Another batch of small stories that happened in July about living in rural Thailand.
July 13 – A Day in the Isaan Countryside
Another mixed day in the local countryside with friends of ours. The afternoon included monkeys and a cliffside temple, a rubber plantation, driving through the lush views of the wet season, water slides and a family Isaan buffet.

The monkey temple actually called Wat Tham Pha Nam Thiang is hidden away deep in the country. The temple itself is nothing special but you can buy food and hand feed the monkeys and get photos like this one.

The wat is located against these cliffs and is being renovated. There is no main temple building, just a small cave. A great drive through paddy fields and small moo bans to get there.

They have a guy with a sling shot with you all the time just in case the monkeys get a bit excited. They aren’t the most soft and cuddly creatures in case you haven’t met them in the wild before.

It is such a delight to be travelling through such lush countryside now that the rains have arrived.

The monkey way is at the base of that rock formation on the left. These are cucumbers growing and a small moo ban (village) in the background.
Gaun is still in her sarong from visiting the temple. Remember to keep one in your handbag (ladies only advice!) if you prefer to wear short clothing here. Temples with lots of farang visitors often have them available to hire.

A massive multi story structure, which is decades from completion. I have only ever seen two monks here so what it is designed to achieve is beyond me.

I have shown this guy in a previous post about this temple. He is still here and will be for his lifetime. Hand pouring moulds for the small Buddha structure on level three.

A day at the wats deserves a swim at the equally eccentric resort Saunam complete with canals, lion waterslide and loud Thai music.

Why this is all here in the middle of rural Thailand is beyond me. Very few people use the resort accommodation but the pools get a workout on the weekends.

Finishing the day with a Isaan buffet with some of the family. Food is cooked on charcoal burners with the juices running into a broth to make a tasty soup.
Isaan Broadband
Now here is one of life’s oddities. I live in a very small rural community on the edge of a minor Isaan town and I can connect to 100 mbps fiber optic broadband for A$60.00 per month, unlimited downloads.
In the national capital of Australia the best I could get was about 5 mbps for not much less in cost with download limits. Where did we go wrong?
July 17 – Cheap Housing but would you want to?
Are there still books around called Asia on $10.00 a day? Maybe you can but would you want to?
I was looking at rentals in Si Bun Ruang for two farang who contacted me on this subject and came across this gem. Priced from $40.00 standard to $80.00 for the super deluxe (with window) per MONTH this would seem to fit the $10.00 a day category.

Full of character and original features. An early morning coffee on your own bench (maybe the deluxe unit only) overlooking your very own parking.
The list of inclusions is extensive but unfortunately your new home doesn’t have any of them except parking! Enjoy.
July 16 – The Canals of Si Bun Ruang
I have based myself at the farm to complete my second eBook called “Living in Isaan – the Small Stories”. Gaun is busy weeding with Yuan helping while Lud prepares a field for vegetable planting. As you can see it is hard work being an international author.
Meanwhile the construction of the Venetian canals of Si Bun Ruang continues.

This machine has been at work for a couple of weeks now carving a waterway through the rice paddies.

The result is this decent sized canal winding through the paddies with the local temple in the background.
July 21 – Gaun and the Tourists
I was writing something else yesterday and came across this photo. It is one of my favourites of Gaun at Phuket because it has a story attached to it and is a great example of what I have to put up with on a daily basis!
For some unknown reason Gaun had collected a heap of small crabs from another beach and then released them on the main beach at Nai Harn, which was the most exciting thing to happen to the tourists all day.
July 21 – Buddhist Lent
Yesterday was the start of the three month Buddhist Lent period (or called the Rains Retreat) where monks are more likely to stay in their “home” wat rather than travel around.
Buddhist Lent starts the day after Asahna Bucha Day, a public holiday to mark Buddha’s first sermon over 2,500 years ago in a deer park in India. This is why you will often see statues of deer in temples here. I have also seen reindeer in wats too, which may be a slight misinterpretation of the original idea 🙂
Our village gathered at the local wat to donate food to the monks and receive a blessing in a very small and simple ceremony. That evening we went to Wat Pha Silawa. in the next village for a much more formal evening ceremony in one of my favourite temples of Isaan.

The building at the back is where the monks were holding the ceremony. It is an old school house and will be replaced by a huge public building (Viharn) once construction has been finished.

Many ceremonies here involve a chant where you pour water into a bowl. At the end the water is then given back to land by watering a plant. Peng doing the honours here.

Standard Thai. This is a huge effort paid for by a very small village. It will only ever be used a few time a year when completed but everyone will have earnt lots of merit by donating money to build it. I believe this is the base motivation for the endless Buddhist construction industry in Thailand.
It is a much more original design than the one going up in our moo ban. Different function though. This is a Bot or Ubosoth/Ubosot, a monk ordination hall, while the big place in our village is a Viharn or sermon/assembly hall. Bots are sometimes closed to the public while a Viharn won’t be.

A photo opportunity of me making a presentation of ceremonial robes to the monks at Wat Pha Silawa that evening.
July 22 – A New Camera Lense
My camera spends more time with me in my travels around Isaan than my wife so I thought I would upgrade it rather than Gaun.
A friend of ours visited us recently and she had a single lense that operated both as a wide angle for landscape shots as well as a decent zoom. My research narrowed the choice down to either a Nikon 18-200mm or a Sigma 18-250mm. The Sigma had good reviews online and was $200.00 cheaper, an important factor for us pensioners!, so the Sigma is was.
For those of you in Thailand http://www.lazada.co.th/, a Thai based online store is an excellent resource. I have used them for six purchases and the whole process is easy. The payment options include credit card, bank transfer, PayPal and cash over the counter at 7/11. Their tracking system works and they deliver by courier to your door, in my case always within the specified time.
The other benefit is that if ordering from overseas all import duties are covered. You will find that if you are living here your old friend eBay will often not ship to Thailand. If they do it is very expensive and may or may not arrive (voice of experience talking here). There is also always the possibility that you get hit with import tax, which can run to 100%.
My new toy arrived this afternoon so the photos below are my first play shots with this lense. It will allow me to capture a better range of scenes for the blog and Facebook because although I have a telephoto now it is a pain to switch between the two lenses.

A couple of single shots. Gaun and Yuan were just about to head off on the bike. Their destination was opposite the police station, which explains the use of helmets.
July 22 – A Farm Update
Life on the farm is quite central to my life here, which is why photos of it pop up regularly. Other people do food – I do rice!
The new rice, which was only planted a week ago is now greening up nicely. Tara Gardner I am keeping a special eye on the rice you planted. I think it is bigger than the others already 🙂
The fields at the back are Paed and Tham’s, Gaun’s sister and husband who run the other half of the farm. It is steamed rice. A swap will be done with the finished product at some stage. You can tell the rice at the back is newly planted as it is a lighter colour.

Lettuce just about ready to head to the market. Yuan has been selling coriander but that is all gone as of today. More beds planted up yesterday.
To Gaun these berries are good with fish. They are sour she tells me and I am sure that they are. Hot and sour are the two main flavours of Isaan food, which is NOTHING like your Thai takeaway!

Coriander off to the market. A bag was given to us. Some of whatever is growing on the farm ends up in our fridge.

Paed, Gaun’s older sister, had excess rice, which was only going to be ploughed into the ground rather than being planted out. Some neighbours offered to harvest them to be replanted on their farm. Good to see these rice shoots not go to waste.
July 23 – Shopping at Makro
From farm to supermarket.
Hardly world stopping news but this is another minor insight to the everyday here. Today we headed off to the next town to us a 30 minute drive to check out the new Makro supermarket that has recently opened. We are so lucky to be living a quiet rural based lifestyle but with most of the farang comforts within easy distance.
Makro’s are a Dutch owned cash and carry supermarket more aimed at small shop owners who buy in bulk. Luckily in Thailand they are open to the general public. In some other countries this isn’t the case.
We can buy most things that Makro stocks in our also newly opened Tesco Lotus supermarket in Si Bun Ruang, our home town, but Makro has greater choice. It also stocks NZ lamb, fresh salmon and cream some of the essentials of life

Part of the seafood section. Your purchase is weighed and tagged on the right. You then can fill your bag with crushed ice from a large container at the back, which is a nice touch Aussie supermarkets could but won’t introduce.

It isn’t the image you might have had of backwater Thailand is it. Mainline cheeses and Allowrie butter for you Aussies reading.
July 23 – What Does A$240.00 a month rent get you?
We arranged some rental accommodation for an American reader of my blog yesterday. Well, I did the driving and Gaun did the talking. I thought I would show you what a basic Thai style house looked like if you did decide to move here on a budget! A$240.00 a month gets you this:

The living area with a very small bathroom on the right behind that wall. The stairs are not designed for granny. New curtains to be installed.
You would have to make your own Thai kitchen, probably outside at the back. It could be turned into a small but workable home. Great location and at $60 a week – not bad. You can see why people retire here.

The wonderful Friday markets are held at the end of the street in the far distance. A neat enough frontage.
July 24 – A Homework Story
This is a story about kids and homework that would fit with any country in the world.
Peng my stepdaughter had an assignment to describe and photograph the making of fried banana, a yummy desert nibblie you can find in season at every market in Thailand. From the first photo you would think that Peng was hard at work making it all happen wouldn’t you? Well the real story will never appear in the school version. Read on.

Have you ever been in the situation where you ended up doing more homework than your children? It happens in Isaan too. What Peng’s teacher will see – Peng busy slicing the peeled and freshly picked bananas.

BTW I thought you would be equally excited as my family were that mushrooms were discovered this morning!

Peng finally doing something? As you can see this is actually just a photo moment aimed at a camera being operated by Gaun off to the left.
Photos being taken by Gaun in the background for the project. It was lovely to see the whole family swing into action to help out taking time out of their busy schedules.
Mind you everyone will help eat the end result so it isn’t all hard work.
July 24 – Another Rental Opportunity – be quick
Just a quickie with another example of what you can rent here. I am looking for a house for another American reader of the blog, having already found a place for a guy from the US a couple of days ago. This one has been offered and I have sent him the details.
At 3,000 baht a month or about A$35.00 a week it is looking pretty good. A beautiful location set in farming land but only a couple minutes’ drive to Si Bun Ruang town. Spend a little bit of money on it to smarten it up and you’d have a bargain.

A sort of kitchen area with a small Thai bathroom behind that would need a western toilet and shower installed to make it more useable.
July 24 – Back on the Farm again!
I am only posting yet more photos from the farm because I want to show you how quickly plants get established here. Gaun is busy weeding and then planting up the entire length of the farm as it borders the road.

The original roadside at the back of the photo, which shows what Gaun has to deal with. Plants taken from cuttings today at the front. New coriander planting from seed on the farm on the right.

Gaun is already halfway to that second power pole, which is the entry to the other half of the family farm. I thought these flowers at the front were definite goners but not so.

The tractor was busy pumping water from the pond into the paddy fields. Although it looks level all the paddies cascade to the trees at the back and the water flows from one to the other. The tractor gets its own sun protection.

Playing with my new camera lense. This photo is taken towards the back of the farm looking to the main farmhouse in the distance. Just perfect weather here. Low 30’s and beautiful days like this building to thunderstorms in the evening.
July 25 – A New Driveway
We spent most of today out at the farm. I am not sure why I built a house in the village!
I am spending a little money each month to improve the farm with enthusiastic support from Gaun, Yuan and Lud. Today I decided to gravel the driveway from the front road to the farmhouse. Two truckloads totalling 9 cubic metres at a cost of 4,950 baht or around A$200.00 and the place was transformed.

Gaun arrives with beer for me (she isn’t drinking for the first month of Buddhist Lent along with a lot of other Thais some of whom will go the full three months) and flowers to plant out the front.

The driveway crew. Khaw (which means “white” in Thai), the brother of Apple whose wedding you can read about HERE and a relation of Gaun, Yuan and Gaun.

All the local farmers slow down and give the project a thumbs up. This will be the neatest farm in Isaan and thanks to Gaun the most colourful.
July 28 – A Buddhist Holy Day
The three months of Buddhist Lent is a time when people become more enthusiastic about their obligations to the temple. This is particularly true on Buddhist holy days, which relate to the phases on the moon and are marked on any Thai calendar with a small red Buddha.
Yesterday was such a day and in the evening we joined many other locals at our chosen wat, which is a forest temple (all these temple will have a Pha or Pa in front of their name e.g. Wat Pha Silawa) about 10 minutes down the road from us.

Most of the forest wats have very simple meeting halls made from timber and set above the ground like this one.

This is one of my favourite wats in Isaan. The abbott is lovely and the place is kept immaculate, which is so unusual here.

The founder of the temple is now represented by one of those super lifelike wax statues. The abbott is the first real person on the left. Six monks.
An Unusual Isaan Wedding
I had a reader of the blog write to me recently with some questions about the protocol of an Isaan wedding. The question came through a post I had written called “A Thai Shotgun Marriage” HERE. It reminded my what an unusual day it was for me as it challenged many of my concepts of marriage as a westerner.
The young bride Thoy, a neighbour of ours and a friend of Peng, was 14 when she went to her mum to ask why it felt like something was kicking inside her stomach. You know the answer to that question. The father was a 19 year old local with a bad reputation who wouldn’t take responsibility even if the family accepted him.
A friend of Thoy then stepped in to say that he loved her and was willing to marry her and take on the baby. He was also 14! The two families got together and it was all agreed and a wedding day set (quickly). Because we are known to the family we were invited and the photos give a glimpse into the ceremony.

I felt for the young couple. Although this was a wedding ceremony it was restricted to family and close friends only. Normally it would be a community occasion and the bride and groom would be all dressed up in Thai formal dress.
Now before anyone goes all farang have a look at the outcome for all concerned. Thoy has husband, the baby has father and more importantly has two families who now take responsibility for him. Raising kids here is a family group affair. Although hardly perfect it is a workable solution.
What would be the alternative in Australia? Maybe one or all of the following: police involvement, ostracisation by the family, counselling for mum, a child with no family connections and community outrage at the whole situation.
I can tell you that in Thoy’s case mum and dad seem to be getting along fine. The baby is now walking and is loved and included by both families and will grow up with the same opportunities and no hang-ups from his start in life.
Rather than react with shock and horror I think this is a lovely good news story with a positive ending to a shaky beginning.

The ceremony at the end of the marriage where people donate money and tie white good luck string onto the wrists of the bride and groom.
UPDATE September 2016: Today Gaun was able to get some photos of mum and a very bouncing baby son. How delightful to be able to share a happy outcome to a far from ideal original situation. They don’t look too traumatised by their experience do they?

And today. The little fella is called Phum, which is taken from the name of her husband’s province, Chaiyaphum, west of Khon Kaen.
Funnily we are visiting Chaiyaphum this weekend to take part in the house blessing ceremony of an English guy Terry and his wife Ning, who are blog readers.
Update 4 Mar 2017: Didn’t last 🙁 Probably not that surprising.
July 28 – A Present for the Birds
Well as far as small stories go this rates up there. We had a couple of friends visit us recently and they kindly donated a birdbath to the garden from the one and only good quality garden centre in Udon Thani. We collected it using the family pick-up on Tuesday and the big installation happened this afternoon.
Thank you Gina and Tara. A wonderful addition to the garden. The birds of Isaan thank you too.

Flowers around the base? The jury is out at this time. September update – of course flowers. Gaun had it all organised pretty soon after this photo was taken.
July 31 – The New Patio
Another very small story rating up there with the birdbath, which actually generated some interest on Facebook. I have been wanting to make a new patio under pergola we had built as part of our extensions last year. This area will turn into a green cavern once the climbers cover it, something that should become a reality in the next six months.
It has lovely views over the garden and I can see it being another popular spot for a cold drink in the evenings.

We put grass down almost as soon as we moved in late March 2015 to quickly cover up the clay and to hold the soil in place as there is a slope from the house to the lower garden at this point.

Looking the other way. You can see the full width pergola with climbing plants already making progress.
Gaun seems to perspire equally all over her body while I just pour from my head. A small towel wrapped around with plastic bands at the back is a very unattractive but effective solution. Here I am working to take up the grass. It was only a small area but in the heat it almost killed me.
Gaun who treats me like the most fragile object she has ever come across has here moved an umbrella to give me shade, brought out a chair and table, an ice bucket and cold drinks. She did offer to move a fan as well. Thanks to her efforts I survived the day.

Here I am using a level to try to get the water to run away from the house a concept foreign to most Thai construction.
For a country that has such massive rainfall in season the Thais are absolutely useless at directing the flow of water. Roads get waterlogged and concrete is either poured so it is dead flat or so that the water pools in exactly the place you didn’t want it. Peng in the background providing the same level of assistance as any teenager worldwide
Having caught up my Small Stories of Isaan to be only a month and a bit behind I will give it a rest for a couple of posts and come back with those posts about our trip to Nan that I promised in Isaan – the Small Stories 17 HERE.
Thanks for reading.
Great read again thanks mate Amazing story about 14yo marriage but it all made perfect sense to me. Well done with paved area under pergola too looks great. I enjoyed seeing a lot of places I have been to. Any birds coming to that birdbath? Oh yes, thanks for letting us all know about lazada.co.th – very cheap bike riding gear. I will be on it as soon as I return to Isaan. Cheers Ian
Hi Tony and Guan,
Thanks again for all the pics including the garden catch up. Your already oasis continues to evolve. It is all so gorgeous and romantic. Can’t wait for you take us on your trip to Nan.
Keep Well.
No problems. Thanks for the comment Jon. If planning a trip to Nan try for September when they have the big river boat races. Heaps else happening then too. Good weather plus the activities makes it a good one to add to your festivals of Thailand.