28. April 1990, Ko Si Chang

Yes, after a long absence I am back in Thailand. The few days or weeks, depending on when I have to return to Canada to start a new job, I shall be spending with Su, the deliciously natural girl I had met in Pattaya earlier this year.

Actually I had returned to Thailand already a week ago, and it so happened that she needed to go back to her home town in 'Isaan' to get some family papers she needed. So I just decided, on the spur of the moment, and much to her delight, to accompany her. For me it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I was able to get to know the simple unspoilt village life in this most pleasant part of the country, to meet and see the people there, to meet her family and friends in their natural surroundings. Best of all, the one full day we spent there happened to be the day when they celebrated 'Songkran', the end of the hot season, the
celebration and thanksgiving for the rains soon to come, that would waken up the countryside from the months of heat and drought.

And hot it surely was, at least during the day, an ennervating heat (in the high thirties) little broken by a breeze, especially in the village itself with its many trees. During the night, though, it became surprisingly cool, enough that the ceiling fan had to be shut of towards morning and to seek the shelter of a light blanket.

We left Pattaya on the ordinary bus for the eight hour journey, arriving in Buri Ram in the early afternoon. Then it was on the town bus to Ban Yang, Su's home village some five kilometres away. We got off the bus while still on the open highway and took one of these typical paths leading along the dykes between the (now dry) rice paddies away into the countryside. Hello's and jokes about the 'farang' flew back and forth as we passed dwellings nestled between the banana plants and coconut trees. And then after about a kilometre walk we were there. Su's youngest daughter came running out of the compound to hug her.

Life in such a very basic farm household is simple indeed. There is the house built of solid teak planks, the upper storey being used as sleeping quarters. The lower storey is just a big open space where the day to day living goes on. In its centre is a wood slat platform on which the meals are taken, guests entertained, or where one has the odd afternoon snooze, because for sustained work at this time of year it is much too hot. Besides there is hardly anything to do on a farm now, the rice paddies have long since been harvested and are as dry as a bone. Only the water buffalo have to be taken out from time to time for grazing.

Beside the house is an open shed for cooking and beside it sit the huge clay jars where water is stored. Between the jars is a flat stone, the 'washroom'. Here one stands and douses oneself with water scooped with a plastic bowl from the jar. The 'washroom' is only a couple of metres from the road fence and the used water runs along a little ditch into the main one along the road. There is certainly no privacy during daylight as your ablutions can clearly be seen from nearly all directions. But the nights are dark for the lack of street lights, and one's more private parts can then be washed without the impediment of sarong or bathing trunks. Su's family have graduated to the luxury of a well and an electric pump from which the water jars are being replenished from time to time. Almost everybody else in the neighbourhood carries their water from a nearby reservoir in pails and cans, with a carrying pole over the shoulder or on a little wagon. And that limits the sanitary facilities. For defecation and urination one goes where the water buffalo go, back out into the nearby fields, or between the banana plants. On the other side of the 'kitchen' are the pens for the buffalo and the pigs, chickens and dog roam around on their own.

Yes, electricity there is, for light, to run the electric fan and most importantly the TV set. As much as we who live in the West might condemn the bad influence of television on the upbringing of children, television has really been a blessing for the simple country people of Third World countries. At least in Thailand the programs shown are by and large beneficial to the development of society, since the state has a firm hand in the programming. Western man, overfed  that he is with entertainment
opportunities, cannot start to imagine what importance the 'opening of a window' to the world outside which television provides means to people living such basic lives. And even so, television does not seem to stimy their other freetime activities, as I was to find out later that evening and the next day, as it all too often does in the developed West.

As it turned out, we had arrived just in time. Tomorrow was the day that Songkran was celebrated in this village, and tonight was a big dance and entertainment happening to start things off. A large area was set aside in the village common and surrounded with high canvass sheeting. For the payment of the fee of 15 Baht, children free, one gained entry to where the large stage was and a collection of vendors selling snacks and various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. There was also a movie screen but I was not able to enjoy that offering as we left at midnight. The children told us next day that the movie was shown at three in the morning. However I immensely enjoyed the music, the singing, and the dancing, having been sufficiently lubricated with 'Mekhong' (rice whiskey) to participate in it
myself. The dancing took off rather slowly, and even then it was almost only the boys dancing with each other. The music was of the 'Khmer' kind, different from 'Lao' or even the Thai music of the central plains. This area, being relatively close to the Cambodian border, is heavily populated with people of the Khmer race, as this had been part of the old Khmer empire. The Khmer language is also spoken widely here rather than Thai.

The next day were the official Songkran celebrations. Festivities were supposed to get underway at 14:00 hours and a happy crowd of villagers was soon starting to assemble in the shade of the huge banyan trees in the grounds of the local temple (wat). There was traditional music from drums and pipes and various groups engaged in tugs-of-war between themselves and between themselves and the monks and in between decorating each others' faces with white paste (baby powder with water). Everybody was happy and had a great time. The traditional Songkran greeting is the wetting of the other person's shoulders with scented water and here it was done in the traditional way, a leafy branch dunked into the silver bowl of water and then applied gently to the shoulders. In the big tourist centres of Chiang Mai and Pattaya this custom has degenerated (or should one say advanced?) to the practice of the wholescale throwing of water in buckets on others, a wild 'free for all'.

After everybody had had a lot of fun the serious part of the ceremony began. A Buddha statue was carried around the temple three times and then set down under the trees. The monks sat down in a long row of chairs, and all and sundry blessed the Buddha and the monks with the shaking of water over shoulders and hands. It was a moving ceremony, being carried out in the age old manner with sincerity and simplicity.

These glimpses of Thai village life I am going to treasure for a long time to come. The walks into the rice fields in the setting sun, when the great heat of the day was abating, the grazing water buffalo and the gentleness of the people.
 

29. April 1990, Ko Si Chang

The guidebook calls this island lying in front of Si Racha a 'nifty hideaway'. I am not sure what the writer meant by that. A beach paradise it is not, just a sleepy little village on an island which seems to consists merely of rocks. There is just scrub like vegetation and what calls itself 'beach' hereabouts is just some coarse sand collected above the high tide mark in the rocky hollows and bare, craggy rocks below it. The water does not look all too clean, as it is polluted from the ships lying offshore, who unload their goods onto lighters destined for the Chao Prya river and Bangkok.

Our accommodation is decent enough and while there are no beaches to write home about the native entertainment (Thai singing) that we enjoyed last night in the restaurant a few buildings down the road, met with our full approval. After we had finished our meal and were watching the singer a lone 'farang' showed up and sat down at a table in the back. As he seemed to enjoy the offerings in spite of it being rather unusual for a foreigner to enjoy this type of entertainment, we soon made friends and he joined us at our table. He turned out to be one of those few Americans (Jewish to boot) who do not fit the American role model. This is his first time in
Thailand and after being here only less than a week he seems to be as helplessly hooked on the country and its people as I am.

He had just sold his pawnbroker business to make this trip, kind of burning his bridges. He is going to stay here three months and he had learnt a few words of Thai before coming here. He has been soaking up the atmosphere, the smiling people, the music, the food, the essence of the country like a thirsty desert traveller and is full of wonder, that life like this can exist. In short we had a great time together. I even danced with Su emulating the graceful hand movements of the Thai. It was almost 01:00 hours in the morning before we got back to the hotel. Tonight we shall go there again.
 

1. May 1990, Si Racha

Today we came again to the mainland in preparation for an early start tomorrow morning for Bangkok. We checked into one of the rustic hotels built on stilts over the water, the Wattana Hotel. It is, like the hotel next door, one of these places Somerset Maugham or Joseph Conrad could have written about, a maze of covered walkways over the water, lined with a mass of potted bougainvillea and other flowering plants. Even with the tide out and the muddy bottom below presenting an unappetizing mess, it preserves its pleasing character. Now, as the sun is setting, the tide is coming in and covering all the sins man has been perpretratng against the foreshore. I am sitting on the verandah in front of our room here, having been woken up from my afternoon nap, by the wavelets of the incoming tide  gurgling
against the piles, and gaze on the ships in the darkening harbour as I am writing this.

Earlier, after a refreshing shower, we had gone out briefly to eat another one of these delicious seafood meals, that I am sure, cannot be had anywhere else in the world other than in this country. There was sour and spicy mixed seafood soup and mixed seafood steamed with herbs, rice and ice cold beer (lemonade for Su). Food for the gods. We are staying here only one night, but this is a place to linger for a longer time and to enjoy the ambience of a leisurely life.

This is the mango season as well as the durian season. As we were walking along the habourfront park pickup trucks were parked one after the other selling the spiky looking famous/infamous durian. Su thought it would be a good idea to buy one of them and I was willing to try. Connoisseurs say this is the most delicious fruit anywhere in the world, detractors condemn it because of its infernal rotten smell. In some hotels they are banned because of it. I must say I was not impressed either way. Yes the rotten smell was there but very much subdued, and the taste: I did not think it deserved all the praise.

Then we went to the movies and saw a couple of very nice Thai films. No shooting, no violence, just good old fashioned drama and love stories. The photography of the first film, set in the northern hill country and in Bangkok, was superb. The second film, a love story between a Thai girl and a Japanese officer during the occupation was interesting from a historical point of view since it depicted life in Thailand many years ago, a Thailand most tourists never got to see. Technically not as well made than the first film I enjoyed watching it very much nevertheless.
 

2. May 1990, Hua Hin

Now we are back in Hua Hin on our way south. We picked up Su's passport in Bangkok earlier this day and now we are all set to visit Malaysia, provided there is enough time left before I have to return to Canada. When we were here earlier in February Su was not feeling very well and she could not enjoy it as much as she should have. This time we are going to make up for it.
 

3. May 1990, Hua Hin

Hua Hin has long been the place for Thai beachgoers which had not yet been discovered by the tourists. But this time apparently has passed. It seems to be the more affluent tourists who come here now or else the locals have discovered that tourists have plenty of money and have not settled down to competitive prices yet. The place is just teeming with 'farangs'. Right at the beach is the famous 'Railway Hotel', an old colonial structure which served as a replica of the Pnom Hotel of Pnom Penh in the filming of 'The Killing Fields'. Now it runs under a different name as a rather expensive hostelry, not afordable by ordinary mortals like myself much less by the
ordinary Thai citizen.

There was bad and good news today. Good because the message from Canada said there is work for me at the end of this month. I need the work so I can replenish my finances. Bad because I hate to leave and go back to the rat race. But I am consoled that I still have three weeks before the parting.
 

5. May 1990, Yala

Yesterday morning we tried to take the ordinary bus south to Surat Thani. But it was coming from Bangkok and when it arrived was quite full. I just did not have the stomach to stand for eight hours in the heat and decided to abandon the attempt and take the train in the late afternoon instead. On it we could probably get into second class with a sleeping berth, thus be more comfortable and travel twice the distance without excerting ourselves too much.

So we had six hours to spend while waiting for the train and we took a 'samlor' (bicycle rickshah) to the beach. Although a hot and humid wind blew in from the sea we were reasonably comfortable in deck chairs under a couple of umbrellas. In Pattaya one would pay 10 Baht rental per deck chair for the day. Here, we had found out previously the chairs were free if one ordered some food and/or drinks from the proprietor. In due course this is what we did. However the food prices on the beach are rather steep, more than easily making up for the saving in chair rental. I had figured out that our bill should be somewhat below 200 Baht by the time we left, but
the lady running the food stall demanded 240. I then demanded a detailed accounting and found out the total included 40 Baht for the rental of two chairs. I insisted that the chairs should be free, as the little boy had said who led us there, and gave her 200 Baht and proceeded to leave. However she extracted another 10 Baht from me claiming the food bill was 210 Baht. Later at the train station I got out my pen and added up the charges and arrived at only 170 Baht total. So she got her chair rental
after all, however by default rather than by design I suspect because the discrepancy was probably due rather to her faulty mental arithmetic then by intention. I should have sat down right then and there and have the accounting done on paper. But then I would have saved only 10 Baht since she probably would have refused to give me change for the 200, I not having the exact 170 at hand. Hua Hin really is a tourist trap. With the expensive hotel right by the beach all the locals think the tourists, foreign and Thai alike, have money to burn and take liberal advantage of it. A one hour horse ride along the beach goes for 300 Baht!

The early part of the night on the train turned out to be rather hot. We were able only to get upper berths, and the only breeze there is that from the fan, so one has to keep the curtains open, which means that not only the breeze gets in but also the light from the fluorescent bulbs in the hallway. However I did sleep eventually, after reading several chapters of 'Cambodian Odyssey' by Haing Ngor. He was the actor in 'The Killing Fields' who portrayed Dith Pran the Cambodian companion of the Australian journalist. 'Cambodian Odyssey' is the life story of Haing Ngor and describes his indescribable sufferings during the Khmer Rouge regime. It is compelling reading and gives a good insight into what really happened in those horrible years when a peaceful functioning society was utterly destroyed through the short sighted political aspirations first of the American government and then by those radical marxist visionaries who wanted to remake the world to the image of their fantasies. And even today those poor people, who are happy just to lead their simple village life, growing their own food, must suffer in a never ending civil war which
serves only the interests of the super powers, in this instance America and China.

Now, installed in a reasonable hotel in Yala, after a good shower, we feel on top of the world again ready for any adventures that the day and the near future will bring. It will be interesting to see whether we shall be able to cross into Malaysia along the central route through Betong. This area used to be until recently a hotbed of communist and Malay separatist guerilla activity. But during the last year a peace accord was signed between the Thai government and the guerillas and they have surrendered all their weapons. Travel should be possible and safe now through the mountains into Malaysia.
 

6. May 1990, Gerik, Malaysia

The country we travelled through today, all hill and mountain country, was very beautiful. The impressions were heightened by the lush greenness of the countryside. Obviously the monsoon has started here. It is comfortably cool and now in the evening it is just pouring down after having held off until after dark.

In the morning we caught a Mercedes share taxi for the 140 kilometres to Betong just short of the Thai border. Share taxis are a way of life here, the cost runs only at about double the busfare or 2 cents (Can.) per kilometre. In Betong again we took another share taxi to the border. The Thai passport control is some seven kilometres before the actual border. The taxi stopped for its passengers to have their passports stamped. Apparently the other passengers were local Malaysians over for a day visit only and did not get out, so I assumed that Su did not have to have an exit stamp in her passport either. However on the Malaysian side they sent us
back again to get it, which cost us another 150 Baht for taxifares back and forth. Apart from that the crossing was quite regular. As we crossed the actual border we noticed that it is physically marked by two high chain link fances separated by a three metre strip of ground. On the Malaysian side a new paved road parallels it which apparently is used by their border patrols.

This is Su's first time outside of Thailand and it is a novel experience for her not to be able to communicate in her native language. Since she cannot read English nor the roman script (yet) I have to assist her in ordering meals and drinks. Now we are some fifty kilometres inside Malaysia in this little hamlet in the middle of nowhere with jungle country all around. There are three other foreigners lost here tonight, two Swedes who stay at the same hotel and one that looks like a French, who was eating at
the restaurant across the street from where we were eating. Apart from the fact that foreigners normally do not stay here, I am a more unusual sight being together with a woman obviously from this part of the world. This is a Muslim area, and a Westerner walking with an oriental women invites a lot of notice and staring. However once you talk to the people their smiles come out readily. Apparently many of them think that Su speaks Malay and try to talk to her in that language, which confuses her a lot because she cannot understand them.
 

8. May 1990, Tanah Rata

Yesterday afternoon amid rain showers we arrived at this hill station in the Cameron Highlands and 1500 metres above sea level. Again a novel experience for Su because never before in her life has she been at such a relatively high elevation with the attendant cool temperatures. It is pleasantly warm and sunny in the mornings here, but around noon it tends to cloud over and the evenings are definitely cool necessiating one to wear long pants and sweater or jacket or at least an undershirt.

Our journey here consisted of three bus rides, first to Ipoh, the provincial capital, then to Tapah and then up into the mountains. As we were boarding the crowded bus for the last section of the trip we were sweating profusely. Then as the bus ground its way labouriously up the never ending serpentines it gradually got cooler, and when we arrived Su had goose pimples on her arms. The hot shower at our hotel was especially appreciated.

There are a number of hiking trails here through the jungle clad hills. This morning we took one of them. I had dressed for the expected cool temperatures but soon started to shed one garment after the other, as the bright sun raised the temperatures appreciably. Su could not get over the many flowers and flowering trees here. They reminded her, she said, of the singing scenes in Indian movies, where hero and heroine baladeer each other amongst Himalayan mountain meadows. Surprised that she had been exposed to Indian movies in back country Isaan I had to agree with her.
 

Looking at the people here I am again amazed at the racial and cultural diversity of Malaysia. Whereas Thailand, in spite of the presence of the various racial groups such as Thai, Khmer, Lao, Malay etc., has a rather homogenous society, because of its common language and religion, Malaysia presents a poligot mosaic of races, languages and religions. There are the Muslim Malays, the Chinese and the Hindu Indians. Each group have largely preserved their cultural identity. For food one can choose between Muslim restaurants, which observe Islamic food laws, Chinese restaurants, where one can eat pork, and Indian ones where the curries, rotis and byrianis of India are available. Of course in the larger places European food is also available. Only Thai food, distinctly different again with its tangy and delicate spices is only available in cities like Kuala Lumpur or Penang. For Su eating here is an adventure fraught with disappointments and sometimes pleasant surprises.
 

9. May 1990, Tanah Rata

Yesterday we had discovered the cheap Malay and Chinese foodstalls across the road. The prices there are much more reasonable and also the food is better than in the regular Chinese restaurants. So this morning we patronized one of them for breakfast. The staff there was deafmute and we had to write our orders down on paper in English. The service and food, however, was excellent.

Then we went for another jungle walk. I was real dark jungle this time, but the path was well marked and easy to walk. Again Su was rather scared of the unfamiliar surroundings. It was a combination of the absence of people and the exclusion of sunshine. For me it was a demonstration of the fundamental difference between the Asian and the European mind. Asian man is dependent on company, on a close knit society and feels uncomfortable when alone and solitary. For her walking through the dark jungle summoned the fear of the unknown, of 'pi' (ghosts), of robbers who attack the unwary traveller unprovoked, of snakes and the like. She did not want me to talk loudly, and after a while, she who would normally let me decide everything ('up to you') was insistent we go back. This characteristic is the main reason why Europeans and Americans  are so successful in these countries, because of their willingness to venture into the unknown without the protection of their familiar society surrounding them. Asians have a long way to go before they will reach the same level of success, but they are up and coming. Japan has been demonstrating a novel road to success, combining the Asian sense of belonging to a close knit society with enterprise.
 

11. May 1990, Singapore

Yes, we made it to the southernmost tip of the Malay peninsula. The bus ride from Tapah to Johore Baru, the last town in Malaysia where we stayed last night, was long but quite comfortable, even though the driver made three half hour stops along the route. We arrived in Johore Baru only at 21:00 hours. But that was no problem as we had no difficulty getting a hotel room.

This morning we went to the Holiday Shopping centre to buy some of that reputedly cheap computer software that I wanted. Singapore has now cracked down on the sale of pirated software and the trade has migrated across the border to Malaysia. Cheap indeed it was. One can buy anything that the particular shop has available practically for the price of the blank diskette they copy it on for you. If one wants the manual, it is available for most programs, a little more expensive but still at a fraction of the North American price.
 

12. May 1990, Singapore

This is surely a shoppers' paradise. This morning we started shopping for some electronic goods. Yesterday as we arrived I had noticed a shopping centre specializing in electronic articles. Other than computers everything was there from parts to finished products, television sets in profusion and most at really low prices. Some products I saw there were not even available yet in Canada. Service is a little more attentive here (or less rude?) than in Hongkong, and the advantage of shopping here rather than there is that everything is concentrated in multi-floor air conditioned indoor malls rather than in street front stores.

Last night we took a stroll along Serangoon Road, the Indian quarter, past the glittering gold shops, which created a lot of excitement with Su. Gold ornaments sold at S$ 25.00 per gram, which according to Su is less than half than what prices are in Thailand. The Thai restaurant at the Serangoon Plaza which we were headed for had closed, and we had a very good supper (although somewhat pricey compared to Malaysian or Thai standards) at a Chinese place instead. Then we strolled up Orchard Road past the luxury hotels and on the way back to our lodging took the underground train. Another novel experience for her to ride in a train below the earth's surface. To boot, the Singapore system is the most modern in the world with computer operated admission gates, activated with magnetically coded ticket
cards and with glass security walls betwen platform and rails (the train stops so that train doors and doors in the glass wall are lined up and both open simultaneously). I had instructed her how to insert the ticket card into the slot at the admission gate and in walking through she forgot to take out her card again (it was needed for exit at the destination). She got all flustered that the ticket examiner next door noticed her omission, which obviously signalled her being 'from the country'. When we left she
said  'tok jai', that her 'heart had fallen down', she was so excited by this experience which was so far removed from an existence of herding water buffalo through the rice fields as life on Mars is from life on earth.
 

13. May 1990, Singapore

This is truly an amazing town. Everything is new and clean and well organized. I think I am not wrong to say it is the cleanest and best organized city anywhere in the world bar none. And in addition it is not unreasonably expensive. If only the climate was not so hot and humid. However now that the rainy season has just about started there is relief from the occasional rain storm.

This morning we took a taxi (Can$ 1.80) to one of the places where the Chinese go on a Sunday morning to exhibit their singing birds and to listen to them and to those of their friends. It is a favourite pastime of Chinese to keep singing birds. They are hung in their cages in rows and their owners sit in the grass below and chat amongst each other. Su saw it in a different way, she said the birds did not sing, they cried because they wanted their freedom to fly away. I had never before looked at it from this angle.

Then we took a lengthy ride on the Singapore underground train system, the MRT, to one of the suburbs. The system is now complete and most of it is less than two years old. It is just a beautiful system, quiet, smooth running and the stations are just so tastefully and beautifully decorated, nothing flashy or overly artistic, neither plain utilitarian, just simple good and beautiful taste. And the trains are fully airconditioned! We also rode on one of the double decker buses. To sit on the top level created
extra excitement for Su. Now our shopping is completed. For the most part it is pleasant to shop here. I had the impression that prices are in general lower than in
Hongkong, and that was confirmed to me today by another knowledgeable shopper. Besides it is more comfortable in the air conditioned shopping centres and the staff is more courteous and helpful. I experienced an exception yesterday, when looking for a watch I commented on the fact that no prices were exhibited and for each single item one had to ask the price. After the Chinese shop assistant had quoted me a price at 150% of what I had been quoted for the same watch elsewhere I told him so and he dropped it immediately to a comparable figure. I told him then I did not like shopping this way, and he replied he did not want my custom then. Su was
rather embarrassed by this acrimonious exchange, carried out in a slightly raised voice. To her Asian mind this disharmonized with the keeping of 'face' of everybody involved and was not commendable behaviour. Indians, Europeans and modern Chinese will think nothing of raising their voices against each other, but the true Oriental, the Thai, the Indonesians, as well as the Philippinos will always behave in a circumspect way, never to cause offence, which would cause 'loss of face' to one's counterpart as well as to oneself. Of course sometimes this amazing control in social behaviour breaks down with catastrophic consequences, as happened during
the reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In colloquial language it is called 'running amok'.
 

16. May 1990, Georgetown, Penang

We had meant to stop in Melaka (Malacca) on the way up, but the bus was bound for Kuala Lumpur and we missed getting off when it stopped in Melaka. No harm done, I had already been to Melaka and I do not think Su missed very much. So we spent the night in Kuala Lumpur instead. The same as Singapore Kuala Lumpur is a thoroughly modern city with imposing and well designed highrises in the downtown area. There are not many of the old Chinese shop style buildings left. It looks like a good city to live in. I had the same feeling of Singapore. While traffic is somewhat heavy it still looks manageable. Now that here we have a shower or two on most days the temparatures are also quite comfortable.

It was a lengthy ride again yesterday. I had been told we would arrive at 17:00, but by the time the bus had made all the stops in Butterworth on the mainland and here in town it was 19:30 when it had finally arrived at the bus station. I had particularly picked this bus for convenience, as it came over the bridge right onto the island. But if I had wanted to arrive here earlier we should have taken one of the many buses to the ferry terminal in Butterworth. But who could have known that beforehand? Anyway the ride over this several kilometre long bridge between the mainland and the island is rather impressive. We finally did find a hotel after trying three others,
which were full. However we moved this morning to another one, not having any electrical receptacles in our original accommodation so I could recharge my batteries.

Now it is evening. We just came back from an excellent supper at our favourite restaurant here the 'Restoran Hongkong'. In fact this is the only eating establishment we have patronized here. The young men serving there are so friendly and try to please, they even practiced their few words of Thai, after discovering that Su was from that country. The food is just excellent and the prices are very reasonable. This evening we had 'Chicken Curry Kapitan'.

Earlier in the afternoon we had wandered over to the big shopping centre and then taken a ride in a bicycle rickshah over to the ferry docks. Then there was enough time to go up the Penang Hill on the furnicular railway. Penang Hill is almost a thousand metres high and from the top one has a beautiful view of the city and the harbour. Today it was rainy and at the top we were over the lower layer of clouds. Su was simply delighted, she said it was like looking down at the earth from the moon. It was beautifully cool there too and she just loved the many flowers. It is too bad we had forgotten to take my camera. She said nobody will believe her at
her home village unless she had a picture to prove it. She is just a great travelling companion. The simplest things delight her and she is so easy to please.

There is a lot more to see here, but time is pressing and we must carry on tomorrow. Next year I hope to be back here to see the rest of the sights.
 

17. May 1990, Pantai Cenang, Pulau Langkawi

The monsoon surely must have started here. It is now late in the afternoon and it is pouring again. This morning we got up in the dark to catch an early departure and the sky was crystal clear. We got across by the ferry to Butterworth by 07:30 and caught the 08:00 bus to Kuala Perlis. From here a fleet of hydrofoils are going over to Langkawi Island 30 kilometres away with at least ten departures every day. The dock was crowded with a multitude of people and there was a babel of voices. There was still brilliant sunshine but to the West huge cumulus clouds were building up over the island. We got on a 12:00 departure and halfway across the rain started
pelting down. It was still pouring as we arrived, but had stopped as we arrived in a share taxi on the other side of the island on this beach.

Langkawi is a group of some hundred islands with many sheltered anchorages in between them. Cenang is the only beach developed for tourists and there is only a handful of cottage establishments on it. By the number of people coming over on the boats I would have thought the place would be bursting at its seams. But I think most people come over to the village for its duty free shopping. Langkawi is right next to the Thai border and the island has been declared a free trade zone. The accommodation is not exactly cheap here and for the same price not quite at the same standard as in the various Thai resorts. Also alcohol or beer is not available in most of the eating establishments.
 

20. May 1990, Satun, Thailand

Rain, rain and again rain. This is the monsoon for sure, rather early this year though. After a day of rest just walking the beach I had reserved a motorcycle for the following day so we could tour the island. Actually that day was mostly sunny, I actually got a bit of sunburn on my shoulders, although towards late afternoon it clouded over for the usual evening cloudburst. Well, the next morning when we got ready to pick up the motorcycle, it started to pour again and only let off for for very short periods during the day. There was no point to take the motorcycle out and we decided to postpone our exploration trip to the next day, weather permitting. The next day, today, it poured again with no end of the rain in sight. So we decided to leave and seek sunnier climes.

That rainy day had been rather restful though. Between taking it easy and playing with the assembler program, that I had bought in Malaysia, time went by rather quickly. The food at the restaurant down the beach was quite cheap and fairly tasty, but they did not sell any beer, being a Muslim establishment. A couple of Swedes had quite a private stock of it though which the restaurant owner kept cool for them in his refrigerator, and they were kind enough to let me have one to drink with my supper.

Up towards the village there was a huge complex of expensive chalets, but they were virtually empty. No wonder, for they were charging C$ 50.00 per room, while the smaller places were charging only around C$ 8.00 to 15.00. I cannot fathom was makes an investor put money into such an establishment without first exploring the market conditions, or at least building only a few units and then expand as the need arises. Either it is utter incompetence or it is illegal funds (drug money being laundered) which thus find a way into legal circulation.

It was raining as we left the beach, it was raining as we boarded the hovercraft to the mainland, it was raining when we arrived, it was raining as we got on the longboat which took us from the port of Kuala Perlis across the border to the Port of Satun set amongst the mangroves in the extreme south of Thailand. And now it has settled down to a steady heavy rain. The sky is gray on gray and there is no relief in sight. I am sure once one gets to the east coast of this rather narrow peninsula, here only
about 80 kilometres away, there will be brilliant sunshine, because there the monsoon reigns during the other half of the year with prevailing easterly winds.

Now we are back in Thailand, Su is ordering the food again in the restaurants, there is beer again and I do not find it so easy any more to read the signboards.
 

21. May 1990, Songhkla

Yes, the weather is sunny and hottish again here on the east coast. However there are some cloud remnants in the sky indicating that there have been a few showers recently. But whereas in the West the rice paddies were filled with water, here they are dry. So obviously the amount of precipitation is much less. We are back in Thailand less than two full days now and again I have to marvel at how tasty the food is here. This combined with the pleasant sounding soft Thai popular music makes life really a pleasure here. I cannot blame Su at all when she says that now she can really enjoy the food again. I can agree, it is not that she is back to the food familiar to her from birth, but even to me, a foreigner used to European fare, the food is much tastier than south of the border. Of course having the various religious restrictions, no pork for the Muslims and no beef for the Hindus, does not help. The Thai, like the Chinese have no such restrictions, and, while they do not eat dog meat and some other exotic fare like the Chinese, they are free in the use of most everything else, and most importantly of the various spices.

On the way here we changed buses in Hatyai and I took the opportunity to reserve a couple of second class seats to Bangkok for two days hence. Here we steered straight for the hotel recommended in the 'Lonely Planet' guide book, the 'Songhkla Hotel'. It is a small traditional place. The rooms are small but quite comfortable. Having to share the bathroom with some other rooms is no hardship, although the price of 100 Baht seems a trifle high for a room without bath.

On the walk to the hotel I remembered that I had forgotten to pick up my passport at the reception desk of the hotel in Satun as we left. This was stupid but is no problem. We are staying here for two days anyway, and I can just go back tomorrow on the bus to reclaim my passport. It is only a short three hour ride each way, and the cost is negligible, 60 baht (Can$ 3.00) both ways.
 

After a shower we went out for lunch, somewhat late, but I splurged and had a big bottle of beer. That made me feel rather on top of the world and as I ordered an ice cream to top off the meal I leaned back in my chair rather a bit too far and fell right over. As usual I did not hurt myself and the incident created a lot of merryment amongst all present.After the waitress had tried to prevent my fall she expected a tip.Unfortunately this bad American custom is creeping in here, at least in those localities where foreigners frequently visit. It certainly is not an East Asian custom although it is quite common in the more decadent countries of the Middle East like Egypt (bakshish). In Malaysia and Singapore it is officially discouraged. Even so most of the more expensive restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill. Where this is done Singapore actually forbids additional tipping by law.

There are so many encouraging things in Thailand, like the use of the 24 hour clock. While the traditional system of telling time is still in use, everybody is fully familiar with the universal international system. The economy is just booming along. The growth of the gross national product has been in the two digit range for two years running (the highest of all Asian countries, if not the entire world) and it is expected to be 9% again this year. Inflation is at a low 4%, by 1992 Thailand will have a positive debt position, e.g. foreign assets will be higher than the foreign debt, and the government is racking up one budgetary surplus after another. They are surely on their way to become a member of the group of economic 'tigers'.
 

25. May 1990, Pattaya

Our journey back was uneventful, first the bus to Hatyai, there a five hour wait for the train, and then 19 hours in second class reclining seats to Bangkok. As we arrived it was pleasantly cool, but the sun came out soon after making it hot and humid. This morning again it rained for several hours. The dry season is definitely over. Soon now there will be more rain, enough for the rice paddies to fill up and the rivers, and rice planting will begin for another season of bountyful food.

Now we are back in Pattaya where we started from. The day after tomorrow I am booked to fly back to Canada after over seven months away, and over five of these in this wonderful part of the world. It will be difficult for me to settle down again to a life of work and daily discipline which work brings with it. But somehow I shall manage, knowing that another six months hence I shall again be able to come here and enjoy the warmth of the weather and of the people. Su I shall miss especially, as she will miss me. But six months is not too long a time.

On this visit to Thailand having stayed much longer than at any time previously and especially being together with Su for such a long time, I have been able to gather much more of an insight as to what this country and its people are all about. And I like what I see. Granted, I have discovered some of aspects of life here which are not too complimentary and which the ordinary tourist does not see. But no place on earth is perfect. In the end effect my feelings for the country and its people have only been reinforced from my original impressions. Those characteristics which I love far outweigh those which I do not. The food and the music here I shall never get tired off. I shall have to make a real effort now to build on the scanty vocabulary I have acquired and to learn more about the language, so that I can share better with these wonderful people. At first this seems an insurmountable task, with the inscrutable script and the different tones of pronounciation. But I shall give an honest try now, knowing that the rewards are substantial.

 Continued...