Today’s Thailand

This is going to be a collection of random observations about today’s Thailand, because not enough has been happening in my life in the last twenty-four hours to fill even a short post such as this series, which you will find listed under the category ‘Diary’ on this blog, should you wish to look up past posts.

Two days ago, or was it yesterday? I forget, I started a Facebook Group called ‘Today’s Thailand’; search for it within Facebook and it should pop up. It’s intended for those with an interest in Thailand to chat, ask questions about the place, like a chat room, and get answers from people who should know. It’s free to join, so if it suits you, please come along and sign up.

Remember last week I spoke about inflation here? Well, I just read in the Bangkok Post (English language edition), that the Thai army has opened cheap take-aways on its bases in ‘the Provinces’, selling complete meals for ten to twenty Baht (five to ten pence) to civilians. I haven’t seen one, but it has to be below the cost to make it, whatever it is. I think the nearest army base to us is forty-five kilometres away or my wife would probably go and check it out.

It doesn’t sound like good news for today’s Thailand though, does it?

We, and I mean about ten thousand people in nine or ten related villagers, have now been without water for seven or eight days and, since its Friday evening here, we probably won’t get any until Monday afternoon at the earliest. Bodies, toilets, crockery and clothing are suffering the worst. I’ve been told I have to urinate outside now, and I also learned something that I doubt a lot of Brits know. My wife caught me peeing in a corner out of the way.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, sounding more than a little annoyed.

“I think that’s pretty obvious,” I replied over my shoulder, the task still in hand, so to speak.

“Yes, but doing it by there will make it smell horrible for weeks and I have to do the gardening”.

“But surely, that’s going to happen wherever I go, isn’t it?”

She looked at me like an idiot child.

“Don’t you know anything?” she asked. “You must pee-pee were the sun shines, because the light kills the bacteria that cause the smell”.

Well, I didn’t know that, I thought privacy was my major concern, but there you go, I learn something new every day in today’s Thailand.

All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Today’s Thailand