Thailand: Day 1 – 3 (3rd to 6th September, 2008)
What a relief it was to get on the plane heading for Bangkok. After months of preparation, which included all the VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) pre departure training, vaccinations etc., along with the completion of a demanding three year Lottery funded project with the Community Council of Devon in Exeter; preparing the house for letting (numerous trips to the dump, packing, storing, painting, cleaning), it was a joy to check in for the Qatar Airways flight from Heathrow. The last few days in Sidmouth were very stressful and enormous thanks to Lesley (sister) and Paul & Nina, Sally & Malcolm (long suffering friends). At the 24th hour I realised I had far too much luggage and despite shedding my new docking station, I still had over 60kgs of luggage with an allowance of 35kgs. Would I be charged extra, and how much would it be? I was prepared to pay up to ฃ200 for the excess but in the end I was luckily checked in by an extremely helpful and creative empolyee, who after several combinations decided to weigh my luggage in with that of Carl’s (one of the other volunteers travelling with me) – and no charge, what a joy!
Qatar Airways, operating out of Doha in the Middle East, although voted one of the best airlines, were unable to aviod the departure delay on the tarmac at Heathrow, which resulted in a couple of hours delay in our arrival at Doha – thus missing the connection to Bangkok. Carl enquired about our options but as other Bangkok passengers joined it soon became a ‘free for all’ – the option being proposed was a wait in Doha of serveral hours for the next plane to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), followed by another wait for the next plane from there to Bangkok. I went to the ‘top’ and asked to see the duty manager, who obligingly booked us into a five star hotel (with complimentary meal, phone call home, taxi to and from the airport) for a quick shower and kip before boarding the next flight to Bangkok early on Wednesday 3rd September. I sent a couple of emails from Doha airport the following morning whilst waiting to board, headed ‘stuck in Doha’ to which I soon received a reply ‘better than Crediton’ – sorry Crediton (Devon), no offence meant.
Thus arrived at the new Bangkok airport that evening (approximately 10 hours late) to be met by a member of the VSO Thailand team – Und. It was great to be welcomed and accompanied into town to our hotel in the centre of town and the start of a developing relationship.
After checking into the Atlanta Hotel (near the Marriott Hotel) I did not need much rocking to sleep, despite the heat and wirr of the air conditioning. An hotel with a history. Slap in the middle of town, just off the Sukhumvit Road (78 Soi 2, tel – 66 2 252 6069) this hotel claims:
‘To have the oldest unaltered hotel foyer in Thailand, regularly used as a period film set with luxuriant tropical garden and fountains. Thailand’s first hotel swimming pool and outdoor cinema and the world’s first and justifiably famous menu with learned annotations; the largetst selection of Thai vegetarian dishes; the region’s largest selection of gourmet films and of western produced films relating to or set in East Asia; incomparable selection of news, literary and scientific magazines and newspapers; Thai and western classical music, classic jazz, 20s, 30s, 40s and early 50s music only (modern pop music is banned). The only budget hotel with a gym. The air conditioned rooms all have personal safes, one per occupant. Popular with writers, academics, artists, cinema and theatre and other professional people. Untouched by modern pop culture. Plus, ZERO TOLLERANCE FOR SEX TOURISTS, TROUBLE MAKERS, ILLICIT DRUGS AND ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES.
The motto above the front door says ‘Those who know it, (Atlanta) know it; those who don’t will never find it.’
All this for about ฃ10 per night! And what a restaurant it was, ably managed by a wonderful Thai woman called Anong who was ‘adopted’ by the hotel’s German owner (Dr Max Henn, 1906 – 2002) and has worked there since 1973. We were warned to keep on the right side of her, which we duly did and I certainly hope that our paths will cross again in the future. The hotel started its life as Dr Henn’s Atlanta Chemical Company and the first floor was converted into a guest house for American military cartographers who came to map Thailand at the end of the second world war; apparently as a result of the difficulties the British had fighting back the Japanese infiltration of northern Burma. There is an amazing Plymouth Fury estate car (1957 model) in its original condition and in full working order parked out front. Please take the time to look at their website (www.theatlantahotel.bizland.com).
And now for the ‘sex tourists’. After dinner on our first night we took a stroll up our side road to the main Sukhamvit Road, which is now a notorious ‘pick up’ point, oozing with ‘girly bars’ and sleaze. Our first encounter was with a baby elephant being led around with tourists (including us) enticed to buy a small bag of peanuts to feed him. Of course, I was sucked in – I just had to pat him and all my plees of ‘no Thai Baht’ resulted in the handler giving the bag of nuts to the elephant to give to me – with pleading eyes! The next spectacle was of a very young woman trying to escape the clutches of a revoltingly drunk Scotsman – the three of us (have not mentioned our third volunteer yet – Claire from Brighton) sat on a low wall watching and willing moral support for her. I could go on and on and on, as it was such a shock to see such blatant bevaviour by my fellow country men, but perhaps this is not the place. The area is also developing rapidly as it is on the new skytrain route which runs around most of Bangkok.
Our three days in Bangkok consisted of spending time in the VSO country office, where we were hosted and inducted by a range of lovely staff, including the acting country manager (Carolyn from Brittany who heads up one of the two country programmes ‘Rights & Participation’, the area that Carl will be working in from his Bangkok base). We will have to wait awhile to meet Patrick (Country Manager), who is on paternity leave and whos wife gave birth to twins as we were flying into the country. Lots of paperwork to be completed, not least our identity cards and personnel files. We were also taken around by Und (who met us at the airport) and given several challenges – which involved getting to know the basics – travelling on the skytrain to the bus station to collect a timetable, the underground to the train station to find the platform number for our overnight train to Chaing Mai, purchasing stamps and postcards and generally familiarising ourselves with Bangkok. Our timetable also included administration, money matters, cultural, etiquette and work programme briefings, as well as an ‘all staff’ welcome dinner at a traditional Thai eating place for an authentic Thai meal.
Our last day in Bangkok was taken up with a visit to Dr Irene, our personal physician, who hangs out at the amazing Bangkok Nursing Home Hospital (established in 1898 on the Convent Road in Silom District, www.bnhhospital.com). Our first challenge was to find the place – getting there by public transport. And, what a place it was, feeling more like we were walking into a top class hotel rather than a hospital, reflected by the porche parked on the ramp outside with its distinctive 911 number plate. We travelled towards the sky to the 8th floor, and as we stepped out of the lift, were greeted by a nurse who asked if she could help us – no time even to get to the information desk! Offered a seat and a cup of coffee and kept waiting just a couple of minutes before being ushered into Dr Irene’s office for a very enlightening two hour session on how to keep ourselves healthy in Thailand, and what to do if and when we suffered any malaise. Her briefing included how to protect, recognise and deal with tropical conditions including rabies, dengue fever, malaria, typhoid, thyphus, Thai belly, cholera, giardia (amoebic), Japanese enchaphalitis, hepatitis A & B and HIV. She also gave us practical advice on street food (i.e. start by eating only cooked food, as opposed to raw salads, and only that which is cooked in front of you – not warm food that is standing in a cabinet). She assured us that the hospital employed the world’s leading authorities on rabies and malaria and she gave us her direct line and email – all extremely reassuring!
No time for any real sightseeing, but there will be plenty of time for that over the next two years.
Later on Saturday we all met at Bangkok rail station at 5.30pm ready for our overnight journey to the northern town (and second largest city) of Chaing Mai, where us ‘new’ volunteers would spend the next few weeks. We were accompanied by Carolyn (acting CEO and Rights & Participation manager), Fhon (which means ‘rain’ in Thai) who leads on the Education for All programme and Und (Education for all programme support officer). Unfortunately, Wendi (who is working in Thailand for a six month secondment from the VSO Ethiopia office) missed the train, largely due to the monsoor downpour which struck just as we were arriving at the station – he was ‘bumped’ off his motorbike taxi as it went over a ‘sleeping policeman’; fortunately not hurt, but somewhat delayed!
The train itself was interesting! The 2nd class facilities meant aircon and sleeping bunks but not individual or twin cabins – simply curtains hanging from the ceiling coverning the various bunks. Traditional Thai food was an optional extra, and very good it was too. Toilets were generally eastern style (squat). The initial part of the journey through the suburbs of Bangkok took an age, and it was soon too dark to see much of the coutryside – I would have to wait till the morning for the first site of a jungle, on the way into Chaing Mai itself. Thailand has also recently introduced a ‘no smoking policy’ in public areas, so Carolyn, myself and two German tourist guys were relegated to smoke (legitimately, I must add) on the train’s tail gate.
Chaing Mai: Day 4 – 9 (7th – 12th September, 2008)
I experienced my first ‘song teau’ ride (a shared taxi, meaning ‘two benches’ – i.e two rows of facing seats in the back of a pick up truck) as we journeyed from the railway station to our home for the next week – Chaing Mai University; not that we had to share it with anyone else, as we had too many people and too much luggage of our own (for the latter, read Penny’s). I was still trying to travel around with my 60kgs, unlike Carl who had managed to leave most of his in the office store, as he would be returning to Bangkok in a few weeks.
Spending the next few days in close proximity to Fhon and Und, we were able to pick up many local Thai traditions and culture. The first one being the Thai’s relationship with food! Few seem to cook and they eat small portions at least three times a day – unlike us in the West, who often skip breakfast, snack at lunchtime and eat a large meal in the evening. Thus, Thailand has an ubundance of eating places from the street vendors who line every available space to the more permanant roadside cafes and the ‘upmarket’ restaurants. Prices are cheap, with the average street meal costing the equivalent of 50p. We were soon venturing off to the road outside the university campus for our noodle breakfast. Then some chill out time in our rooms at the hotel before Claire, Carl and I headed into town to the Sunday Walking Market – a sensory experience like no other.
The first week of our stay in Chaing Mai coincided with a three day in-service training programme for all VSO volunteers working in Thailand and it was a unique opportunity for us ‘new’ volunteers to meet our colleagues (20 or so others) who were already established and working in the Education for All and Rights and Participation programmes. I found it particularly helpful to understand my role within the wider context of the programme and to work out who I was most likely to be working alongside – i.e. those supporting the development of inclusive education in the refugee camps along the Thai Burma border. Claire was, in turn, able to meet her new colleagues supporting special educational needs in the migrant schools that are forming in and around Mae Sot (where we will both be living) in partnership with the Thai Ministry of Education (Tat province). Evenings were spent in various social groups (eating, of course) and the highlight was an ‘all team’ dinner at a Thai restaurant in the hills a few kilometers outside the town – glorious views and gardens. The meal was finished off with a walk around the reseviour; initially barred from doing so, as the ‘walk’ closes at 8.30pm. However, our smiles, pleas and negotiations in Thai (including some little stories about parents being married there and father’s ashes scattered there) resulted in a phone call by the guard to the manager and the lifting of the barrier.
During our in-service training programme we were all introduced to the new moitoring and evaluation system being developed for DfID (UK Department for International Development, one of VSO’s main funders), which although compulsory for existing volunteers, will be an extremely useful tool for me to collect baseline data, monitor improvements and evaluate the effectiveness of the work I will be doing. This part of the training was led by Polly, VSO UK Education Manager.
The existing volunteers and most of the staff left on Thursday 11th September to return to their various places of work; I was fortunate in persuading Alicia (a VSO volunteer working with the Ministry of Education in Mae Sot) to take more than half of my luggage with her to store at her house; saving me considerable effort in lugging it further around Thailand! Carl, Claire and I spent the next two days on our own ‘In Country’ induction training which included some very interesting sessions on the history, culture and context of our new working environment, including issues surrounding Burma and the Karen refugees. Our speakers demonstrated a wealth of experience, including many years working and living in both Thailand and Burma (plus a PhD and a book to show for it).
Chaing Mai: 13th September, 2008
(notice I am no longer listing the days, it seems like I have been here for weeks and have lost count!)
After checking into our new ‘home’ for the next four weeks (@Home, no street name but near the Wat Jet Yod and just off the northern ringroad called the ‘Superhighway’) Wendi, Und, Carl, Claire and I had a little outing to the wonderful Wat Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple nestling in the thickly forested, twin peaked mountains (summit 1,601m) of a national park, approximately 17kms from the city, dating back to 1371. It is one of the most revered shrines in Northern Thailand and a favourite place for trekkers and bird watchers. The story goes that an elephant being used to carry an especially holy relic wandered into the mountains and the temple was built on the very spot where the relic was dropped. Well known for its very ornate four corner gold umbrellas and the naga staircase of 304 steps of the final ascent to the Chedi. The views over Chaing Mai are breathtaking and it is noticeable cooler. Just before leaving we ventured into the jade museum shop, having successfully dodged the many street souvenier and food traders – I was up until then, unaware that jade came in more than one colour – the black and the silver/white types were a revelation.
Before returning to our appartment, we dropped Und and Wendi at the train station ready for their overnight return journey back to Bangkok (and back to work) – fond farewells and many thanks.
As mentioned above, we are now located near the Wat Jet Yod, a temple built by King Tilokarat in 1477 to host the 8th World Buddhist Council. Of interesting ‘Indian’ design architecture, the 7th Chedi (translated in Thai, Jet Yod) stands on a laterite base with arched caves containing a Buddha image and 70 beautiful stucco celestial beings.
Chaing Mai: Monday 15th September, 2008
After our first ‘day off’ (complete rest day), we started back to work with an introduction to our new Thai language teacher – Wariah. She has been working with VSO for many years, following on from her mother, and has met and worked with many, many volunteers – not just VSO ones! Married to an ex VSO Thailand volunteer and living in Bangkok, she was pleased our teaching location was changed from the ‘beach’ to Chaing Mai – because it is where her family come from and she has over 200 relatives living in and around the city.
Our programme is based on speaking the language (as opposed to writing and reading it, phew!) and consists of Monday – Friday, four hours each day; based on three sessions and Thai timings – 08.30am to 10.00am; 10.30am – 12.30pm – two hour break for lunch (how civilised, even time for a nap if necessary) and then 2.00pm – 3.00pm. She is obviously very well thought of becuase she gets invitation to stay with returned volunteers when she is in England visiting Adrian’s family and everyone last week asked us to be ‘remembered’ to her.
There has been a minor distraction this week as Kelly, one of the VSO volunteers working in Mae Sot was taken into hospital last week with Dengue fever and has now recovered sufficiently to be discharged. Claire has kindly offered up her room so that Kelly can be with us here in the appartments whilst she builds her strength before making the four hour bus journey back to work in Mae Sot. We cannot do enough for her to make this time as comfortable as possible; it must be really difficult to be so sick in a ‘foreign’ country and so far away form your family.
Have also met a nice American (yes, there are some!) who is staying here in the same appartments for the next year (he’s also new to Thailand, having arrived just a week before us). He is a professor of philosophy at the Vera Cruz University in Mexico and he is on a paid sabbatical to write a book on C. S. Peirce. He introduced me to one of his favourite eating places last night (The Boat) but I declined the pillion seat on his moped (will have to brave it some time) in favour of the twenty minute walk; we both agreed in the end that it was better for the digestion!
Chaing Mai: Sunday 5th October, 2008
As we are now heading into our last week of the four week language programme, and having spent more time in this facinating city, I feel more equipped to write about the language and the culture.
It is reported that there has been a noticeable drop in tourists over the past month, due partly to the supposed ‘political unrest’ and the state of emergency declared the day before we arrived in Thailand over the protests being held by the opposition Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) party; and some responsibility must be attributed to the global economic situation. However, it was good to see in the local paper last week (Chaing Mai Mail) that Chaing Mai was listed as one of the top Asian destinations to visit in the recent UK ‘Tripadvisor’s’ poll – in fact 9th out of 25. The weather has also been interesting.
As we head towards the end of the monsoon season there have been high levels of rain fall and flood warnings in 29 of Thailand’s provinces – largely in the north, north east and central areas of the Kingdom. Apparently in Tak province (i.e. Mae Sot), flash floods inundated a village, damaging farmlands and crops and leaving at least 50 homes under water. Some parts of Chaing Mai have also experienced flooding and the major Thai river which flows past the city (Ping River) on its way to the Bangkok delta area is only approximately 1 meter lower than its flood alert level! HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has ordered the distribution of 1,500 relief kits to residents in the hardest hit areas of Wang Thong, Muang and Noen Maprang districts.
It is important for visitors and new residents in the Kingdom to understand and conform to certain traditions and customs. Most importantly, I think, is reverence to the ‘Kingdom’ and its royal family. Thai people honour their King on a daily basis; including standing still during the national anthem which is played in public places at 6pm every day and wearing the King’s colours of yellow (sii lueang) on Mondays and blue (sii faa) on Fridays. Claire and I went to the cinema one evening to see the new Mama Mia film; we knew that we should stand for the national anthem but were concerned that we would not know when to do it, as we were the only ones in the cinema! Our fears were unnecessary, as it was quite obvious when the time came (perhaps it should be added that the film was in its final week in Chaing Mai).
Respect for Buddhist religion includes wearing proper dress when visiting temples, removing shoes when entering (this also applies to people’s homes and some shops). It is also frowned upon to touch or pat someone’s head and to show the soles of your feet or shoes. Dress, in general, is also an important consideration. Thai people make certain references according to how one is dressed and how smart you look. Surface harmony is another aspect of the culture which is important to understand; a raised voice or agitated conversation will certainly not help the situation, particularly if it is one where the visitor is likely to be at a disadvantage in the first place. Saying something very loudly and more than once does not make you more understandable. In addtion, displaying physical affection in public towards a member of the opposite sex is frowned upon; this sort of contact with members of the same sex are perfectly acceptable.
Driving in Thailand takes some getting used to; whilst road rage is not generally a problem, there is a general disregard for other road users and traffic regulations. Pedestrians are considered to be second class and there is little adherance to ‘right of way’ even at traffic lights. I have also found out that people don’t walk anywhere; I was recently walking to a local shopping centre and trying to cross the ‘Superhighway’ when a Thai woman stopped, rolled down her window and asked if she could give me a lift. I explained that I was nearly at my destination, and only had to cross the road; she was quite prepared to drive me along to the next interestection to drop me off! Apparently Thailand has the highest death rates on the road; can this be true when comparing with Delhi or Manila? Whatever, during the New Year celebrations (the Songkan Festival of ‘water and slaughter’ it is reported that more people die on the roads in Thailand than in the whole year throughout Scandanavia! Bicycles and motorbikes are used for a variety of transport needs; it is not unusual to see up to three or four passengers, dogs, parcels and all manner of goods being transported – without a helmet in sight. Quite funny, if it was not so serious, but you often see the helmet being carried in the front container whilst the driver and passenger/s speed along – the police crack down every now and then, hence the helemt is carried in case of a check point around the corner. Yesterday, whilst walking back along our local ‘main street’ I saw a young woman driving a motorbike with a very small baby strapped in a ‘sling’ and a toddler riding pillion. Oh yes, and as Alex learnt when we were staying at the university a couple of weeks ago, if leaving your motorbike for any length of time, turn the helmet up the right way or you will return after some rain to find it filled with water!
Have had my first non Thai food this past week, not once but twice! On Tuesday we met up with a group of ‘expats’, and a Thai, working in Chaing Mai and ate at the rewly refurbished ‘Salsa Kitchen’ on the Huai Kaeo Road (opposite the petrol station near the Central Plaza) where we had a lovely Mexican meal. This was closely followed by an authentic curry before converging at the Irish UN pub for the reglular Thursday night quiz. Both meals were the most expensive I have had so far; about ฃ3 a head – I won’t be doing that again in a hurry when I am on my ‘volunteer’ salary of ฃ150 per month.
The pub quiz was rather entertaining; the team we joined is a regular – coming within the top 1/3 percentile most weeks; apparently let down by their knowledge in the ‘sports’ section. The first question in this section was ‘what is the name of the rugby world cup trophy’, closely followed by ‘name two national women’s football teams who have twice won the FIFA world cup for their country’? I did not disappoint, and got both answers right. Claire said that she would never have let me forget it if I had not got the rugby one right – as, in her words ‘it is all you ever go on about’! We came 3rd in terms of points, but as there was a tie breaker for the three top teams with equal points, we slipped back into 5th place.
I have been trying to keep up with my local Sidmouth X1 rugby team progress at the start of the 2008/9 season; despite brilliant warm up games, including a good win over Exmouth (the last game I saw them play before coming out to Thailand), they have thus far failed to get any points in the table, and are therefore lounging at the bottom. Still, fingers crossed that they had a win at Clevedon yesterday. Wasps progress in the national league has also been disappointing, but I was pleased to read that Danny Cipriani may be back in the England team for the internationals (Novermber dates are in my diary so am hoping there will be coverage locally) as Jonny Wilkinson is out with yet another fairly serious injury. N.B. Danny had not originally been included in the squad as it was not thought that he would be fit enough for training after a serious injury at the end of last season, 2007/8.
Having proudly announced last week that I have managed to keep the ants out of my room (yes, room!), I have just returned to the computer after making a cup of tea to find that they are crawling around the draining board at the kitchen sink; little tiny red ones – they are a nightmare. We are plagued with them every day during lessons and last week a peanut that Carl had dropped was so covered in black ones that the offending article was no longer recognisable – they even plague the plain water bottles that we have beside us at all times!
Was really chuffed this week to be able to write a short paragraph in Thai about my first few weeks here:
Chan maa mueang Thai brap-maan see aatid, maa gap Claire and Carl. Roa yuu grunteb sam wan maa Chaing Mai university jurgan asasamak angrit thmngaan tii mueng Thai. Chan rien chua mong don chao tung chorn baai wan jan tung wan suk. Rao mii gaan baan took wan. Yenni chan bpai talat la ranahan puud passa Thai. Adjan chan chuu Wariah. Atid maa ja bii moo bahn Karen lang lahk naa bii Mae Sot tamnan asasamak tii ZOA Refugee Care iik song bee. Sorn rian nuam puuing go puchai. Chan charp mueng Thai dtae passa Thai yaak. Chan iuu haa sip sam, mii nung duan gao pan bht. Dtuun dten! Glan Glua!
I have also prepared a ‘story board’ (in Thai) with my photographs of home – family, friends, Sidmouth, Alabama 3 and of course the boys from Sidmouth RFC, in preparation for my stay, the week after next, with a family in the Karen rural village of Ban Huay. Wariah, our Thai teacher has also suggested some useful gifts to take with us, apart from some traditional English things we bought before leaving England. Will leave the detail till later.
There have been many interesting discoveries about the Thai language during our Thai language lessons. Our teacher, mentioned several times already, is a born and bred Thai woman who hails originally from Chaing Mai but who now lives in Bangkok with her husband. She has taught Thai for VSO and CUSA (Canadian equivalent) for the past twenty years and brings her wealth of experience to both the language and culture. Her firm grasp of English and our ‘ways’ make the classes interesting and fun; the fun bit is often around stories of previous volunteers and the one this week was about a volunteer thanking (in Thai) his village family for their hospitality. When describing the village chief and his deputy he said that it was good to get to know their children; the chief had three children and his deputy had two children. But, instead of saying three and two children (respectively) he said ‘three and two round things/balls’. Some explanation: the word in Thai for children is ‘luuk chan’ and he forgot to say the ‘chan’ – ‘luuk’ on its own means ’round things or balls’! When I was working up my story board with Wariah on Friday she advised me to keep it simple as the village people would not understand the detail; she gave an example of a Welsh volunteer who had gone to great lengths to explain the Welsh desire for independence from England, which left the locals totally perplexed, particularly has be had become more and more heated throughout the explanation!
Thai is a tonal language; meaning that the pitch of a syllable determines its meaning; for example, the word ‘mai’, pronounced with a falling tone means ‘not’ but with a rising tone it means ‘silk’. There are five tones – mid, falling, rising, high and low. In theory this could mean that there are 1/5th less words to learn, but in practice it is more complicated as it seems harder to remember which tone as opposed to a different word for different things! In addition, there are male and female endings to words; used as a form of politeness – koon krup for men and koon ka for women. Thais of an older or similar age to should always be addressed with ‘koon’ in front of their name and one should always ‘wai’ the person (a greeting of respect). A ‘wai’ is to hold your hands together as if in prayer, in front of your face and with the fingers roughly level with your nose. You lower the position for children (towards chin) or higher for monks and royalty (towards forehead). The word ‘swimming’ in Thai is ‘wai nam’ – i.e. ‘wai’ as in the movement for breast stroke and ‘nam’ meaning ‘water’. Other examples that have amused me include:
Pig: Moo (that’s not the noise they make in England)
Traffic jam: Rot dit (car sticks)
Squeeze: Beep
AM (morning): Mong (as per the sound of the monk’s gong)
Toilet: Hong nam (nam is water, and the ‘hong’ sounds a bit like the smell of the ‘open’ drains here!)
Homework: Gaan baan
Another short explanation of the Thailand clock, which I also find facinating. Their 24 hour day is split into 4 sections based on the light and dark periods (2) of the day, stemming from the telling of the time by the sun and therefore the times of waking up and going to bed as the sun rises and sets:
6am to 11am Number plus ‘mong’ – 6am is ‘hok’ mong; 7am is ‘jet’ mong etc. Mong is the sound made by the monk when striking the hour through the day.
1200 (lunchtime) Tiang (lunchtime).
1pm – 4pm Number plus ‘mong’ (i.e. it is still light, so the gong can be struck) – 1pm is ‘nung’ mong; 2pm is ‘song’ mong etc.
5pm & 6pm Have to be distringuised from ‘mong’ as one would confuse them with the 5am and 6am times – therefore they become ‘haa’ (5) mong yen (evening/cool) and ‘hok’ (6) mong yen
7pm – 11pm The number plus ‘tum’ – which is the lighter sounding ‘tinkle’ of an instrument – not the gong as it would wake those who have gone to bed! Therefore 7pm becomes 1 in the night – ‘nung’ (1) tum; 8pm is ‘song’ (2) tum etc.
1200 (midnight) Tiang kuun
1am – 5am The numbers now change back to 1am, 2am prefaced by dtii – 3am is dtii sam, 4am is see dtii etc.
Get it right or you could mess up big time, especially when booking a flight or a train journey; and its much more difficult than trying to figure out whether we are in front or behind GMT time at the moment!!
Body language is also used as part of the ‘regular’ language in Thailand. Thais show respect to older or more senior people by trying to keep their head lower or bending their head as they pass by. For example, if you are passing someone who is sitting on a chair it is respectful to stoop as you walk past. One should never step over someone seated on the floor, but walk around them. When Thais meet casually they usually greet with a question: ‘bpai nai’ (where are you going?) or ‘bpaid nai mah’ (where have you been). These are greetings rather than an attempt to find out where they are going or where they have been! A vague answer such as ‘bpai tee-o’ (I’m going out) or ‘bpai tee-o mah’ (I’ve been out) is acceptable. Also, Thai people don’t like to critisize or to be backed into a corner and thus ‘loose’ face. Therefore, they will say something is good, and qualify it with a ‘but’ and will say ‘yes’ with little enthusiasm and it is up to you to read their expressions.
Lets hope I get to practice my new skill when I head off to the village next Monday; then I will pick up the blog again once I have had time to settle into Mae Sot – from 19th October, ready to start work (at last) on Monday 25th – after about 6 – 7 weeks of in-country induction. One cannot accuse VSO of being anything other than ‘thorough’ and I feel as prepared as I can!
Signing off: ญำ ธ้ฟทำ ป
