Breathing in breathing out.: The King's Birthday and other delights.

Friday December 5th King's Birthday.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the the world's longest reigning monarch and is 87 this year. He has reigned since 9 June 1946. A remarkable innings considering there have been 20 attempted or successful coups during his reign.
He has been much loved by his people and with good reason. Though he did not chose to rule, but was required to by the death of a relative, he has been an intelligent and compassionate promoter of significant initiatives. Throughout Thailand there are "King's Projects" in areas of agriculture, science, renewable energy etc. which benefit not only Thailand but other countries as well. Whatever ones views of monarchs, he like Elizabeth II has done his best to do a decent job, as I see it, and I am no monarchist, especially for Australia.

Now hear this.

No school on Thursday was ceremonies and entertainment before lunch and cleaning the place after lunch. We assembled in the large hall and in threes signed messages of respect to the king, there were speeches and the headmaster in smart tailored yellow jacket droned interminably. The students responded with mutual disrespect, drawing on oneanother's backs or just talking. Like the captain of an aircraft carrier sailing through a flotilla of canoes he drove his trail unaware of the casualties to respect or learning.

Backing up the speech.

Not like they look in class.

Likely lads.

The students entertained, charmed and amused. The dancers of both genders looked very grown up in traditional make up and costumes. The event is difficult to describe in words but was a series of rich pictures.
Old mate Tarn excelled himself.


Talented Tarn

Spiritual Foundations.

On Tuesday the excuse for missing classes was that the new school building was to be blessed/protected from and by the spirits or commenced or foundation stone equivalent laid, or whatever. Unfortunately I have no photos.
A marque was set up on the building site, teachers and senior students attended and the head honcho from either the Education Department or the province of Non Khai (I could not find out which) came along decked in a haircut which was half shaven and half comb-over; sort of post prime punk. The village spirit man took a bamboo fish trap about a meter and a half long and stuffed it with leaves, branches, rice, money and some papers. This was secured to the nine or so long meter reinforcing rectangle for the first column and a second trap for the second minor column. Cotton thread was attached to the far end top of the steel reinforcing structure, teachers and students held the symbolic cotton raising rope and twenty workmen with arms and sticks pushed up the column after the head man had lit candles, muttered incantations and bowed profusely. This was an animist ceremony, without a Buddhist monk in site. What the students were learning, both in both the visible or hidden curriculula
I have no idea.

Exotic Market.

A market appears Sundays several kilometers from here where traders from the nearby jungle mountains of Laos and and Thai buyers deal. There is the usual swag of clothes, mostly for women, with "sports clothes" club jerseys and track pants for men and food along with seriously dubious jungle fauna and flora. Jayne and I have watched documentaries horrified, about these places where endangered species trade evades the eyes of officials, even though there were immigration and police people around. Rows or rats might not look appetizing to us, but racoons and squirrels and other items were confronting. The shopkeepers brushed them with damp tissues either to convey they were fresh or keep them alive. There were grills of unintelligible offal which looked as if someone had confected them to conscript vegetarians or instantly convert carnivores into anorexics. But what the pics never convey are the aromas, amazing, assaulting and astonishing.