Wat Party
Wat Party

Wat Party

Last night, we went to a party at the village Buddhist Temple, which is called a Wat in Thai. My wife and many others had been helping the holder of the party prepare for it for three days. The occasion was the elevation of a friend’s son to vice abbot, or perhaps deputy would be a better term under the circumstances, if such a post exists.

However, since the Abbott is very ill, he is running the Wat effectively. It was a big do. My wife estimated that 600+ people turned up, and everyone was given food and drink. No wonder it took them three days to do the catering!

The Wat sits on several acres, since besides the temple there is accommodation for the resident monks, various outhouses, a crematorium and a ‘wild area’ where people can go to think. The whole place, except the wild area, thronged with well-wishers.

The was also a stage with musicians and dancing girls. It was a very pleasant evening, and I’m sure that a good time was had by all. It certainly looked that way. As I have said elsewhere, this is the Thai holiday season, because the evenings are cooler and there are far fewer mosquitoes.

We left early because Neem was worn out after all the preparations, but from my office, at the other end of the village, I could hear the music continue until midnight.

The following day, a band of volunteers, Neem included, went back to the Wat early in the morning and cleaned the Wat and its grounds thoroughly. By lunchtime, no-one would have guessed that such a party had been enjoyed by so many people just half a day before.

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All the best,

Owen

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Owen
Owen

Owen Jones, Amazon Best-Selling Author from Barry, Wales, has lived in several countries and travelled in many more. While studying Russian in the USSR in the '70's, he hobnobbed with spies on a regular basis; in Suriname, he got caught up in the 1982 coup; and while a company director, he joined the crew of four as the galley slave to sail from Barry to Gibraltar a home-made concrete yacht, which was almost rammed by a Russian oil tanker and an American aircraft carrier.
“I am a Celt, and we are romantic”, he said when asked about his writing style, “and I firmly believe in reincarnation, Karma and Fate, so, sayings like 'Do unto another...', and 'What goes round comes around' are central to my life and reflected in my work. I write about what I see, or think I see, or dream... and, in the end it is all the same really”. He speaks seven languages and is learning Thai, since he lives in Thailand with his Thai wife of fifteen years.
His first novel, Daddy's Hobby is from the seven-part series 'Behind The Smile: The Story of Lek, a Bar Girl in Pattaya', but his largest collection is 'The Megan Series', twenty-three novelettes on the psychic development of a teenage girl, the subtitle of which, 'A Spirit Guide, A Ghost Tiger and One Scary Mother!' sums them up nicely. He has written fifty novels and novelettes, including: Dead Centre; Andropov's Cuckoo; Fate Twister; The Disallowed (a philosophical comedy); Tiger Lily of Bangkok; and A Night in Annwn (Annwn being the ancient Welsh word for Heaven). Many have been translated into foreign languages and narrated into audio books.
Owen Jones writes stories set in Wales, Spain and Thailand, where he now lives. He is a life-long Spiritualist, and this belief is interwoven, in a very realistic way, into many of his books and storylines. If you like a touch of the 'supernatural', try his books
He sums his life up thus: “Born in the Land of Song, Living in the Land of Smiles”.

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