An Overview of Thailand, Its Government and People January 17, 2016

I was born and raised on a poor dirt farm in northern British Columbia, here in Canada. One thing that I learned well was this; Never start farming!. Before I start posting pictures from my Thai travels in December 2015, some thoughts about the land once known as Siam. There is no doubt in my mind that the Thai people are the most gentle and accommodating people I have ever met, in all my travels; that includes about 62 countries. This may be due in part to the fact the population is about 85 percent Buddhist. The second fact in my view, is that Thailand along with Vietnam are the most pleasant places to visit for scenery and a different culture. I never want to visit places without getting to know the local people, and understand their view of life. My travel, (after a short rest in Pattaya, south of Bangkok), took me first from Bangkok to the north east up towards Laos. This area at the present time is a drought zone, and the farms, which make up most of the area are all suffering. The people are poor, and there is little hope for those who must remain with their farms. It is from this area, in the far north east that many of the women give up their home life and move down to Bangkok to find work. They leave their children, usually two, with other family members, normally the child's grandmother, and send whatever spare money they make back home. Many go to a massage school, then into the business, which is so popular with tourists, including myself. It was just such a situation, a few days prior to my returning home to Canada that I met Rose. I went near my hotel to a massage parlor, and got the working over prior to my flights home. Rose speaks good English, and I was so impressed that I went for a second massage the evening before I departed. To talk more, we went one morning to a restaurant in a near by food superstore. Rose is one of hundreds from the north, and knows the problems well. With the open borders now for locals from nearby countries, the wage situation is unlikely to change. Rose has two young sons that live with her mother up in the border city of Nong Khai. At the time of my visit, she had been in Bangkok for five months and had not yet been back home. She was planning the 14 hour bus trip for the following week. This is a typical situation, yet, these people never complain, and continue to smile all the time. On May 22, 2014, despite denials to the contrary, the Thai Army chief walked into the Prime Ministers office, gave her a hug and told her to go home, he was taking over. (This is how some have explained what happened). Not one shot was fired!. The military had prepared a new short term Constitution, and as one would expect, it basically told the people to do as they were told, no criticism of the Government, or they would go to jail for defaming the king and his wishes. Since the King had previously declared that it was ok to criticize him, everyone knew the Brass were lying. Today, the military control the press, and the internet, and all aspects of life, demanding obedience and arresting anyone who disagrees. The country is in the worse shape possible, and until the military give up and return to elections, it will continue on that course. The term "Military Intelligence", is an oxymoron!. I will have one more page of background, then some photos.

Explanation to Previous Photos January 14, 2016

During my travels, I like to take photos of the architecture, both residential , government and business structures. All are included here. The first photo is of a house, probably just a normal home of someone better off than most, but not pretentious, as there is also no security fencing. The second photo is on the front of my hotel. Quite nice and comfortable. The next two are of the art work at the mini "Arch de Triumph"....ceiling and outside. This photo is of the construction of a steel building. Nothing unusual here except that all the exterior scaffolding is nothing more than bamboo, tied together with string, and I noticed all the tradespeople were just wearing sandals. The two ladies are sitting outside the gold colored temple which is now a closed museum. The ladies are selling birds in those little cages. If interested, one does not get the cage...just a bird or birds to turn loose. When I was there, each cage had about four birds in it. What happens is this; the ladies feed the birds at home, catch them, and put the birds in the cages. They go to where there are a lot of people, and as the day goes on, sell to those who feel sorry for the birds. I suspect the birds fly right back to the feeder, and get sold again the next day....anything to make some money. I have seen the same thing being done with small fish in plastic bags. The previous photos of the Lotus flowers, and this one of part of a park, are just that, in a park. At night time, the park becomes a "night-market". Farmers and others bring their produce, cooked food, and fresh caught fish , wrist watches, etc here to sell. Some just work from the sidewalk or roadway which is closed for the night. For others, they come with small trailers behind their motor bikes, and set up roof covered stands which are then lit, and the place becomes a small village, all in neat rows. The red shadows here do not really show the extent of the market, but later in Bangkok we will see that.

More Photos From Vientiane January 14, 2016

Updates To Blog Pages January 14, 2016

The flowers that appear in the photos from Vientiane, Laos are of the Lotus tree. The lotus flower is the official flower symbol of Laos, and the white version adorn many items including all Laos Airlines aircraft. They come in many different colors from white to deep red, yellow etc, and grow in the same locations. The Christmas tree was examined up close, and, amazingly, it is made from shredded water bottles. The bottles are somehow shredded into strips about one quarter inch wide, while the caps are still on the bottle. The caps are what helps to hold the material to a central frame. I saw these "trees", in many cities. On Monday morning, I delivered a letter to my local Bank Manager concerning the issue of no one being available at TD Trust VISA. I wish to emphasize, I am only speaking about TD Trust Visa, as I do not know about other Banks, or what they are doing. I laid out what happened to me, and my concerns about the fact that if someone lost, or had their Visa card stolen, the thief would have up to eighteen or twenty hours to spend on the card before action could be taken to freeze the card. To my great amazement, no one at the Bank was aware that there was no need to call and give one's travel plans, NOR the fact the office was closed from nine at night until nine in the morning, Eastern Standard Time!. I also requested a refund of my ten dollars for the second call to Canada. On Wednesday, I was out for a few hours in the morning, but did receive a call at home from the local TD Bank Manager. He apologized for the problem, informed me that they were looking into the matter, and thanked me for bringing the matter to their attention. As I understood from the message, they were not informed of either move by the Bank. He also said that twenty dollars would be put into my account that day, and it was. I have heard nothing further. I expect to include one more set of photos from Laos, then move on to Other areas of my travels. As of January 1, 2016, Laos and seven or eight other countries began a formal Trade Zone, similar to the European Union, and it is known by the acronym, ASEAN. The Association of South East Asian Nations. China is not a member!. Laos is probably along with Myanmar, (Burma), the poorest country in the area and this group. This may cause some problems with people moving about freely and going to the countries that have higher local salaries. It will probably prevent the better off countries from seeing improvements to their wage conditions for some time.

Photos from Vientiane, Laos December 2015

A Place Called Nong Khai

The purpose of this December 2015 trip was to explore that area of Thailand to the North East of Bangkok, up to and including the nation of Laos. This part of the country is generally flat, and is where most of the farming takes place. I flew from Bangkok to Khon Kaen, the major city of the area and home to a large university...eight thousand graduating students each year. The flight was just under an hour, with a subsidiary of Thai Airlines, a company called "Smile Airways". I explored the city by foot, as it is laid out nicely, and this affords the best way to get pictures. It was here that I had the problem with the VISA card. I had heard that a graduation here was like few others, so I decided to visit and find out for myself. The ceremony is practiced for several days in advance. Each student has one second with the Royal Princess....a process that takes two hours and 13 minutes. The students are lined up in a line several kilometers long, and march by the sitting princess. As they get closer to her, they are packed closer together. She is sitting there with a stack of small booklets, and almost flicks the book at the student...no words, only a nod and move on...like so many robots...but it works. Two days later, I took a taxi the hour and a half drive up to Udon Thani, a small city on the route north, and only stayed here one night. The taxi was about ten dollars. The bus was less, but, when you consider a taxi or tuk tuk to the bus, and the repeat to hotel at the other end, it is better to stay with the one vehicle. There was nothing special here but I did walk through the local mall...same stores as all the others, many name brand stores as in Canada. The next day, I took another taxi to the small city of Nong Khai. This city sits on the South shore of the mighty Mekong river, and Laos is the land on the other side. A straight line from city center here to Vientiane would be about five miles, but the road is about 60 kilometers. The two countries built a "Friendship" bridge across the Mekong, and pay for it with tourist special charges...one US dollar per person. The bridge is miles from either city center, I guess to discourage local people from running back and forth. Nong Khai is one place to see the horrendous abuse of normal trade practices. There is a miles long walkway on the bank of the Mekong, with restaurants and shops where people can stroll, enjoy an ice cream, and watch the boats run between the two countries. The Mekong is wide and slow here. About one block from this beautiful walkway is one of the largest market areas that I have ever seen. The Indo-Chinese market is bout one kilometer square, all under one roof. It is like a city indoors, with rows upon rows of small neatly arranged shops and stalls, all open on three sides. Nothing has a price, so you must haggle, to purchase, or get ripped off. In most cases, you get ripped off anyway.....because 90 percent of the goods are from China...every single item a knock-off,(Phony product label), or no label. Here I could get a new "Seiko" watch for five US dollars.....where is my motorcycle trader when I need him.? I bought nothing, but am amazed that these places are allowed to operate, under the eye of the authorities with no concern for the laws of International Trade. Now, I must say, this, the northern area of Thailand is also one of the poorest....these are the prices that the locals can afford. They could not purchase the real product, and indeed are probably unaware of what is going on. That Dior perfume will probably have a different smell once the bottle has been opened for a few hours. Many of the people from this area go to Bangkok and other places down south to get better jobs, or, even work of any kind. Before returning home, I went into a massage place near my hotel to get the true Thai massage, and the lady that worked me over was from this city, Nong Khai. She spoke good English, and I will tell her story in another page. Her name is Rose. Next page we will visit Laos again.

Happy New Year from Bangkok, January 1, 2016

Hello All; Happy New Year to Everyone. After an eleven hour train trip, in what could best be described as a "Cattle Car", I arrived in Bangkok at eight last evening. That was only about 30 minutes late. I have never seen such a dirty, broken piece of equipment. The car was filthy, there were three, and the windows seemed to have not been cleaned for a year. Taking photos was almost not possible. The backs of most seats were broken, and the seatback trays were not useable....bent beyond useage. I took a train over most of this route going north last year, and the train equipment was excellent. They charge about 36 dollars for the rail fare, and that included two snacks with drinks, and a hot lunch. After getting to my hotel, which is near the train station, I freshened up, then went out for the New Year celebration, with about a million others. I went at eleven, and got to the site,walking in 45 minutes. The countdown and fireworks were well worth the effort. After the event was over, the walk back took much longer...people partying everywhere, and food stands set up all over the roads and sidewalks. It was quite an atmosphere. I got to bed about 0130...being a teenager once again....in any event, no witnesses that know me....that I am aware of...so no further reports on this. This morning, I went out for breakfast, as that is not included here at this hotel. For that, I did what any Canadian would do...I went to a MacDonalds, and had a Big Mac, and coffee. It was good to have potatoes again....skip the rice for a day. I then walked to the area of the fireworks last evening, took more photos, and walked back to the hotel...out for about four hours. I wanted to do a quality assurance check at Swensen's,but could not find one.....must look into that. Since I required 40 minutes to check emails, and even get on Google, I will close for now.It may take a day or so to clear this page through the system. Again,I wish everyone all the best for the New Year.