amid a sea of diners, often as one of 6 strangers squeezed together at a table meant for four. But kids love it – lots of balloons, noise, and candy for them to check out, and it’s certainly not a boring time of year in that part of town.

So basically it’s the same, only louder and with more people pushing and shoving their way through bigger crowds. Hmmm. I’ll pass.

While there weren’t many New Year’s decorations, I did make way for Chinese dragon dancers coming through the crowd. And like crowds everywhere in Chinatown, their concern was not for anyone else but to get where they wanted to go. It was a bit annoying when you are trying to shoot video, and I imagine the dragon dancers were not impressed either. Ah. Scratch that. They are sure to be used to it.

I did find some bunnies but not what was expected. Bunnies were on sale as dangling things and ornaments but Chinatown was bereft of megga bunny decorations on the streets. Oh. Well.

Ok, I also came across small bunny decorated money envelopes. But that was only after hours of wandering around asking anyone who would listen. And when I’m looking, I’m also finding stuff. Yeah. So I spent way more then I’d intended (my little girls are just going to love this month’s care package!)

Unless I’m wrong (and pretty please tell me if I’m wrong about any of this stuff), อั่งเปา /àng-bpao/ is the Thai pronunciation of the original name for the red envelopes you fill with money. And it means red envelope, funny enough. The envelopes are given on special occasions such as Chinese New Year, but the practice of giving money envelopes is no longer just Chinese. When I lived in Borneo even the Malays gave coloured money envelopes during Ramadan, birthdays, and pretty much anything sanuk. And I believe the Malaysians do too. Singaporeans? That’s a given.

And I don’t have a clue what this sack is – do you? – it looks gorgeous and gaudy. I like.

This being Chinatown, anything or anyone decked in red fits the theme. Can you figure out what product these cuties represent? I never did get any because they were too busy fiddling guitars, conferring with each other, and ignoring the public.

If you are interested in all things Chinatown, there are many sites with decent information about Chinese New Year in Thailand. Here are two:

thaifestivalblogs.com: Chinese New Year Festival 2011
thaiwaysmagazine.com: The Chinese New Year in Thailand

And if you want to know what’s happening in Thailand before it happens, my buddy Talen puts a heap of work into his Thai Calendar. Not everything going on in Thailand is promoted Western-style (as in letting people know before the event), so work really is the operative word here.

Happy Chinese New Years all!

Enjoy…

Food poisoning, the Bangkok street food way…

After spending the past 12 hours hugging a toilet and worse, you could say that I have an up close and personal perspective on Bangkok’s street food.

And the irony? The food poisoning was totally down to researching for a review of Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls. You see, I don’t often eat at street stalls. Due to my dietary preferences (no rice, no noodles, no sugar) what typically gets sold at streets stalls doesn’t fit.

But, skimming through the delectable choices listed in their top 50, I managed to dog-ear enough pages to warrant a review of the book. Thing is, I didn’t make it to any of the Bangkok food stalls listed. To start my research, I opted for a street stall closer to home. It was a bad choice (in more ways than one).

Heath Concerns: Many visitors to Thailand shy away from street food because of the looming spectre of ‘curry tummy’. Although some stalls deserve cautious treatment, most offer the same level of hygiene as closed-door restaurants in Bangkok, and all street food stalls are periodically tested by city authorities for cleanliness.

I would like to add to their warning. Whatever you do, don’t take street food home to enjoy on another day especially if it includes meat (pork, fish, beef, whatever). In the fun of the moment (partying with guests) I’d forgotten that sage advice given years ago. And after suffering, to be sure, I won’t forget it again.

Mind you, if you are leery of eating on the streets of Bangkok, then this disclaimer should impress you no end (and actually, I couldn’t think of a better selling point for a book on Thai street food):

You can be sure that only ‘clean’ food stalls with no history of hygiene issue are included in this guide.

I won’t be eating on the street again real soon but when I do, I’ll use Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls as my guide. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta… run…

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series…

Last year was my first chance to attend the lectures about Thailand, Thai history, and culture arranged by the National Museum Volunteers. Along with many events, their Annual Lecture Series was postponed due to the Thai floods. But, now that the new year is upon us, the series has been rescheduled.

Lectures from Jan 19th through to Feb 9th, 2012…

The Thai Hybrid: 19 January 9.30am
Philip Cornwel-Smith
(author of bestseller ‘Very Thai’)

Thai popular culture brims with quirky hybrids of handmade and hi-tech, indigenous and import. Some traditionalists worry that today’s adoption of foreign novelty dilutes Thainess, yet Thai history has been distinguished throughout by cultural fusion. Appropriation seen in popular culture reveals Thainess as a process that is eclectic, creative and relentlessly hybrid.

Introduction to Thai Ceremonies & Observances: 19 January 11.00am
Venerable Kantasilo

A talk by American born Buddhist monk, Venerable Kantasilo, will aim to explain national Buddhist observances and ceremonies that take place over a one year period, providing answers to the many questions foreigners are likely to have pertaining to the significance of such practices in Thailand.

Contemporary Thai Politics: Six Realities We Cannot Duck: 26 January 9.30
Michael J. Montesano

Michael J. Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, will tell the audience how keeping track of Thailand’s confusing politics is easy as long as one remembers six basic truths. He will also talk about how these “truths” conceal paradoxes and ironies that must also be grasped if one really wants to make sense of where Thailand is heading.

On the Floral Road to Siam: 26 January, 11.00am
Sakul Intakul, floral artist

The talk will be given by renowned floral artist Sakul Intakul, an engineer turned floral artist who is well known for interpreting spiritual ideas through sculptural plant installations. His portfolio includes Royal commissions for the HM the Queen and total floral conceptual design for Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts in Bali; he is also the author of several books on floral art.

Royal Thai Cremation Ceremonies: 2 February, 9.30am
Mr Chakrarot Chitrabongs, NMV patron

This lecture will trace the origins of the royal cremation practice since the founding of Bangkok as a new capital city during the reign of King Rama I, whose mission was to revive the old Siamese traditions of the former capital city of Ayudhya that had been utterly devastated by warfare. In their turn, the Kings of Chakri have developed this ancient tradition, introducing changes and technological innovations until it appears as it does today. The purpose of the lecture is to describe to the audience the background information for a thorough understanding of the symbolism linked to traditional beliefs and practices, so that they can follow and understand the ongoing preparations of the ceremony in the various stages up to the actual event. The lecture will be illustrated with photographs that date back to the period that photography itself had been introduced into Siam.

Ramakien – Introduction: 2 February, 11.00am
Stephanie Strasser

Stephanie Strasser, an NMV member who spent her early childhood in Bangkok and who returned to Thailand recently, sought to find out more about the famous Wat Phra Kaew rubbings, eventually finding herself immersed in the world of the Ramakien. Her lecture is a summary of a wonderful story of love and war where gods are reborn on earth to battle demons and where flying monkeys have magical powers.

Let’s go Wat Hopping: 9 February, 9.30am
Joyce Meer & Bill Lipsey

NMV members Joyce Meer and Bill Lipsey will be going Wat Hopping, sharing with the audience their passion and insights on What’s a Wat after having explored more than 100 Buddhist temples throughout Thailand, some relatively unknown.

Invoking the Land Gods; Understanding the Thai Spirit House: 9 February, 11.00am
Marisa Cranfill

Marisa Cranfill, one of Thailand’s foremost (non-Thai) experts on Thai spirit houses will give a fascinating talk entitled Invoking the Land Gods; Understanding the Thai Spirit House. Cranfill will explain that the Thais’ relationship with the land god is a very personal one because it affects their daily life. “You give the land god what it likes and it will give back good things. It is like a bargain.”

Note: All lectures are to be held in the auditorium of the National Museum, Bangkok.

Bangkok National Museum
Na Phrathat Rd,
Phra Nakorn District,
Bangkok 10200

My schedule continues to be crazy but if I’m in Bangkok I’ll be attending a few talks listed in the National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series.

Did you make it to the Charity Cat Party?…

I wasn’t in town for @freakingcat’s wonderful Charity Cat Party but I didn’t miss out. I watched the concert online via ustream.tv.

What talent! A huge round of applause goes to @freakingcat for arranging the party and to the fabulous performers: Trisdee, Somtow, Siam Sinfionetta and Paye.

If you missed the Charity Cat Party you can catch up via Facebook or YouTube:

Facebook: Charity Cat Party video
Facebook: Charity Cat Party photos
YouTube: Cat Charity Party with Trisdee, Somtow, Siam Sinfionetta and Paye

As mentioned in the invite post, donations collected at the Charity Cat Party went to support my favourite all-time Thai charity, the SET Foundation. Also included were the deserving soi dog and cat charity, SCAD Bangkok.

But if you weren’t able to donate at the party, it’s not too late. You can still go direct to your charity of choice.

The SET Foundation…

It’s no secret that the recent floods in Thailand hit already struggling Thai students hard. So please consider sending a donation to the SET Foundation this holiday. To see how little it takes, read through the itemized list at What does it cost to make the difference?

My Xmas donation went straight to the SET Foundation, as does all revenue from WLT. That’s right, it might look like I have paying ads in my sidebar but it isn’t technically so.

Benjawan and Chris (Paiboon Publishing), Achim and Busakorn (L-lingo), Jay and Jo (Learn Thai Podcast), all donate direct to the SET Foundation. Readers of WLT donate to the SET Foundation too. And I’m proud they do. Thanks all!

The SET Foundation on WLT…

The SET Foundation: A Season for Giving Back
Inciting Acts of Kindness: The SET Foundation
Feel Like Donating? Give to the SET Foundation Instead

Ho ho ho everyone! Happy holiday and I’ll see you next year :-)

Consider yourself invited to the Charity Cat Party…

Throughout the year @freakingcat throws parties notorious amongst the Thai twitter crowd. And while reading the party tweets can be totally entertaining, can you imagine what a great time you’d have actually attending a Cat Party?

The theme for the December Cat Party is the Thai flood. It’s no secret that Thailand seriously needs our help so @freakingcat has been working hard to put together an event to do just that. He’s done his magic with Bed Supperclub and roped in the talented Trisdee (@trisdee) and Siam Sinfionetta for a concert. Oh, and all profits from the cocktails go to charity, so drink up!

Donations collected at the Charity Cat Party will go to support my favourite all-time Thai charity, the SET Foundation. Also included is the soi dog and cat charity, SCAD Bangkok.

If you cannot attend then please consider sending donations direct to either the Set Foundation or SCAD’s. Ok?

The Cat Party venue:
8pm, Monday, 19 December, 2011
Bed Supperclub, 26 Soi Sukumvit 11, Bangkok

Bookings: 02 651 3537 or 088 525 0101

For more info:
Bed Supperclub
Cat Party Events
Facebook: Catparty

Twitter:
#CATPARTY
@Catpartyevents
@bedsupperclub
@freakingcat

Songkran 2012: Siam Square: On Day Two…

Did you miss the first day of Songkran? Me too! The closer it got to 4pm on the first official day of the celebrations, the more I wanted to stay high and dry (so I never made it out of my PJs).

But seriously, getting drenched at Songkran is FABULOUS! And honestly? Between you and me? I should have done it sooner. Like, on day one of Songkran at least.

Mod’s Wild, Wild WET: To state that the Thais celebrate Songkran with water is a huge understatement. If you long for the carefree days of childhood (or if you are still a kid), don’t miss out on the Songkran ‘water wars’. Bowls (ขัน), containers (ภาชนะ) and large buckets (ถัง) filled with water are hurled at anyone who happens to be around, and lively water fights take centre stage on the streets, which are awash with carnival-like atmosphere. Some Songkran enthusiasts even resort to using garden horses and powerful water guns. (ปืนฉีดน้ำ)

Your presence at the festival is seen as an invitation to participate, so if you don’t want to get wet, stay clear!

And man oh man, did I ever get WET.

During the last two Songkrans I’ve focused on Khao San Road. Compared to Siam Square and other Songkran venues in Bangkok, Khao San Road is the easiest to get around via taxi. Incase you haven’t experienced it, unprotected cameras and flying water don’t mix. So hiding (mostly) behind glass was, to me, the safer, dryer bet.

This year I had the new iPhone with its snazzy camera and video capabilities so I opted for the Songkran party at Siam. On foot.

On Khao San Road there are a LOT of tourists and expats. I read that it’s something like 80%? 90? But not at Siam. At Siam there were a few westerners but the rest were Thai. I like.

Running the gauntlet of water guns was great fun. With my hands full of iPhone and water bottle, I chose not to have a pistol to retaliate. But next year? Next year it’ll be different… oh yeah.

Smothered behind a large crowd of onlookers was a live band. I couldn’t see them, but they were cranked up LOUD so I could hear them just fine. And every so often the crowd would stop spraying water to throw up their arms in rhythm with the tune. Fun.

Right outside the party gates you could buy powder, buckets, bowls, and beer. But I never once saw anyone actually partake. At Siam very few people had faces smeared with white paste and no one was walking around drinking alcohol. I missed the paste especially. Except for the water, it was not like Khao San’s Songkrans of the past at all.

I did take my Canon 7D but it never made it out of the backpack (too risky). Pity. Because while I love the ease of taking photos via iPhone, I felt no real connection with the scene around me. You can see it easily by comparing this year’s photos (above) with the ones I took last year (here).

So NEXT year I’ll be walking around with a waterproofed camera, a water pistol, and… and… what else?

Soaked from my head to my knickers, it was the coolest I’d felt all week. All during the ride back home I was grinning away, chatting excitedly about the wild and wet experience of Songkran at Silom.

“YEAH! That was fun! How long did I last?”

“Ten minutes”

“Oh”

Rules of Songkran 2012: No Drink Walking or Talcum Powder…

In a few days the Songkran festivities will take over Thailand. In Bangkok, where I’m at, tourists flood in and a chunk of locals (mostly from up north) stream out.

Except for sampling Kao Chae (a first), my Songkran plans are not set. I might grab a taxi and drive around taking photos of the water fights, but that’s about as energetic as I’ll get this year. And for good reason.

1. Even with the rain it’s blazing HOT this Songkran.
2. Thai roads seem even more deadly than usual.

At this time each year Thailand braces not just for the heat of Songkran but for the death tally due to careless drivers. That’s the bad part. The good part [knock on wood] is that we don’t have Red Shirt protests or floods to worry about.

But wait. We do have additional concerns and new rules. Oh joy.

Khao San ready for a splash: To provide safety for Songkran celebrants and tourists, 300 police officers and 150 volunteers will be deployed around the area. Security checkpoints will be set up to search for explosives and weapons.

As well, the sale and use of talcum powder are not allowed, and drinking alcohol while walking will be banned.

Mr Piyabutr also said he was confident that the recent bombings in the southern provinces would not affect the number of Songkran revellers or holiday sentiment in the capital.

Forget about the bombs in the south AND Bangkok for awhile… in Khao San (where I sometimes go), there’s to be no talcum powder or walking while drinking? Strange combo. What about being drunk? Is drunk walking allowed?

Anyone game for testing it out?

The dancing traffic cops of Thailand…

To lighten the gloomy mood, Thailand created a massive traffic jam in Ratchaprasong (yup, where I shop) to bring us this cute Songkran video.

…police closed the Ratchaprasong intersection in central Bangkok on Friday morning to shoot a music video scene featuring a dance by 12 female traffic police officers. The video is part of a police campaign to reduce road accidents during the Songkran period.

Good luck to them. I’ll be checking @191Thailand on twitter to see how this latest idea pans out. Fingers crossed it will have more success than the “Drink, Don’t Drive” campaign.

Anyway… if you are interested in attending any of the Songkran festivities around Thailand, here’s Richard Barrow’s Schedule and Dates for Songkran 2012.

The Thai flood set to music: เดินต่อไป….

For those of you who top up your language studies by listening to music, here’s a sobering Thai flood song, เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ (Keep Moving).

Written by: Mike Agana Sawatsewi, Sutthiphong Sombatjinda and Jaree Thanapura
Produced and arranged by: Jaree Thanapura and Michael Sawatsewi
Mixed by: Jeremiah P. Lipatapanlop

Thai flood photography by: Stephen Thomas, Bree Korkanok, Hedda Joy Tady-Tan, Jeremiah P. Lipatapanlop, Komol Boonpienpol, Leena Chanvirach, Ming Chartmeteekul, Pradon Sirakovit, Saran Singchoovong, Jill Brockelman, Pattricia Lipatapanlop, Mhong Puttharuk Putthiprechapong, Aoffy Vimolkiatkhajorn.

First up is the video with Thai subtitles, followed by an English version. The Thai-English lyrics come at the end.

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ with Thai subtitles….

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ with English subtitles….

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ lyrics…

Audio: เดินต่อไป (“Keep Moving”) (ไมเคิล สวัสดิ์เสวี) (acoustic/ballad version)

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ (acoustic/ballad version)
KEEP MOVING (acoustic/ballad version)

VERSE 1

เมื่อ วันพรุ่งนี้ เดิน เข้ามา
mêua wan-prûng-née dern kâo-maa
As tomorrow looms closer

มา กับ ปัญหา ที่ ท้าทาย
maa gàp bpan-hăa têe táa-taai
With its hardships and challenges

เส้นทาง ชีวิต ไม่ ง่ายดาย
sên-taang chee-wít mâi ngâai-daai
Navigating life’s road won’t be easy

ไม่เคย มี ใคร อาจ คาดเดา
mâi-koie mee krai àat kâat-dao
With so much that no one could have foreseen

PRE-CHORUS

มัน อาจจะ ล้ม มัน อาจจะ แพ้
man àat-jà lóm man àat-jà páe
Though you might fall and feel defeat

ถ้าหาก ไม่ ท้อ ทุกอย่าง ก็แค่ พิสูจน์ ตัวเรา
tâa-hàak mâi tór túk-yàang gôr-kâe pí-sòot dtua-rao
Don’t lose hope–in strife, we only prove ourselves

จังหวะ ชีวิต ที่ มัน เร่งเร้า
jang-wà chee-wít têe man râyng-ráo
The beat of life, moving us along

บอก ให้ เรา เข้าใจ ตราบใดที่
bòk hâi rao kâo-jai dtràap-dai-têe
Helps us understand and keeps reminding us that

CHORUS

เสียงเพลง ยัง ดัง อยู่
sĭang-playng yang dang yòo
When the music’s playing

จง รู้ว่า เท้า เรา ต้อง เต้น ไป
jong róo wâa táo rao dtông dtên bpai
Remember to keep your feet moving

เมื่อ หัวใจ ยัง เต้น อยู่
mêua hŭa jai yang dtên yòo
As long as your heart’s still beating

จง คิด ชีวิต ต้อง เดิน ต่อไป
jong kít chee-wít dtông dern dtòr-bpai
Know that life needs to keep on moving

VERSE 2

ไม่เคย ไป ไหน ก็ ไม่รู้
mâi-koie bpai năi gôr mâi-róo
Never going anywhere, you never see

ไม่มี ประตู ให้ เข้าไป
mâi-mee bprà-dtoo hâi kâo-bpai
If there lies a door for you to enter

ผิด ถูก อย่างน้อย ได้ จำไว้
pìt tòok yàang-nói dâai jam-wái
Whether wrong or right, at least you learn

ไม่อยู่ ที่ ใคร อยู่ที่ เรา
mâi-yòo têe krai yòo-têe rao
That it isn’t up to anyone else, but you

REPEAT PRE-CHORUS & CHORUS

CODA/BRIDGE

ไป… ไป เถอะ ไป …
bpai… bpai tùh bpai …
Go… go on and keep on moving

มัน จะ เจอ อะไร
man jà jer a-rai
Whatever it is you face

มัน จะ ร้าย จะ ดี แค่ไหน ต้อง ไป
man jà ráai jà dee kâe-năi dtông bpai
Whether good or bad, you need to keep on

เรา จะเป็น
rao jà-bpen
“What will become of us?”

เรา จะ ทำได้ ไหม
rao jà tam-dâai măi
“Will we make it through this?”

คน ที่ รู้ คนหนึ่งเท่านั้น คือ เรา…
kon têe róo kon-nèung-tâo-nán keu rao…
The only one who can answer is you…

REPEAT CHORUS

เดิน ต่อไป…
dern dtòr-bpai…
Keep on moving

เดิน… ต่อ… ไป…
dern… dtòr… bpai…
Keep… on… going…

A special thanks goes to Mike Sawatsewi for sending over the English and Thai lyrics.

WLT’s 2011 Thai Flood posts…

I guess it ain’t over ’till it’s over.

Ayutthaya Underwater: Bangkok Now Bracing for Floods
Bangkok is STILL Bracing for the Thai Floods. Barely.
Thai Language Thai Culture: Primer on Thai Disaster Words
Thai Language Thai Culture: Basic Thai Flood Phrases
Bangkok Flood Info: Preparing for Floods in Bangkok
Thailand’s 50 Million Blue Whales Flood Bangkok
Karn.TV Cartoons: Flooding in Thailand
Thai Floods: FROC’s Highway to…
Thai Floods: 1000 Boats? Nope. Just 6 Boats Pushing Flood Water
Thai Floods: Returning to Flooded Ayutthaya
You are Invited to the Charity Cat Party!
Thai Scam Artists vrs the Heroes of Thailand’s Floodss over.

Scams of the Thai Floods…

Thailand is infamous for its scams. To warn their countrymen about the ongoing problem, the New Zealand Embassy felt obligated to create a dedicated page to Scams in Thailand. And due to the (repeatedly) ignored scams targeting tourists, the Australian Embassy warned Phuket’s Governor about Jet-Ski and Tuk-Tuk scams. Yeah. As if the governor (or Mayor for that matter) didn’t already know.

On my first visit to Thailand I was introduced to the jewelry scam (the bracelet fits fine thank-you-very-much). And my first introduction to Thai disaster scammers happened after I moved to Thailand, during the aftermath of the Tsunami.

So when the Thai floods hit the country hard, I was prepared for another round of scams. I didn’t have to wait long: Donations siphoned off, MWA warns of water bill scam, Con men target disaster victims, Flood Donation Fraudsters Arrested, and Phuket MP Anchalee accused of using flood relief to ‘buy’ support are just a few.

Like many, I wanted to help victims of the Thai floods but I didn’t want to be scammed. And while the SET Foundation is my Thai charity of choice I also wanted to help actual people in need. So I did. My way. Silly me.

But months into receiving my help, a con was rigged. The result? They received a whopping 1,700 baht (peanuts compared to previous assistance) and lost my trust and my support. Finish.

And before you say it, I totally know that the west is no stranger to scams. Just check out this bit of Christmas cheer: Thieves steal children’s charity donation bucket. Sick, yes? But the thing is, I don’t live in the west. I live here. In Thailand.

Westerners grew up with the saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. I did anyway. And when asked a Thai friend, I was told the Thai equivalent is, “Don’t break your own rice pot”.

Don’t break your own rice pot.
อย่า ทุบ หม้อข้าว ตัวเอง
yàa túp môr-kâao dtua-ayng

I prefer the Thai twist. You?

One side of me is pissed off about being scammed. Another side is mystified why someone already getting generous assistance would take a chance at being caught (especially when it was so blatantly obvious). But the practical side of me just shrugs because face it, scams are a regular part of Thailand’s landscape.

Anyway, instead of allowing the frustration to smolder, I decided to share the true heroes of the Thai flood crisis. The ongoing Thai flood crisis. Because it’s not over yet.

Heroes of the Thai floods: Lillian Suwanrumpha…

Like many expats in Thailand, when a crisis hits I stay glued to twitter. Twitter is also where a smattering of heroes like Lillian Suwanrumpha are found.

Lillian, @TheLilyfish on twitter, is an American-Thai journalist and photographer.

For these past months (and remember, it’s not over yet) Lillian has spent countless hours in crisis shelters, wading through rotting water, and boating far into flooded areas. Reading Lilli’s tweets, I’ve been impressed by her energy and stamina. And spunk (I totally like her spunk!)

Daily, I’d read Lillian’s calls for flood volunteers and donations. And when asked, she also gave great advice for rotting feet. And when frustrated, she’d bite the heads off fools.

@TheLilyfish: Looking for committed volunteers, 10 days minimum to help at animal shelter Cha Am. Please email leonard@soidog.org

@TheLilyfish: @WomenLearnThai @elgrodo @vaitor Check out why your feet are peeling first, if it’s fungal, don’t use Betnovate! Only for inflammation.

@TheLilyfish: Dear wannabe #ThaifloodEng donors, if u want to know where money goes, pls follow up group, not nag me about their political “affiliations”

@TheLilyfish: Instead of bitching and moaning about FROC/Puea Thai/ or whatever, go and #### help, you morons.

When I contacted Lillian about my planned post on the heroes of the Thai floods, she replied:

I’d hardly call myself a hero…there are so many others doing what I do, and besides I don’t do a full 9 to 5 job. But thanks!

Taking a different tack, I asked about other Thai flood heroes. Lillian tweeted back:

Red Cyber are the group who manage the donations tent at Victory Monument and do daily missions to Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi. Cyber have been great – they do missions every day, even night shifts. They sleep in their tents at Victory Monument in case there is a call.

@GlobalMouthful has been working with lots of small groups and buying donations daily.

SiamArsa and Thai Flood Eng have been great at coordinating donations, translating relief calls and organising their own.

Due to Lillian’s dedication, she’s been in a prime position to write and photograph what’s going on. Here are four of her Thai flood articles, featured at Asian Correspondent.

Thai flood: Giving and receiving in a time of crisis – A photo essay
A day after Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration implemented the Flood-Relief Operation Command at Don Muang Airport in an effort to alleviate Thailand’s worst natural disaster in 50 years, a call to action was sounded through media outlets for volunteers to help sort and pack supplies on the ground floor below the “war room”.

Since then, thousands of schoolkids, university students, local NGO groups, government underlings, army recruits, families and the occasional celebrity or two have crammed into Terminal 3 on a furious mission to prepare water, food, clothing and basic medical supplies for those in need.

Thai flood relief: Civilians lead the way – A photo essay
Despite rigourous attempts by the Puea Thai government and the Royal Thai Army to alleviate Thailand’s worst flooding in 50 years, most recently with the implementation of the Flood-Relief Operation Command at Don Muang Airport, it is civilian operations that are leading the way with donations distribution in the hardest-hit areas in Thailand during the nation’s worst flooding in 50 years.

Thai Floods: Relief for our furry friends – A photo essay
In the midst of Thailand’s worst flooding in over 50 years, last week the cabinet announced an official holiday from Octobe 27-31 for those in 21 flood-hit provinces.

Many took the opportunity to escape to unscathed areas in the country or abroad to cope with the crisis, leaving the centre of Bangkok a ghost town.

Others, however, opted to stay either to continue working or to use their days off to help others in need – including those of the four-legged kind.

Thai Floods: Life beyond the ‘Big Bag’ barrier – A photo essay
As rumours filter in regarding the possibility of 400 Rangsit locals descending upon the “Big Bag” barrier with destruction in mind, many beyond the great divide attempt to carry on with life as normal – if ‘normal’ could in any way be applied to navigating one’s neighbourhood in up to two metres of water.

You can see more samples of Lillian’s work at: Lillian Suwanrumpha

Heroes of the Thai floods: Ramin Assemi and Pi Wit…

Ramin Assemi is another Thai flood hero. And the same as Lillian, when I approached him about this post, his main focus was on others working to help those in need.

His name is Pi Wit. He is a government official working for the Royal Irrigation Department in Mahasarakham as an electrical engineer. A couple of weeks ago he came to Bangkok with his own pickup and 3 boats to help Thai flood victims.

He repeatedly went out to deliver relief items and help flood victims in other ways with his own boat and car, even though his boats and car had to been fixed 3 times now (and the boats even more often). Gasoline has been paid by donations (there’s a group that’s making small concerts and going around with donation boxes), and part of the costs for fixing has been paid by these donations too, but he paid a lot of the fixing costs out of his own pocket too.

I’ve been on the boat with him a couple of times, and was very impressed for several reasons. He’s taking good care of the volunteers who help on the boats and was always willing to jump in where help is needed, risking both his health and his boats. He went to great lengths to reach people who didn’t receive any other help, sometimes driving around in his small boat at night in a completely darkened area with just a little flashlight to reach one family after a very long day when all of us where tired, hungry, aching, covered from top to toe in mosquito bites – he being the guy on the boat must have been the most tired, especially because most volunteers circulate (going one day on a relief trip, then resting another day), while he went several days in a row.

It’s a guy who helps more than he talks, which is a rare quality.

There are others, but when I asked them they preferred not to be mentioned. I’ve met so many people who do very little but push their smiling faces in front on every pic they can, taking credit for other people’s hard work.

When we went out with the boats, we sometimes encountered people who refused to accept relief packs because they said that there are others further down some soi where no boat has gone for days, and they requested that the boats go there first to help them because they needed it more, even though they themselves actually did need the bags too.

As for me I’m very grateful to my friends who donated so much money. I originally set out to raise 20,000 baht in donations, and now we already have more than 190,000, pretty sure that by next week will be more than 200,000. I think for people who want to help, a very powerful way is to call up and email friends, and tap into their social networks and get busy asking for donations, and telling them that they’ll make sure donations are used the right way and using the Internet to make it all as transparent as possible. When people see how their donations benefit those whom they actually want to help, and there’s a trusted friend, they become a lot more generous and helpful than you’d expect them.

At the same time, when someone does this, they really have to get busy checking what happens with the donations and if possible follow it until it reaches those who need help. There is so much abuse of donations and sometimes very stupid and wasteful inefficiency it can be very disappointing and upsetting, but then you focus on the good peeps and find it’s worth all the trouble.

Right now the group at Wat Duang Khae needs donations of chicken and eggs. And the Camillian Home for the Disabled in Lad Krabang needs donations to take care of the kids – it’s not really flood relief (they did a flood relief in their local community, but the flood has pretty much receeded around there except for some sois where there’s just a bit of standing water) but seems to me very well worth supporting.

Baanarsa Jaidee is also a good place to help from what I can tell.

My impression is that many of the smaller groups don’t really need donations for flood relief packs anymore because relief efforts are by now so well organized and gaps by the army and large relief organizations have mostly been closed, but if you come across a small team you think is worth supporting where small donations can help please let me know about it and I’ll check it out.

Also it makes sense to keep some of the money you want to donate for the time when people still will need help, but the media has already moved on and people focus on other things.

Ramin gave tips on how you can get money or donations to the smaller groups, but, as not everyone has the time, I asked how people could get money to his flood efforts. He came back with several options: Preference 1. Bankwire (BKK Bank), 2. Cash (can pick up in BKK & do life post during transaction to keep accountable) or 3. Paypal.

So if you are strapped for time yet still want to help a grassroots effort, please make contact with Ramin through his Facebook (Ramin Assemi) or twitter (@ramin).

Worthwhile Thai flood charities…

There are many charities set up to help the flood efforts. Some are good. Some are great. Some are iffy. The charities listed below have been vouched for.

Camillian Home for The Disabled

Flood Situation: The medical and social workers at Camillian Home have been involved in supporting disabled people living in the community; providing food, medicine, training, adaptive equipment, and very importantly, establishing a deep personal link so they know and feel that they are not alone. Our teams do this work 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Baanarsa Jaidee

The Thai Health Promotion Foundation, an autonomous government agency, in collaboration with civil society–ArsaDusit Volunteers, Thaiflood, and others–opened Baan Arsa Jaidee on October 14th, 2011. It has quickly proved itself an aggressive and responsive flood relief effort because it helps to coordinate dozens of existing civil society groups.

Baan Arsa Jaidee and its partners: mobilize volunteers; coordinate aid; deliver timely flood information; and deliver survival bags, food, medicine, camp toilets, life jackets and other assistance to the flood-affected communities.

Soi Dog Foundation

Large scale evacuations of people are currently occurring in the worst affected areas of the Bangkok area. People being evacuated are typically not allowed to take their pets and these dogs and cats as well as thousands of strays left behind need your help now.

Soi Dog is working with groups in the Bangkok area to rescue these animals. These groups are working around the clock to save the dogs and cats before it is to late. Time is running out and they need your help.

Thai Red Cross

2500 units of blood required daily: The National Blood Center of the Thai Red Cross requires 2500 units of blood per day as reserve to ensure there is enough blood to meet requirements during the ongoing flooding.

… Since 1 October, with the ongoing flooding affecting thirty provinces and the situation still critical, blood collection has been difficult. The Center’s regional blood centers in Lopburi and Pisanuloke provinces are sent 400 units of blood each daily to supply hospitals in the central and lower central regions.

Volunteering…

Thai Flood Team

There are many ways to help about the Thai flood. You can volunteer (packing flood relief items, filling and carrying sandbags, teach and entertain kids in flood shelters, go out in flooded districts to deliver relief bags and so on) or donate (either money or things like rice, canned fish, instant noodles, baby diapers, and many other things that are urgently needed to help those most heavily affected by the Thai flood).

SiamArsa (Thai)

Coordinates donations and organises volunteers. In Thai.

Thai Flood (Eng)

Coordinates donations and organises volunteers. In English.

Wipe the Tide

Wipe the Tide is a fundraising campaign whereby a massive “flashmob” invades Bangkok’s major traffic intersections to clean the windshields of cars in order to raise funds for flood victims and to help rebuilding devastated areas, when ever severe floods in Thailand occur.

We are NOT going to donate cash to a random organization and say: “do what you want with it!” but rather invest in things that are needed.

Other heroes of the Thai floods…

As I mentioned, the Thai flood crisis is not over yet. To keep this fact in the public eye I’d like to continue to share the real heroes of the Thai flood. If you know of any, please give me a holler via my contact form.

In the meantime, here are a few handy flood crisis articles from Matt Crook (Lost Boy).

How to help those affected by the Thailand floods and So where is your money going? and To Ayutthaya and Back…

Thai Floods: 2011…

Ayutthaya Underwater: Bangkok Now Bracing for Floods
Bangkok is STILL Bracing for the Thai Floods. Barely.
Thai Language Thai Culture: Primer on Thai Disaster Words
Thai Language Thai Culture: Basic Thai Flood Phrases
Bangkok Flood Info: Preparing for Floods in Bangkok
Thailand’s 50 Million Blue Whales Flood Bangkok
Karn.TV Cartoons: Flooding in Thailand
Thai Floods: FROC’s Highway to…
Thai Floods: 1000 Boats? Nope. Just 6 Boats Pushing Flood Water
Thai Floods: Returning to Flooded Ayutthaya
You are Invited to the Charity Cat Party!

Siem Reap, Cambodia…

As mentioned in Part One and Part Two, on my return to Siem Reap I revisited Viva’s nachos and ‘buckets’ of margaritas, Ankor Wat, Ankor Tom, and the heads of Bayon. A new (and not to be repeated) adventure was the fish massage.

And day two? Well, the second day was saved for a trip out of Siem Reap to Kulen Mountain.

Phnom Kulen National Park: Kulen is considered by Khmers to be the most sacred mountain in Cambodia and it is a popular place for domestic visitors during weekends and festivals. The hill is used as the ancient capital city II in AD 802 to declared himself as god king and announced independence from Java, then giving birth to present day Cambodia.

If you jump in your vehicle and drive straight through from Siem Reap to Kulen Mountain it takes about an hour. Our guide added detours so it took us twice as long. And at each stop he shared insights into the Cambodian countryside. It was perfect for me because I love learning new stuff.

The first stop was at a small family owned… I’d like to say ‘store’ but it was more than that. They sold baskets and tourist bits but they also educated tourists on the production of palm sugar. I remember stopping by this very same place 5 years ago (I still have the baskets) but I somehow missed their sugar palm spiel (if it was even around back then).

I find the practicals of tropical living interesting, so please bear with me… For pollination to occur, both a male and female coconut palm tree are needed. While I realise you can’t see it clearly, in the photomontage above the male tree is on the left and the female on the right. And just like you’d expect, the male flower (top right photo) pollinates the female flower (shown underneath). The female flower is bent down, cut, and a container (bamboo or plastic bottle) is attached to gather the dripping nectar. Each morning a palm sugar worker climbs into the trees to collect the harvest. On his return, the nectar is then boiled down to create palm sugar.

Was my explanation of palm sugar production as clear as mud, or what? To help fill in any holes, above is a video explaining the how to’s of palm sugar. The video is shot in nearby Amphawa (Thailand) so I just might stop by at some point.

Another first for me was seeing a real live cashew tree. And who knew that a cashew tree has two types of fruit? As you can see from the photos, the cashew grows out of the middle of the green fruit, which turns yellow when ripe.

Tasting a bite of the yellow fruit I found it watery and slightly sweet. Refreshing actually. And from the piles rotting on the ground I’m guessing that the yellow fruit isn’t the main cash crop.

This is a lucky shot taken out the window of the van as we drove away. Along with other family members, these two beautiful Cambodian gals ran the tourist stall.

And here are two more things that surprised me about Cambodia: 1) Cigarette butts offerings at spirit houses, and 2) monks asking for money donations.

When I asked the guide about the cigarette butts shoved on top of joss sticks he suggested that it was a joke, not a serious offering. Because same as in Thailand, Cambodians leave whole cigarettes for the spirits, not just the butts.

Further up the road we stopped to donate money to novice monks. I was surprised because in Thailand monks are not supposed to ask for money. If they do they are usually fakes. But apparently, in some parts of the Cambodian countryside, the locals are too poor to support their monks. Being practical the monks take to the roads to get money to feed themselves.

It just goes to show how impoverished Cambodia is in comparison to Thailand. Or perhaps I haven’t been to the dirt poor parts of Thailand yet?

We saw other sights along the way but let’s fast forward to Kbal Spean’s 1,000 Shiva Lingas. I grew fond of lingas while researching for my post, Bangkok’s Fertility Shrine: Chao Mae Tuptim. So of course, when the chance came to see 1000 more, well, there I was!

wiki: Kbal Spean: The site consists of a series of stone carvings in sandstone formations carved in the river bed and banks. It is commonly known as the “Valley of a 1000 Lingas” or “The River of a Thousand Lingas”. The motifs for stone carvings are mainly myriads of lingams (phallic symbol of Hindu god Shiva), depicted as neatly arranged bumps that cover the surface of a sandstone bed rock, and lingam-yoni designs.

Before we got out of the van the guide told us to avoid standing on the carvings. But everyone does. Locals walk over them. Tourists stand on them. Oh well.

As you can see from the top photo, the lingas are boxes carved into the river rock with carved circles protruding from their middles. The boxes are symbolic of the yoni (lady parts) and the circles the lingam (man parts).

wiki: (Sanskrit: योनि yoni) is the Sanskrit word for the vagina. Its counterpart is the lingam, interpreted by some as the phallus.

wiki: The Lingam (also, Linga, Ling, Shiva linga, Shiv ling, Sanskrit लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ,Tamilலிங்கம், meaning “mark”, “sign”, “gender”, “phallus”, “inference” or “eternal procreative germ” is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples.

As I was taking this video I couldn’t help but be impressed at the dedication needed to pull off a project of this size. Hermits started carving in the 11th century and finished in the 12th. That’s a 100 year stretch, give or take. Very impressive.

In Thailand there’s a mix and match of Hindu and Buddhism so to simplify it in my head, I sometimes lump the two together. And that’s why I at first assumed the lingas were carved by monks. Wrong. Monks aren’t Hindu. Plus, the issue of sex comes into play. True? Obviously, monks on their knees carving male and female sexual organs doesn’t make sense. Or does it?

After wandering around in the heat of Kbal Spean for hours, off we went to Preah Ang Thom.

wiki: Preah Ang Thom is an 8 meter tall statue of the reclining Buddha reaching nirvana. The statue is carved into a huge sandstone boulder. Preah Ang Thom is the sacred and worshipping god for Phnom Kulen.

The Buddha at the top of the mountain is (I’m told) the largest reclining Buddha carved out of a solid piece of rock in all of Cambodia. Note: The photo of the Buddha shown above is not mine but was taken by a dear friend.

Before you get to the reclining Buddha you have to first run the gauntlet of professional beggars. The guide instructed us to get small change from the money changers to share around. After seven plus years in Thailand I’m cynical about beggars, so instead of giving handouts, I opted to wield a camera. Not much different than I was doing previously but it kept my hands busy.

At the shrine before the shrine, and after the first bit of stairs, you take off your shoes and then get blessed. And only then can you climb the next steep lot of stairs to the top of the mountain.

I’m not a wimp, but I’ve been there, done that. I’ve climbed many stairs to see many Buddhas on many mountain tops. Most in the baking sun. Opting out (yes, again), this time I stayed back to take photos of an equally cynical monk. To get photo permission I waggled my camera. Nodding his reply, he put out his cigarette and signed off from his mobile (both are on the mat in front of him).

PHEW! The last monument of the trip was Banteay Srey (Citadel of the Woman).

wiki: Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 25 km (16 mi) north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom. Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today.

Banteay Srey is truly stunning. A must see. I did stop by this Wat on my first trip to Siem Reap and I was thrilled to do it again. In my opinion, the carvings are the best out of all the Wats on the tour. And if you catch the sun just right you come away with fabulous photos. Again, on my first trip the sun was perfect. This one not so much. Regardless, I found the ambiance of the area much the same. Fabulous.

Returning to the Heritage Suites Hotel we were tired, hungry, and dusty. Checkout time was around noon but to accommodate our late flight they moved us from our Bungalow Suits (see the wraparound view) to a smaller but equally suitable room to relax and do whatever. Bless them.

After being showered, watered, and fed, we were tucked into a vintage Mercedes Benz (formerly owned by the King of Cambodia) for a ride to the airport. And home. Finish.

Siem Reap, Cambodia…

Carrying on from Siem Reap. Cambodia. Again. Part One… Snap (Cooee) and I have been leapfrogging Cambodian posts (but she’s far quicker off the mark).

Onward to the Bayon and Thom: A good hour and a half later after wandering around Angkor Wat, we cooled down in a nearby café. It was SO hot, other tourists where asking the gardener to hose them off, instead of the plants.

Agreed! It was boiling HOT! The first time I saw this sign was in a ladies’ toilet at one of the Wats. I just had to laugh at the shower icon. I mean, who’d stick their heads under a [cough] bum-gun?

The second time I came across the sign I knew just who. ME!

But hot or not, we still had time to fill. So, after sweating through the heads of Bayon, my group opted for a late afternoon elephant ride to the top of Phnom Bakheng hill. Without me. Needing a quiet space, sans elephants and people, I wandered around on my own.

The elephant rides are relatively cheap and the view from the top of the hill is (apparently) worth it. To ride up the hill is a mere US$20 per person, and for the ride back down, US$15. Walking or riding, the entire trip is around 30-40 minutes. But, if you plan on taking in the ruins of Bakheng temple, you’ll (obviously) need more time.

Shagged out – them from their walk and me from being quiet – back we went for a shower, a change of clothes, and happy hour at the Heritage Suites Hotel. As promised, the Long Island Iced Teas were tall and cold. Needed.

After dinner is where the evening got interesting. And before you think it, no, I didn’t get arrested. Not me.

Old town Siem Reap is loaded with places to eat. In search of a fit we made our way through streets lined with restaurants and heaving with tourists. The noise would be deafening, but then we’d turn a corner to find entire streets quiet of customers, sporting staff manning emptiness. What’s up with that? With a mostly tourist population, how can entire sections be unpopular?

Anyway… after an uneventful dinner [boring] we went looking for a fish massage [yeah!]

For years I’ve contemplated the experience of a fish massage. Whenever I came across massage tanks in Bangkok I’d take photos while avoiding the plunge. But Talen did go for it (check out his post, Thai Foot Massage Can be a Fishy Business).

One of the main reasons for my reluctance was down to the reported health risks.

Feeding frenzy: Thailand’s fish spas nibble on despite health fears: Britain’s Health Protection Agency recently announced it was investigating the possibility of human infection from fish spa pedicures, but had no confirmed cases of disease.

Infected human blood can turn a fresh water aquarium into a potential mixing vessel. Pieces of uneaten, dead or diseased skin floating in the tank during the treatment add to the risk of additional skin diseases, according to health officials.

Sounds appetising. Yes? Seems with one Island Iced Tea (most) of worries were gone.

Old Siem Reap had fish massage places galore. Some of the tanks were milky-murky with dark bits attached to the glass. Hmmm. But two tanks, side by side, were crystal clear. And these tanks just so happened to be manned by a lovely, high-spirited character. So fun!

Seriously, I don’t know what he was on, but, wow. Our host bounced around. Cracked bad jokes. And then agreed to free Ankor Beers and a pee. Into the water we went.

See that lovely Swedish couple in the photo? On the bottom left? They not only put up with fish nibbling their toes but with us as well. Oh dear. My friends and I were in an [um] cheerful mood and the free beers were possibly one drink too far. Poor things. Alexander and Mathilda, if you two are reading this, thank you for putting up with our merriment.

We were having such an amusing time that at first I ignored the fish nibbles going from gentle to pain. The fish had gone beyond the outer layers and were making inroads into my skin. Ow. I’d cover one foot with the other, and when the foot on top was hurting too much, I’d switch. Double ouch. And time to go.

In the morning I woke up to multi-hued feet covered with red dots. The larger bites oozed blisters. Oh joy.

During the day my toes got fat. Just like little sausages. And angry red dots abounded.

And my friend? Nadda. Her feet were fine.

This is sooooo typical. When I went to write a series on Thai street food I came down with food poisoning. And that was before I even got a chance to review the first hawker stall!

Which reminds me… Pssst… Talen… I won’t be jumping out of a plane this coming May with you after all. I’m not overly superstitious but… three strikes at that height and I’d be seriously out.

Please stay tuned for the next post featuring Kulen Mountain (Valley of a 1000 Lingas) and Banteay Srei (Citadel of Women). Until then!

Siem Reap, Cambodia…

Siem Reap in Thai is pronounced in a slightly different way than you might be used to hearing: เสียมราฐ /sĭam râat/. And funny enough (but perhaps not to Thais), Siem Reap in Khmer translates to ‘Siam Defeated’.

Wiki: Siem Reap: The name Siem Reap means the ‘Flat Defeat of Siam’ — today’s Thailand — and refers to the centuries-old conflict between the Siamese and Khmer peoples.

This name was baptized by King Ang Chan (1516-1566) as “Siem Reap”, meaning “the flat defeat of Siam” (Cambodians call Siam or Thailand “Siem”). It was because of the victory over the Thais which King Ang Chan counter-attacked, and shot Prince Ong dead on an elephant’s back, and routed the Thais and captured no less than 10,000 Thai troops.

Even with the Cambodian–Thai border dispute being manipulated by politicians on both sides, antagonism between the two countries has mostly slowed down to a soft boil.

And while I haven’t asked Thais, the Cambodians I’ve talked to admitted to a fondness for the Thai people. I’m curious, what’s been your experience, if any?

Siem Reap five years ago…

I’ve dreamed of walking around the huge stone faces of Bayon ever since National Geographic did a feature on the Wat. I believe I was around 14 years old. Or was I 16? Close enough.

Only back then I thought the area was called Ankor Wat. How wrong I was.

Five years ago I finally made it to Siem Reap. I’m told that partially due to the Khmer Rouge shutting down the country, many of the colonial buildings in the old part of town have been mostly preserved. Um. Thanks?

Using the quaint city as a base, during my visit I trudged through way too many Wats. Some were almost completely restored while others were distinguishable only as piles of stone. Yes. You got it. My long awaited adventure morphed from a thrill a minute to quite the dull drudge.

Even though the trip was exhausting, I absolutely loved the city and the main Wats. And no surprise to me, the enormous faces of Bayon stole my heart. Ok, Thailand owns the biggest part of my heart but there’s room for more. Seriously.

Each evening, after a long day of sightseeing, I’d head to the Viva Mexican Cafe situated in the old part of town.

Armed with an order of nachos and (small) buckets of margaritas, I’d sit beside the sidewalk to watch the street show. There’d be a smattering of tourists strolling the partially lit streets, street kids trying out their multi-language skills, and tuk tuk drivers parking and/or sleeping nearby.

Ever since that trip I’ve vowed to go back to Siem Reap. FINALLY, with well-traveled friends visiting from the UK this month, away we went!

Siem Reap in 2012…

Depending on the flight, Bangkok to Siem Reap is either one hour away via propeller driven plane, or a mere half hour by jet. We went during the week (less popular) so the airline used a small plane going over. In comparison, the return was booked for a Friday night so we were whoooooooshed back to Bangkok.

There’s no way getting around saying this (and I’ve tried) but the excitement of our arrival was deflated when the Heritage Suites Hotel neglected to collect us from the airport. After waiting outside the airport for what seemed like forever we gave up and traveled to the hotel via van instead of the promised vintage Mercedes Benz (formerly owned by Father King Norodom Sihanouk). Sigh. Riding in a van wasn’t special. It was merely ‘ok’.

During the ride to the Heritage we passed hotel after new hotel. A big change. When I queried the driver about the growth he mentioned that something like 150 hotels had gone up in the past few years. Wow. I hope their infrastructure keeps up with the pace.

Once at the Heritage Suites Hotel the manager, Magnus Olovson, took immediate charge of the situation. Apologising for the snafu, Magnus upgraded everyone to spacious suits. Is that impressive, or what? And I’m sure the next question is, how can you get a snafu too?

Thank you Magnus (but honestly, I would have been happy with a ride to the Viva Mexican Cafe in the ‘Bentley’ ;-)

After jumping in and out of showers we called for tuk tuks to take us to dinner and drinks at the Viva Mexican Cafe.

Unlike on my first trip the now lit streets were filled with tourists and the restaurant heaving!

A further sign of Siem Reap’s recent success, the nachos at Viva went upmarket (but were just as tasty) and the actual buckets filled with margaritas were no more. The small buckets were replaced by large beer glasses instead. No matter. The margaritas went down mighty fine.

After wandering around the old part of town for an hour or so we headed back to the pool and our private steam rooms, deep bathtubs, and super comfy beds.

Magnus, it was mighty fine. So again, a ‘ta’ from me.

Breakfast by the pool was rather good and the wait staff were exceptional. Congrats Heritage. Well done. In addition to the buffet, the outdoor chef cooked up delicious plates filled with omelets, bacon, sausage, and grilled tomatoes. The coffee was topnotch as well.

Breakfast over, soon enough the guide arrived and off we went to our first stop, Ankor Wat. The sun was at a bad angle (not conducive for decent photos) so I won’t share my weak shots of the famous entrance over the moat. Apologies. Perhaps better photographers have light tricks unknown to me.

Wiki: Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist.

Walking around the Wats our guide pointed out the many headless Buddha statues. He mentioned that their heads were chopped off and buried in the jungle by the rival religion. Nice to know. And all this time I thought the destruction of the stone Buddhas was due to the shameful (western) antique market.

Many, but not all, of the heads have been found. Sooo, is anyone up for a treasure hunt? Hmmmm?

Next on the agenda was Ta Prohm, known for its impressive trees growing over stone buildings.

Wiki: Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara.

Located approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray, it was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.

Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor’s most popular temples with visitors.

I swear this very monk was walking in this exact same spot five years ago!

A fair bit of Ta Prohm was under construction so after seeing what we could, off we went to what turned out to be an excellent lunch washed down with coconut water (moi) and beer (them).

Why did I go for coconut water? On holiday no less? Sure, I do sometimes enjoy a good beer, but in the heat of the day a nap must soon follow. And hey, that’s just one of my many excuses for not drinking beer.

Cambodian food is far less spicier than Thai food but the lack is easily remedied by bowls of cut chilis. And every time we ordered chilis, broad smiles came too.

Tip: If it’s absolutely crucial to get decent photos, and you don’t know any light magic, make your intentions clear to your guide.

Five years ago I was delivered to the Wats that mattered at perfect times. But, on this trip, I didn’t realise the importance until we rolled up to washed out Ankor faces. Boring.

I do understand why we arrived at Bayon when we did. These days there are HUGE numbers of tourists crowding the Wats, so after checking out the situation, our guide made a snap decision to change our itinerary.

Pity I didn’t come across this site in time:

The Bayon: Built by Jayavarman VII the temple stands in the center of Angkor Thom. With its 54 towers and 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara, this temple looks best in the morning just after sunrise or at the end of the afternoon as the sun shines on the faces.

After agreeing to make it back well before sundown we returned to the hotel for a needed rest.

We got back to Bayon around 4pm. With hindsight, to get the best chance at catching more of the golden light, perhaps it should have been 3pm instead. Live and learn…

I saw noticeable renovation on the statues flanking one of the entrances to Bayon (shown in the bottom left photo). And most of the replaced heads were already showing considerable damage. Odd.

I asked the guide about the destruction and in his opinion it was deliberate. Supposedly the large chunks out of the renovated heads were done to make them look more like the originals. It looked like vandalism to me.

The day is not yet over, but as this seems a perfect place to stop this post, I will.

Before I sign off, Snap was at Siem Reap shortly before my visit so please stop by to say ‘hey’: Arriving in Siem Reap.

Remembering the Tsunami of 2004…

What happened on Boxing Day 2004 was horrific. Even though I wasn’t on the ground, it marked my life. And because of that, every year I’ve put aside time to honour those caught up in the events.

This year I made a point to read And Then One Morning, an eyewitness account written by Aaron Le Boutillier (interviewed earlier this month on WLT).

Aaron’s book saddened me but gave hope as well. It underlined how fragile life can be, but it also brought home how an event so massively terrifying can change lives forever. And not always for the worst.

I didn’t have an easy time writing this post so please forgive its faults.

And then one morning…

When the tsunami hit I was on the island of Borneo, wandering around packing boxes bound for Thailand. My Thai visa being delayed, I was experiencing the simmering limbo well-known to seasoned expats.

On the same side of the world Aaron was visiting Phi Phi, Thailand, to help a longtime friend and his family of five relocate to Phuket. It was meant to be their last Christmas on the island, with Boxing Day being moving day.

At about ten the next morning I was in that comfortable slumber zone… Suddenly my brain was registering the sound of children screaming. At first I thought some idiots were trying to scare them, but the screams were genuinely frightened, so much so that they were frightening me… Now fully awake, I could hear that the screaming was mixed with another sound – a crunching, grinding, roaring kind. It would be almost another two days before I would sleep again.

So while I was casually sipping coffee and recovering from Christmas dinner of the night before, Aaron was waking up to the fight of his life.

Through the noise I picked up the words “wing wing” which means “run run” in Thai and I heard the sound of feet pounding on the sandy street outside my room.

I jumped out of bed and pushed open my wooden window.

Down on the street, the first thing I saw was Heinz with Anna under his arm and Tina holding onto his hand. I shouted down to him and he looked at me for a brief second with eyes that will haunt me until the day I die.

An hour after the tsunami hit I was most likely moving slow, perhaps wondering what to wear that evening at Barnaby and Luciana’s. Or maybe, just maybe, I was thinking about what leftovers to reheat for lunch. But whatever it was, was not life threatening.

All I knew was that I was alive and badly cut up. There were many people who were alive but in desperate situations. Some would die but there were many, many who were already dead. Ten? Fifty? A hundred? Possibly more. But did I think tsunami? The answer is no… Life had truly been reduced to its very basics – trying to stay alive – certainly not trying to analyse what might have caused this hell. This was an obscene soup, not a tsunami wave.

For me, the quiet of lunchtime came and went. And as far as I knew nothing out of the ordinary was happening. It was just a typical day on yet another Christmas holiday.

I had lost count of how many dead bodies I’d seen already. Curiously, although my mission was now to find Heinz, Oiy, Tina, Anna and little Dino, it didn’t occur to me to look to see if any of these bodies were theirs. It never entered my mind that they might not have survived.

I scrambled up the hillside to join the crowd making their exodus from the beach and suddenly I saw them – Oiy and Dino side by side. Dino looked completely blank, like so many others. Oiy looked to be in total despair and I could see she was suffering from some nasty wounds… It was just the two of them – no Heinz or Tina or Anna.

That evening at Barnaby and Luciana’s I celebrated with friends made during nine years of Borneo living. At some point late in the evening there was a whispered mention of a tragedy somewhere in the region but the discussion never took hold. Too many rounds of holiday cheer? I honestly don’t know.

It was only when I checked emails that I read how serious it was. Arriving home I found an inbox filled with friends panicking at my lack of a response, some even posting alerts on design forums to see if I’d survived. But I was not in Thailand. Yet.

The day after the tsunami hit I bounced between the BBC and the Internet. The day after the tsunami hit Aaron continued his search for his dear friends.

Nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see. There must have been ten rows of bodies with a short gap between them for walking down. In total, there was about six hundred bodies. All of these were from Phi Phi: babies, toddlers, children, adolescents and adults… We stood there for some time with our own thoughts. After the spell was broken we made our way to the front of the row and then up and down six hundred corpses looking for Heinz, Tina or Anna.

From the quotes I selected above, it’s obvious that And Then One Morning is not an easy read. Especially if you are reading this during the holiday celebrations of Boxing Day, 2010. But if you too want to understand just a bit of what happened during the Tsunami, then I highly recommend grabbing a copy.

Interview: Aaron Le Boutillier…

Aaron, one year, two years, three years… as time marches on, each year the impact from a life changing experience morphs. Looking back over the six years, how do you see the influence of the tsunami on your life?

Looking back, while although I wished all those lives were spared, experiencing the tsunami gave me a unique insight into people and the fragility of life that we all take for granted.

In the space of a few hours, I saw the best and worst of humans, ranging from pure heroism that a person can have for a complete stranger to the human instinct of people benefiting from the misfortune of others.

To have faced death square in the eyes, then through sheer luck survived, is a rewarding experience. It gives an inner peace that you can never truly understand unless you have experienced such an event.

On a negative, I cannot stop my mind from playing games. Quite frequently in a crowded environment where everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves, I will imagine a tragedy, go through how everyone will cope and the horror of the aftermath.

I think all survivors have their demons and when you have been so closely linked to so much death it does affect your imagination. As a result it occasionally becomes quite dark.

All in all, I gained from the experience and have used it to make my future more rewarding.

Aaron Le Boutillier
And Then One Morning | Le Boutillier Group
Successful Thai Language Learner: Aaron Le Boutillier