Sleeping, Part 13: Napping At The Bangkok Demonstrations, 2014

A minor encampment in front of the Sport Science Bureau, next to MBK

The ongoing demonstrations in Thailand, while occurring in different parts of the country at different times, are primarily based in the Big Mango - Bangkok. Now the hub of note is Lumpini Park - or at least a portion of it, with traffic still brought to a standstill when the group moves out to march one place or another.

On the sidewalk in front of the MBK McDonalds

Meanwhile, people still need a place to sleep. That, and, as George Carlin used to do a routine about, "keep a smaller version of 'their stuff'". In January that included camping tents. Thousands of them, spread around at the protest sites. The small number of them above were next to, and below, the National Stadium BTS station, adjacent to the enormous Mah Boon Krong [MBK] Shopping Mall. The area where the B-Boys (breakdancers) used to hold court by that station is now cordoned off, so the free shows are on hiatus. 

When I was there most of the speeches and rallying took place in the evenings, and when the "Nine to Five" folks got off work many of them would make their way to the stage sites to hear the speakers, clack their plastic hand noisemakers and raise a combined shriek with thousands of whistles when they heard something they liked coming from the concert-sized banks of amplifiers.

Napping at noontime next to the National Stadium BTS station

During the daytime, much of the area was quiet; cart vendors ruling the scene, and many of the others just in town for the protests (so to speak) were snoozing wherever they could. Come to think of it, it was much the same at nighttime for random napping, but I honestly don't understand how very many could sleep through the 100 decibel racket.  I'd say "sleep of the innocent", but from distant past experience I tend to doubt that was the case!

Evidently he wasn't as taken by the speech going on as some were...

Through My Viewfinder, Pt. 1: Miscellaneous Bangkok

Call it what you will... I can't see the "fun" in this place

I freely admit I overuse the word "wander", but it best describes how I choose to spend a lot of time while on holiday, wherever that may be, and the implication that it's an unhurried walk around looking at people, places and things is often an apt description.

What remains of the canal below the Chong Nonsi BTS station

It probably goes without saying that I take a lot of pictures while on these casual excursions. I tend to group them for posts here by category, and that often leaves some of them in a batch that don't quite fit into any specific niche.  This series is an attempt to gather some of these digital "orphans" together and share them, if for no other reason than they pleased my eye at the time and I'd like to pass them along.

A Mexican restaurant near Silom Soi 4, if not on it... I'm not sure

A good friend and fellow blogger recently added his vote while we were on the phone that my composition skills leave a bit (OK, more than a bit) to be desired, but hey - everyone's a critic! Some people make baseless criticism their life's work. I don't understand the satisfaction in that, so I'll leave it to them and wish them well with it. I myself already know several reasonably well-known painters and photographers who support themselves quite well with their work, and if they say my composition skills suck, they probably do, wo who am I to argue?  Leaves me room for improvement, I suppose - and isn't that what the journey's mainly about, anyway?

The early morning sky, reflected in the wavy glass of an office building in the Sathorn area

So, here's Part One. As I now have well over 50,000 images from Thailand it could go on a while. Don't tempt me.

By the way... to address a recent message (and for those who don't read the introductory flotsam and jetsam on sites they visit) yes, unless I note otherwise I do take all of the images I post here myself. Wouldn't be honest if I didn't. Hopefully this puts the subject to rest again for a while.

An oddly-angled intersection near Siam Discovery

As always, comments are always welcome. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

No, Size Isn't Everything, But Still...

A Micro 7-Eleven

On this last trip I saw a 7-Eleven store that may well be the record holder for being the smallest in all of Thailand. Located in the Mo Chit BTS station - as of today the Northern end of the Sukhumvit line, near the Jatujak Weekend Market - you might miss it if you blinked while walking by.

It was late in the evening, and I was on my way back to my room in Nonthaburi. The cheapest way to do that was to take the BTS to the end of the line and then catch a taxi for the rest of the ride.  Since it was such a gorgeously balmy evening I stopped to wander around the station before heading down to street level and my ride "home".

The sliding door was next to the candy shelf

Normally it's pretty frantic in the station when I'm passing through to or from the weekend market, but - as many stations can be after the evening commute - it was relatively peaceful and inviting. I was ready for something to drink, and was pleased to see the familiar orange and green stripes flanking the 7-11 logo, but something seemed odd about the place at my very first glance: it looked very small.

It was.

Upon stepping inside I was almost immediately nose to nose with a guy cleaning the soda dispensing machine.  As you can see by the photos, this place wasn't much over nine feet deep, at best - and maybe 15 feet long, tops.  There was almost more space behind the register than there was in front of it for the customers to queue up. Not being fond of being packed like a sardine I shuddered to think what it must be like during busy times.

Looking to the left, just inside the door

As you can see in the picture above there was just barely room for one person to get down to the magazine rack and the drinks further down the refrigerated case. My wide angle lens really couldn't do the place justice, and even one additional customer made it impossible to get a decent view of it, so these will have to do.  If you're in the station sometime, check it out.

At lease there isn't much floor to keep mopped.

Trip Report, Part 28: Student Blockade At Kung Krabaen

Uh-oh...The car was off in the distance, past this school group.

When we'd arrived at Kung Krabaen Nature Center the parking lots were nearly empty; it was only mid-morning, and we'd only seen a single group of school kids within the park itself as we took our time walking through it - as one should, I'd say. Figuring we'd exit from where we'd entered the park we'd parked in a small lot near the main entrance, pleasantly surprised at our good fortune to find such a convenient spot.

It wasn't quite as lucky as we'd thought.

The walkway where we came out of the park ended up being a short ways from the car, and the narrow bridge leading to the car was blocked by a student group seated on the ground, listening to one of their instructors giving them an introductory talk about the place.  When the group of folks in the top image passed by, the instructor stopped to wait for them as they walked in front of her. She stood, microphone in hand, and waited for them to go by, and then began speaking again.

"So, what do we do?" I asked my friend. "Let's wait and see if they get up and move," my friend replied "unless you want to interrupt them again."  Swell.  Had I understood a word she was saying it may well have been interesting, but I didn't.

We stood there for about 10 minutes as the students listened, took notes and occasionally glanced over at us. Finally my friend said "I guess we just do like that last group did."  I know enough people in the teaching profession that I felt sort of strange doing so, but we began to walk through the blockade, trying to be inconspicuous as we went between the students and their teacher.

I figured, though, as long as we were going to interrupt them anyway, why not have some fun with it, so I put my hand up to my mouth and began to "talk" silently as we walked along, facing the kids who were now watching us more intently than they were their teacher.  They erupted with giggles and laughter as they saw me mimicking the woman, and that earned me a look from her we in the West might call "shooting daggers".  

The talk went on after we passed, and we stood at the car and again waited, our path to drive out still filled with blue shirts.  At that point there was nothing else to do but wait, and wait we did, some in the group still glancing over at us and smiling at my prank. 

Almost 15 minutes later they got up and began filing past the entry sign, returning my waves and laughing among themselves about the farang who'd interrupted the lecture.

I motioned for some of them near the end of the parade to stop for a picture, and they (naturally) grouped together and posed. It probably belongs in one of the "Smiles" posts, but it fits with today's follow-up post, so here it is.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

Off Hiway 3 in Chantaburi: lush foliage hums with insects, joined by the rustling of leaves in the warm afternoon wind

I've usually enjoyed what Robert Frost would have called "the road less traveled", and sometimes that does, indeed, make all the difference.  You can go from point A to point B in many areas of Thailand via reasonably modern highways, but you can also miss a lot by doing so.

A young man sails along the road on his motocy in Chantaburi

My frequent Thai traveling companion knows how I enjoy being in the thick of things, and he goes out of his way time and again to take the smaller country roads; mainly to entertain me, but because he, too, enjoys the surprises you find along the way. Thank goodness, because otherwise I'd feel bad about the number of times I say "Wait... can you stop and go back for a minute?"

Sure, we get lost every so often - and the Thai aren't all that much more accurate with directions for a fellow countryman than they are for we foreigners - but it's an important part of the journey, I think.

Thorny, multi-colored Euphorbia Milii Splendens (Crown of Thorns) seems to be guarding the laundry that's hung out to dry

For me, it's more interesting to see beyond the polished surface of any country I visit; to be out in the countryside among the locals is to be happier than a hog rolling in the shaded mud on a hot country afternoon.

While his wife and two children waited at the edge of the reservoir, a man gathers lotus buds to have with their dinner.

You don't see a string of 7-Elevens, and you can go entire days without being assaulted by a Starbucks, McDonalds or some other such retail atrocity (a treat unto itself, if you ask me).

What you do see are small stalls, mobile businesses on carts, lots of bicycles and motocy, and houses - both firmly on the ground and standing up on stilts, accessorized with livestock and folks resting beneath them on low platforms.  It's a window into a world we as visitors rarely have an opportunity to view.

This family of shrimp farmers in Chantaburi were amused by our stopping just to say hello. Fortunately, my friend could translate for me.

Rounding a corner, beneath the lush foliage of trees reaching out in an effort to touch each other above your head you're likely to see folks sometimes as surprised to see you as you are to see them.  Invariably they'll smile and wave back if you make the minor effort to acknowledge their existence and show a little appreciation for the beautiful area they call home.

Granted, it's not meaningful interaction, I suppose - but it feels good to be "a part of" on the most minor of levels, and far too many people miss it.

Trip Report, Part 25: Khuk Khi Kai

The road-side view of Khuk Khi Kai

While on a long weekend getaway this last trip I had the opportunity to stop and see Khuk Khi Kai, a remnant of the French-Thai unpleasantness at the end of the 19th century.

An internet image of Siamese mounted artillery in 1893

The Franco-Siamese War of 1893 was a conflict between the French Third Republic and what was then known as the Kingdom of Siam. The Thai naturally didn't care for the attempted occupation of Chantaburi, and some rebelled. As punishment, those who did were rounded up and put into the small (4.4 meters/14.4 feet across and 7 meters/23 feet high) brick building above.

If you don't already know, Thai culture believes the top of your head is the closest to heaven, and therefore the most "holy" part of the body, and your feet are the most base parts. It's common knowledge that you don't touch the top of peoples heads unless you've been given permission to do so, and that you don't point your feet at someone, step on them, or, indeed, even step over them. 

With that in mind, here's what made this holding facility most odious to the Thai: the French put a slatted roof on the building and kept chickens in a coop up there. The chickens would eat, scratch about as chickens will, and, naturally, poop - and their droppings would fall with no warning on the heads of the captives below. It wasn't a physical torture, per se, but one that was a great insult psychologically.

"Well, that was kind of a chickenshit thing to do," I commented while taking these images, and my friend blushed - he would rarely use such a crude term himself - but agreed. I had to push to get an answer as to how that would be said in Thai, and since I didn't take note of it I can't share it with you today. Probably just as well - there's plenty of that very behavior still going on today, anyway. Man's inhumanity to man, and all.

Being uncomfortable about the whole idea I declined to go inside myself, but you can bend down and enter a 3-foot high doorway, if you visit there.  It's history, but it's not history at its finest.  Still, an interesting stop.

The back side view, with the entrance door on the right

Trip Report, Pt. 23: A Bar Boy's Retirement Home

An unexpected story waited on the other side of this bridge

Anyone who's been reading this for a while already knows I've collected stories from a lot of bar boys (or gogo boys or Rented Admirers, whichever label you prefer to use).  Since I speak precious little Thai I've been very fortunate to have friends who have acted as translators and go-between help. Not that one really needs to speak Thai to enjoy visiting or traveling through Thailand, but personally I think it's only polite (and respectful) to have some words and phrases memorized - hence book report one, and we'll cover others as we go along.

But getting back to bar boys: there have been posts about visiting their room, how one found a farang partner and happily left the business, being mistreated by abusive bosses, doing double duty while working in club, one about my first interviewee, and one telling of a young man whose life was cut far too short by HIV, to reference just a few I've collected. There are also a few other related stories you can look through if you click on the Gogo Boys label in the right-hand column.

As to the girls or ladies working the same club/gogo/sex trade - also known as the World's Oldest Profession - I still haven't conjured up the interest to try interviews with any of them, but my possibly rash assumption is that the underlying details would be much the same. That's an error I intend to rectify next trip. [Yes, I did say that before the last trip, too. Mea culpa.]

But that's far enough to stray - back to today's topic.

My friend was driving us through Chantaburi on our weekend getaway and had stopped at a spot a ways off of our charted course to get drinks. Naturally, I wandered off, camera in hand.  I'd seen the masts of some fishing boats above the shrubbery a short ways away and wanted to get a better look. Rounding a corner I came to a wooden footbridge over the end of a narrow side canal.

The simple bridge crossed the shallow water to a house on the opposite side, where a small house stood. On the somewhat hobbled together stoop were a few potted plants and some wind chimes, making their music under the eaves of the roof near a tattered Thai flag... and a man, leaning on the railing and smoking a cigarette. He saw me taking pictures of the boats nearby and waved a greeting to me, smiling.

I said hello to him and went back to watching another man, sitting barefoot in one of the boats and singing to himself as he mended one of his fishing nets.  He didn't hear me, so he didn't look up until the man on the porch called to him and got his attention. He looked over to me, waved, and went back to his work.

Satisfied with the images I'd gotten, I'd turned to go back to the car when I saw my friend coming to collect me so we could be on our way.  He reached me just as the man outside the house called to him, and they spoke briefly in Thai; my friend pointing at me, and them both laughing a little. "I told him you're a visitor from America who has to take pictures of everything," he smiled, as the man called out again, waving us over to him.  We crossed the bridge - me hoping it would hold the both of us and keep me (and my camera) from landing in the water below.

Mending fishing nets 

Approaching the porch I could hear a woman speaking to someone, and soon two small faces peered out from around the edge of the open doorway. They stared for a minute until I said "Good morning" to them, and then quickly disappeared, giggling.  A minute later they peeked out again while my friend spoke briefly to the man. Turning to me, the man spoke to me in Thai. My friend translated. "He wants to know what you're doing out in the countryside," he said, and I replied with a short explanation about enjoying seeing Thai life away from the city. Through my friend I asked how long he'd been fishing. All his life?  Did he come from a fishing family?

His name was Wut, and it turned out that he did - his family had been fishing for several generations, but that he'd done other work for a while in the past.  Out of curiosity I'd asked what else he'd done, and he chuckled and said that during a rather trying financial stretch for the family when he was about 20 he'd followed one of his friends to Bangkok to seek his fortune and help the family.

I ought to have left it at that, but something made me ask my friend to inquire what he'd done in Bangkok.  Wut said something to my friend, who seemed a little surprised. "He said he worked in a bar for a couple of years," I was told, and Wut winked at me and said - in English - "boy bar".  I managed to keep what would have been a surprised look off of my face, but even having a pretty good idea of the Thai mai pen rai view regarding sexuality his frankness did take me by surprise.

I just smiled and said "you were a good son to help your family," and was ready to leave it at that, but my friend sensed a story, and being far more knowledgeable about cultural boundaries of propriety than I asked him a few other things, and they spoke quickly back and forth while I stood there, uneasily, wondering if we weren't prying into an area we should have steered clear of.

Wut, talking with my friend about days in his past

"He said it was a long time ago - a good 25 years ago, and he doesn't care if he talks about it now," said my friend. It was an opportunity I'd never had before, so we took some time and listened to Wut's story. While the World's Oldest Profession is just that, his tale was from a viewpoint based in a very different world I'd never heard. He was only at it for about two years, had worked steadily and with a purpose, saved his money and got out relatively unscathed.

It was one of the less colorful stories I've heard, but again, it was clear it came from a different era entirely. I was really grateful to have heard it, and I'll post Wut's story one of these times.

When we'd finished visiting with Wut we said our goodbyes and went back to the car, got back on the road and headed further South to our destination.

This boat hadn't been anywhere in a while, and may still be sitting in the same spot it was in five months ago.

Trip Report, Part 11: The Million Year Stone Park

One small portion of the Million Year Stone Park gardens show in this panorama shot

[This is part 11 of a series that may or may not ever find its way to a proper conclusion. It has to do with my latest trip to Thailand, and the people, places and things I encountered along the way. You can find the rest of the series by clicking here on Trip Reports.]

The park mascot. Tourist
photo opportunity?  You bet!

One of the main reasons I've returned to Thailand time and again are the students I've been fortunate to be able to help build a better future through the Pattaya Street Kids Support Project. The reasons behind that have already been covered here and here, but the most rewarding part for me is having the opportunity to actually see the kids and take them along for a day otherwise out of their financial reach; a reward for working hard at school, so to speak.

Most of the time I'm at a complete loss as to what someone that much younger than myself would find entertaining on an outing like that, but naturally the kids themselves aren't. They've heard of places from schoolmates, friends and television and often have an idea of what they'd like to do on "their" day, although sometimes they're self-conscious about asking for what to them is a large extravagance.

Camels, zebras, giant catfish and peacocks are just a few of the hundreds of  creatures to see around the park

The boys all loved feeding
the crocodiles from above

This trip three of the kids asked if they could go to the Million Year Stone Park and Crocodile Farm, and one wanted to see the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum in the Royal Plaza Garden Mall.

I confess that seeing the Ripley complex (it dominates a huge portion of the top floor) once was OK, five years ago, but it's not anywhere on my list today. Nevertheless, it wasn't my day, so I put on on a smile and went along, enjoying seeing others enjoying it - so it was still one of those "win-win" situations.  I'll address Ripley's another time soon.  You've been warned.

The Million Year Stone Park is a fairly short ride from Pattaya - maybe 20 minutes or so - and covers a lot of ground: 70 acres, according to their web site.  It's a mix of gardens, zoo, showplaces, rock formations and it can be brutally hot in the mid-day sun.  There are places to eat and plenty of places for souvenirs. Admission ran me about $30 for three Thai and one Big Pink Guy.

While busloads of tourists are undoubtedly the bread and butter of the place, it's also a spot for the Thai; much like a theme park would be here in the USA.  I'd say the day I was there the mix was 75% Thai and 25% foreigners.

Yes, there are hundreds of these there. Nothing like at the Samut Prakan farm near Bangkok, but still plenty

The kids have all grown older over the years, naturally, and now - mid-teens - the boys were much more interested in feeding raw chicken to the crocodiles below them with a string on a pole or sit within easy mauling distance of a tiger to have their picture taken than they were some years back.  What is it about our teenage years that gives us that unreasonable feeling of invincibility, anyway?

Whether the tiger's been slightly sedated or not, it doesn't seem like a good idea to sit there like this kid did.

While they'd have covered their eyes in the past, this time the guys leaned forward with smiles on their faces when the crocodile handler did what are supposed to be the riskier moves. Vicarious thrills, I suppose.  I watched, too.

Looking for his keys, maybe...

The park just passed its 20th anniversary, having opened in February of 1992. Touristy? Absolutely - but what's wrong with that?  Ask a Thai friend along with you. If they haven't been there themselves already I'll wager they'd have fun.

The Million Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm

"Signs" Of The TImes: TSL, MTSL And ASL

The clip here today was taken at JJ/Chatuchak Weekend Market. By the time I'd gotten my video recorder out, on and started I'd missed most of the conversation, which a cousin (who signs well) tells me seemed to be more or less the woman in blue saying "just get me three or four - and don't be slow about it, I'm not a patient person."  My cousin doesn't know Thai sign language and there are regional differences, as you'd expect. Not what I'd call really fascinating talk, but it was still interesting to see her somewhat exaggerated manner of signing.  I've only seen people sign in Thailand maybe 10 times, total.

Having been acquainted with a few deaf folks over the years I tend to be more aware of people around me that are communicating via signing with their hands than some people are. For some of them it's a necessity, and for others it's another language they've learned to communicate, rather like learning French - and if I watch them a bit I can usually tell if their hearing is compromised or if they're simply talking with someone who can't hear them properly for whatever reason.

It's not foolproof radar, as seen in the post from April 18th of 2010. In that story the deaf man selling pop-up cards along the beach didn't set it off, although perhaps it should have; I'd figured he was having a "blah" day and was simply trudging his way through it. As you can see below, he wasn't exactly an enthusiastic beacon of smiling salesmanship.


If you've read it you know the story had a happy ending. I haven't run into him a third time, but I've seen similar cards in other places in Thailand noted as being made by the hearing impaired and have learned it's a shared craft.

More often than not what you'd encounter here stateside are hearing impaired or deaf people who will hold out a card not much larger than the cards I made up for the Sexy Movie DVD touts.  The cards show small icons that illustrate the letters of the alphabet as used by those who communicate via ASL, or American Sign Language. Sometimes there's an insignificant item attached to it - a miniature candy cane around Christmas, for example - but most of the time it's just the card.  On the reverse is a brief explaination; something along the lines of "Hello. I am deaf and sell this card to make a living. Please donate whatever you feel is fair." You make a donation and receive the card. The card vendors along the beaches of Thailand now carry a larger version that alert you that they're hearing impaired, and I think that's a great idea.  Wish I'd have thought of it for them.

Skeptics have commented "Oh, you fell for the line about them really being deaf, did you?", and it's possible we do sometimes.  I suppose if you set off a firecracker next to your beach chair after they'd turned away you might make one of them jump and give themselves away, but my guess is most of the reaction would be from the aging farang around you as their pacemakers kicked in.

Thai Sign Language alphabet card - 49 vs the 26 for English

The TSL (Thai Sign Language) alphabet card is above. The most reliable info I can find on it is that TSL was an extension of ASL (American Sign Language) brought to Thailand in the 1950s, but there are suggestions it's more reliably rooted in the Old Chiang Mai Sign Language and Old Bangkok Sign Language which were already in place.

A dear friend from an old relationship said he and his best friend in high school learned to sign so they could talk in class.  Since he went into social work it's continued to be an asset to him while dealing with hearing-impaired clients.  I was at a gay workshop at a convention many years ago where there was a person doing ASL signing for the deaf attendees and afterwards I heard someone asking him how to say "I'm a grower, not a shower", which naturally got a laugh from all of us within earshot.

If you're interested in learning more about signing in Thailand there's an interesting and rather extensive web site about it here: Thai Disabilities Development Foundation. There you'll find the cards above and below and a number of other vocabulary help, as well as other resources.

For now, though, just be grateful if you can hear well.

Rain In Thailand, Part 2

Mild flooding on Second Road in Pattaya

Since there's an unusually heavy amount of rain in parts of Thailand right now it seemed an appropriate time to add another post on rain in Thailand to Part One.  September is usually the heaviest month of rain there - the season running from June through October - and you can expect some fairly dramatic rain at some point of the afternoon or evening, but parts of the country are being flooded, as they often are every season.

The pictures today were taken two years ago this month, when I was passing through Pattaya and happened to be caught at the mall one evening after dinner. Normally in rainy season I have a zip-lock bag folded up in my pocket for my wallet, camera, passport, whatever - but I'd been shopping some and couldn't manage to keep everything dry, so I'd hailed a taxi. The white spots in the photos are the large rain drops, caught by the flash.

Parked motorcycles on Second Road, axle-deep in water

Motorcycle taxi guys standing in the rain, hoping for a fare

Showing a turn and one of many, many storm drains

The driver was a little put out that I kept opening my window to take photos, but I dried things up before I got out and actually left a little of it cleaner than when I got in!

Youtube poster timpawlosk shared a clip/slideshow taken yesterday in Pattaya that a forum moderator was kind enough to post, and it's such a nice slice of (heavy) rainy day life that I thought I'd include it here today:



As long as we're on the subject of rain, here's the link to the post about Thai pop singer Sek Loso's song about a rainy day, "Fon Tak Tee Nah Taang".

The White Elephant Of Jomtien Complex

Although real chang phueak (white elephants) are rare and highly prized creatures in Thailand (many times presented to the king as a ceremonial gift and then released) the large building on one corner of Jomtien Complex on the Southern side of Pattaya is a white elephant more along the lines of the US phrase, meaning something no longer wanted and often difficult to get rid of.

Jomtien Complex sits near the Southern curved end of Thep Phraya Road, the road you'd ride along on a baht bus to get from Pattaya itself to the Jomtien area. The Poseidon Hotel sits at the pointed top of that grouping of dark grey roofs over the complex.

I've seen this building under construction for years; worked on in fits and starts, now looking as though the base work is completed but still a l-o-n-g ways from being finished - especially by Thai construction timetables, if there actually is such a thing. As you can see, it makes a big footprint on the complex in the adjusted satellite image below. I put a green "x" on the structure's ample rooftop.

There have been rumors about the place over time; Tesco-Lotus, Friendship Market, Tops Market - all have been talked about, but that seems to be as far as it's gone. There's a rental office on the ground level to the far right, but that's about it. As you can see from the panorama picture up top today, it's almost completely vacant. Almost, other than an art dealer and the odd stall set up at street level on the corner at the far left in the photo.

My guess is that the other "Nightlife" establishments have been an impediment to finding a keystone store to take the space, but it is Thailand - so who knows? The continual additions to the area high rise by high rise may well create enough of a marketable demand to make it a desirable location.

Not To Be A Nitpicker, But...

In English, if someone is unusually picky or fussy about details they're sometimes called a "nitpicker". It's often someone who easily finds faults in people or things - and usually small things, hence the word "nit," which is also also the name of the tiny eggs stuck to the base of the host's hairs as laid by head lice, beginning what is usually a drawn out and bothersome infestation.

The easiest way to rid a person of head lice is to shave the head, which removes all of the nits. Nowadays there are also chemical treatments, but for reasons of preference, tolerance and cost sometimes shaving the head is the best course of treatment. Short of that, you're left with trying to use a special very fine toothed comb, or a pair of tweezers to painstakingly remove them one by one, hopefully getting them all. Frankly, I think it's somewhat of a fool's errand.

In cultures and societies where people live in a more communal environment - such as a single studio room apartment or traditional one-room Thai house there's naturally more opportunity of sharing something as "catchy" as head lice, but it crosses almost all boundaries, cultures, classes and people.

"Nice," I can hear you saying "but what's the point?"

Walking along a street in Pattaya one day I spotted the couple in the photo above and thought "Oh, isn't that sweet! I haven't seen a public display of affection like that since the afternoon in Bangkok," (Hello, Young Lovers) but as I drew closer I could see the tweezers in the inset and knew immediately that while it was a caring act, it wasn't the romantic episode I'd first thought; this was a hunting expedition. In fairness, she may have been looking for fleas, but her actions were one of someone on a mission, regardless. So, that's your warm and fuzzy Valentine story!

I hope wherever you are and whomever you're with today that you have the feeling of being cared about and wanted by people you care about in return. I am, and it's something I never, never take for granted.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Same Same, But Different! Part 7: Living Statues

We haven't done a "Same same, but different!" post since September, and I ran across what I thought was an interesting example while in Pattaya last month: the street artists who pose motionless as if they were a statue until you drop some money into their collection bin, which brings them to life and they move in some fashion.

The two that I saw were indoors and may have been employees of the mall - the store most certainly knew they were there by the attention they drew, which is probably why they allowed or encouraged it. Both had substantial props like the table and chair the bronze man above used - and their make-up was far more meticulously done than the examples you'd see in most larger cities in the USA, perhaps worldwide - you tell me.

Bronze Man had the motor control to seem as though he actually was solid metal for an extended period of time, but 20 baht in the skillet on the table would put him into fluid but mechanical movement; folding the note, putting it into the cup, taking a sip from the cup, that sort of thing. Depending on the crowd and the amount donated he varied his "performance" between 30 seconds and a minute or more before once again coming to rest, motionless.

[To answer the probable question in advance: I was out with a handful of the students I sponsor, so I've diffused and altered a face in the interest of privacy. I only had one good photo of the "statue" guys.]

Pantip Cheerleaders

Students and young adults doing product promotions is just as common an occurrence as groups collecting money for charities or schools. If you missed the kids doing their synchronized dancing back on May 7th, you can see it here.

One afternoon I walked out of Pantip Plaza (where I'd been having some fun with the "Sexy movie?" touts) and almost squack into the middle of the group in today's clip, promoting what I took to be an internet service provider - Three Broadband.

Unfortunately I missed the beginning of their last trick, and they disbursed immediately afterwards. Cute bunch of guys and girls, though - and they were having fun doing their bit.

As I post this YouTube is still processing the clip, but for those with a fast enough connection it'll be in HD when they get finished. You can find other video clips by clicking on the Video Clips label in the right hand column. Today's makes 12 clips, with a lot more to come.

Welcome (AGAIN!) To The Hotel California

Fads are fads and favorites are favorites wherever you go, and easy access to the internet has made our world even smaller than it was, say 25 years ago. Home made video clips uploaded to the the web from anywhere can "go viral" (as it's become known) and boast millions of views - or hits - in a matter of hours. It can be both amazing and troublesome in the same thought.

While technology can make the transfer of information instantaneous, the information itself can get stuck in the Twilight Zone. A good example are email jokes and syrupy sentimental wishes you may have received to your inbox today that you very well may have seen two years ago, and originally five years before that.

Another good example is the Eagle's song "Hotel California". It was a nice song when I first heard it in 1976, and in the 34 years since then thousands of versions have been done by artists across a wide spectrum: Rascal Flatts, Macedonian singer Igor Dzambazov and American Idol novelty William Hung, to name a few. I'm not sick to death of it, but it dropped of my "happy to hear it begin" list long ago.

Fast forward to 2003. I'm sitting in an outdoor restaurant in Isaan in the Northeast of Thailand, having dinner with a few friends and noticing I'm the only farang there. Everyone around me is speaking Thai. I'm savoring this moment as a young man with a guitar around his neck walks up to a microphone, plugs into his small, care-worn amplifier and begins to pick the opening to a song. Yes, that song. The whole thing. Although he only got a little over half of the lyrics correct in his earnest effort, many others there seemed to recognize what he was pouring his heart into singing and enjoyed it. Truth be told, I enjoyed it, too. It was...creative English, and that alone made it fun.

It's a rather distinctive sounding song and I've since heard it many, many times there; sometimes coming from bars filled with farang old enough to remember it's initial radio play 30+ years ago, and sometimes in bars frequented by locals. I've heard it sung in Thai and with any number of variations to the English lyrics - some more humorous than others.

The most unusual version I've heard so far was one weekend afternoon out at Chatuchak/Jatujak weekend market, where I heard the guy in the clip up top today. He was just finishing it up as I got over to him and asked him to play just the beginning of it again for me. Having just played it he wasn't too keen to launch into it again, but he started his taped accompaniment, and I caught what I could of it.

"Mod" Is Thai For..........ANTS!!

The remnants of the invasion - not a great picture, but I was a little shaken!

I awoke thinking maybe my hand was asleep; there was a sensation similar to what I've grown up calling "pins and needles" on my hand, and arm, and... good grief - my back and face and scalp! I'd awoken a few minutes earlier with the same feeling, but in my half-slumber just brushed and scratched a little and gone back to sleep. This time I was most definitely awake.

Like the story of Madeline I'd read to my younger siblings goes: "In the middle of the night, Miss Clavelle turned on the light and said 'Something is not right!' " I reached for the switch on the nightstand lamp, and as soon as it lit the area around me I involuntarily shouted.

"AUGGH! Ants!" I shouted - and there were, indeed, ants. Thousands of them, many of them biting. If you looked closely at my pillow it looked like one of those animal stampedes from a National Geographic or Planet Earth broadcast. Little reddish-brown ants. They were still all over my torso, too - and I was still slapping and trying to brush them off when I looked over at my friend, still deeply slumbering on the other half of the bed. "Wake up!" I called to him as I reached over and shook his shoulder. He struggled up from his deep sleep, rubbing his eyes and quickly noting my concerned look also felt the biting and knew something was indeed not right.

"OH!" he shouted "MOD!!" "No kidding," I said as he (always the caring friend) ignored his own discomfort and began slapping me around, trying to rid me of the little pests. We both jumped out of our respective sides of the bed, turning almost in unison to look at our own private - but open - ant farm with near-identical disbelief and surprise, both still trying to get them off of ourselves at the same time.

I grabbed the phone and called the front desk and tried to explain our past-midnight predicament. Of course, the night clerk didn't understand why this guest was shouting "Ants! Ants!" and I heard my friend shout "Not ants...MOD!" from the bathroom, where he'd jumped into the shower. [It's pronounced with a long "o" sound like "commode" and not like the mod in modern]

The clerk came up and saw the carnage we'd created while killing as many as we could, but still there were plenty running frantically around on the sheets. He was concerned and very apologetic, but he had no idea whatsoever what to do about it. My friend came out to talk to him, towel around his waist, while I went in to rinse off what I could of the little bastards myself. I could see the red bite welts raising on his back and shoulders and felt so bad for him. He had a worse reaction to them than I did, but I think I was the bigger baby about them. I do not like things crawling on me.

When I came back out there was still no good solution. There wasn't another room to move us to, it was now past 01:30 and there was no way I was going to sleep there that night. The clerk, still saying "sorry... sorry" offered to call another hotel to find us a room - which he did - while I hastily packed my bags. We were whisked off to another hotel and put into a nice room where we collapsed again into bed, sleeping until 08:00. The first hotel naturally paid for our transfer and second hotel room and adjusted my tab for the ant farm.

The next morning they brought in the bomb squad who cleared the decks for our return the following evening. No smell of insecticide, and not a single mod/ant to be found.

It was an adventure, but one I'd pass on signing up for again!

PS - The hotel found a mango on the ledge outside my second-floor room window while cleaning the room out, and a major nest of the little red devils down at ground level. Case closed.

PPS - No, I won't tell you what hotel it was. Not their fault, and I won't besmirch their otherwise fine record with me.