A burst of hotter weather after two months of perfect mildness has me sitting in front of the computer in a burst of blog related activity. I have decided to return my main energies to the blog after dabbling in Facebook, not just my own page but adding entries to several general Thai related groups, which I have since unsubscribed from. What a wilderness of useful information about living in Thailand that was.
I started to write more on this topic here to vent my frustrations but they are my personal views and obviously Facebook’s more general forums fills a need for many – just not me. P.S. I think the specialised forums are helpful so I am not rubbishing the entire Facebook resource. I won’t waste more online space on this topic and instead share some more stories about village life in rural Thailand.
4 Dec 2016 – Guttering Thai style and a lot more
A busy morning today in a relaxed sort of way, which sums up my life really.
I had ordered some guttering for the front of the carport and as the guy finished his rice harvest yesterday he was now free to come over. The rice harvest takes priority over everything in Isaan life this time of year. It’s funny. When people meet statistics on the rice production for this year are exchanged almost in the first sentence. “Good morning. 100 bags of rice this year”, “Hi, yes we got 80”. 🙂
I thought I could get away with not installing the guttering as we are heading into 6 months of almost total drought but the condensation on the metal carport roof with the cool nights means water dripping on my precious new pebblecrete driveway in the morning! No stains are allowed on this masterpiece of concreting.
A motorbike ride to visit a friend who has recently moved into a new house on the edge of our moo ban. Coffee at the family farm and a couple of minor topics made this an interesting few hours.
The husband and wife guttering team in action.
I took this photo because their pick-up in the wet season is fitted out with guttering. They travel around the small villages advertising using a small speaker attached to the top of the truck. I have got pretty good at recognising what’s being sold as various pick-ups pass through. As we are now in the dry season they have swapped to selling knives and farm equipment. Many people make a living by mixing what they do according to the time of the year. Next month this couple could be in the fields harvest sugar!
A 30% markup. If you remember from my previous post we bought knives from the Si Bun Ruang monthly markets a couple of days ago.
The wife cuts and does the soldering while he does the roof work. A smoothly operating team. The gutter and down-pipes are all constructed by hand not prefabricated.
The soldering iron is heated in that metal cup on top of the gas bottle. No electric cords required.
Our gutters up we got on the bike and headed five minutes outside the village to see a lady who had called into the farm the previous day to get some flower seeds to plant at her new house.
She is one of a growing group of locals who are using Gaun’s gardening as inspiration to colour their lives with flowers as well as planting stuff to eat. This lady has done the opposite of many Thai women. She has finished a long term relationship with a farang and has now married a Thai man. She sold a house in the village to an Australian who has yet to move in, plus some land she had in Pattaya and bought this farming land and built a small but decent house on it.
First thing is to establish the garden, which in Isaan means a vegetable garden. Self sufficiency plus a bit left over to sell.
This lake is on the farm next to the house. It is owned by a neighbour opposite Gaun’s family home. The photo only shows less than half the size.
In my eyes it is a great piece of attractive water but in Isaan eyes it raised questions of the man who built it back in the day. “Why are you wasting all that land”, he was asked “You could be growing rice”. It is a good analogy for why just about everything is done here. It is all about practicality and very little to do with how things look or can be enjoyed outside of the need to make money. I live comfortably on a super pension so it is easy for me and people like me to complain. The reality is that there is more money NOW in cutting down a tree rather than planting one. Unfortunate but that’s how it is like it or not.
We called into the farm on the way home for a coffee. Here am I giving a helping hand to weed new lettuce (not). I am sure Yuan and Lud appreciated the three weeds I removed.
A little bit still to do.
More farming insights here.
The lettuce is growing from seed that is scattered on the ground. It means that there’s a lot of clumping once the plants start growing.
Yuan and Lud are working down the rows today both weeding and also pulling out all the lettuce that are too close together otherwise they won’t grow into marketable plants. It seems like a waste of resources to a non-farmer and I am going to research if there’s a better way. Of course you can grow from seed in beds and then replant the seedlings but this is also time consuming. Less waste though.
Many of these seedlings will just be pulled up and discarded.
This is a bed they have already processed. You can see how the lettuce has been well separated so that each plant has growing space.
More trivia knowledge for the Thai enthusiasts. For those living here these tips will make you look like a real local expert when you have overseas friends drop in for a visit.
Did you know that pappaya trees come in a male and female form? Well you do now. The ones with heaps of fruit on are the female not surprisingly and their flowers are formed close to the trunk like these ones.
And this is the male version being literally a well hung version of the female 🙂 The flowers form on long stems away from the truck. These trees may have a few fruit or none at all.
And I am sort of sorry for repeating scenes from the farm but the combination of flowers and healthy market vegetables in the morning sunlight is irresistible. These crops will be harvested soon and idyllic scenes like this will change as vegetables are swapped for cash. Less photogenic.
When we arrived home it was to meet some of Peng’s schoolmates who are over again this weekend to work on an Asthma project as a team.
No homework furniture required.
I have to say that for a bunch of 16 year olds I do wonder at the education system that has them cutting and pasting stuff on a display board. The end result, based on previous experience, is a work or art but as an in depth learning method I think it is a little lacking.
This photo is fresh off the press. See what I mean about the end result?
Lovely for primary school. High school……….???
Gaun’s mama, whose mission in life is to ensure that everyone in the family has food, turned up with newly steamed sticky rice and banana parcels wrapped in banana leaves for Peng and friends. Yummy. This is using the new crop of sticky rice too from the family farm.
No sugar added so just the sweetness of the banana.
Mama heads home. She doesn’t visit often but when she does she takes a sweep through the garden to check on what’s growing.
I am not sure what my retired life would have looked like in the suburbs of Australia’s national capital but I am pretty sure it wouldn’t have the variety of my days here and that tonyincanberra.com would be a pretty compact blog 🙂
Today was the first of many leading up the biggie – the New Year week, when some of the crops that have been so intensively cared for on the family farm were harvested and taken to the local market. Finally it was payday.
The other “farmhouse” on the second half of the farm. I just love these greens of fresh vegetables. There’s something very basic about the enjoyment of farming especially when you just have to watch others work 🙂
The produce ready to go to market.
This morning’s crop ready to go to market. We are moving into the cool season here in the north so crops like cauliflower and broccoli make an appearance.
A cows are let loose in the harvested paddy fields. This photo taken just outside our village on the way into town.
The business end of farming. Yuan bulk selling to another vendor. Cauliflower at 50 baht a kilo.
Setting up the stall. The family rent two spaces on this bench for 1,500 (A$60.00) baht a month.
Gaun helping out although everything went so quickly there wasn’t much left to put on the stall. How do Thais sit so comfortably on their heels like that?
I have to say that I was quite moved by the enthusiasm shown by customers to grab Yuan and Lud’s produce even before it was unpacked and it was almost a sell-out in the first 15 minutes. Yuan has a reputation for the quality of her produce and she never has to spend too long waiting to sell vegetables on the stall as other vendors do. What better tribute to their farming skills and hard work.
Negotiation. A rush of customers even before much was unpacked. This is in a food market that is packed with other stalls selling vegetables. Go Yuan.
Some vegetables sold to the lady running a little stall behind Yuan’s. Gaun laughing because the lady scored big time with a bonus small cauliflower for free. Commerce in action.
Many of you will have been in the Thai fresh food markets so nothing new here. Just for the farang food eaters reading it should be noted that even in the depths of Isaan you can get things like potatoes, carrots, onions and snow peas for your Sunday lamb roast 🙂
And a final photo just because I was captured by the colours. Orchid flowers and lotus buds for sale. Most of these flowers will end up at the temple not people’s homes.
BTW there will be a fresh cauliflower and broccoli white cheese sauce dish on this farang’s dinner plate this evening with apologies to all the Thai foodies out there.
6 Dec 2016 – Dessert up a Tree
Have you run out of sweet pappaya? What you do is go to the family farm, get Lud to climb the pappaya tree and shortly after dessert is served.
Now there’s a look of determination.
Goal reached.
On its way down.
An action shot at the halfway point.
And deftly caught by Gaun. One of my brother-in-laws Tham on the left.
9 Dec 2016 – The Garden Before and After
I have been looking at some before and after photos of the beautiful garden that now surrounds our house and thought I would share a compilation here.
Sawadee (welcome).
We moved into the house late March 2015 and since then Gaun has worked tirelessly to turn a builder’s yard into something I think is pretty special.
I don’t add this entry as a “look at me” post but to show you what is possible to achieve in 20 months much of which in our case was during a drought and we had literally almost NO rain. I especially wanted to provide some inspiration to those of you who are thinking of or are in the process of building somewhere in Thailand. That disaster area that is potentially your garden once the construction team leaves can so quickly and cheaply be turned into a cool lush green haven (and heaven) if you give it some focus.
I know that many aren’t garden inclined and that’s just fine. However for others stick a couple of these before and after photos on the wall of your garden shed and it might give you that little bit of extra incentive.
Shortly after we moved in.
Two months later – hard to believe.
wanted a watery entrance to the house and built a small koi pond at the front of our outdoor living area. That saphan (bridge) leads to the front door.
And 20 months later.
Garden lighting makes this an equally attractive place to be in the evenings. With weather like we have why wouldn’t you want to be outside?
Before.
And now.
The same side looking the other way. Note the ugly water tank at the back.
And today. Gaun has built a trellis from bamboo she cut on the farm and trained bougainvillea to hide the water tanks (now two) at the back.
The other side of the house. A bit bare.
It has now improved.
The back of the house.
Every bit of space is now filled with plants.
Photo taken in April 2015.
And a few days ago.
Before.
What can I say?
Before obviously.
And that same area to the left of the sala today.
Before we moved in we covered everything with gravel. This is clay soil and deadly once it gets wet, not that it did because we had almost no rain.
Most of the gravel has now been upgraded like our entry.
This is only a half rai (800 sq metre) block of land but if you do a bit of planning you can create small areas that have different characters.
A winding path and dappled light contrasts to the open lawn area in front of the house.
that have different characters.
Views broken by greenery make it seem bigger and add interest.
We have so many butterflies and birds (plus all the bad things too!) that drop in to enjoy the garden, the latter nesting in many of our trees. I think we have more flowering plants than the rest of the village put together.
If you have a decent garden then make sure your house is a tropical design and connects and flows into it. I spend more time here than the internal living area!
Little items of interest.
Finally I give all credit to Gaun for these photos. There is nothing you see that she hasn’t planted herself. Many of the smaller plants are cuttings or grown from seeds she collected when we lived in Chiang Mai and Rai. Half the truck we hired to move us from our rented place in Chiang Mai here was filled with Gaun’s portable garden. In Australian speak “good on ya Gaun”.
And finally.
I had this print hanging in my house in Australia. When I unpacked it here I thought that it still worked as limes, margaritas and red hot chillies are all very much part of my new life here. I’ll drink to that. Cheers.
11 Dec 2016 – Christmas is not Forgotten
Christmas has arrived at 182, Moo 5, Chomphutong – yay. A brief break from boat building to get the tree up and Peng’s huge toy collection moved over from the family home. They enjoy their time with us as it gives a break from looking at the inside of a cupboard for the rest of the year. I can feel a bottle of bubbly coming on to celebrate this evening.
Do Thai’s love cuddly toys? More research needed…..or not!
What a good looking Santa’s helper.
Peng working up the energy to decorate the tree. Gaun mixed in with animals.
At last action.
But in a very slow way with Peng. “Dreamy” would cover the progress – funny because that is the total opposite to Gaun.
No Gaun. Not in the Christmas spirit – or not until later in the evening maybe!
And Gaun’s small collection is added including My Dog, for regular readers.
Spot the real person. The teddy bear in the check green overalls at the bottom front was given to me just after I was born so it is now an antique like its owner.
Very cute.
No other Christmas present needed.
And the scene at night. Very Christmas.
12 Dec – Christmas
A lot of the events I wrote about the next couple of weeks related to the boat I was building on the family farm’s pond. It was a larger project than I thought, aren’t they all, and took up most of my time. You can read about the whole project from beginning to end HERE. The end result looks like this:
The boat tied up at the dock!
Hi Tony, good read,we are having some very hot days here in Sydney, 40 in the city this weekend, bloody hot in the western suburbs,glad we live next to the beach here in Newport, Just a question about soil, did you have to bring in din dam or is the din deang good enough to grow in, it seems like the norm to just grow everything in the red soil, I think you mentioned before the Thais use rice husks dug into the soil, or some of the local animals manure, we’ll be back in Chiang Rai in June to throw in a few plants and trees on our property before the build in October….Cheers.
Hi Shane. I have been reading about the heat wave back home with interest as we will get our version Apr/May. We had six weeks over 40 last year so I can totally relate.
The soil here is mostly clay, super hard when dry and then chewing gum sticky when wet. For whatever reason it is very productive as is shown on the family farm and the growth in our garden. Stick anything into it and it just seems to grow. The rice husks are used more as a mulch rather than being dug into the soil. 5 baht for a bag. Buffalo manure is sold here but it isn’t used on the family farm. They do use commercial fertilisers on some crops as does my wife in the garden. The family use “green manure” a crop that is ploughed back into the ground, as well as rotating crops and leaving fields time to recover with no planting.
All the best Tony
Thanks for your interesting and educational blogs Tony. My wife is Thai but we live in New Zealand. All her family are still there in Thailand, Nakhon Sawan, although her mother, daughter and granddaughter have all been here. Reading and seeing your pictures helps me to relate to her family situation there. The heat in Thailand does not suit either of us too well. It is quite hot enough here at the moment too!!!
Hi Stu.
I have only been to NZ once but was impressed with its beauty and have been a keen supporter of your wine in the days I could afford it back in Australia 🙂
It is nice to hear that my blog helps you continue your connection with Thailand. The little stories tend to appeal to those who have some everyday experience of being here rather than the holidaymakers.
I totally agree with the heat. Being situated in the north we get a decent break from the fierce heat Dec/Jan but make up for it come the hot season Apr/May. I couldn’t survive it comfortably had I not built a highly insulated and cool house surrounded by lush green gardens, which help tone down the harshness outside the gates.
All the very best. Tony
Thanks for the reply Tony. Actually it is probably cooler there than in Sydney at the moment.!!!! I dont know about Global warming but it has been pretty cool here in NZ this year.About 29C the hottest it has been so far in Auckland, and only one or two days.
I did write to you once before and asked about connecting the power to my wife/daughters new house in Nakhon Sawan. My wife went over there and organised the building which was completed in 6 weeks from start to finish [try doing that in NZ} The local power company quoted my wife a ridiculous amount for one pole and one meter [cant recall the exact amount] but anyway her mother’s house is very close by, so the builder or someone just connected up to that house and left it at that. Later my step daughter [who is living in it] went back to the power company and someone came round and did the job for about a third of the original quote. I suspect that because the house is in a very small village, everyone there knew my wife was married to a Farang, and stuck the price up accordingly, or maybe because my step daughter is young and pretty??? The other thing about the new house is that my step daughter wanted EVERYTHING in terrible pink – roof, floor, walls, doors UGHH. She says it is the admiration of everyone, or maybe they cant miss it. I do wonder about Thais taste in colour schemes. The strange thing though is that that the temples are so beautiful and in harmonious colours [in general]
It certainly is. Under 30 today and well under 20 at night.
It sounds as if you escaped being ripped off with a farang price on the electricity. I was very lucky with my build and didn’t get caught on any major item that I am aware of. Good that you/your stepdaughter) got the right outcome eventually.
Yes the Thai colour schemes are a mystery especially as the more vibrate colours cost a lot more for the tinting, sometimes more than the cost of the white paint. My eyes sort of glaze over these days and I notice it less.
Glad to see alls good for you both…..really happy to hear it’s warming up as plan to fly out soon to have a serious look at locations to build a house.
we are staying in sangsean village which I don’t thinks far from you if my geography is right?
Would be good to catch up over a beer?
Regards
Chris
The nights are still under 20 but the sun daytime is starting to make you look for shade. Nothing like what’s coming April/May.
Happy to catch up when you’re here Chris. We are in Phuket 7 – 11 March and I have a two day trip to Bangkok I have to do later that month but we’ll be around otherwise.
Look forward to meeting you both.
Will be mid April Tony…..will drop you an email nearer the time.
Regards
Chris
We will be here. I will wait to hear more details later. Cheers.