Building a "Longboat"

I was walking along the lake shore and came across a boat being built that must be 50 feet long (at least!).  I guess they use these boats to race at certain festivals around the country.

Old trees near the lake

Here are some old trees growing near the lake.  See the vines that wrap around the tree.  The last picture is of Mango trees.  When there are lots of people at the beach they can park under these trees for shade and in the spring the trees produce tons of fruit.  Win/win.

The lake

I have been visiting this lake in Northeast Thailand near the Laos border. The lake is near a city called SeKa.  I can come here anytime I want.  It is 4 1/2 hours buy bus from Udon.  What a beautiful spot.  They have jet skis, inner tubes for floating.  The water is pretty clean.  The shop is under construction. The shop will sell drinks, food, grilled fish etc.  There is a foreigner that has several bungalows nearby.  I can stay there for about $12 per night.  His bungalows are situated on a lake front property as well. 

Lotto anyone?

There are dozens of people that walk or bicycle the streets with these boxes full of lottery tickets.  There are a few shops that sell the lottery tickets also. I think these tickets cost between 100 and 200 baht or about $3 to $6.  That is a lot for a Thai who earns $6 per day on average.  This lady was in the bus station and I talked to her briefly before I boarded my bus.  If I bought a ticket I would not really know where to check to see if I had won..

Charcoal mud hut

They make charcoal from wood everywhere here.  They simply build a mud hut, fill it with wood and start it on fire then seal the mud hut closed. I see no charcoal briquettes here just the real wood charcoal.

Thai cross country buses

I have been traveling a lot on the bus system lately.  Every bus has a driver and one or two people that assist the driver, handle baggage and take fares.  The whole process is very interesting to watch.  First of all the number one priority to find as many riders as possible.  They actually hop off the bus at major stops and try to convince people to ride. I was also on a bus and sat directly behind the driver.  I noticed a huge can in front of me and realized that the air intake and filter were inside the bus, behind the drivers seat and in front of me.  It was a really old bus.  There was no air conditioning and they never closed the door during the whole 5 hour trip.  The assistants walk through the bus taking fares after they have picked up passengers.  Sometimes the bus is so full I can not help but wonder how they know who just got on and who owes a fare.  All the money collected is carried back up to the driver where he puts it in his pocket. Hummm.... They will pickup anybody on the road that sticks their hand out even if there is no bus stop nearby.
More about Thailand

Elephant visits

These guys bring this elephant around every now and then.  The last time they came by we washed the elephant.  He can get aggressive.  He wants 2 or 3 pieces of sugar cane at once.  I paid about 60 cents for a pack of sugar cane to feed to the elephant.

My friend Sue and her shop

Sue is a neighbor of mine.  She and I help each other out from time to time.  I watch her dog when she is out of town and sometimes drive her to the bus station or pick her up.  We watch out for each other.  She owns a dress shop at the UD Bazaar in town.  Here are a few pictures of her shop.  Her shop is named after her dog. She has some beautiful clothes there.
See Sue when we went fishing.  She caught 2 at once.
http://enorman-thai.blogspot.com/2009/12/fishing-got-double.html

The pickup buses and the students

I have been taking the pickup truck/buses in the mornings and afternoons for the past week or so.  The "dance" between the students and the drivers of these pickups is somewhat entertaining.  The pickup truck drivers are VERY agressive in the morning and afternoon school rush.  It is obvious that a good portion of their income comes from the student/worker rushes.  The students only pay 1/2 fare or about 5b (15 cents) to ride.  They can cram over 20 students onto a truck and may fill the truck up a couple times on a trip through town if they time the school dismissal with their route.  What is funny to watch is that the students will stand around on the side of the road and ignore the driver.  The driver knows they are going and really get frustrated when the kids won't board their truck.  Sometimes they wait for an empty truck so a whole group can ride together.  Other times the students will walk to the side of the road and just stand there while the driver waits.  Then another truck pulls up behind him and the kids board that one.  The drivers will also "leap frog" one another to get ahead and grab riders.  If one truck stops others will race ahead of him.  Wow.  If they can cram 20 -25 kids on board they collect about $3 to $4.50 for the trip.  Here are some pictures.  Notice all the kids riding on the back on the step and how some trucks are low to the ground from the excessive load.  The numbers on the trucks indicate different routes.  I ride the #6 most of the time.

Problems in Udon Thani

I have seen a few rallies in the area before but never any violence. This area of Thailand has a Strong Red Shirt following. Yesterday after the break down of the Red Shirt demonstrations in Bangkok we saw a smoke plume come up from the downtown area of the city (Udon). Unfortunately Uefa (8 years old) was still at school near the center of the city. His mother was afraid to go get him. So I hopped on the bus and went into town to get him. I had no problems what so ever. I switched buses in the center of town and got off the bus at the central police station and jail near Uefa's school. I walked several blocks to the school and returned. I did see some police at the police station with the riot shields blocking entrances to the police station compound. When I go back I was informed the the city had gone to Marshall Law and that the army had moved into town. There had been some problems at the city hall. I guess they burned a car and some tires. As I understand it now, school is optional tomorrow. I guess we will be staying close to home tomorrow. Just to put some perspective to my home's location I am about 7 kilometers out of town (Udon Thani) and Udon is about 560 kilometers from Bangkok. It has been active around here lately but people are acting normally and going about their business as usual.

Update:  I did see on the local news this morning that protesters did set fire to a government building downtown yesterday about 4 blocks from where I was.  The police kept it pretty well sealed off I guess because I did not notice the activity.  The convenient store across the road from my house opened late this morning.  I kidded with the owner that she was keekeeiet (lazy).  She said "No." that she was held up by the curfew and could not get here from her house in Nong Bua Lam Phu (about 40 Kilometers away).  Additionally, we did lose power last night for a few hours but I am not sure that it was related to the Red Shirt activity.

5/20/2010 I see now in the NY Times news that 2 city halls in outlying provinces were set on fire.  One of them was a few blocks from where I was walking 2 days ago.  We are still under curfew for the next 3 days at least.  I am going out into the country tomorrow up near the Laos border about 160 kilometers from here.  I hope to stay there for a few days.  Maybe things will settle down some by then.

Workers on the back of truck

We saw this before.  Workers ride on the back of the truck but on these really big trucks they like to get right up on top and ride facing into the wind.  You see again an example of the wrappings they put on their faces.  Remember the temperature when this picture was taken was around 100F.

moving day

A friend moved in near me.  He had a lot of stuff to move.  He hired a guy with a pickup truck for $60 and a few bottles of whiskey.  It took 7 trips to get the job done and the guy brought his whole family to help load and unload his truck.  The Uncle also joined in with his truck before it was over.

The North/Nong Khai Bus Station?

Here are some pictures of what I refer to as the Nong Khai Bus Station.  The biggest bus leaving here goes to Nong Khai. There is no real bus terminal that I can tell.  They simply line the buses up along the shoulder of the road and down a side street.  These buses mostly go north of Udon Thani.  The cost of these buses is between 15b and 35b or 45 cents to $1.15.  One some you pay the driver as you get off and others there is a fare collector on the bus and it is his job to get your fare.

boy monks

Every morning monks go through the neighborhood collecting rice and other goodies.  After they receive the gift they do a chant for the donor.  These monks appeared to be pre-teens.