Yuan and Lud’s son Game pours the water. Gaun’s older sister Paed on the left.

The white wrist string was exchanged all round for good luck. Peng getting hers.

I have never seen the three elder sisters together to take a photo. There are seven children, five daughters, two sons and no ladyboys. Gaun is the second youngest. Here Noy, the eldest on the left, Yurt the second eldest and then Paed fourth in line.

My turn.

Peng gets a thank you wai from one of her nieces. One of my favourite all time photos.

Meanwhile outside Guna’s eldest brother Jun runs a casino every year.

Only semi-legal at Songkran with small donations made to the local police orphans and widows fund! Many play for ten or twenty baht like Yuan and Lud but others put down more serious money. If Yuan runs out of money she just borrows from Jun with no repayment expected. She keeps the winnings 🙂 If Jun is making money, which he always seems to, he buys beer and food. Even I get beer and I never play! I have received half a dozen bottle the last two days.

Yuan’s husband Lud.

16 Apr 2018 – Another Buddha Ceremony

I wanted to visit my favourite local temple Wat Pha Silawa for a Buddha washing ceremony. This is a simple and serene forest wat about ten minutes from home. If I was to become a monk this is the place I would base myself. The abbot Pu Yow is a warm, friendly man and his temple is disciplined with immaculate presentation. Most of these photos were taken in an area covered with a green shade cloth, which is why the colour is a bit odd.

The leftovers from an earlier Songkran party, which obviously catered for the local kids!

The outside Buddha shrine.

A open roofed structure surrounded by mature trees. I think the Buddha would far prefer this sort of environment than the huge, ostentatious, if spectacular, temples you see on the tourist agenda. Note all the fresh flowers, which are always on display in this temple. Compare that to so many others that ether have nothing or offer some dusty plastic ones!

Candles and incense offerings. Everything just left out – make a donation if you want.

This is the Ubosot building where monks are ordained and more formal ceremonies are conducted.

Usually closed to the public the abbot here has been kind enough to invite me to use it for meditation sessions. It is these sorts of acts of generosity that makes an “outsider” like me feel more connected and involved.
We arrived at the midday chanting with lots of mini-monks in attendance, school kids who become a monk for the holidays.

Gaun pouring water on the Buddhas.

You can see what a wonderful shaded place this is.

Using a Dok Khun branch (the bright yellow flowered tree this time of year) to sprinkle water of the many Buddhas.

The other smaller public area. An open building again so that the view of the simple Buddha shrine can flow into the surrounding trees.

One of the entrances to the wat. If you were feeling stressed you’d get an immediate benefit seeing an inviting path to the temple like this.

This mostly timber building is typical of most forest (Pha/Pa) wats. It is used for larger ceremonial occasions.

On the way home we called into another wat to check out the sandcastle competition. Famous wats from around Thailand or maybe just someone’s imagination!

This one would get my vote.

I have written before about this temple where the sandcastles were made. It is one of my favourites and obviously other people’s as well.

So another Songkran comes to an end. Yesterday finished with a big street party in our village and ended with a family Isaan BBQ buffet. It has been a wonderful mixed time with parties, Buddhist ceremonies, water fights and family occasions including a wedding. To friends and family be quick and book your room at the Eastmead/Vansutha estate for next year.

Three little insights to the street party yesterday.

ONE: The government wanted a strong traditional Thai theme to Songkran this year, which is why, if you were here during this period, you may have seen more people in this sort of outfit than in previous years. Gaun tells me this is a Bangkok traditional dress, not Isaan. I won’t cover the street party as I have done it all before.

Gaun and Yuan.

TWO: Our village is a bit stingy when it come to throwing a party. The local “council” is dominated by older people so noisy, fun stuff sometimes gets pretty muted. This year the youngsters decided enough was enough and they got together to kick in 200 baht each and hire a HUGE music truck for the street party, playing their sort of music. The old folk are still recovering! Funny.

Yuan and Lud.

THREE: An elderly lady across the road from mama’s house is very sick. Normally the party would come down the road outside her place but this year it was moved to another street so that she wasn’t too disturbed by the noise. Now that’s how living in a community should be.

And tonight. I suggested a buffet this morning and offered to put in some money.

Suggest something involving food to an Isaan person and the world moves to make it happen. In typical “normal” behaviour the family didn’t just expect the farang to kick in. Jun, Gaun’s elder brother put in 1,000 baht as did his daughter and Yuan contributed 500 baht. This photo is a mix of family living in the village, their kids who are back for Songkran and Jun and his family who work in Bangkok.

I couldn’t think of a better way to start the new year than with a group of people like this. Top quality, decent folk who have made a farang one of their own.

Thanks for reading.