Things I do not like about Thailand and Community Candy Making!

Last night I finished cleaning the viruses from Nuk and Nik's computer. The Virus definitions were two years outdated and their was a Trojan Horse that was sending information like crazy. I got it all set up and configured and it seems to work OK.

Today we took the small boat across the river. During rush hour the big boat gets overloaded, people just keep piling on, the boat gets low in the water and wallows. Nobody seems to set a limit, of course the boat has not tipped over or sunk in years, but it is a marginal experience. The boat driver will even back up the stern of the boat to the pier to pick up a few extra passengers. I have watched the boat when it is fully loaded and it is very sluggish and seems to wallow. From now on, if we are traveling during rush hour, and if the tide is not too high so that it covers the path, we will take the small boat across the river. During less busy times the large boat is fine, at least as long as the driver stays in the boat. One driver still leaves the boat with the motor running and in gear pushing against the dock. He gets out and leaves the boat. If a wave came along and moved the boat it would sail away with no driver! Of course this has not happened either. Maybe it is just my cautious active imagination.

People sometimes ask me what I do not like about Thailand. I have been thinking and it would be the lack of safety. From crossing the road to riding in Taxis, to holes in the street and sidewalk, to dangling electrical wires, there is danger. I have to remind myself to pay attention wherever I go. It is an adventure, but it does cause an extra increment of anxiety.

The other thing I do not like is the alcohol abuse. Many people in Thailand drink too much. Today at lunch there were office workers eating and drinking beer. I did a count and each person probably had three beers in a one hour lunch. I know I would not be a good worker on three beers in an hour. Drinking and driving is common. I do not read about any recognition of fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effect. From what we know in Alaska any use of alcohol during pregnancy can cause potentially severe damage to the fetus. With the amount of drinking I see, there must be FAS and FAA in Thailand. I have experience with drinking, I drank too much for many years, I know how it harmed me and my family. I see excessive alcohol use, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism with people I know and care about! At least there should be a health education effort to educate people about alcohol abuse and fetal alcohol syndrome similar to that is given to smoking. For many people alcohol use becomes a tragedy. In the end drinking is not fun, it clouds judgment, limits emotional growth, hurts families, and destroys the health of individuals. I wished there was aggressive public education about the risk of alcohol usage.

There are a million things I love about Thailand, but I wanted to answer a question that I often get.

This morning at 8:00 in the morning there were drunk people at the Klong Toey dock, coming home there were more drunk people.

At STOU today I taught people how to use the List features of Excel and consulted on some Access problems. I am advocating for creating a simple database with sample data and getting the basic features to work before getting complicated.

When we got home the community was making candy to sell for Chinese New Years. I was told that the community will take the candy to the Klong Toey market to sell. People were gathered around working, splitting coconut, cutting banana leaves, mixing candy ingredients and teasing each other. There was a squirt gun. Jit's uncle, who is over eighty, was saying "Oh My God!" the phrase caught on, it was funny. It sounded like home. Maybe there was a missionary around, they were sure not talking about Buddha.

Jit's cousin wants to sell her Uncle's land. The land is right next to Jit's old home. I do not see how we could afford it, but her cousin wants to sell the land to help her uncle in old age. The uncle is the one who's wife died. He is a good man. We are supposed to go to a celebration to mark 100 days since her death. It will be the first weekend in February.

In the distance I heard Likay being played, I thought it was a truck selling VCD's but it was the Buddha replica being moved by barge to Bangkok. The replica started its journey from Chachoengsao. I wished I had known I would have run to the small boat dock to take some photographs.

Next Monday there will be a good by lunch at STOU. There are supposed to be 15 people there. I have met some wonderful people at STOU and will miss them. In fact, when I think about leaving Thailand to go home I think about missing the people that I have met!

What do I love about Thailand, above everything else, it is the people.