Holiday in Paradise

We’ve been enjoying a school holiday since 21 December. You’d think since I live on a tropical island, less than five miles from the Andaman Sea, that I’d be spending my vacation doing exciting things like lounging on the beach or going on jungle safaris (Phuket is rife with elephant trekking, etc. operations).

But apart from a flurry of activities right around Christmas last week, and a trip to Tesco-Lotus after payday on Friday, I really haven’t left Baan Jochim during my holiday. To top it off, there are no plans to do anything tonight — New Year’s Eve — despite the fact that it is also the anniversary of my wife first being introduced to me.

The main reason for this lack of “adventure” on my part is that my wife (and son — plus the others living in our house) have all been very busy working at the temple fair in Rawai (Wat Sawang Arom, to be exact). Each day, all have been busy preparing fish balls (and, introducing, Southwestern chicken balls) along with the accompanying sauce and other condiments. It’s amazing watching them load bags of 2-inch pre-cooked morsels and huge jugs of the sauces into our “fleet” of motorbike sidecars in the late afternoon. These are further laden with the gas-operated burners (plus the stands and huge propane gas tanks), utensils, styrofoam containers, etc.

Thus, both my days and my nights have been relatively solitary up in my third-floor “compound” (the one truly “Western” — read: comfortable — area of our large shophouse). I haven’t minded too much as I’ve had plenty to occupy my time but there are times when I’ve felt bouts of loneliness. When those occur, I just remind myself of how hard Tim is working and how happy she is to be contributing to the household (she does feel guilty that we can’t get rid of the “free-loaders” and has been increasing their workload and other household responsibilities).

What have I been occupying my time with?

Safety Remains A Concern

From Bangkok Post, published 28 December 2007:

Visitor safety is one of the most serious challenges facing the Thai tourism industry, said Apichart Sankary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents. Statistics show that around half of all visitors are repeat travellers, a fact that points to the country’s attractiveness as a tourist destination.

Mr Apichart noted that the parties campaigning for the Dec 23 election focused largely on boosting tourism through marketing and developing new tourism spots, while ignoring ways to improve safety.

”In my opinion, safety is the biggest concern for the private sector because safety is the most significant reason for visitors making their decision to travel,” Mr Apichart said.

He said that when it came to attracting quality visitors, it was critical that the services meet quality expectations.

More Schools and Teachers Targeted

From Bangkok Post, published 28 December 2007:

MUHAMAD AYUB PATHAN

There were more attacks on schools and teachers in the restive South in the past year than in the previous three years, with almost 150 schools burned down and more than 20 teachers killed, according to an official report released yesterday. From Jan 1 to Dec 27, a total of 148 schools were set ablaze — 56 in Pattani, 45 in Yala, 30 in Narathiwat and 17 in Songkhla, said Karun Sakulpradit, chief of the district office in zone 12.

Twenty-six educational personnel were killed and 22 injured. These include 15 male and six female teachers and five school staff members.

Three Years After The Tsunami

From Bangkok Post, published 27 December 2007:

Thai News Agency, dpa

Thailand and Southeast Asian neighbours wracked by the tsunami three years ago marked the anniversary Wednesday with thousands of ceremonies, commemorations - and more preventative exercises.

At least 250,000 lives were estimated to have been lost in the Indian Ocean tsunami, with Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka the worst-hit.

Public and private sectors held a tsunami remembrance ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the December 26 disaster that hit Thailand’s six Andaman coastal provinces killing more than 5,000 persons three years ago.

In Remembrance: Tsunami Day 26 December 2004

Baan Jochim Christmas 2007

This is actually my third Christmas in Thailand.

In 2005, I came to Phuket in the final leg of a whirlwind December: I’d celebrated my birthday in London as the special guest for rock band Marillion ending a successful world tour, attended my favorite cousin’s funeral in New Jersey upon returning from England, and then spent a week in Oregon looking for a new house (and that excursion included attending the last show of U2’s American tour). I’d planned to move to Portland before I fell in love. Three weeks of holiday in Thailand was scheduled to help me relax prior to launching a new stage in my life. I had little idea two years ago as I spent the holiday on Kamala Beach that I within four months I would return and never leave…

Last year, we lived in an estate (Ananda Garden Hills) in southern Chalong. My wife had gone to her home province of Lamphun the week before Christmas in order to change the last name on her official ID card. She returned two days before the holiday, surprising me immensely by bringing her son from her first marriage (he’d been with his birth-dad). Christmas Eve was spent scrambling for presents; not only was it my wife’s first Christmas but it was the first time that Alex had ever received gifts of any sort; they were always too poor to give him anything on his birthdays. We spent the morning opening presents — Alex seemed more interested in the paper at first than in what was contained inside but he soon began playing with the toys. We took a stroll on Chalong Tourist Pier later that day.

We still don’t have a solid family tradition. Tim put up the tree (on our half-floor on the second storey) about a week ago while I was at work; she did a wonderful job decorating it.

This past Friday, we had several Christmas parties at my school (one for everybody following the morning assembly, a combo Christmas/birthday party — for Charlotte — in the classroom, and a gift exchange/party which was mostly the Thai teachers and four farang). As a subject teacher, I spent most of the time in my primary room (P3 Yellow) but then roamed to other classes to see my other students (which produced numerous offers of yet more food). I was surprised at how many of my students (and their parents) thought enough to give me and my family presents. Afterall, I’m still just a first-year teacher and haven’t yet really established myself to the level others have.

House-Blessing Ceremony

Although we’ve lived in our current house since April, on Sunday — in the run-up to Christmas and New Year’s — we held a blessing ceremony to bring good luck and prosperity for Baan Jochim in 2008 (2551 by the Thai calendar). Tim set out the usual offerings of a chicken (complete with neck and head), pineapple and other fruits, glasses of red Fanta and whiskey — which, ironically, we couldn’t drink until after 6PM because of the Constitutional election), and lit incense. If the sticks burnt down completely, that would mean that the blessing took and we would have our desired wishes. However, one stick remained so there is some sort of problem lingering. Such is my life…

Tsunami Memorial Services

From Phuket Gazette, published 18 December 2007:

PHUKET-PHANG NGA: To mark the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami on December 26, a number of services will be held throughout the region.

In Patong, there will a merit-making ceremony at Loma Park involving 108 Buddhist monks, along with speeches and a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims, from 10 am to 10:30 am.

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit will lead the ceremonies, which are being organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand regional office in Phuket and the Patong Municipality.

In the evening, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) is organizing a “Light Up Phuket” ceremony, where more than 100,000 candles will be lit along Patong’s three-kilometer stretch of sand.

Candles will be placed in the sand and lit between 5 pm and 7 pm while a standing vigil will be held to remember those who died.

Students from Tessabaan Baan Samkong School will perform songs and also help light cermonial candles that will be placed on the sand in Loma Park by the Minister of Sports and Tourism, Suwit Yodmanee.

In Kamala, the Phuket Japanese Association will hold a memorial service from 10 am to noon at the Kamala Tsunami Memorial next to the Kamala Beach Hotel.

In Phang Nga province, there will be a number of services throughout the day as follows:

- At the Marine Ship Tor 813, Takuapa District, at 9 am, the Phang Nga OrBorJor is arranging speeches and flower offerings in remembrance of the tsunami victims.

- At the Baan Namkem Tsunami Monument, Takuapa, from 8 am to 3 pm, there will be a multi-faith ceremony involving Buddhist, Christian and Islamic clergy, a floating boat ceremony by the moken (sea gypsy) people and a community discussion session on the topic of “lessons and problems in recovery” involving those affected by the tsunami.

- At Bang Maruan Cemetery, in Bang Muang, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm, speeches, merit-making and multi-faith ceremonies will be held.

- At Chong Fah Beach, Baan Bang Nieng, starting at 5 pm, HRH Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya will preside over a candle-lighting ceremony and the release of 5,395 lanterns in honor of the same number of people who died in the disaster. The ceremonies will include five faiths: Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu.

There will also be an exhibition of Phang Nga province’s emergency preparedness on display.

Mid-Terms

Today was the first of two days of English mid-term exams. The first “half” of Term 2 has been extremely short as we actually have a 10-day holiday over Christmas and New Year’s (rare in Thai schools). The past few weeks have been extremely difficult as we’ve also had to contend with quite a few disruptions in the school schedule such as the Thai holidays of Loy Krathong, HM the King’s birthday, and Constitution Day as well as a class field trip and various practices for Provincial Sports Day.

Govt. To Hold Quiet Tsunami Memorial

From Bangkok Post, published 19 December 2007:

(BangkokPost.com, Agencies) - The government will organise a quiet memorial to mark the third anniversary of the 2004 tsunami on Dec 26, Prime Minister’s Office Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan said Wednesday.

Khunying Dhipavadee said ceremonies will be held in six provinces hit by the tsunami, which killed about 5,400 people in Thailand.

“It will be a ceremony keeping memories alive and helping survivors to move forward,” she said, adding that five million baht will be spent on the memorials.

The main ceremonies will be held on the worst-hit beaches of Phang Nga, Phuket and Krabi, where tourism is returning to pre-tsunami levels.