Heaps of new small stories have been added to my list for this post since the last one I wrote HERE, so get a coffee or beer and settle in for a very mixed bag of little events. The first couple of topics are more family personal so you can skip these if you are after more general insights into Isaan life. I included them because the events they describe form part of my life here, which is the main theme for this blog.
Marriage Party
I wrote about my second marriage to Gaun HERE and decided we couldn’t pass up an opportunity for an Isaan buffet party, the first in our new home. The event also coincided with a friend of ours from Chiang Mai visiting for a few days. For those of you who haven’t yet experienced a buffet it usually come in two forms. You can eat at one of the many buffet places that are scattered around, which in Si Bun Ruang are super basic, or get takeaway and set yourself up at home, which is what we did.
An Isaan buffet is made up of a selection of meats, most of which I struggle to identify when eating at the buffet shop, cooked over charcoal on a tin bowl with a raised area in the middle allowing the juices to run into the trough that runs around the outside filled with broth.

A buffet cooker in action. Some younger members of my Thai family. Regular readers will recognise Peng, Gaun’s daughter, third on the left. Apple, second on the left, is getting married this week. Watch out for that post.
Unlike BBQ cooking where I paid 17,000 THB for an Aussie closed lid BBQ your buffet investment is a little more modest. Firstly you’ll need to buy a couple of charcoal burners and the tin cooling plates:

Gaun modelling the very latest in charcoal burners. Charcoal goes in the top, an extension for wood burning option included and the ashes fall to the bottom. All for A$2.00 – postage extra!
Next a visit to the markets and the buffet restaurant will give you all the ingredients you need. Stock up with grog, play some loud Isaan music and you’ve got yourself a party.

Jenny, our friend from Chiang Mai and a local couple Ann and James. A knee saving table being used in this instance for us older folk.

No official occasion is complete without have white string tied onto your wrist for good luck by everyone attending. Yuan, my sister-in-law in this case.
The moo ban (village) enforces a 11 pm curfew on loud music, except for days like New Year, and as many of the family had to be up early morning to harvest vegetables it didn’t end up being a late night. Quality rather than quantity except for the consumption of alcohol which cleared me out! A great way to celebrate my marriage to a special lady.
Christmas and Birthdays
The end of the year is a busy time socially. Not only do we have Christmas Day but my birthday is on Boxing Day and Lud, one of my brother-in-laws, has his on 1 January. Thailand does recognise Christmas in a mild sort of way, which is my preference after the commercialisation of the day in the west. You can usually find trees, lights, wrapping paper and decorations in places like Tesco Lotus, Big C and other major supermarkets. A smaller choice in decorations and tinsel can be found in the local markets. My tree is a Thai original via China while most of the decorations came from Australia when I shipped my stuff over.
Last year we were in the process of building the house while living in the family home and the tree was set up on the edge of the road much to the delight of the local kids.
The tree was moved for the Christmas day and the community area of the family compound decorated in a moment of farang enthusiasm as you can see below:
This year was different in that Christmas moved to No 182, Moo 5 (our lovely new house) and took over our newly extended outdoor living area. We were joined by a few extra friends as Peng emptied her soft toy cupboard in the family home and the contents arrived via pick-up.
The day after Christmas was my 60th birthday and as usual after a big meal and a few too many drinks the night before doing the same again the next day has less attraction than if my parents had timed the occasion for later in the year! Still Gaun was on the job and I got a cake and the family, who normally ignore birthdays, all joined in with gifts.
I was able to return the favour and buy Lud a cake and bottle of Sang Som for his birthday, which was on the 1st of January. It was the first time his birthday had been acknowledged as far as I know. Yuan, his wife (who had forgotten his actual birthday) got into the mood and organised a buffet for him the next night.

Please note my birthday present to myself on the right – an Isaan 26,000 watt sound system with disco lights in the speakers!!!! Can life get any better? Being judged on the size of your equipment has a whole different and noisier meaning over here.
It was at this get together that Gaun was able to persuade her elder sister Paed and her family to be photographed together – a first for them. She used a subtle approach and told them that if they didn’t do it now and one of them died they wouldn’t have the opportunity again! It seemed to do the trick as you can see below:

Puk, Paed, Tham and Thom. The son works for the PEA (Provincial Electricity Authority). If the power goes Gaun phones him and gets the inside information. Paed and Tham work the other half of the family farm. Puk is studying electronics in Udon Thani.
Ban Chiang World Heritage Site
OK. Enough partying and back to the serious stuff. Jenny our friend from Chiang Mai wanted to visit Ban Chiang, a place that had been on my list too, and as it was in the general direction of Udon airport we called in to see it before dropping Jenny off for her flight back to Chiang Mai. The site is about an hour’s drive from Udon on highway 22.
The reason for visiting is far better summed up by UNESCO as part of its world heritage listing than anything I could tell you:
The Ban Chiang Archaeological Site is a prehistoric human habitation and burial site. It is considered by scholars to be the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in Southeast Asia, marking the beginning and showing the development of the wet-rice culture typical of the region. The site has been dated by scientific chronometric means (C-14 and thermo luminescence) which have established that the site was continuously occupied from 1495BC until c. 900BC., making it the earliest scientifically-dated prehistoric farming and habitation site in Southeast Asia known at the time of inscription onto the World Heritage List.
If you want more information there’s plenty of it HERE.
The day we decided to visit there was good news and bad news. The good news was that we were the only foreigners there I think because Udon Thani was hosting a large Chinese festival and everyone was there. Even some of the shops were shut and the Thais had taken the day off. The bad news was that the museum was closed due to a power failure.
Luckily they opened it up for us and didn’t charge an entry fee (normally 150 THB). We even got an official welcome from the local police.

One of the main exhibition rooms. A bit gloomy without lighting. Some of the other rooms had no natural light so we couldn’t see what they contained.

Outside there is plenty of shopping although most of the products were just duplicated in various shops.

A very neat area reflective of its status as a world heritage site maybe. Much better than the Thai norm. No people today!
I thought that Ban Chiang was definitely worth a visit even though I’m not into archaeology. The museum is small but they have made a real effort in presentation and there’s enough of interest even for a casual tourist like myself. The ban (village) is well maintained and the shops offer enough to tempt you to open the wallet and the prices are very reasonable for a tourist location. They have some great mini pots for a few dollars, which would make good returning from holiday presents for family and friends back home.
Udon Thani Chinese Festival
Having dropped Jenny off at Udon airport we headed into town to look at the huge night markets that are set up for nearly two weeks starting with the Chinese festival 1 December this year). The markets themselves, although expansive, offered nothing much different from any other market in Thailand. There is often very little of the ‘local’ flavour to these places, just a lot of imported mass produced items. I have covered markets in several posts previous from Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and locally so I won’t say much more here. Just a few photos that captured my attention:

Needless to say a lot of the offering revolved around food. You can graze your way through any market in Thailand.

Strawberries are around being the cool season here. A good time to drive into the foothills of Mae Rim in Chiang Mai if you are in that part of the world. You will find plenty of strawberries being grown and sold. My posts about a couple of days we spent exploring Mae Rim HERE and HERE.
At the centre of the markets there was a ceremony happening continuing on from the day’s activities. Thais do love a chat given a microphone so we moved on pretty smartly. They love karaoke too and the microphone that came with my new sound system has been confiscated and locked away 🙂

One of Udon’s better looking small wats – the City Pillar Shrine as covered by Trip Advisor HERE. Recently renovated so a good time to see it.

Udon has a large Chinese population and this is reflected in the architecture in this part of the park. You will find lots of Chinese shops in the area too.

This photo gives you an idea of the size of the dragons. You can see the tail disappearing at the back.
A small funfair was attached to the markets. Considering the Thai’s dislike of maintenance I would think twice about getting on anything that either takes you in the air or spins quickly 🙂
New Year on the Farm
There are two main celebrations each year when half the population of Thailand seems to take to the road or air to return home and they are our New Year and the Thai New Year called Songkran that I wrote about HERE. With so many Isaan people working outside the region the local population must at least double when they all arrive back to party with family and friends. For market gardeners like my Thai family contributing to the feeding of this influx means that they are flat out from early morning, and we’re talking 1.00 am here, to sundown harvesting crops, getting them ready for the markets and delivering them to stallholders who have pre-ordered.
The biggest day was 31 December of course and the whole family plus one farang were on the farm helping out.

Out of retirement and into the fields picking lettuce. In reality I did very little in comparison to the family but that statement won’t surprise you I am sure.

Washing the vegetables in the farm’s pond. Lud and a cousin from Chonburi, the brother of Apple, the cousin mentioned previously.
The lettuce is picked, washed and then about five plants are wrapped with an elastic band and sold for 10 THB or A$0.40. It’s a huge effort to put together a load like this.

Lud, my brother-in-law takes time out for a pose. The celery is normally larger but the hot growing conditions has meant that cool season vegetables haven’t done so well this year. Prices are higher so it sort of evens out.
A Si Bun Ruang Concert
Several times a year the signs will go out alongside the road to advertise that a local business is sponsoring a visit to Si Bun Ruang by one of the latest Thai singing sensations. In November it was Honda’s turn and the stage went up in the grounds of the Amphur or town council and you could just turn up and join in.

A pretty standard group. The main singer, a ‘funny’ guy and several dancers dressed to look raunchy but often encased in a sort of flesh coloured bodysuit. The Dancing skills varies from ordinary to dreadful but the Thai guys don’t seem to mind!

I only include this photo to illustrate the body suit! Thais are mostly pretty modest in public as I wrote about in ‘Living with a Thai Woman’ HERE.
If you want a taste of the music this lady pumps out then click below:
A few REALLY small stories
1. Snake:
Gaun was watering and this small snake slithered in between her feet. It was enough to startle her into killing it. I believe a bite would make you sick but it’s not a killer.
There are snakes around, which as an ex-Aussie doesn’t worry me too much, although we do go up to King Cobras and any snake that can look at you face to face is one to avoid in my opinion. I haven’t seen a large snake alive here yet but a have met a couple in the cooking pot! Updated 4 Mar 2017: This snake has since been identified as a Common Keelback (Xenochrophis flavipunctatus), completely harmless.
2. Leaf litter:

Gaun tells me that this guy enjoys sweet nectar like a bee so isn’t a threat to her precious garden. This would be a squashed bug otherwise post photo.
3. The local Noodle shop
The best A$1.00 meal around is a pork and chicken noodle soup from the local streetside shop.

A $1.00 meal for two. I exaggerate a bit because Gaun orders extra pork balls (not REALLY pork balls in case you were worried but balls made from pork!) for 20 THB or A$0.80.

This started as just a small roadside food place it has since expanded into a mini-market and eat-in place. No planning permission required. Just open up.

A bit flash for a shop shelf. If I hadn’t already had a dining table I would have made them an offer.
4. Pancakes
I have told you before that if you wait long enough in Isaan whatever you desire will pass the front gate. Today it was the turn of the mobile pancake man. 10 THB for a large pancake with a choice of fillings. I had strawberry, blueberry with a chocolate drizzle. Very tasty if totally unhealthy (although it did have fruit!)
5. Mama and the Ghosts
When we had the house blessing ceremony to allow us to move into our new home, which you can read about HERE, Gaun’s mama told the spirits (Gaun calls them ghosts) that she would come and feed them from time to time. Well early in the morning recently she turned up with food and as I was still asleep Gaun took photos of the event.

Mama feeding the ghosts. There were hand rolled cigarettes provided for that after meal smoke. I guess ghosts aren’t too worried about their health. They should meet the pancake man!
It is a reminder for us farang of how important and close the Thai connection is with spirits. Don’t discount this if with a Thai partner. They are a very superstitious bunch. Read about feeding deceased relatives, a lovely ceremony HERE.
6. An Aussie Icon
We had dinner in Udon Thani recently with an Aussie couple I had ‘met’ through the blog. They very kindly offered to bring over a boxing kangaroo flag to balance up the three Thai flags I have on the front wall of our home. I have never been particularly nationalistic but I think the unofficial flag of my home country suits my new home in Isaan. Thank you Pippa and Andrew.
7. Gardening Advice
Gaun is an enthusiastic gardener as anyone who has followed our house build or visited us can attest to.

Gaun’s legacy and love. Now nine months old. I will be publishing an update on the garden soon so keep an eye out for that garden lovers.
It was funny the other day when she was flagged down by a local for some gardening tips based on the success of her efforts at our place.

This is a lady who left dead leaves on her lawn because she thought they would be useful fertiliser!

Gaun showing her where to dig up the grass to make a bed for those plants rather than have them sit in the lawn.
Us westerners mostly have some idea about gardening but having seen this example it is no wonder the Thais don’t have much in the way of a garden attached to their homes. I will be interested to see how this one progresses after Gaun’s help.
8. Funeral stones
These brightly coloured concrete pillars you will see all over Thailand aren’t garden decoration but the equivalent of our grave headstones.
You will often see these structures at the entrance to temples and I can assure you that your Thai partner won’t be getting out of the car at this point!
I believe they provide a resting place for the symbolic bones left over at the end of a Buddhist cremation as shown below and described in my post ‘An Isaan Funeral’ HERE
Sugar Season
The cool season December – February is a great time weatherwise to visit Thailand as the temperatures are a lot more useable especially in the North. However our way the mass switch from rice to sugar crops as a result of the drought brings with it a lot of disadvantages. Come harvesting the sugar fields are fired before cutting leading to smoky gray skies and a shower of Isaan ‘rain’ black soot from the crops, which for someone with a white house is a real pain.
The small village roads and even the main ones get damaged by the large trucks with heavy loads carrying sugar from farm to factory. The endless number of trucks slows traffic flow and causes dangerous overtakes by impatient Thai drivers. If you want a demonstration of this watch the following video. As always if viewing on an iPad the play button doesn’t work. Tap to the far right of the video image.
I have obviously fitted into the Thai driving scene because you will note that despite the overtaking pickup being in my lane heading straight at me I make no comment or show much of a reaction at all! In Australia this would be a road rage incident complete with swear words and finger waving. Because we have a bike lane on most bigger roads here a two lane highway unofficially turns into three and you just move into the bike lane as long as it isn’t occupied with bikes! Just another day driving in Isaan.
Many of these trucks are ancient and I have seen several overturned due to topheavy loads. With 40 tons of sugarcane on board they are not something to be underneath when it goes over.
The small farmers can’t sell their cane directly to the large processing factories but use a shipping agent for transportation.
The prices for cane are quoted at either farm level, that is the agent provides transport to remove from the fields as you see above (this year a lousy 600 THB a ton) or if the farmer moves the cane to a central loading point (see below) the price increases to 800 THB a ton.

Small farm trucks waiting to be weighted. This was at lunchtime so everyone was across the road having a feed.

The weight station with a loader at the back ready to shift sugarcane from the small trucks to a larger one for transport to the processing plant.

Just don’t stop quickly with that load sticking into your head. Mind you stopping quickly (if at all) is probably a bit of an optimistic ask in this truck.
Yuan, Gaun’s younger sister, has just sold her first batch of sugar grown on the farm. The field that gave her a return of around 50,000 THB last year yielded 23,000 THB this year due to the drought and low sugar prices. She was not happy. With low rubber prices too I wonder how the farmers of Thailand are feeling about things at the moment.
Si Bun Ruang Sport’s Day
I have covered an Isaan sport’s day in all of its weird glory HERE so I won’t write it up again. However we went to the main sport’s day opening ceremony at Si Bun Ruang and I thought I would share a few of the best photos, just because they are reflective of the broad interpretation of ‘sport’ in the school calendar! Click on the first photo for a slideshow.
- Massed flags a colourful sight.
- Happy rabbit ear salutes.
- A ladyboy having her high heels sticky taped to her feet to stop them coming off
- Star pupils have their photo on the front wall.
- Stunning red.
- School was never like this.
- Or this
- Heaven
- A mixed group
- I have run out of things to say
- A contrast in colours.
- Saluting the VIP area.
- A different type of salute
- One of the massed performances
- And another
Wat Pha Ban Dit
One of the senior monks at the forest temple we sometimes visit has been given some land by his mother, who is splitting her farm between the three children. As a result you can see the start of one of Thailand’s newest wats/temples. We have named it Wat Pha (forest) Ban (house) Dit (the name of the monk) until told otherwise.
The wat is being built just down the road from the family farm and we know the monk so I will be keeping a close eye on how this place develops. No doubt in a few years time it will be all concrete, car parks and gaudy buildings but in the meantime it is a good example of how a basic temple gets started and its simplicity must be far closer to Buddha’s philosophy than most of the structures you see around Thailand (in my opinion).

Monks from ‘our’ temple working. The second monk at the back on the left is Dit the guy establishing this temple.

The pond to be. They were pumping water from a bore (well) to fill this in an expensive and slow exercise. With no rain expected for four or five months this is the only way. You can see the blue water pipe feeding water into the pond at the back.

Electricity! These farm engines pump water, plough fields and strap onto the front of small trucks all for under A$1,000. Note the light in the front for nighttime work.
I haven’t completed the list of things I had to share with you today but this post has got long enough. I will save the rest for Small Stories 11 and keep you in suspense.
The heading image was taken beside the main lake in Udon Thani. I stopped to photo the 2016 ducks at the same time as a small group of school kids. I thought they had got posing down to a fine art.
Thanks for reading.
Hi tony,
We was thinking of calling I today for a 10 minute introduction. Would that be possible? Could I get your email so we could swap phone numbers in any event?
Cheers.
I have sent you an email to your mailbox.
Tony
Hi Tony,
Thanks for another great read (and love all the pics)- really enjoyed all of it.
Very interesting re the sugar cane as Jackie has several Rai of cane at the moment for harvest. I will be up there soon to check it out.
Cheers Ian
Thanks as always for your positive comments Ian.
Hi Tony. We thank you again for Sharing your stories. It helps us feel that little bit closer to Issan, even though we are so far away. We have Moo Kata at least once a week here back at home, but it is not the same. I always keep the Sangsum on hand for each occasion (until Supplies run out) I was buying it of an Aussie importer some time back @ $45 a bottle.
I still have not read all your Blogs, but I have all the Issan Small Stories. Have you yet made it to Chaing Khan?
We are still on track to be in town on the 23rd. Will you still be around on the 26th? If not all good.
Cheers.
Hi Jon.
I will dig a bottle of Sangsom out for your visit! The 26th will be fine. Just let us know when closer to the time.
We have driven through Chiang Khan on my first visit to Isaan in 2013 doing the circuit from Nong Khai through Loei and back here in the day. We didn’t stop as I hadn’t realised its significance back then. A return visit is planned but during the week as I believe the Thais have discovered it and it gets busy on weekends.
Thank you Tony.
We stayed one night in one of the Old Wooden Hotels in Town overlooking the River. Very well appointed Teak Rooms with inspiring views. An Oasis in April. It was amazingly busy on our Visit for such a little town, I may of been the only other in town but I think this was also part of the experience. Yes I do believe it is frequented by the Hiso’s but you will also discover a True Kraft Market. We had a great weekend and are keen to return to explore more.
Thank you and see you soon.
Cheers.