What I Perceive of How I’m Perceived

Living amongst Thais as I do allows me a little insight into how they perceive westerners, and consequently what behaviours are spawned by their perceptions. I’ve become aware that sometimes fellow westerners and I are viewed very positively, sometimes we’re viewed somewhat negatively, but we’re never viewed with indifference by Thais.


Today I’d like to share with you some of my observations about what I see as my place in Thai society and some of the ethnic population’s attitudes that I encounter in my everyday life. I hope that you find it interesting.

My Aspirations and My Understandings
I endeavour to be a well integrated member of Thai society. I live in an apartment block that is populated mostly by ethnic Thai people. I eat Thai food. I eat at commonplace everyday Thai food outlets (as opposed to tourist or expat places). I mix predominantly with Thai people. I have Thai friends. I speak only Thai most of the time. I walk the walk. I talk the talk. But I don’t aspire to be Thai. And even if I did aspire to be Thai, I know that it wouldn’t be possible.

I understand that my thought processes, my behaviours, and my values are ethnically European. If I lived in Thailand for another hundred years, I’m certain that those three things would not change at all. I will always remain ethnically European.

And I understand too that although I am warmly welcomed into Thai society in general and the local Thai community in particular I am always viewed by Thai people as an outsider and a foreigner. I doubt that I will ever be accepted, even by the closest of my Thai friends, as a bona fide, fully paid up, community member.

The Attitudes that Thai People Display Towards Me
In my everyday life I usually encounter one of three main responses to my presence from Thai people whom I don’t know or whom I know only casually. All three of these responses originate from an awareness of my racial and ethnic origin. The first two of these responses I can understand and define. I would define them as Positive Prejudice and Negative Bias, and I will tell you a little about them first. The third attitude that I encounter I find less easy to define.

Positive Prejudice
I would define Positive Prejudice in this context as the desire to treat me warmly and with unwarranted respect for no reason other than that I am a foreigner. Positive Prejudice is the attitude that I’ve encountered most often since I’ve been living in Thailand. I would estimate that no less than ninety percent of Thais that I meet display Positive Prejudice towards me. Thais really are exceedingly nice and very welcoming people.

This Positive Prejudice manifests itself in a number of ways. For example, often people will go out of their way to engage me in conversation (sometimes in a rather forced and unnatural way) and will appear to cherish every word that I say, as if they’re listening to the wise words of a newly discovered sage. And some people go to excessive lengths to ensure my comfort and wellbeing. Also I am frequently humoured. I commonly find that even if I make the weakest of jokes my newfound audience will laugh as if they’ve never heard anything so funny in their lives before. And any statement that I make, trivial, trite, boring, or profound, will be greeted as if it’s a most fascinating revelation.

I like it when people treat me with positive prejudice, and I accept positive prejudice with the grace, warmth, kindness, and understanding with which it is given. But I do find it slightly bizarre. It feels odd to me that people should treat me so generously for no other reason than that I’m from a foreign country and a foreign culture.

I’ve often pondered about the origin of positive prejudice within Thai society. I think that there can be little doubt that such a charitable attitude reflects the kind, warm, welcoming, and generous nature of Thai people. But I suspect also that it reflects that westerners’ countries are viewed with a hint of glamour, and that some of that glamour rubs off on we undeserving immigrants. We come from the countries that produce rock stars, sporting superstars, international celebrities, and of course aeroplanes, luxury cars, and many other “glamorous” products. I sometimes suspect that we, the expat community in Thailand, benefit from our homelands’ perceived opulence and glamour.

Negative Bias
I would define Negative Bias in this context as the expressed desire to treat me poorly for no reason other than that I am a foreigner. I am pleased to report that this is an attitude that I rarely encounter. I wish that I never encountered it.

In its gentlest form Negative Bias is usually expressed by people attempting to ignore me in an “If you don’t talk to it, it might go away” kind of manner. Maybe someone will not reply to me when I speak, or will not reply and then turn and ask somebody else nearby, “What did he say?” Or worse still someone might reply to me in a rude, derogatory, and demeaning fashion. In its worst form Negative Bias expresses itself as hostility. There’s no debate to be had here. On the rare occasions that I encounter Negative Bias I know that the only sensible thing that I can do is to walk away.

I don’t fully understand Negative Bias, and I don’t care to speculate as to its origin. It is my understanding that people who indulge in Negative Bias see us immigrants as the polluters of society and the causes of much of what is wrong in Thailand. There are people with similar such beliefs in all countries all over the world. Fortunately people with such beliefs and attitudes seem to be less common here in Thailand than in many other countries.

The third attitude that I sometimes encounter I would describe as “strange”. I encounter it far more often than I encounter negative bias. It generally reveals itself during my second meeting with a new acquaintance. The first meeting was invariably affable. The second meeting would probably be a chance meeting, and always informal i.e. I bump into this person in the street or at a local shop.
The ensuing conversation, which I would have intended to be no more than a casual exchange of pleasantries, almost always progresses as follows:-

Me: “Hello. How are you today?”
New Acquaintance: “Not very well”.
Me: “I’m sorry to hear that. What’s the matter?”
New Acquaintance: “I’ve got no money”. (in Thai: “mai mee tang” – this is always the expression used).

I usually conclude a conversation that has progressed in this fashion at this point with a platitude such as, “That’s life”, or even by repeating the words “mai mee tang” and then adding “cow-jie laow”, which I will translate here as “Now I understand”.

What I find odd about the above conversation is that my new acquaintance would not have made the above responses to a Thai person. Therefore I deduce that his or her very unnatural responses to me are motivated by nothing other than the fact that that I’m a foreigner. But why?

And what I find even more odd is that a conversation that begins in this fashion cannot continue. It has nowhere to go. “Mai mee tang” is possibly the world’s greatest conversation stopper. So why introduce it into the conversation at the earliest possible moment?

It has been my experience that somebody who responds to me in the above fashion will always respond in exactly the same manner in every future conversation between us. Even so, such a person usually displays a desire to be friendly with me, but will never talk to me about any subject other than how short of money he or she is. And by the way, the people who follow this line of conversation are not destitute. I perceive all of them to be, and would describe all of them as, neither rich nor poor by Thai standards.

I find it strange when someone responds to my attempt to initiate an informal, friendly conversation in the manner as outlined above. I find it strange that my racial origins can cause someone to steer all conversations between us in a direction that will ensure that our conversations will always stall, that will ensure that we can never get to know one another, that will ensure that there will never be any useful or constructive dialogue between us, and most of all will ensure that we can never develop a friendship. And yet I know that the people who respond to me as above want to be friends with me. Strange, uh?

The next entry on Doodee’s Thailand will look at a popular misunderstanding of the Thai attitude to Westerners. It will be published soon. I hope that you’ll join me then.


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Old Peoples’ Buns?

We were walking in our local soi the other day (“Soi” is the Thai word for side-road) when we came upon the shop featured in the first photo on today’s entry to Doodee’s Thailand. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.


Shops of the style shown in the photo above are often referred to by the expat community as Grandpa and Grandma Stores. They are the original Thai convenience stores, the forerunners of the Family Mart and the modern day 7-11s. Grandpa and Grandma Stores are exactly opposite in character to their modern day counterparts. Grandpa and Grandma Stores are often dark, cramped, cluttered, and crowded. But the service offered by these establishments is usually warm, friendly, and helpful. Also their owners tend to be very sensitive to their customers’ needs. At the above shop the staff will often call out to Her@Home as she walks past to inform her whenever they’ve restocked the ice cream fridge. They know that I’m more than a bit partial to Wall’s Cornettos. They make sure that they always have my favourite flavours in stock, and they always let Her@Home know when the ice cream fridge is full.

Grandpa and Grandma Stores stock a full range of household essentials, a fine array of food, a selection of soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, and cigarettes too. But what caught my eye on this day as we strolled past this Aladdin’s Cave of household trivia were the buns perched on the small blue table in the foreground. To see them was to want them. And when I realised that only twelve baht would buy me two wickedly sweet buns, I found my restraint and self-control to be absolutely overwhelmed.


I suggested to Her@Home that maybe we should purchase a couple of the said buns. I whimpered by way of persuasion, “I like nice buns”.


Her@Home agreed immediately. “Yes. And they’ll be good for you too,” she said. “They give you a lot of energy.” (She knows about such things).
And then she added, “In the village where I come from we give them to all of the old people, but especially to those who’ve lost all their teeth. They find them easy to swallow without too much chewing.”

As she imparted the above information to me, I did rather wish that she’d kept the final two sentences to herself. I was less than flattered that these buns would hopefully do for me what they’re able to do for geriatric country folk. And I didn’t care for the comparison between me and the elderly that I felt was being implied. This was a moment when I was learning something about Thai culture and the way that Thai people look after the elderly in their communities, and for the first time ever since I’ve been living in Thailand, I really didn’t want to know.

In an attempt to salvage my already bruised pride I asked, “But you don’t think of me as an old person, do you Honey Bunchy?” (Honey Bunchy is a name that I call Her@Home whenever I want something. She likes it).

She gazed skyward momentarily, and then after a brief, silent pause she looked back toward the Grandpa and Grandma Store. “I must buy some cooking oil,” she said.

And at that moment I thought, “And I must start dyeing my hair”.

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COMING NEXT on Doodee’s Thailand: A closer look at ethnic Thai culture.

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Fever

Just recently I‘ve had the flu. During my suffering, and in-between coaxing Her@Home to mop my furrowed brow, I’ve had the time to reflect upon a similar but rather more serious event that took place in my life a few years back. This more serious event was a big experience in my life for me. I’d like to share it with you today, here on Doodee’s Thailand.

It all began when some friends and I paid a fleeting visit to a small, sleepy, seaside town in Thailand. On the second day of our visit we went for breakfast in a quaint little seaside café. I remember that the café food was good, the tables were scruffy but clean, the chairs were rickety, and inside the café the light was dull even when the sun shone brightly outside. The front doors of the café, which extended across the full width of the building, were kept opened to their fullest extent all day long. I enjoyed a western style breakfast there. It was excellent.

And I remember too, very vividly, that during that meal, my very first breakfast in the resort, that I was bitten by a mosquito. I remember this particular mosquito bite because it was far more painful than most mosquito bites.

My friends and I lazed on the beach for much of the rest of that day. In the early evening we went swimming in the hotel pool. And later on we treated ourselves to a miniature banquet at a local restaurant. We drank some beer. Then we went to bed. It was a good day.

The Following Day
I woke up aching. I suspected that I’d been over-athletic in the pool the previous day. I thought no more about it.

We returned to Bangkok. During the evening I felt rather hot, and my friend who was standing near to me at the time said that she could feel the heat radiating from me. I thought that she was just trying to flatter me. And anyway, I’d been out in the sun for three consecutive days, and now I was drinking beer in an open-air bar. It seemed quite normal to me that I should feel and appear a little warmer than usual. I thought no more about it.

And The Next Day
My friend came to visit me at my hotel. I thought that it was about nine o’clock in the morning when she arrived. In fact it was almost midnight. I’d been sleeping all day long, but I wasn’t aware of it. I really didn’t have too much idea of what was going on. I was very much disconnected from reality. She and the hotel manager arranged for me to be taken to a local hospital.


The Fever
It transpired that the mosquito that had bitten me two days earlier was a very sick mosquito. It had Haemorrhagic Fever and it was dying from it (I had expedited its dying process immediately after it bit me). However, before it departed this mortal coil it passed its unfortunate health problem on to me. I guess that made us even.

The fever that I derived from this mosquito bite was most debilitating. It caused me to spend six days in hospital under regular, almost constant medical supervision. And it was another month after that before I returned to near normal health.

Even now, several years later, I can still remember how it felt when I was lying in that hospital bed, tormented by thirst, looking longingly at the glass of water on the bedside table right next to me, and having neither the strength nor the concentration to be able to sit up and take a sip from it. It was a dismal, humbling, irksome experience. And I remember too how I fell in to and out of delightful dream-filled sleep for three consecutive days and nights. During those first few days in hospital I was pretty much helpless.

It Wasn’t All Bad
My Thai and English friends visited me constantly. Many of them visited me several times each day. One Thai lady insisted on staying at the hospital with me for the entire six days and nights of my hospitalisation. To this day I remain convinced that the sight of her in the shower of my private bathroom during those otherwise tedious early mornings did much to aid my recovery.

The fever caused me to hallucinate too. The hallucinations were invariably very lovely. When I was a teenager during the sixties a significant number of my contemporaries spent huge amounts of money trying to achieve the quantity and quality of hallucinations that this fever was giving me for free. One of these fever induced hallucinations felt to be rather profound. I’d like to tell you about it.

The Hallucination
The time was about midnight. It was my third day in hospital. I was lying in bed wide awake, but probably not genuinely in control of my mental faculties. My friend was asleep on the sofa in the hospital room. I looked across at her, and I began to ponder about just how lucky I was.

Involuntarily I began to compare my situation with the situation of those desperately luckless individuals of my father’s generation who’d been forced in to hard labour on the infamous Burma Railway in and around Kanchanaburi (the location of the Bridge over the River Kwai – it’s in Thailand, about a hundred and thirty kilometres from Bangkok). They too must have succumbed to fevers exactly like the one that was defeating me at that moment, but they didn’t have the sanctuary of a hundred pounds per day hospital room, nor did they have the support of some of the best medical practitioners in the country, as I did. And they didn’t have their friends mollycoddling them and pandering to their every wish and whim, as I did. I mused that their already weakened condition, the lack of adequate medical support, and the harshness of their living conditions would almost certainly have determined that they would have died if they’d contracted a fever of this severity.

And as I wondered about their miserable deaths, the thought occurred to me, “I wonder if I’m going to die”. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind before. I’d been too ill.

As I had this thought I heard a voice, a strong, gentle, authoritative, male voice, fill the room. It said: “Yes, you are going to die. But not here, and not now”. The moment of hearing that voice seemed to herald the start of my recovery.

A religious person might view this hallucination as a deeply significant, spiritual event. I don’t see it like that. But I could be wrong….

The Lesson
What I did learn from this illness (and this lesson has subsequently been confirmed for me by other dramatic events in my life that have taken place since then) is that when your time comes dying is very easy. It’s living that’s the tough assignment. And living a decent life that causes the minimum of distress and disturbance to others is even more difficult still.
But it is worth all of the effort involved to try to do so.

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COMING NEXT on Doodee’s Thailand: I encounter a magnificent pair of buns and learn a little about traditional Thai culture at the same time.

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Several Thank You-s and a Favour to Ask

Just recently I haven’t been very well. I’ve had flu like symptoms, and they went on and on, and on and on. I’m making a strong recovery now. But as a result of my temporary incapacity I haven’t been able to post to Doodee’s Thailand as often as I would have liked. I’ve been too bloomin’ tired and torpid.

But it hasn’t escaped my attention that during this period of my lessened activity you, my valued and loyal readers, have been regularly popping back to visit Doodee’s Thailand. I thank you for that. It’s nice to know that you haven’t deserted me during this brief but all too unpleasant and unwelcome episode in my life, and it’s even nicer for me to know that you wouldn’t desert me during any possible future times when I might be finding it difficult to be me. Thanks again. I really do appreciate your loyalty and support.

It’s also come to my attention that some of you have been publicising Doodee’s Thailand in internet chat rooms and forums. Thanks for that. You really are very special people. You’re doing me a great kindness, and I really am very grateful to you.

So, I’d like to ask a favour of you please
If you enjoy reading Doodee’s Thailand I would be really grateful if you’d let your friends and colleagues know about it. You can Email the URL for any Doodee’s Thailand article to your friends by clicking on the Email symbol at the very end of each entry. It’s amazingly simple to do. Or you could simply send them the URL for the homepage which is:-
http://doodeesthailand.blogspot.com

Likewise, if you’re a regular visitor to an internet forum and/or chat room, and you suspect that people who visit there would also enjoy visiting Doodee’s Thailand, I would be very grateful if you’d mention Doodee’s Thailand to them.

I thank you in advance for your help.

Thanks again for your support.

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THE NEXT ENTRY on Doodee’s Thailand will be made within the next forty eight hours (technical problems notwithstanding) and will be a true Thailand tale – a tale so fascinating that you might not doze off before you reach the end of it. I hope to see you then.

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Dining “A la Hand-Carte” in Bangkok

Whenever you’re in Bangkok and you see a few handcarts positioned together as shown in the above photo, you can be sure that a cheap and exciting eating experience is at hand. Many Thai people eat almost exclusively from this type of handcart. I eat from this type of food stall several times each week. The food available at such stalls is often prepared to order. It’s usually very tasty. And there’s always an excellent selection of dishes available too. I took a few photos of some of the gastronomic specialities supplied by these stalls for you. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

The first photo shows a stall which sells pork and chicken. The pork and chicken is usually served with rice and vegetables. There does seem to me to be a huge amount of food on this relatively small handcart. And I wonder who’s going to eat it all? But I can promise you that the vendor takes her handcart home empty each day.


The next photo is of a stall which sells pork balls, fish balls, and frankfurter type sausages. These items are served in a soup with noodles and blanched vegetables. It’s a nice bit of nosh. And it’s usually very reasonably priced too.


The next photo shows the same stall but from a different angle. Please note the basic, but perfectly adequate, cooking facilities at the bottom left of the photo. This photo also shows the handcart that comprises the base for the stall. It is fairly certain that the handcart, its contents, and its accessories are pushed to its place of business by hand at the start of each business day, and then returned manually to its place of storage at the close of business each day.


The following photo is the first of two which show motorcycle and sidecar type stalls. This one sells barbecued squid, barbecued fish balls, and meat balls. Students of the Thai language may be interested to know that the Thai script adorning this stall says (in blue) “Pla-meurk yang” which means “Barbecued Squid”, then in red “nam-jim” which is the name of a spicy sauce available at this stall (it’s in the large container with the green lid that’s on top of the stall), and finally after the three red dots “rot sehb”. “Rot sehb” is Isaan (not Thai) word usage for “Delicious taste”. The final word, written in small blue letters at the bottom right, is the proprietor’s name.


The next photo shows a similar stall to the one above, but in slightly better detail (I hope….).


The photo below shows a dessert stall. By the way, desserts are called puddings where I come from, and I’m one of those people who believe that a meal isn’t a real meal unless it’s concluded by a pudding. So this stall suits me just fine. And these puddings are all cool, fresh tasting, and delicious. They’re largely fruit based.


But if fresh fruit is your passion, the products on the next stall should satisfy your desire. For those of you not familiar with them, the dark red pear-shaped fruits at the far right of the stall are rose apples (Thai word “chom-poo”). This stall often sells strawberries too but there were none in stock on the day that I took this photo. The strawberries sold in Thailand tend not to be as tasty as those available in Europe, but they are nonetheless extremely nice.


The final food-stall photo featured on today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand is of a som-tam stall. Som-tam is the Thai name for Papaya Salad. But Som-tam is a Papaya Salad the likes of which we Europeans have rarely tasted before. Som-tam is a traditional Isaan dish. Its Isaan name is “tam-bok-hoong”. It’s made from diced, sliced, and pummelled mixed vegetables, a mixture of sauces, pastes and spices, and often fish or seafood is added too. It’s delicious, but it can be very spicy too. You must specify “mai pet” (“not spicy”) or “mai ow pet maak” (“I don’t want it very spicy”) when ordering if you don’t have an asbestos lining to your stomach. I love som-tam, but I can’t cope with it if it’s too spicy.


It may interest you to know that all of the photos featured on today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand were taken within thirty metres of one another in one of Bangkok’s side-roads. It amazes me that there is such an extensive choice of excellent food outlets in such a tiny geographical area. But this phenomenon is typical of Bangkok. Everywhere that I go in Bangkok I always seem to be greeted by an abundance of excellent food outlets. That’s one of the many reasons why I love living here.

I’ll leave you today with a final photo taken in one of Bangkok’s side-roads. I hope that you like it. And I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand too. Thanks for dropping by.

But before the final photo:
THE NEXT ENTRIES on Doodee’s Thailand will include in no particular order: A fan queue, a favour to ask, some fun, and a feverish tale.
DOODEE'S THAILAND is updated regularly.

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Have a nice day.

The Home of Tasty Pastries

Our return journey from Isaan to Bangkok was far quicker than our outward journey had been (see A Long and Winding Journey to Isaan). We left Isaan via Nakhon Ratchasima and then travelled along the NakhonRatchasima-Saraburi and Saraburi-Bangkok highways.

It may interest you to know that the majority of traffic which travels between Bangkok and Isaan passes via Nakhon Ratchasima. Nakhon Ratchasima is often correctly but informally referred to as Khorat. Khorat is derived from the “khon Rat” part of the name “Nakhon Ratchasima”. Nakhon Ratchasima also bears the title “Pratoo Muang Isaan” which means “Gateway to Isaan”.

Anyway, we left Nakhon Ratchasima and consequently descended into Saraburi Province. Saraburi Province is a fairly industrialised area by comparison with other rural provinces in Thailand, but otherwise has little to distinguish it from many other provinces situated in and around Thailand’s central plain. But one important distinction from many other provinces that Saraburi can boast is that it is a centre for production of Khanom Ga-ree-pub.

Khanom Ga-ree-pub is the Thai name for small pasty-like pies. They are very similar in shape, but much smaller in size than the traditional English Cornish Pasty. We bought some Khanom Ga-ree-pub. I took a photo of the lid of the box that they were supplied to us in for your edification. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.


I would have taken a photo of the Khanom Ga-ree-pub pies for you, but unfortunately, and with the very minimum of help from Her@Home, I’d scoffed the lot before I even gave you folks a second thought. Such is life. But just in case it’s of any consolation to you, I’d like you to know that the Khanom Ga-ree-pub were absolutely delicious. The pastry cases were light and fluffy, yet crispy and full of flavour. And the fillings were an absolute delight.

Khanom Ga-ree-pub are available with a variety of fillings. These fillings include beef, chicken, pork, grapes, mushrooms, soya beans, and pineapple. All of the fillings are rich, moist and tasty. The meat fillings are supplied plain, sweetened, or salted.

The discovery of Khanom Ga-ree-pub in Saraburi was a real find for me. Good pies and pastries (and especially good pastries with vegetarian fillings) are very difficult to find in Thailand. It’s too bad that this pasty and pastry paradise is so far from where I live. But this discovery has caused me a problem. Now, I really don’t know what I should do for the best. Should I move my home from Bangkok to Saraburi in order to be near to the pasty manufactories? Or should I send Her@Home on regular five hour round-trip bus journeys in order to purchase my pasties?

Oh, decisions, decisions….

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THE NEXT ENTRIES on Doodee’s Thailand will include in no particular order: Food, a fan queue, a favour to ask, and some fun.
DOODEE'S THAILAND is updated regularly.

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The Monastery Shrine Room

I have a few photos for you today. I took them during my recent Visit to a Rural Monastery. The photos were taken in the monastery shrine room. The shrine room is situated within the main hall of the monastery.

The first photo shows the main shrine. You can click on the photo to enlarge it. To give you an idea of perspective the main Buddha statue stands to a height of approximately three metres.


There’s a lot to look at in the above photo. I’ve enlarged some of the details of it for you in the photos that follow. But before you look at those I would like to draw your attention to some of the items in the photo. Please note the clock (top right of the photo), the pictures hanging on the wall, the bird’s nest (top left of the photo), the carved buffalo horns (in front of the main Buddha image), and the smaller Buddha images (placed on small tables at the front of the main Buddha image).

The Clock
I’ve noticed that all Thai Buddhist temples seem to have an abundance of clocks and timepieces placed in prominent places within them, and sometimes in the temple grounds too. I’ve also noticed that Thai people often display more than one clock in a single room of their home, and several clocks within the total confines of their homes. I’ve often been puzzled by this apparent preoccupation with time and timepieces. It stands in stark contrast to Thai timekeeping. So I asked the font of all wisdom, Her@Home, to explain this phenomenon to me.

Needless to say the explanation for the overt presence of clocks in temples and monasteries is far too simple for me, an unnecessarily complex foreigner, to have ever guessed. The clocks are there because the monks’ discipline dictates that they are not allowed to eat after a certain hour in the day (11am in the case of this monastery). Therefore it’s of great importance that the monks are aware when 11am is approaching, especially if they haven’t already eaten. Without constant reference to the clock they could have a very hungry day ahead indeed.

By the way, the monks are allowed to drink fluids at all times of the day, but of course they’re forbidden to drink alcohol.

The presence of a large number of clocks in peoples’ houses is less simple, in fact I find it to be deeply philosophical. I hope that I’m able to explain it accurately for you. Apparently this abundance of clocks serves to remind the occupants that time is constantly moving forward and that this moment in time cannot be frozen nor lived again. It’s a kind of “Time and tide wait for no man” memory jogger. It could be seen as a reminder to the householders to dedicate themselves to moving their lives forward in harmony with the passage of time.

I understand also that these clocks are useful if a house occupant wants to know what time it is….


The next photo shows the upper section of the Buddha shrine, a number of pictures, the prominently placed clock, and a bird’s nest.


The pictures hanging on the wall depict events in the life (lives?) of the Buddha. There are many such pictures on display at all Buddhist monasteries and temples in Thailand. The events and sacred teachings illustrated within these pictures really are quite fascinating, and the pictures are very artistic too. But they are best explained by Buddhist scholars. I’m really not qualified to interpret these pictures for you.

It always interests me to see the bright, light bubble which encircles the Buddha’s head in this kind of picture. This bubble is the artistic depiction of the Buddha’s spiritual enlightenment.

The Bird’s Nest: It pleases me to see the bird’s nest undisturbed and tolerated above the Buddha shrine. This demonstrates for me Buddhism’s tolerance and respect for all living creatures.

But as a vegetarian of many years standing I perceive a contrast which I don’t truly understand when I also see the carved buffalo horns adorning the Buddha shrine. The tolerance of the bird’s nest and the displaying of the buffalo horns appear to me to be symbolic representations of beliefs from opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum. Perhaps this apparent paradox demonstrates the duality of the human psyche, or maybe the conflicting considerations of life itself. But I suspect that a more probable explanation is that Buddhism respects all living things, but also considers that all living creatures (humans included) play complimentary roles within this mortal coil. But I confess, I really don’t know.

It may interest you to know that I’ve never encountered a Buddhist monk in Thailand who is also a vegetarian. And I’ve never encountered a Buddhist monk in England who is not a vegetarian. This snippet of almost useless information demonstrates another interesting contrast, but one from which I would not draw too many conclusions. I suspect that the explanation is cultural rather than religious or philosophical.

The final photo on today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand shows a number of Buddha images that are situated near to the base of the main shrine. Please note that there are seven of the smaller images.


Each of these smaller images is the Buddhist icon for each one of the seven days of the week. Most Thai Buddhists know on which day of the week they were born. When participating in religious observance at shrines a Buddhist devotee often focuses an amount of his or her attention on the Buddha image that represents the day of the week on which he or she was born.

For your information the day of the week correspondent with each of these seven small Buddha images is as follows:-
Upper left – Monday
Middle left – Saturday
Lower left – Friday
Lower centre – Wednesday
Upper right – Sunday
Middle right – Thursday
Lower right – Tuesday


I hope that you’ve enjoyed looking at the photos on today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand.

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COMING NEXT on Doodee’s Thailand: Something nourishing.
COMING SOON on Doodee’s Thailand: More photos, more information, and more observations about Thailand, and the places that I’ve visited, and the people that I’ve met. And the occasional anecdote too.
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A Visit to a Rural Monastery

During our recent trip to Isaan we visited the rural monastery pictured above. For me this particular monastery is a place of peace, quiet, tranquillity and kindness. I always feel very calm and very in tune with my surroundings when I’m there. But even in a place of such calmness I am aware that there is just the tiniest hint of subdued angst there too.

This angst that I’m aware of is evident in some of the behaviour of the younger monks. Without doubt this angst is testosterone driven. It must be difficult for a young man to one day be Jack the Lad and a generally cool dude within his local community, and the next day be a calm, contemplative, meditative monk. Being a monk doesn’t stop a young man from seeing the exciting lives that other men of his age are living. Nor does being a monk shield him from his natural, basic desires and urges. These young monks have a lot of inner torment and turmoil to wrestle with during their early weeks, months and even years following their ordination. I couldn’t have lived the life that they’ve dedicated themselves to when I was their age. I admire them for even trying to do so.

It seems to me that there are two things that help new monks, and more especially young monks, to remain resolute in their practice. The first of these things is the individual monk’s dedication and commitment to his chosen way of life. The second of these two things, and it is equally as important as the first, is the guidance of a wise, dedicated senior monk. The monastery that we visited has one such wise, dedicated senior monk. I had the honour of spending a little time with him during our visit.

The Senior Monk
The overwhelming qualities that I sensed when I was in the presence of the senior monk were his calmness, his kindness, his compassion, and his wisdom. But these qualities were not reflected in the tone of his voice. He spoke politely. But he spoke powerfully (but not loudly) and with firmness and authority.

As soon as I sat down in his presence the senior monk started calling out orders to the junior monks. “Bring him a cushion” (the “him” was me), “Bring him a glass of water”, “Turn the fan on for him”, “Point the fan towards him”, and, “Close the shutters to protect him from the sun” were amongst the salvo of orders that he fired off at the young monks. They obeyed him without question, resentment, or dissent.

For my part I found it deeply flattering that I was being given the film star treatment in this way. Everyone, it seemed, was engaged in errands the sole purpose of which were to ensure my comfort and well-being. But I was also a little uncomfortable with this abundance of attention. I felt like I was getting something for nothing. It didn’t feel right to me that these fine and dedicated monks should busy themselves with pandering to the perceived preferences of me, a rather unworthy, hedonistic foreigner.

I spoke briefly with the senior monk. I had various practical matters that I wished to discuss with him. He is a man of few words, but he responded to my concerns with extreme politeness, compassion, and understanding. He gave me the impression that for as long as he was organising matters at this monastery everything within his sphere of influence would be just fine. I was very impressed. I would describe our meeting as very productive.

Then one of the younger monks came and sat with me. I suspect that he did so at the senior monk’s behest. It seemed to me that the purpose of his presence was to ensure that I was comfortable and suitably entertained. I enjoyed a brief but pleasant conversation with the young monk, and then I took a few photos in the main hall of the monastery. I shall show you some of those photos and tell you a little about them in the next entry on Doodee’s Thailand.

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COMING NEXT on Doodee’s Thailand: More monastic meanderings.
COMING SOON on Doodee’s Thailand: More photos, more information, and more observations about Thailand, and the places that I’ve visited, and the people that I’ve met. And the occasional anecdote too.
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Ain’t No Creatures Here but Us Chickens?

I like to walk. I like to stroll. I particularly like to walk and to stroll in and around the Isaan villages. I love the relative peace and quiet of the area. I love to breathe the fresh, warm, clean, humid air. And I love to admire the Isaan creatures.

Isaan is a nature lovers’ treasure trove. However most wild animals don’t trust us humans and stay as far away from us as possible. I don’t blame them. So when one looks around any Isaan village the creatures that one’s most likely to see at first are domesticated animals i.e. buffaloes, pigs, cows, goats, and of course dogs. And chickens - hordes and hordes of families of chickens. But if the visitor observes a little more diligently there are a myriad of fascinating creatures to be seen. I have some photos of creatures for you today (in this case lizards) that I’ve encountered during my recent travels. I hope that you enjoy looking at them.

The first of these photos shows a Garden Fence Lizard (Thai name: “Gin-gah” – Both Gs hard and pronounced as in “get”). You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Garden Fence Lizards are easy to find in Isaan. In fact they’re easy to find throughout the whole of Thailand. They’re very common. They are so named because males of the species like to display their fine bodies from prominent places, particularly the tops of garden fences. The lizard featured in the photo on the right is definitely male. His head and body are no more than twelve centimetres long and he sports a tail of approximately twice that length. Garden Fence Lizards are able to change their colour quickly from greenish-yellow, to grey, to khaki, and to brown, and sometimes even to a fierce looking dark red.

The next two photos show a juvenile Garden Fence Lizard. I recommend that you click on these photos to enlarge them. The detail really is quite superb. You can even see the creature’s tympanum (that’s its ear-’ole to you folks). The tympanum is the greyish circular membrane set between the lizard’s eye and its shoulder. The tympanum is not an ear as we know an ear to be, but it is a hearing organ which vibrates in response to sound waves.



I was so lucky to see the creature featured in the final photo on today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand. Actually, it would have been difficult for me not to notice it. It was kicking up a colossal commotion when I first spotted it. It was splish-splashing around at the bottom of a muddy, mucky, murky water filled ditch adjacent to the footpath along which we were walking.

This appealing little reptile is an Eastern Butterfly Lizard (Thai name: “Yair”). Eastern Butterfly Lizards are native to the River Mekong Basin, Southern China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and North Eastern Thailand. They are not found elsewhere in Thailand. They live in arid regions. They are often to be seen during the daytime. During the afternoon they retreat into deep narrow burrows which they have previously dug. They’re talented excavators.


I can honestly say that the Eastern Butterfly Lizard is the most beautiful lizard that I’ve ever seen. Its colouration is stunning. The photo above which was taken at a distance of four to five metres doesn’t do justice to this creature’s majesty.

Eastern Butterfly Lizards can grow to a body length of approximately fifteen centimetres and as with the garden fence lizard they possess tails which are about twice as long as their bodies.

You’ve probably already deduced that the above featured Eastern Butterfly Lizard is male, because he’s posing. He’s showing off. How very primitive. Thank goodness we human males don’t indulge in such primitive behaviour….

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COMING NEXT on Doodee’s Thailand: Photos, observations, and a little about my experience of a most pleasing visit to a rural monastery.

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