Quintessentially Isaan (Photos)

[Drunk Monkey]

Could be a YTS Trainee ...

[Niggly]

I think that’s more likely to apply to the person who didn’t know which way up to hold the camera

[Barney]

And it’s got a headlight for night shift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[parrot]

We went out to visit friends in a small village a few km from Nongharn central today. The husband/wife, both 55ish, exemplify the idea behind the sufficiency economy (เศรษฐกิจพอเพียง), as defined by me, living within your means.
They have 2 cows, 8 rai of hand-planted rice, a fish pond, chickens, and a veggie garden. They also have a son in Bangkok who helps them out and a daughter who has been working in Taiwan for a few years with her husband. They live comfortably, but frugally. They get a freebie bag of goods from the government each month, but rarely use half the items.
While eating our chicken lahb/soup and homegrown veggies over homegrown rice, the wife turned on the fan. I've seen this brand of fan before, but only today realized that it's the guts from a ceiling air conditioner.

We talked with the monk in the village for a bit......he's 35ish, chewing a fat wad of betel nut. I took the photo because it made me think of my years in the Air Force.......offices where we would usually display a photo of the current president. I wondered what the reaction would have been had we, say in 2018, displayed a photo of President Obama or say in 2021, displayed a photo of the former one instead of President Biden.

Finally, on our way to the village, I pulled up alongside this double tractor truck, full with a load of timber. Perhaps someone saw the same truck later in the day with its load dumped on the side of the highway?

A visit to the village......chicken soup for the soul

[parrot]

I've been to lots of car washes in/around town, but Kilo 19 offers the best bang for the buck. Spic and span in and out and no lingering water to muck things up when you drive away. While I was there today, a farmer drove up in his well-worn 'truck' to change out the rear wheels (double duty shop ปะยาง/ล้างรถ). While he was waiting, smoking a hand rolled cigarette, I peppered him with questions, among them: How many kilos of tapioca can your vehicle carry? 3 tons Does he own his own farm? yes, 7 rai Does he make money growing tapioca? some years, yes/some, no. Does he ever smoke manufactured cigarettes? Rarely, too expensive. How many horsepower does the engine have? 14 (3-ton loads!)
While I was looking over his truck, I noticed what I thought was a tukay stuck in one of the headlights. Upon closer look, it was a glove, tucked in to hold the headlight in place.
I don't know if there's a Henry Ford kind of story to the Etan truck, but I'd imagine the list of options when you buy one is short.

Back a few days ago at the temple in Nonghan, I took the photo of some wiring in the temple fence.......handily protected against the elements with an empty water bottle. It reminded me of my visit to the Ban Chiang temple next to the museum.....years ago, with the American son and daughter of a Voice of America worker. Despite living in Thailand, they were pretty isolated in their VOA compound (now BB Resort) and didn't mingle much with the locals. As I was showing them how Thais put the cremated remains of family members into an opening in each fence post.........I suddenly realized that every jar in every nook was a Nescafe Gold jar.......distinguishable by the gold lid. None of those red-lid Nescafe jars for the village's deceased......they were buried in style!

[Drunk Monkey]

Here In years gone by certain events were celebrated whilst others not .. enter Halloween .. like Christmas and Walentines day it has become widely acknowledged as an excuse to dress up n party .. even in rural Isan it seems these events are now taken as the norm.. so

Happy Halloween and enjoy your trick o treating ... just a heads up watch out for some of the costumes they can be scary , VERY scary as proven below with this snap taken in Soi Samphan this morning.



DM

[Barney]

I’m sure he that Beatles song going through his head.
It’s bin a hard days night.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[parrot]

I was out doing a stroll through a small village outside of Nonghan a few days ago. I thought this fence improvisation helped explain why most Thais are reluctant to throw things away.

[bluejets]

I spotted this worker at the statue circle, cutting through the asphalt with a ?24"? gas powered blade, in his bare feet, no goggles, no gloves, no hat, no flip flops even. His trustee assistant was wetting the blade with water as the cutting took place. I've been here long enough to know that safety isn't a priority in most lines of work......but this shocked me enough that I parked about 400m up the road and walked back to take a photo. t.i.t.

You were probably in a more dangerous position than he was as far as I can see.

[parrot]

When city slickers visit our home, one of their first questions is "Do you have snakes?" (second question: "Are there ghosts?")
Sometimes I'll show off the photo of the yellow kraits mating in our back yard, or the big python we caught (and released) a few years ago, or the cobra that spit in our dog's eye (the cobra didn't win). Today during my morning chores in the yard, I came across this freshly shed skin.........no sign of the snake, but my wife tells me it's a rat snake.......so they're the good kind.
The good news about snakes is they don't disturb the noise levels in the yard......unlike a yapping dog or noisy motorcycle. Today's noise level 47db

[parrot]

Somebody goofed!
Seen while slurping our favorite duck soup, Nong Saang, kilo 21 on the way to Nongwahsaw.

[mak]

Jesus has left the building.
Our local hotel is for sale.

[pepesgrill]

maybe it's spanish hey-zoos

jesus home hotel. never tried it but recall name

[parrot]

I wanted to stop in there on Christmas Day just to see if He was there.

[parrot]

I can do a noodle slurp most any day.....even a few times a day. But nothing beats a jumbo bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup (prepared the old fashion way) on a pleasantly cool day. I've tried most all the beef noodle shops in/around Udon but keep going back to old faithful......about 150m before the mosque on Srichomcheun Rd.....just shy of 26 years.

[parrot]

Sorry, I don't have a photo to accompany this short story:
This morning, while finishing up a bowl of corn flakes (still 94 baht after all these years) and my cuppa, our handyman showed up for some tile work. I greeted him and asked if he'd like some corn flakes and coffee. "No thanks," he said, "I just finished up a plate of crickets and sticky rice."

[parrot]

I unfortunately do not have a photo.....but I'll guess that most of you have seen the same sort of thing.
This morning on the way to the Nongwahsaw market, my wife and I were talking about the subway shooting in New York City. We passed a man on a bicycle, holding a long machete in one hand. Ops normal for Thailand.....but most people would be calling the police if they saw the same in the US.

[nmcd1649]

Hi Mr Parrot..do you happen to have a picture of outside of the Vietnamese Noodle shop on Srichomcheun Rd...to help guide me there...many thanks..

[parrot]

Hi Mr Parrot..do you happen to have a picture of outside of the Vietnamese Noodle shop on Srichomcheun Rd...to help guide me there...many thanks..

https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E0%B ... 02.7858081

With the jailhouse on your right as you head toward Srichomcheun.....turn left at the light (4-way intersection) onto Srichomcheun. The noodle shop is about 50m from the corner on your left. Brieo, the 35ish year old daughter, works there when she's not at the airport. She speaks English.

[Shado]

... We passed a man on a bicycle, holding a long machete in one hand. Ops normal for Thailand.....but most people would be calling the police if they saw the same in the US.

That reminds of an incident that happened with me a couple of decades ago. We have a home in rural Missouri and deer hunting is an annual event for many of the folks there. Hunting the Ozark forests doesn't often offer long shots due to the rolling terrain and plethora of brush and trees. Consequently, many local hunters including myself, carried a center-fire pistol for close shots when a rifle would be awkward to get into position.

One particular Saturday I was hunting in the morning but had to make a trip to my bank to complete a money transaction before they closed at noon. About 11:00 I decided to head into town and take care of things. Arriving at the bank I hopped out of the SUV and walked into the bank lobby still wearing my camo and deer hunting safety vest. Without realizing it I also had a Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum and a razor sharp skinning knife strapped to to hips. I filled out a transaction slip, went to teller's window and completed the transaction and moseyed back to the SUV. Only then did I realize that I was still fully armed and not one person in the bank said a word about it. Apparently, it wasn't all that unusual.

Of course, the bank employees knew me and I imagine I wasn't the only person who had accidently done it but I seriously doubt that I could pull off the same thing these days. The lobby camera or other safety features would have probably alerted the bank employees before I made three steps into the bank. The bank camera may be automatically monitored by the police station/sheriff's office as well.

I apologize for going off topic but Parrot's post brought back something I hadn't thought about for 20 years or more.