11th May 2007 - Final Thoughts

We left England on October 19 2006. Time seemed to stretch before us .... all the time in the world to experience Thailand at a pace we chose, 30 weeks or 210 days.

Thailand seems like home at the moment.

I am used to the sounds -
Cicadas first thing in the morning and in the evening herald the time to get up and go to bed better than any alarm clock.
Geckos reassure us that they are patroling for mosquitoes.
In the cities the sound of tuk-tuks and dogs are ever present and on the beaches there is the sound of the waves and the long-tail boats - "boat - boat?" "Hat Rin - Hat Rin?" the boat owners ask us if we want to go somewhere.

I am used to the language -
Everywhere you are greeted with a big smile and greeting "Sawasdee Kaa (female) or Sawasdee Kap (male)". Even though I only understand a few words, the constant chatter of Thai around us is familiar now. I am picking up the sing-song nature of the language and can imagine what they are saying without having to know the details (I remember talking to Shaun Wilden, one of my tutors from last September. He has lived in Prague for many years. I asked him if he missed England and he said he had no desire to go back. On visits he finds himself swamped with background noise that he can't shut out. What is this noise? Conversation that he can understand and as a result can't stop listening to!! I wonder if I will experience the same thing).

I am used to the weather -
hot and sunny, hot and cloudy, hot and raining or hot and dark about sums it up.

I am used to the TV -
News, soaps, chat shows, slapstick, monks chanting.
The newscasters are celebrities and appear as guests on chat shows doing the same routine on one station after the other (according to an article in the Bangkok Post).
The soaps involve very young Thai girls and boys falling in and out of love and slapping each other across the face a lot. The moment when they fall in love is highlighted by misty camera shots rotating round the young couple and cartoon love hearts and bluebirds round their heads (I kid you not!).
The slapstick shows involve brilliant sound effects such as the 'boing' of a spring to punctuate a trip over a step and the rising and falling tone of a penny whistle when someone says anything silly. So tacky!
Imagine a whole channel devoted to a fixed camera shot of a monk sitting in the lotus position in his saffron robes chanting for (what seems) hour after hour. It is amazing how often we have seen TV's tuned to this station - is this a comment on their devotion or the quality of the other options!
The newscasters, chat show hosts and even the young teen idols often wear the ubiquitous yellow t-shirt (in honour of the king) which means that they look no different from anyone you may meet on the street. I really like that.
Sport - (football, are there any other sports?) is on ESPN and Star Sports with presenters such as Shebby Singh and Jamie Reeves. Jamie is the man Sue and I love to hate, he appears in an advert on TV trying to get investors to buy land in our country. He stands there like a piece of wood, next to 'Big Ben' and says "Buy UK land - I did". Another advert involves an equally wooden Steve McMahon (ex - Liverpool) and Brian Robson (ex - Man Utd).

Steve McMahon (Macka) is sitting next to Brian Robson (Robbo) on a settee watching TV and sipping a cup of tea (how likely is that!).
Macka - [Staring at television off screen] "Did you buy a PP (Profitable Plot), I did?"
Robbo - [Looking at TV and holding tea cup with little finger sticking up] "Aye Macka, I bought two."
Macka - [Turns to stare at Robbo with astonishment] "You bought two! I ony bought one."
Robbo - [Slowly turns to Macka and winks] "That's why I was Captain." (aarrrggghhh!)

Thai people are much more difficult to understand -
They are instinctively respectful and polite to each other and to us. Only Thais subjected to Western excess are sometimes cynical or impatient. They are very loyal to their King and revere the monks.
Thai teenagers hang around together, listen to rock and blues and wear trendy clothes, but you don't get a feeling of 'clannishness' of 'us and them' as you pass by. They will smile and say hello to us and will play with small children they see.

Thai people can seem childlike, in the sense that they appear to be uncomplicated, open and trusting. I remember sitting at a bar when one of the slap-stick TV shows was on, it seemd to be loosely based around the old 'Generation Game' format. An expert Thai Boxer went through a routine to show off his skills and this was followed by two 'stooges' who tried to do the same but kept falling over (boing) or missing their kick (whistle). The Thai men around me were in hysterics.

Which reminds me, we didn't get to see a Thai Boxing match (Muay Thai). Two people we were talking to went and it involved two rival clubs. They said it was definitely real. One bout stood out to them in which they went through the opening ritual of bowing and praying and then within 5 seconds one had kicked the other in the head and the fight was over. They said he was unconcious before he hit the floor, ouch. Every fight was very vicious, apparently pretty well anything goes, the only thing the ref does is to check at the start that they are wearing a 'box'! I don't think we would have enjoyed it.

However, they come from a culture that is a world away from my own. My Western values sometimes seemed far removed from those of people brought up in the East. During my reading I came across the following idea.

In Philosophy in the 'West' things have been divided into objects (external) and subjects (internal - to do with mind). This has led us to separate the external world (engineering, science etc) and the internal world (art, poetry, faith etc.). The idea that we are separate from the external world means that we may feel we can treat it as something to use and manipulate. It is not 'us', it is there for us, so we use and abuse the world around us. Life is a constant battle with nature, trying to mold it into what we want.

In the East this initial philosophical distinction was not made. Consequently, the distinction between an internal and external world is much more blurred. The Buddha taught that we are not separate from the world, we do not exist as a separate entity, there is no such thing as 'me' (This idea that we don't exist as a separate entity, we won't die because we were never born, is at the root of Buddhism). There is a 'right way' to live and that means being in harmony with the world.

I guess 7 months away has shown me that my home is in England with people who have similar memories and life experiences to me. I am going to miss Thailand but it will always be a place to visit populated by a people I will never really know.

Thailand is a beautiful place and at the moment we both feel we want to come back. I recommend it. It has been everything we could have expected:

Lush vegetation, trees, birds and lovely cool evenings in the hills of North Thailand staying at a place called 'The Nest' at Chang Rai between December and February.
Incredible rock formations and amazingly clear sea water in Krabbi Provence. West Railay was a bit 'trendy' for us - beautiful people and expensive but visually stunning. East Railay was more our sort of place, we stayed at Viewpoint, don't forget to say Hi to Lek at the massage place there.
Lovely beaches and peace and quiet at 'Sawasdee Bungalows' on Kho Chang in the Andaman Sea (not The Gulf of Thailand).
Massage courses, music, meditation, tarot, stacks of interesting people and loads going on at Chiang Mai but don't go there between March and October, the heat is punishing and the air is poor.

I have really enjoyed writing this blog and that discovery has been an important part of this experience, I intend to keep going after all there is a wedding coming up and then the trauma of going back to work.

I have appreciated the time to enjoy whatever I happen to be doing at a particular moment without having to worry about anything else, let me say that again - without having to worry about anything else..... luxury indeed and I acknowledge my good fortune.

We are both determined to avoid the temptation to fill each day with a list of goals that don't leave time for enjoyment because we are always rushing to do the next thing.

We were looking at a motorhome this morning, wondering how much it cost. I think we will go traveling again.