Rail Travel 12.04.10

We are travelling, in two sprints, along the rail lines in Thailand, on our trip from Surat Thani to Bangkok at night and thence to Aranya Prathet which sits on the Thai-Cambodia border. The first train we booked was a sleeper, second-class, which we were told by many travellers, was a very satisfactory experience. While it was significantly better than the Vietnamese variety it was somewhat less than luxe. The linens were clean and the car quite well maintained so I should have nothing to complain about. But then I wouldn’t be me would I? The coaches seem to date back to the sixties; white-grey arborite tables and vinyl tile on the floors, square chrome legs and supports custom-designed to bark the sturdiest shin. Surfaces have been scoured, cleaned and re-cleaned until the black substrate is revealed – so while they are clean they appear quite dirty.

The night was reasonably uneventful. I took the smaller, upper bunk, hoping to be mistaken for a mensch and looking to earn brownie points or Karma. There are stiff rubberized canvas curtains that shield each occupant from the thirty or so others that share the coach in common. Please God let it be Sophie who snores loudly tonight. Note to self: upper berth’s curtains don’t go all the way up to the ceiling to block the light from the 6000 watt fluorescent fixtures, so are ideal if one likes bagging z’s on tanning tables, otherwise just a tad too bright. I am not one of your seasoned railway sleeper specialists so, just an aside to others who probably know better, when sleepers are arranged with human head to toe aligned with the length of the coach the rocking motion of the train is much more intense than when they are arranged perpendicular to the rails. I only mention this because I had noted the vertical straps attached from ceiling to bases of bed to prevent one’s rolling out during the night and smacking down a good 6 or 7 feet later onto hard floor. At the time I thought it highly unlikely that those straps would be necessary but a night at sea on the sleeper convinced me otherwise. Not recommended to those with stomach motility issues.

In the morning we woke around 6 or so and felt restless, we’d been in bunk since about 9 the night before. Soph suggested that we walk up to the dining car. Again, several people we have met in our travels said they food weas good and cheap. We had visions, or at least I did, of cutlery and china, maybe not Spode, but, you know, plates and such.

The trek was like changing channels near the mystery/horror/sci-fi region of cableville. Each car had a different and surprising appearance. We first went through first-class sleeper, which appeared to have more linen though I couldn’t really see much difference. It felt brighter and cooler in that car – I froze my ass off in ours so no points scored. Those lazy first classers were barely stirring - upper class twits to a man I say. Rubbing their eyes and making big yawning noises, blinking at the interlopers who should have had more sense and climbed alongside the outside of the car rather than disturbing them. Picture them with colourful sleeping masks with cute animals stitched into them.

We crossed the treacherous funhouse threshold to the next car, straight into a roaring, clattering Sahara. The air was stiflingly hot even though the windows were open – I forgot to check if the glass was tempered to be able to resist the blast-furnace heat. The chairs were arranged airplane style, in rows facing backwards at the rear end, then reversing to forward. The occupants had spent the entire night sitting (basting) in naugahyde recliners, no drip-pans Richard. They looked absolutely spent; with a febrile sheen to their skin - it felt like walking into a cholera ward. Many wore sunglasses because it was so bright – there were no curtains nor berths to block the blaring morning sun that shone horizontally through the car like some infinitely long explosion – which I guess it is in fact. Some clients looked at us curiously; probably few farang venture this far into the heart of darkness.

When we arrived at the dining car it initially seemed like a cruel joke. The passage seemed blocked by a wall, but it was the kitchen taking the lion’s share of the car, a narrow corridor led around a blind corner to our Eden. Well, not precisely the Biblical description; a couple of sweat-stained officers are sitting, smoking cheroots or Marlboros. One is talking in a voice so loud it would shake the windows if they weren’t already banging back and forth from the rough rails. The aforementioned arborite tables are fastened to one wall. The walls are that horrendous green that is the universal symbol for vomit. It’s the green one sometimes sees just before blacking out. We modified our imaginary order of steaming porridge or noodle soup to coffee served in mismatched chipped mugs. Still, Marj would call that an adventure.

And so we returned to our sleeper car for a few more hours before Bangkok. The early morning mists were long ago burnt off and the fields were grey and dry though everywhere the trees bore verdant foliage: palms and banana trees, jackfruit, mango and many deciduous types that seem to be cultivated in vast tracts, pin-straight and limbless for perhaps 25 feet, they stand, ordered like soldiers – a dense clump of green rests like a bearskin cap at their crests. Rainy season is still a month or so off I believe so this is the driest season and the general appearance can be summed up in one word, dusty.

Sanctuary 05.04.10

If you want to shrink something,
you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something,
you must first allow it to flourish.
If you want to take something
you must first allow it to be given.
This is called the subtle perception
of the way things are.

The soft overcomes the hard.
The slow overcomes the fast.
Let your workings remain a mystery.
Just show people the results.

Tao te Ching – Chapter 36

On the left hand corner of the modest beach in Haad Thien, on the south-eastern corner of Koh Phangnan there is a cozy little spa nestled into the age-softened boulders and coconut palms. It is chocolate-brown with a thatched roof and its rooms are open to the sea and sky. At first it seems a perfect idyll. From the various levels of the cool restaurant/bar one looks out into a lovely horseshoe bay with steep headlands of charcoal-grey rock. The trees are full of the electrical, buzzing whitenoise burr of cicadas and sharp, sometimes screechy, sometimes melodic birdsong. Occasionally you hear the moop-moop of macaques that forage invisibly in the treetops. There are many kinds of tall trees and the gardens are dense with flowers – hibiscus, amaryllis and many species I can’t name. The beach slopes comfortably to the sapphire sea as benign rollers crush themselves on the shore with a steady, soothing rhythm. The beach is mostly made of crumbly coral fragments; twigs and chunks of white coral bits – walking on it feels like it would if you walked on Lucky Charms cereal ( a LOT of the cereal). You can mould the coral duff nicely to make a meditation cushion for a bit of silent contemplation of the perfect view. The air is deliciously warm with a nice feathery breeze wafting in. Perfect. Eden.

I am reminded from time to time that my blogging has swung often to the critical side of my experience. Mea culpa. I suppose that, like the evening news, the notable, uncomfortable, remarkable things in life get the most attention. So, in an attempt at balance I will state that Thailand is simply beautiful. This won’t come as a surprise to most. But its geography and climate, its natural endowment of heart-tugging beauty and the incredible work of its people especially notable in its religious and state buildings and artistry are profoundly moving to experience. The weather has been excellent – usually a hot but not torrid 25 – 30 C and though a bit of rain might have been nice (I would love to see Bangkok during monsoon – makes me throb just to imagine it) who can complain about such perfect conditions? (besides me of course).

Sure there have been a few nasty moments along the road but that’s just pepper for the dish right? Gotta have spice to accentuate the sweet. We have met some kind and gentle souls along the way. Travel makes many people more open and sharing – of experience, consideration and advice.

In The Sanctuary, a place that offers yoga, meditation, cleanse-diets, even colonic irrigation for Pete’s sake, I anticipated a sort of Erewhon experience of good nature, openness, you know, granola gentility. Instead, from the moment we made landfall I have detected a palpable chill from the clients. Almost everyone averts the gaze as if we are all spectres sharing the same space but not the same time. It’s almost a shock I feel as the ‘cut direct’ is repeated wherever we go. (the management, a lovely German couple with a sweet, earthy little girl, are very nice). In Eden, it seems, the serpent has started to whisper. We start to theorize about this. There is negative energy here – the vibe is wrong. For one thing the layout is weird, the paths aren’t intuitively laid out and one keeps finding oneself turned around or in the wrong place. The bungalows don’t relate well to each other – they’re sort of higgledy-piggledy and face in the wrong directions. Could that be it or is it just strange chemistry. The world shows up as a mirror, perhaps we have arrived with the wrong energy. In any case, after a few days nothing changes, so it’s time to move on.

There were some nice moments at Haad Thien. We walked up to some bungalows managed by a gentle fellow. He had a tiny monkey that fastened himself to Sophie, wanting nothing at all to do with me. The owner said he only likes women. He protested with screams when he was finally pried off Sophie’s shoulder. There was a beautiful, tame hornbill that perched calmly atop structures nearby, one of the residents tossed fruit up maybe 20 feet to the bird which elegantly caught it in its long, narrow bill – a lovely ballet of sympathetic action. I created a few illustrations in coral on the beach. I am a bit starved for creative expression. The photography experience, or photo-ops as Soph calls them, is nice but I really miss my guitar and playing with friends. Live music is altogether missing here except for a strange night of Thai Blues back in Chiang Mai.

Back by Longtail to Haad Rin, the scene of Bacchanalia under the full moon, back up the serpentine coastal highway to Thong Sala in search of something that fits the soul. We don’t have a destination, just a desire for a better groove. In the taxi we meet Aly, a British woman who has spent the last three months in Haad Thien getting her yoga certification. She says that she got the same feeling about The Sanctuary; never felt comfortable there. There were a group of nice people who left, like monarch butterflies. for Bali a few days earlier and the spirit of the place sort of soured after that. So our sentiments are confirmed but not explained. She recommends a beach on the northeast corner called Haad Mae Haad - thither we go.

The beach is more generous there. Talcum powder soft. There is a coral reef that is easily accessed by a narrow isthmus that connects the village to a tiny island, Ko Mah, just 300 metres or so offshore. We splurge($30/day) on a beachfront bungalow and immediately connect with a couple who have rented the next cabin. Laughter and interesting stories form the soundtrack of a shared dinner at a delicious little eatery nearby.

So it goes. It is so difficult to know if it’s one’s personal energy or the invisible working of the Tao that flows effortlessly or not at all with an infinite array of influences. Both are one.

I am finally, after many weeks of trying, able to connect with my mom on Skype. I’ve missed her daily phone calls mightily since I left Toronto and I suspect she feels the same. Balance, loving sentiments and ease are restored. Hi mom.

Bus to Surat Thani 04.04.10

She who is centered in the Tao
can go where she wishes, without danger.
She perceives the universal harmony,
even amid great pain,
because she has found peace in her heart.

Music or the smell of good cooking
may make people stop and enjoy.
But words that point to the Tao
seem monotonous and without flavour.
When you look for it there is nothing to see.
When you listen for it there is nothing to hear.
When you use it, it is inexhaustible.

Tao te Ching - Chapter 35

Live and learn. We read in guides that many tourist agencies that arrange for bus trips in these countries are often overpromising and underdelivering. And so it was with our bus trip from Bangkok to Surat Thani on the east coast of southern Thailand. We had arranged a VIP bus which typically means comfortable chairs, air conditioning and an on-board WC. The vehicle had wheels and windows but aside from that it failed to measure up to all other specs – it had a WC but the plumbing seemed to be running the wrong direction. A sleepless, smelly, hot and stuffy bus ride may not rival the discomforts of travel in the 19th or earlier centuries but we spoiled westerners are not accustomed to really tortuous treatment. Perhaps that is overstating it a bit but, combined with the customary games of chicken that these vehicle drivers love to engage in, experiencing 12 or so hours of these privations can make one a bit testy. I wasted several hours in the wee hours plotting revenge on the travel agents who stuck us on the Beelzebub Express. I should have slept. For who profited from my anger and blame? Not I.

But, paying heed to the Tao, I am reminded to be more equanimous (this is several days after the trip so I can afford to take the long view). Small miseries make the achieved goal much sweeter I think. One wants to feel one is moving toward a special experience. This flies in the face of Buddhist teachings which tell us that living for the future or dwelling in the past are sources of suffering - one of the most difficult things to keep in balance when one is on the road, in search of adventure and meaning (and comfort), is being in the present.

When I pull up some positive memories from the ride: we passed some incredible things in the night – a tremendously large Wat loomed above us on a hillside. In the middle of the night a towering golden Buddha statue rose like some miraculous vision, high above, surrounded by inky black. A gibbous moon rose and hung over the wrinkled sea, casting down its pearly path while we sped past market stalls with intense fluorescents displaying beautiful mangoes, papayas, bananas, fish and raw meat (contrast). We passed a truck full of cattle - a few young men rode in the back of the van, swinging in hammocks or clambering up and down ladders while the truck hurtled along – probably an age-old vision here but quite striking to my eyes. Dawn found us in a flyblown bus terminal, with nothing edible on offer, at the margin of a brackish canal. There were the requisite flea-bitten dogs with running sores and spotty noses knocking each other about in the cool(er) grey-blue air. The locals were surly and not one of them could answer my hostile questions about whether our bus was a VIP one (they all lost their ability to understand English when I cornered them). For all this it was picturesque in a sort of Old West kind of way. One can choose to see character or homeliness – it’s just a state of mind. Can I perceive the universal harmony?

The day continued to go badly; after about an hour we were bundled back on to the bus and we drove for another hour and a half back up the highway to a ferry wharf. We waited there in the now-smouldering sun for another hour until a few more tourist buses showed up. This was not part of the charter we had agreed to. Positive experiences were: watching three dolphins, two of them albino, swim calmly about, hunting fish, only a few yards from the wharf. Dark, lean men cast heavy nets off the wharf to catch who knows what because the nets always came up empty. A couple of older fellows were pulling crabs out of traps, disentangling them from the webbing carefully – the moment they were free the slow-deliberate action turned into a sort of keystone cops dance as the liberated crab used all its strategies to bounce and skitter away. Fishermen 2, Crabs 0.

On the ferry at last and into the beautiful white-blue Sea of Thailand heading for Koh Samui and then our island, Koh Phangnan. The boat is crowded with 20-something kids, feckless and spoiled-looking. Ohmigod, is the island going to be crawling with such as these? I don’t dislike young’uns but these were hardcore party types, you could smell the depleted whisky/redbull fumes on their breaths. A couple of rows forward a two American-psycho lads with modern-day mullets with white Rasta dreads woven in (truly a fashion faux-pas) were showing their latest loot. One had bought a taser in Bangkok and fired it off to the great delight of their entourage – an incredibly loud, intense clicketing sound. Scary as shit. The other pulls a bowie knife with a 10 inch blade, one of those carbon-steel jobs that looks like it could skin you from a few feet away. Please God let them get off on Samui. (prayer answered).

And finally Phangnan. Pretty little island – as usual the port town ‘has character’ and we get out as soon as we scarf down some oily fried rice – first meal we’ve had in about 16 hours. We bicker with a Sangthaew driver to take us down to the tip of the island, famous for full moon parties. We have chosen to be here in the dead time but we are told that 5 to 10 thousand kids show up to the monthly vice-fest to get drunk, stoned, insane, copulated and whatever your imagination might fill in. The beach is maybe 500 meters long and the tide is high. The sea, we are told is full of horny, drunk rockers consuming vast quantities of booze from their ‘fuck-buckets’ (check Facebook for the Koh Phangnan 1 installment) and shitting and screwing in the shallow waters. Yum.

From there – and at this you might be asking yourself ‘Why? Can’t you read the signs?’ we run into the Longtail Mafia – a consortium of angry gangsta-types who will ferry you out to resorts and bungalows that are not accessible by road. They charge any price they want to perform the service and they demand what in this country is a ridiculous price. I ask a few different ones but the fix is in. Same price all around. I ask, jokingly/testily what happened to good old free-market. Unsurprisingly, no answer. In for a penny as they say. We get dropped up the island a mile or so at a bay called Haad Thien. It is lush, tropical, bohemian – sort of – and we stagger up the beach and drop our bags on the sand and our butts into a seat where we must consume our reward. Thank Buddha for fermentation and refrigeration.

Probably as good a time as any to stop this blog. I will write a few thoughts about this strange community tomorrow. It was my brother’s 60th birthday this day. I failed to connect with him but some part of him will know that I was thinking often about him. Good thoughts.

The Tao te Ching - Chapter 32 01.04,10

There is no point in adding anything to the Tao today. I find it remarkable that a book written 2500 years ago is lacking nothing in wisdom. It is unlikely that Lao-tzu used the word electron but the ancients understood on some intuitive level or through some other means of divination that the cosmos is infinitely small and infinitely large.

The Tao cannot be perceived.
Smaller than an electron,
it contains uncountable galaxies.

If powerful men and women
could remain centered in Tao,
all things would be in harmony.
The world would become a paradise.
All people would be at peace,
and the law would be written in their hearts.

When you have names and forms,
know that they are provisional.
When you have insititutions,
know where their functions should end.
Knowing when to stop
you can avoid any danger.

All things end in the Tao
as rivers flow into the sea.

Peace

Bangkok 02.04.10

There’s really no word for it. After the relative quiet of Chiang Mai – which on any given weekday is three times as busy as Toronto except during Pride Week – we’ve dropped back into ‘the shit’. If Toronto were a basketball team and Bangkok were a basketball team we’d have 20 baskets scored against us before we looked up from our shoes. It is fast, intense and complicated. At least at first blush.

The airport is world-class; meaning there are kilometres of cool, shiny corridors with beltways that ultimately arrive at shiny metal carousels where people crowd like cattle at a feeding troughs even though their bag is nowhere in sight. Ok, time to air an age-old gripe. Why do people do that? If we all just stood two paces back until our bags appeared there would be ample space for all at the carousel. Is it me? Am I just too Winnipeg? For instance, in a country where one is obliged (good idea by the way) to take one’s shoes off before entering a space (room, dining area) why do most people just step out of their shoes and leave them in the center of the stairway or doorway as a stumbletrap. Are they unaware that there are people with poor balance, bad eyesight, good manners? who recognize that a clear stairway is safer and more practical? Already I’ve digressed. I don’t have this blog roughed out so it might be a bit too fast and loose. It looks like this might be a gripey one. Let’s see.

Bangkok is a wonderful, cacophonous, complex, vibrant jigsaw of all sensory input – all dialled to 11 . Blast-furnace hot so everyone has a glossy sheen to their complexion. At night the streets bristle with neon signs and intense, white linear neon tubes that frame food vendor and market stalls. Oh, oh, Blade Runner again, or is it Dune? The colours are absolutely deluxe, to use a friend’s term. Cyan, magenta, yellow, tangerine with garish citrus green being a foundational hue. Lovely. I saw immediately that this was a treasure trove of nighttime photography. One of my first thoughts was that Shannon Wong would love this place – maybe not the cleanliness but the light – oh man. Totally Shannon. Huge billboards along the highways with unintelligible messages for what? Air con? Family values? Shampoo – I can’t tell what most of them are trying to sell. Real Estate for sure. The coloured lights play off the glossy, dark and tanned flesh in the marketplaces creating Tretchikoff fantasias that would have made my dad have to lie down and take a nap. For those not familiar with the artist – you will likely have seen his work – sort of crass, black-velvet type images of exotic brown women with cyan light limning the cheekbone or a tangerine fill dancing over impossibly beautiful cheekbones, the dresses are Thai-baroque sarongs of teal and gold. Alastair was a fan.

Once we oozed out of the airport bus into the filthy, greasy Thunderdome streets of Khaosan Road we drifted along, trying to align with the vibe. Young road warriors with massive rasta locks, loose Thai trousers and gauzy cotton tops. White dudes in sarongs, complex tattoo work everywhere covering significant acreage on their bodies. Laughter and adventure are in their eyes and on their faces. Their bodies poised for the impossible promise of a night in Bangkok. So that’s what?... Matrix 2 – just start the right beat and everyone will launch into a tribal groove. The path is narrow on this wide street because the vendors nudge all the way in. Food, t-shirts, wigs, corn-row and braiding, Thai massage (what a surprise!), sunglasses etc. are offered. The buildings are alive with crowds of Europeans and Aussies gulping down Singha and Leo beer at 80 baht per bottle. Perfect, slender Thai girls in skintight sheaths with brewery logos on them are enticing the passersby to sample.

The theme music of Bangkok would be Madonna – we hear her everywhere. The Queen of lurid, fetishist sex with a chaser of material consumption. The concepts seem hardwired into Bangkok’s urban microcircuitry. The next morning outside our hotel; soft strains of Ludwig Van’s Moonlight Sonata seems an unlikely choice at first but it sort of seems oddly right for the post-coital spunk of the place. Soon things start to wind up again, through cheesy classics by Dolly Parton through Kenny Rogers and on to some CW artists I am not familiar with. The Buddha bar lounge doesn’t catch fire until late afternoon. Like Caban: musical form = function.

Tuk-tuks and motorcycles nudge their way into the narrow soi outside our hotels, adding their funk to the morning clarity. Vendors stalls unfold like ungainly insects stretching their wings in the morning sun. One gets the sense that you could buy anything. Anything. In Bangkok – if you had enough money. Rent boys vogue along the margins of the road. Callipygian B-Girls walk with rolling gaits, striking the pose from time to time.

The river is the backbone of the city. It is a generous meandering waterway, perhaps 300 metres across. Chocolate brown and dotted with floating debris and excrement it winds easily through the megalopolis. It visits the more famous Wats and Temples. Narrow Klongs or canals extend laterally like ribs to permit smaller boats access into neighbourhoods not immediately adjacent. There are crocodiles in these calm waters, and children swimming and playing. ????????? There is a fantastically efficient bus system of ferries that operates through the river that is by far the best way of travelling through this part of town. 13 Baht to get on makes it a fantastic bargain. That’s about 40 cents and you can take it for miles. There are also immense black barges that look like something straight out of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ they are about three stories tall and half a city block long, chained together like some Bratwurst sausage with a thyroid condition. They would be packed with a royal household’s belongings and folded into space in that novel, don’t know where they’re going in this one.

Walking through a Chinese Market that specializes only in fabrics, trinkets and accessories (plastic jewellery). It is perhaps half a kilometre long. Though technically it is a laneway or soi the entirety is covered with a patchwork of tarpaulins and plastic sheets. Now and again some ancient pushes a fruit or ice cream wagon straight into your thigh. One has the sense of being indoors, so when a young fellow on a motor scooter nudges past on the sardine-packed aisle, parting it begrudgingly like the Red Sea it is a bit of a shock. You will find images of this and other experiences on my facebook page in the days to come. I am woefully behind in my postings but I assure you, the material has been recorded.

Late in the afternoon we have taken a taxi to the Baiyoke II – the CN Tower of Bangkok – its tallest building with a down-at-heel revolving promenade on top. It’s full of us turistas who have spent 200 baht( $7) for a look and a lousy drink on the 82nd floor. The sun sets over this extremely sprawling beautifully polluted city. The orange light cools rapidly to grey-blue and as the light from the relentless sun dims the pinpricks of light from the city flare and rise to add new linearity and geometry to the city below that descends from orange to grey and then to ivory black.

So back to Khaosan Road. We have to plead with a Tuk-tuk driver who doubles the rate because no one wants to drive all the way back downtown. Bangkok is both super-modern and ancient. It is a melange of ultra-poor and uber-rich. The ride back is kind of unworldly to a north-American. Such a tapestry of contrasts of light, activity, streetlife and functionality. It doesn’t parse to my mind at least. But I have to admit, it works for them. Back in Khaosan Road, the mecca of young, western tourists, we see a beggar couple – he is blind, singing sweetly to the tunes of a sort of boombox hung over his neck, he sometimes toggles through tunes, creating a weird mashup of unrecognizable songs – is he seeking the right vibe or is he taking a station break? We have seen this same couple miles away so we assume they have a set pattern of begging and we happen to have mirrored their map. I give him 20 Baht which apparently is significant because it occasions a profound thank you from his accomplice – an old woman who guides him through the throngs by holding his shoulder and thus instructing him to slow, speed, veer to starboard or port.

On our next night stumbling along Khaosan Road we have a completely different take. Is it familiarity, bad beer or does it change every night? In any case, we are on to the islands of south Thailand – eastern side. Will it be restful or just another scam. Guess. I am already there.

There are more tales from day 2 in Bangkok but these will be the stuff of future blogs.

Saibadee Kraph! (Good day from a male)

Energy 01.04.10

We were discussing the political situation in Thailand today with a woman who owns a beautiful little shop in Chiang Mai.

When I first stepped into the store she had her back to me. I made a little sound to alert her to my presence and she spun around, a bit surprised. She looked me up and down quickly and said ‘Richard?’ I thought perhaps she was expecting some fellow named Richard – I’ve been mistaken on a couple of occasions with my friend Richard Peachey but I didn’t think this was likely in Chiang Mai. I replied that I wasn’t Richard. ‘No.’ She said, pointing to the red bandana that I sometimes wrap around the band on my cheap Viet hat, ‘Red shirt’. She was teasing me, suggesting I was one of the protesters that are demonstrating in the streets of Bangkok. The redshirts support an exiled corrupt leader and the yellow shirts support the current administration.

This started a conversation about politics, the economy, ethics and Thai people – as well as a few reflections on how that compared with Canadian experience. Though there is a sensitivity to speaking about politics and such she was very thoughtful and candid. She sold new and antique materials that were particular to her part of the country – the north-east. The store was arranged in a tastefully cluttered fashion with small surprises to be found everywhere. We enjoyed poking around, having conversations about this piece or that, listening to her describe its provenance or significance or her attachment to it.

Sophie has pointed out to me that there is a different type of Buddhism being practiced in Thailand as opposed to Vietnam. One feels that there is something different but it is not entirely clear from the casual observer. Each country has a different architectural aesthetic so one might assume that that explains the difference in their temples or their choice of decoration. I ain’t no specialist and I am not going to get into it here. If you want more information ask Soph or pick up a book.

But there is a different energy here in Vietnam and it might be attributable to the people’s religious beliefs and customs though it certainly won’t be that simple. Vietnam and Laos have experienced the shock of a devastating war or wars, Thailand has not.

In Vietnam the citizens would offer propitiations to Buddhas, Boddhisatvas and ancestors for good luck (to the casual westerner observer there seems to be a lot of idol worship in SE Asia). There are enormous temples with relics and monumental statues to Buddha and other figures as well as urns or containers for the remains of ancestors. Incense is burned everywhere and fake money is put to the torch everywhere as well. At first I thought women were selling lottery tickets but they are selling sort of replica money that one buys to throw on the flames in some gigantic censer or cauldron. The effort, I understand, is to buy favour from the gods or powers that be. In other words – and I am simplifying – money is the ticket – make it, spend it and use it to fashion a smoother path in this world and the next.

In Thailand – once again I offer a disclaimer of my ignorance that I speak the truth with any degree of accuracy, these are assumptions and gleanings from my being here – there seems to be a strong historical underpinning of animist religion that has fused itself with Buddhist practice. Everywhere, as in Vietnam and Laos, there are small structures or replica houses where each home owner or business owner places a mango and a vial of some sweet wine or drink, perhaps a circlet of fragrant flowers, candy or some other perishable for the spirits that dwell within or thereabouts. Up on the mountain in Doi Enthanont, south of Chiang Mai I watched as a mature soldier in full uniform, stepped up to one of these structures, placed some delicacies on the shelf, stood back and prayed quietly and with great focus. I am sure this is a universal experience in Thailand but to my eyes, the military garb and the silent, spiritual commune seemed incongruous but lovely. The Thais often greet or say goodbye with hands held in a prayer gesture - compared to our lives there is much more presence of attention to the spiritual or divine. Useful.

At the temples there is much less torching of money, I get the sense that a difference between the two forms of Buddhism may have to do with relating good action with karma as opposed to buying favours from the Gods (Catholics and divine intercession.) In our experience the Thais seem a little less interested in stripping you of cash. Perhaps it relates to their more evident immersion in spiritual practice. In animist belief that the world replete with invisible energies and spirits. One ignores them at one’s peril. There is spirit in all things; for instance, the relationship of certain geographical features will generate the construction of a Wat or temple. (this is also true in Vietnam). There is also a strong influence of Hinduism in Thailand – the magnificent Royal Palace in Bangkok has a staggeringly long mural that depicts many of the stories in the Ramayana epic. (check my spelling) Which makes the whole understanding of their religion difficult – I thought Buddhism was mostly like the precepts of the writings of Buddha that I have read. Attention the material and worship of objects seems opposite that that kind of thought. Anyone who would care to enlighten me on this subject is more than welcome.

When walking through an exhibit of the history of Chiang Mai I was struck by how much attention the founders paid to site selection. Did anyone scout around near Washington D.C. looking for a particular relationship of hills, rocks, water and indications from the Gods or did they just build a jail next to a bar and then later a courthouse to deal with the mess? In Chiang Mai the Ping river curves around nicely, affording practical defense. The Doi Suthep mountain rises precipitously in the west – a good sign apparently. They built their largest and most important Wat at the navel of the square city they designed. One negative feature was the relationship of the northeast gate to the environment – so they dug a mighty hole and redirected a stream to form a like which solved the evil spirits problem. Very Feng-Shui neh? And it seems to have worked. Chiang Mai has led a sort of charmed existence from all accounts. I think I heard that their river changed direction at some point. I need to find out more about that.

The streets of Chiang Mai seems quite safe, we have wandered nearly deserted streets late at night and there is no creepy sense of danger. Perhaps a tranny hooker at a corner shoots a quizzical look but nothing more – he still huskily offers directions to our street, wobbling just a bit on those stilettos. So is there a greater harmony of Tao energy here? The only really negative aspect is the presence of western males prowling about the busier streets and seamy bars. But it’s time to go. Off to Bangkok by air.

The Johns of Chiang Mai - no particular date

A few portraits of fellows seen on Moon Mueng Street - denizens of the meetup bars.

Deep wrinkles – the signature of a life of sun-worship. Walnut-coloured kopf, steel-rimmed spectacled German lone wolf. Graven expression of dissatisfaction might just be a ‘don’t even think of talking to me’ face. Heavy-lidded water-coloured eyes looking at the back of his skull. Grey, freshly brushcut hair. Hunched over his boiled potatoes and sausage, rolling his jaws like a ruminant, drawing slowly, continuously on his Marlboro with jaundiced fingers of his right hand.

Grizzled, ectomorphic Brit with a half-hearted comb-over that hovers like a chinook cloud above a corduroy brow. Sucking unconsciously on his snaggly, ancient-ivory teeth, nursing a Chang beer. Legs crossed prissily, leaning capaciously back, looking for all the world like a failed playboy – David Niven era. Armpits hooked around the chair back. Thousand-yard stare that occasionally snaps to a saccadic tracking of a nubile Thai girl passing by. The faint lip-curl; is that ennui or disapproval or is he a woman-hater looking for a woman he can hate?

Angry Cockney in a morning cafe with his cronies. 60-somethings. He with a once-upon-a-mullet. Long, stringy kinked hair to his shoulders. What’s missing is the roof - something reminiscent of a Bozo the Clown tonsure rises like a feathery grey-brown flame above his shiny pate. He has a large hook nose and deepset eyes, looking for all the world like Fagan might have - except tanned. He has a serpentine vein bulging on the right side of his towering brow, pulsing in the warm, golden morning light on Ratchamakan. Gigantic eyebrows flex and wave as he talks angrily to his mate – two peas in a pod, these fellows. Every second word is ‘fuck or fucking’ but he’s not talking about conquests, he’s angry about some compatriot who has bagged his broad. ‘Fuck ‘im, ‘e can ‘ave ‘er if ‘e wants ‘er!’ Lots more where she came from.’ Though he broadcasts his voice for at least 20m he hunches forward conspiratorially to his friend, looking up regularly to see if he is being overheard. When a tiny young girl; perhaps five years old, who clearly knows him, appears, he changes his demeanour altogether, smiling and teasing the child, passes her some small money – brings out an instinctual reaction of fear and aggression in me.

Baggy-eyed dissolute American, 50-something and the same number overweight. Glistening with sweat and breathing audibly though he his only effort in the past 5 minutes has been raising a glass. He sits in a nook next to the bar, tucked into a little niche where he can watch but is not easily seen. His shirt is stained from perspiration under his arms and near the folds of his gut. Three-button poly-knit striped golf jersey circa 1985. He sits drinking doubles of Jim Beam, scratching his thready scalp in abstract contemplation – of what? His face is the colour of smoked salmon, three-day growth. He occasionally tries on Archie Bunker grimaces to no one, clearly carrying on an internal dialogue; with mother, wife or super-ego?

Younger American leaning hungrily or angrily towards a homely, pudgy Thai woman. Heavily tatted arms, wearing a grimy white wife-beater. Burn-victim eyelids with no eyelashes, like he got caught in a tank in Afghanistan or something blew up in his face. His face doesn’t quite work correctly but I can’t decide what’s wrong. Not enough muscles working? He has a sort of frozen rictus - may be an attempt at a smile. He’s gesturing much too aggressively with his hands and arms, leaning in from time to time as if to head-butt her - so the face and the body-language don’t match. When he laughs it’s more like the bark of a fox. She is forced-smiling, trying to appear to enjoy his conversation – her fingertips play softly on the top her bottle of beer but I suspect she doesn’t understand much of what he says. She nods or answers monosyllabically from time to time. She is turned ever-so-slightly away as if she is prepared to bolt if something lights his fuse.

These men have travelled a very long distance for cheap sex – assuming they don’t get ripped off. Western society doesn’t accommodate the needs or wants they have. Sex is dirty, sinful, forbidden where they come from. In truth one can purchase sex anywhere on earth. So what is the reason they’re here. Is Thailand the Zellers of the sex world? Are they far enough off-radar that they feel safe? There are very many sixty-something lone-wolves here – one wouldn’t describe them as happy-go-lucky types. Do they come here to retire and drift around, spending their mean budgets on an occasional rub and tug?

What is the legacy of this? Thailand must owe a significant percentage of its GDP to the working women who perform their services for the comfort and pleasure of Western males. What do the young Thai males think? Is the famous Thai smile an endangered artifact?

Khabkun Kraph.