category archive: Kalasin, February 2007

Please note that the articles are in chronological order. For all other categories, the latest article is at the top of the list. But due to the 'trip reporting' nature, the sort order has been reversed for the travel categories.

A small act of goodness

Saturday, 3 Feb 2007 | Miscellaneous

Philip Greenspun is computer science teacher and more importantly just a guy I simply don’t know. He tried to do something good for Christmas 2006 and wanted to buy a poor family in Asia a water buffalo to help them farm their land more effectively. A respected aid company said they would. But then he went ahead and read the fine print, the stuff nobody ever bothers to read, and found out that what he wanted to do was actually not really happening and his money would just ‘disappear’ into a big bucket which would then be used to fund the projects as the organization saw fit.

Robert Thompson is a violinist and more importantly another guy I don’t know. He doesn’t know Philip Greenspun either, but read his blog and on it found the article about that water buffalo story. He was taking a break from touring and living in Yunnan, China in which he was surrounded by farmers who perceived a water buffalo to be the best gift they could ever get. Robert told Philip and Philip asked him if he could really do what for the aid company was just marketing talk. Robert said he could, did and made a video about it which is very much worth watching.

Jason Kottke is a guy who builds websites and is also a well-known American blogger and again someone I don’t know. He doesn’t know Robert Thompson or Philip Greenspun either. He saw the movie Robert made and briefly wrote about this on his blog, which I read.

A lot of farmers in the northeast region of Thailand use a water buffalo to help take care of their land too. While I think the average annual income here is a little higher than the approximate US$500 mentioned in the video, the animals are of the same importance to the survival of small farmers here.

I know people make these small gestures that mean a world of difference to someone else. My mom for instance is trying to help stray dogs in Bosnia. I guess I was touched by this video because it feels closer to me. I wanted to share it with you and I hope you watch it, see the high quality version if you can.

My birthday, do something good

Tuesday, 6 Feb 2007 | Journal

As you all know, my birthday is in 10 days from today. I’ve been wondering what I should do for my birthday. I’m not going to be a birthday party, I have decided that much. But I haven’t quite figured out what, if anything, I do want to do. Something that has also been on my mind is I feel I should ‘do good’, mostly based on the video I recently shared with you all. Living in Thailand makes you realise just how privileged you really are. Good examples set by my mother are of course also an influence.

So yesterday I started thinking perhaps I should combine the two. Why not do something good for my birthday, something from which I would get nothing but a warm heart - which I guess is the best birthday present one can get.

But what on earth could I do? I have the time right now to actually go out and do something now. I can’t make any long lasting commitments with such an unclear future, but I could go out now and do something for someone. But what!

One thing suggested to me was to go to a village in the countryside and visit some schools. Kids in school there walk home every day and make their own lunch, parents are out working on the farm and have no time to make that lunch. So instead, I could provide lunch for the entire school so they could all stay and eat together. I could buy some footballs they can play soccer with after. From what I’ve heard (also from a westerner who has done it), this is an amazing experience. What I like about this is that its for kids. What I don’t like about this is its just this once and not something lasting like buying a waterbuffalo.

So here is my question to you: any suggestions?

Oh by the way, all this doesn’t mean you can’t send me big presents for my birthday. I especially like one thing I have been gawking for a while. It’s not too late to send it to me!

Need more ideas

Thursday, 8 Feb 2007 | Journal

So a couple of days ago I published an article here about what to do for my birthday. The more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I like the idea of doing something for someone else on my birthday instead of for me. Ok, so it is not entirely selfless because doing something good will for sure make me feel good inside. But still!

I have asked you to submit ideas. Here is what I received so far:

• Treat the kids of a school in the poor northeastern region of Thailand to lunch, so they don’t have to walk home and back (a 1km walk each way) and make themselves lunch.
• Give blood.
• Do something for the stray dogs in Bangkok.
• Visit or perhaps donate money for a home of foster kids in northern Thailand.
• Sponsor or get involed with ‘Right to Play’, humanitarian organization that emphasizes sports to aid the development of children.

While I appreciate these ideas, I’m still open for additional suggestions. I still like the top one the most, perhaps because I’ve seen photos of it. However, I still feel it should be something a little more lasting than a lunch.

Please click on the email link below and send me whatever ideas come up.

Going to the school

Saturday, 10 Feb 2007 | Journal

After having received a few more suggestions for my ‘do good for my birthday’ project, I have just decided that I have settled on going for the visiting of the school idea. It was the first idea and still the one that appeals to me the most.

I love the fact that it has something to do with kids, kids are the future of any country and so to provide kids with support in any way is always a good thing. Even if it as small a thing as buying them lunch. One of the ideas I loved about the water buffalo story is how it had nothing to do with established charities but was just a little thing. So here is the plan.

When

I will be leaving Bangkok on the 15th and return on the 17th of this month. My actual birthday, Friday the 16th of February, is when I plan to visit the school.

Where

Nat suggested this idea to me and so we are visiting the school she went when she was a kid. That means we are traveling to a village near the city of Kalasin to do this. Kalasin is quite far from Bangkok (over 500 km), but that will give me all the more chance to see more of this country. Well, I don’t know how much I can actually see sitting on a bus and making such a short trip. But whatever.

Budget

The total cost of this trip if I were to do it barebones is about 450 euro. About 1/3rd of that budget is spent on the food and other things for the kids, 1/3rd is spent locally in Kalasin for a hotel for me, food for the ‘team’ and getting everything everywhere. About 1/3rd is spent on travel expenses from and back to Bangkok, either by coach or minibus.

I will be spending a little more than that. I have to fly back for instance, because I have a rather important event to attend the night of the 17th. But the extra expenses for luxuries like that are not included in the budget as defined above.

While 450 euro is quite a hefty sum for someone living on their savings, I have decided the experience is worth the money. Nonetheless I am delighted to announce that Natalie has decided to contribute towards the budget as well. She felt it was a better birthday present than buying and mailing me something and I love her for it!

The Plan

Preparations for the trip has already started. The school is being informed about the plan. It was also suggested to buy notebooks and pencils for the higher grades, which I will buy from the supermarket near my home. I don’t know exactly where I will buy the toys like footballs and what not, I’m not sure how much stuff I could bring with me when travelling on a minibus. A general plan, as described below, exists but since this is Thailand many things are likely to not go exactly as planned. We’ll see how it works out.

The trip from Bangkok to Kalasin will be either by coach or minibus. The price is about the same, a minibus I’m told is faster, makes less stops and above all comes to pick me up at my home and drops me in front of the hotel. I’m a little scared about space for my legs, so the decision has not been made just yet.

We’ll leave in the night of the 14th and arrive in Kalasin early morning of the 15th. It’s a 10 hour trip during which I probably won’t sleep a whole lot. So I’ll catch up a little in the hotel while Nat goes to visit her family and in the afternoon have a look around Kalasin. The night of the 15th I’ll probably turn in early, as the 16th is going to be a very early morning.

Preparations for the lunch start at 5am when the food is to be bought at the market. Exactly what to buy I’m sure I will have plenty of advisers for. Sometime during the morning I’ll go to the school to prepare everything. The school has two buildings, one for the really small kids until about 5 years old I think and one for the older kids till 11 years old. I’ll discuss with the school what is best as far as where to go first.

After lunch I will have a look around the area and perhaps have a little birthday drink with Nat’s family. I have been warned about misinterpretations of me visiting someone’s family, but Nat assures me she will be informing her family about this ahead of time. And then it’s back to the hotel, where I’m sure I’ll have a great night sleep after a day like this. In the morning I’ll have to find my way to the airport and fly back in the afternoon.

Leaving in 20 hours

Tuesday, 13 Feb 2007 | Journal

Preparing for the trip to the north east has been a breeze so far. The school has already been informed about the plan and are expecting me. I’ve been briefed on what to expect and don’t really feel comfortable with all the attention I’ll be getting, but most of all look forward to seeing those kids.

This afternoon I went ‘shopping’ and got pens, pencils and notepads for the kids over 5 years old. They get those notepads from school usually, but these are cute with cartoons and little drawings inside. For the highest grades, I picked notepads that have a ‘calculator’ on the back … a very nifty set of tables where they can look up how much 4x8 is and what not. I had never seen that before and thought it was fun. I also got some balls for the boys to play soccer and girls play volleyball. For the small kids I got some VCD’s with educational cartoons and 100 small balls to play with. This is for nursery aged kids, 2-3 years on average. It was quite a sight to see all those balls in a shopping cart and especially the kids shopping and their mothers (!) were looking at me! These toys, plus lunch will be my birthday present for the 200 kids.

I will not be flying back, the event I wanted to attend got cancelled and so there is no need for me to spend my money on this. The budget of 450 euro still looks doable by the way, of course this is in part based on guestimates of ‘experts’ who keep changing what they feel certain things would cost. Welcome to Thailand!

Tomorrow evening I will leave for Kalasin by minibus. This is more flexible than a bus. I will be staying at the Rimpao Hotel and will try my best to keep you all posted on the web. Photos will appear afterwards.

And on a final note … my mother has decided to join Natalie in her support for this, for which I am of course very thankful. (my mistake, I misinterpreted something)

The ride over

Thursday, 15 Feb 2007 | Journal

Last night at 7pm I was ready for departure. I had everything packed and was sitting at my desk watching tv. I had already packed my computer, because I didn’t want to hold up everybody already inside when the minibus arrived. I was being way too punctual. After about a half hour, I was called to be informed they were going to be a little late. After about an hour and a half I called back and informed about status. They were on their way. This was 9pm. I finally left my condo 4.5 hours (!!) late.

Nat and her sister were already inside, I was the last to be picked up for my convenience. Nat had told me she would get a good seat for me and I did get the best seat in the bus. She had also told me of course I would be able to read on the minibus. Well, I could but not without turning on the big overhead light waking up pretty much everyone. So being the nice guy I am, I didn’t.

The bus was full of Thai, of course. And when the sun rose just when we were getting to Kalasin, it turned out there was also a rooster in the minibus. I started laughing and shook my head, much to the amusement of the other passengers. They started laughing even louder when I told the rooster, who would not shut up, that I was going to eat him if he didn’t settle down. All in good fun of course. He was probably going to be eaten soon anyway!

So what did I do for the 7 hours I was in that cramped seat which arched back rather awkwardly? The first hour I watched one of the Mission Impossible movies, in Thai. Surprising how much you actually understand, makes you wonder how important dialogue is in Hollywood movies. After that? I wrote a few emails and for the rest of the trip tried to (but didn’t) sleep a little and gazed outside. Aside from nature and houses, I saw car accidents and markets (open at 3am! and many of them!) and was pointed at by people riding along in the back of a pickup truck. Sometimes horribly dull, sometimes things that me raise an eyebrow such as the butcher stalls I saw where a half goat or something would be dangling. Uncooled and all. In the morning hours I even saw people ‘walking their water buffalo’. We arrived at the hotel at 7, I went to sleep and now am sitting by the pool waiting to be picked up to go to the market for some shopping.

Oh and then there was of course that mad farang at the gas station. We stopped for gas and drinks somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And there was a farang sitting on a bench there. He looked weird, so I steered clear of him. But he noticed me and approached me by yelling “HEY!” … I said “I have to go to the bus”, but that made him jump up and walk over. And just stare at me. I took out the iPod earbud (not mine!) to listen to what he had to say. He just stared at the earbud. I waited for about 30 seconds and then, as I was pretty sure he would punch me in the face if I made any sudden moves, told him I had to get back to the bus as we were all leaving. He followed me and stood next to the bus, stared at everyone inside. People were mumbling “pii baa” (lit. ‘crazy brother’) and soon we departed. I’m quite sure he wasn’t drunk. You have to wonder what a guy like that is doing over there.

Shopping, Isaan style

In typical Thai nature, I was picked up about an hour after I had been told this morning I was going to be picked up. My entourage appeared in a pick-up truck (they sure do love those here!), there were 3 women and a guy who turned out to be one of the teachers from the school. I was sad that I couldn’t sit in the back of the truck on the way to the market, a sadness nobody understood. The concept of ‘for the experience’ is unknown to many Thai, why would you want to sit in the back if there is an airconditioned cabin? Well, because I always see many Thai do that and … well, I’m in rural Thailand now. Why not? No, was not allowed. Ok, fine.

Anyway, we were on our way to the market and that turned out to be an interesting experience. It is pretty much what you would expect a rural market to be like, perhaps a little less developed than that. There were endless rows of shops. A shop is built by putting cardboard on plastic crates, displaying what you’re selling, with a little sign that tells the potential buyer the price. And then there is the chair (or the spot next to the vegetables you’re selling) where you as the salesperson are supposed to sleep. Sure, there are bigger stalls, but that is pretty much what 80% of them are like. It is unreal, some stalls would make no more than 200-300 baht (about 5 euro) if they sold everything they had. And it wasn’t looking like they would.

My entourage made their way through the market. I had given them a budget and handed the money over, which they didn’t even spend. The teacher was the security guy at the pickup truck and guarded all the stuff that was put in the truck. The 3 women were in constant discussion over what to make for the kids, where to buy what and how they would be preparing it all. Or so I was told. Not that I was a part of anything there, not even a little bit! This was girls talk, that was very clear. And so I just took my camera and shot pictures. And I believe not many farang visit this market, schoolgirls and women 60 years old alike would giggle at my sight and I saw people peeking around a corner 50 meters down the road to check out the alien in the market! I was pointed at, giggled about, smiled at and sometimes just stared at. It was a surreal experience, but not unexpected. I even got a marriage proposal from someone, I think. At first I felt uncomfortable to take a picture of someone, but it turned out people would be proud if I took a picture of them. They pitched their goods at me in their dialect (not Thai, it is a mix of Thai and Laos), or sometimes just yelled out “hello!” after which they would burst into laughing.

After the market, we went to a supermarket to get soft drinks. Kids here drink fruit juice every day and tomorrow is going to be a party, so they get to drink pepsi and what not. I tried to correct this, trying to do the responsible thing, but my advisory board was having none of it. In the supermarket I was approached by another farang, who was there on holiday with his wife of 5 years. The poor guy would not stop complaining about the Thai people, their culture and especially money issues. It was pretty clear he was desperate to talk to a farang and we spent about 20 minutes discussing Thailand.

And then it was back to the truck, the back full of food and drinks. I was dropped at the hotel, they would call me to let me know when to be ready tomorrow morning. And so here I am … overlooking the deserted swimming pool. I guess I’ll order some food and turn in early. Tomorrow will be an eventful day from what I’ve heard.

Happy (Birth)day for everyone!

Friday, 16 Feb 2007 | Journal

I was told that I could get up whenever I liked. So I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when the phone woke me up at 7:05 and I was told I was late. I sometimes think the Thai live in a different time system than me, a minibus shows up 4 hours late and that is fine while when I’m given complete freedom I am suddenly told I’m late. Go figure.

Nat was waiting for me in the hotel lobby. We took a local tuk-tuk called a song-teaw (lit. ‘two rows’) from the hotel to the bus station (which really was just a bunch of food stalls along the side of a road, “the bus to X leaves from the fish place”) and after a half hour bus ride hopped on another taxi (a converted pickup truck). When crossing the street, I had to jump back to prevent being run over by another pickup truck with a monkey on the back! What the … I was in Nong Bua Ngo, my destination!

A short walk down the road and I stepped into a small house which was full of women all busy preparing food or just keeping those preparing food company. I was stared at, laughed at but most of all warmly welcomed. Quick, quick, quick, because there was a lot to be done. I was sat down in the middle of a circle of the village elderly, who all blessed me and tied a little white ribbon around my wrist. Nat and her family had been packing notebooks, food packets and toys all evening and morning, but I was being blessed. Seemed unfair, but ok.

Those same village elderly had decided there was too much food and toys for just one school, so we would visit two other schools and the nursery of the previously chosen school and deliver some foodpackets and toys and then quickly return to pack for the main event. A pickup truck was pulled up and I was placed in the passenger seat, while all those old women were loaded on the back. We made our way to the nursery, where about 100 kids ran from the playground to the car when it pulled up. They were quickly gathered in a hall and a short ceremonial handing over of the packed lunches to the school headmaster (photo op, anyone?) and we had to rush off. We visited two other schools, where this ritual was repeated. The headmasters all struck up a conversation with me in English and thanked me thoroughly for my contribution. Children were gathered or peeked out the classroom windows and you could hear whispering of the word ‘farang’ everywhere. The school camera was fetched for a few photos and off we were again.

We got back to our headquarters, where the big pans and pots had all been prepared for transport. The old women made room (I didn’t think there was any!) for those scorching hot pots and off we were again. At the Nong Bua Ngo Elementary School all the kids had been gathered and we awaiting my arrival. The headmaster opened the ceremony and told the kids how delighted he had been when he was informed about my plans, he welcomed me to the school and after I said hi to the school we both sat down in big armchairs to watch the show. The kids had prepared some Isaan dances and two groups performed, after which my assistant (Nat) placed a few 20 baht bills in my hand to give one to each of the dancers. I was then escorted to a desk where all the packets with notebooks, pens, etc. were waiting. All kids lined up and someone sat down next to me. I just placed my hand on the desk, that someone placed a packet in my hand and a kid took it out. I didn’t have to move my hand! There was a handing over ceremony of the toys to the headmaster, photos were taken and then I had to go to the corner where the food was set up. Each kid had brought a plate from home and it was passed along and ended up filled with food in my hand, after which the kid got it. Then? Chow time! I got some food too and sat with the village elderly to eat, who were delighted at the sight of seeing me eat Isaan food. Some kids went to play after, some kids cleaned and some kids did the washing up. I handed out (in the now typical way of sitting down, having each kid come up to me from the line and wai me, some of them saying ‘thank you’) packets of dried fruit and chips of some sort. Some group shots were taken and then kids started to walk back to class, some continued to play, etc. Nat showed me around the school and after that I was thanked by one of the teachers and we left.

In the afternoon I hung around the house and just relaxed. I even fell asleep for a while there. Nat showed me around the village, but I’ll write about all that tomorrow. At night, the whole family got into a pickup truck and several kids who had curiously been playing around the house joined as well and we drove back to Kalasin City. I took everyone who had come out for dinner (suki), which was an experience for some of the kids who had never eaten something like that before. And then, piece and quiet at the hotel. Nat and I will go back to Bangkok tomorrow night, no plans have been made for tomorrow and I plan to not set my alarm.

While perhaps not a world changing event, I have been informed that this is indeed a very special event for a school. Such a showing of naam jai (generosity, lit. ‘watery heart’) is extremely rare and while the kids would have eaten without my coming and toys are not perceived to be vital to their education, it shows the kids that there are people that care. Even people from such far away (“its further than kalasin city? wow, that is far!”) places as Holland.

How did all this make me feel? It was a very, very special way to celebrate my birthday. It was an amazing experience and I feel very lucky to have been given the chance to do something like this. It is not a big thing that I did, I got some toys and paid for some food. Most of the work was done by Nat and her family, who by the way will gain great ‘face’ as this thing will be talked about for many months to come. It was certainly not for me to be treated like a king. Instead of being proud, which is what a Thai would have felt, I felt really small and unworthy of all that special treatment. My Calvinist heritage perhaps? It made me see what is also Thailand, beyond my comfortable life in Bangkok. It also taught me more about Thai culture. Aside from the best birthday present ever, it was also a great learning experience.

Village life

Saturday, 17 Feb 2007 | Journal

Nong Bua Ngo is a village in the Kalasin province of Thailand, it has about 100-120 houses and as such I guess is a typical village in Isaan. I have long wanted to visit Isaan and see what ‘village life’ is all about and yesterday was given a peek.

Any village, anywhere in the world, will always be a tightly knit community where people know each other. But what I saw yesterday was taking this a step further, a few steps even. The people that live in this village are one big family. Everybody knows each other and more importantly, everybody trusts each other. It magnified one of the key values on which Thai society is based, the building of personal relationships, and unmistakably underlined the importance of family in the life of any Thai person. One might even be tempted to say that the lines between family and villagers blurs in such a community.

Many of the people that live in this village have lived together their entire life. The taxi driver who took us from the main road to the village, who didn’t even live in Nong Bua Ngo, recognized Nat even though he had not seen her in years. As we were walking up the road to the house, people were talking to her (and each other) left and right and of course came out to get a glimpse of the farang that people had been talking about. The way I was welcomed and never left alone when I visited. The fact that the night before the event I’m told there were more than 20 people in the house eating together and at the same time packing the things for the next day. And this was a social gathering, not a chore to get done. The way Nat, who really doesn’t live here anymore, knew many of the kids and told me many stories about people in the village. Even something small as how people would be getting a drink or some food at somebody elses house without asking or being offered. It all shows an unbelievable community bond, unlike anything you’ve ever seen in the west. Anywhere.

But as romantic as this all sounds, life in this village is hard. On a tour of the village, I saw houses that in the west wouldn’t even be deemed worthy of housing a few bicycles. The people of Nong Bua Ngo work hard every single day of every year, getting up at the crack of dawn and returning home from tending their crop or selling at the market only when the setting sun prevented them from doing any more work. There is no such thing as ‘luxury’ here, it is life brought back to its utter basics. All the more surprising is it then, to hear laughter and joy everywhere you go.

After having finished the main event of the day, it was great to just hang out in front of the house and watch the people go about their daily lives. I was sat on a wooden construction covered with a bamboo mat, which was in front or under all houses. And from there, I could see little groups of people gossiping together. Kids were returning home from school and went out to play. At sunset, cows were herded down the road (“she has 5 cows, she is rich!”) and motorcycles returned people from their fields. The only thing I would constantly think was “sabaaj sabaaj”, which is the Thai word for being comfortable, feeling good, relaxing.

On a tour of the village, Nat and I walked onto a road and a small kid yelled “farang!” …. a pre-cursor of what was to come. Nat told him to come along and this kid, named Oat, was a little bundle of energy. He could only run or jump up and down when he was waiting for us to catch up, at the same time staring at me. Somebody actually asked him if he had talked to me, to which he replied “no, i have no idea what he talks about” … as I was speaking English. We walked through little winding paths, lined with wooden houses (and not of the quaint French village style) that had cows in the front yard. We later ran into a few boys who were trying to catch lizzards so their mom could prepare dinner with them later. I also met a girl who was at the school I visited, she showed me a bucket of clay from the fishpond and later saw her sitting in front of her house making little animals out of them. I’m guessing those will be sold somewhere. This is play for them, not chores. People have found how to make the things that need to get done into fun things for kids to do. I saw people preparing food, calling people from across the street over, etc. Nat showed me some crop fields, the fish pond (people were sad to learn I was not staying for a week, as a big event would be held at the fish pond on the 24th). The temple by far was the most beautiful building of the village, as are most temples I have seen. It is not just a religious building in a community like this, but the center of all communal activities and as such of course something to be looked after with great care. The tour of the village was awesome and Nat was a great tour guide of the area.

One of the most amazing acts of trust I witnessed, was when I was leaving and the truck was driving through the village towards the main road. One of the kids on the back yelled the name of her friend, who didn’t even look at her mother and just ran and hopped on the truck to go to Kalasin City, more than an hours driving away. And mom? She just smiled. She knew her daughter was in good hands.

It is certainly not for me, this village life. I guess if you like the easy life and have the money in the bank to do it, this is the place to lounge around. But I’m a city boy as we all know. I could see myself having a good time there for a couple of days, maybe even sleeping in the actual village if there was a way to get rid of those pesky musquitos. But living there? Not for me.

Farang in Isaan

A farang is a sight to be seen in Isaan, that is one thing I noticed on my trip. Even this afternoon, sitting at the hotel swimming pool, kids were very aware (the hotel allows kids from the area to swim here) of me sitting here and regularly put on a show for me.

I first started noticing it when I was walking through the market 2 days ago, my first real encounter with Kalasin. As I have said, people everywhere were looking at me, talking about me, etc. It is a very strange experience and I just retired to the idea of them not seeing a lot of farang in this area, so of course I was ‘weird’. I regularly asked Nat if it would be ok to take a photo of something, she kept telling me I was an alien to these people and anything I would do was just fine.

Having a farang in Nong Bua Ngo (the village) was just as much, perhaps even more of a novelty. Everywhere I walked, people would look up from what they were doing and stare and smile at me. If I said hi (in Thai) to them, they would all start laughing and say hi back and ask me if I was ok. Which I of course confirmed. Sometimes you could hear the word ‘farang’ being said inside the houses and people came outside. The coolest thing that happened was a small little girl from the nursery, she must have been Givens age, and she came running outside and pointed at me while jumping up and down and excitedly yelling “this guy, this guy, this is the guy who came to my school today and he had big food with him and many balls!” … too cute for words. People from the outskirts of the village walked all the way over to catch a glimpse of the farang. They walked inside the house, struck up a conversation with others there and then said “ok, I’ve seen him now, I have to get back to work”. I was a sight to be seen, thats for sure.

Something that was of course an incredible boost to my ego, was the fact that people were genuine in their thinking of me as handsome. Just before we departed from Kalasin City on the VIP bus, there were a few girls in their twenties who walked up to Nat and started asking questions about me. They thought I was really handsome and could she introduce them to me, etc. She laughed, did and of course there was not much conversation as my Thai and their English is fairly limited. The reason for this as it turns out is that the only farang most people in such remote areas ever come into contact with are retired westerners. And then it makes sense.

I didn’t see a lot of farang. I was told about a few of them in the Nong Bua Ngo area. And while they had gorgeous houses (which would set you back about 30,000 euro to build) I honestly wondered what they were doing there. I guess if you are retired and you’re looking for ‘the easy life’, this is a great way to live. But it is not for me, as I’ve said. Still, being a young farang visiting this area, you get a lot of positive attention. And there is nothing wrong with that!

What Isaan means for some

Monday, 26 Feb 2007 | Life in Asia

Thailand is commonly devided in the north, northeast, east, central and south regions. The northeast, also known as Isaan, is the poorest part of the country and makes most of its money from rice farms. I have also heard that it is a popular tourist destination these days, but other than a jurassic park (dinosaur bones were found here) I haven’t seen a whole lot of things to do for tourists. Maybe I just wasn’t looking. Kalasin City, the capital of the Kalasin province in Isaan, is a typical rural provincial capital. It exists as a meeting ground from people around the area, who come here to do their shopping and business. It seems more a business area than a place where people actually live. Wide roads lined with businesses and shops. Certainly nothing for tourists, except perhaps those in search of ‘what Isaan looks like for real’.

I certainly was a tourist and aside from the actual reason I was there, seeing ‘what Isaan looks like’ was also certainly a reason for me to go there. I’ve been wanting to visit Isaan for a while. A few friends are from there and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to visit such a poor area of the country, being so different from what I have been used to in the west. They always speak of Isaan with warmth and kindness, still referring to it as home. Even Nat, who has been living in Bangkok since her early teens, still calls it home. She kept referring to the trip as ‘going back to Kalasin’, not ‘visiting Kalasin’.

I won’t pretend I can relate to why people feel that way. Neither Eindhoven nor Amsterdam make me feel this way. But I think I understand a little bit of why they so lovingly talk about it. The first and most important reason is family. This is the most important thing in the life of any Thai and coming from a village like the one I visited the whole place seemed like one big family. The second reason perhaps is because it is not where ‘work’ is. Most of the people who move to the big city, do so because they are in search of opportunity. When they ‘go back home’, at least for a few days they can forget all about the worries of work and everyday life. And this goes, because adding to ‘work not being there’ it is also the spirit of the people there. Without wanting to insult anyone, these are simple folk. Nat once described their characters as ‘white hearts’, meaning their hearts are not hardened by bad experiences that come with evil city life. They still have a childlike innocence to their being, which is surprising and endearing at the same time. Going back home means people can stop being on guard, relax and chill out and have a sanuk (happy) time with their family.

I got to witness that and am very happy I did.

A possible follow-up?

Tuesday, 27 Feb 2007 | Journal

As people were clearing out what I guess was the auditorium of the school I visited, the headmaster placed a closed envelop on the table next to my chair. Thanked me for coming to the school and for doing what I did and went on his way. I was left in the care of ‘my entourage’ and following that I was given a tour of the school ground, but I’ve covered all that before.

The letter was in Thai. A closed envelop (or present) is not something you open when it is being given to you¹ in Thailand, so I put it away and later asked someone to translate it for me. The letter was a very polite ‘for your information’, in which I again was thanked for my kind gesture. It also contained a very polite way of informing me that the only computer in the school that students could use (there was one more, I presume used by the staff for administrative purposes) had broken down about a year ago. There was no request (that would be too direct), but I was informed that the school and its students would benefit incredibly if they would have another computer. I asked Nat and she said the same was the case for the other two schools we visited.

Now, I’ve known about this project called ‘One Laptop per Child’ for a while. They are attempting to build and distribute a $100 laptop for children of lesser developed countries. It is an amazing project, for which the Thai government has shown great interest. So it might very well be that these laptops in the next few years perhaps would get to the schools in Kalasin. But there are no definitive plans for this that I am aware of.

So in the mean time, I hope I can somehow get the kids of Nong Bua Ngo access to a computer. I don’t know exactly how I will do it, it most likely will not be happening anytime in the near future. But it’s something that is in the back of my mind. And when an opportunity arises, I’ll act on it.