I imagine most people would dread the idea of having to drive 6 hours (round trip) on a weekly basis. It took me a while, but I'm used to it and almost enjoy it. The roads are wide (6 lanes) and the traffic is usually light, so it's an easy drive and it gives me time to reflect on the week that has passed and look forward to the days ahead.
By the way, Korat is actually just a nickname. The full name for Korat is Nakhon Ratchasima.
My factory operates 6 days a week, and I'll usually stop by on Saturday morning to make sure everything is in order before I drive to Bangkok. Friday must have been pay day because on this particular morning the Burmese lottery vendors were there. One thing I never understood about lottery sales is that they're usually sold by the most destitute and unlucky people in Thailand - refugees, cripples, the blind...
The lottery tickets are pre-printed, so people usually only pay attention to the last 2 digits when selecting a lucky number - double '0'.
The most important thing about playing the lottery is don't tell anybody if you win. Otherwise, everyone will ask to borrow your money, and you'll be expected to take everyone out for lunch or karaoke and basically, use up all your winnings. Refuse and risk being exiled.
Nuch was visiting me in Korat this weekend and while I was checking in at the factory, she went to fill my car up with gas. She also filled the tires with air, but whatever they did.... I had two flat tires before we could get out of Korat. Fortunately, there was a Goodyear shop nearby. This guy had us in and out of there in 15 minutes - Indy 500 pit stop style. There seems to be some random activities that Thais tend do extremely well - like make things out of old coca cola cans.
Not the most exciting blog entry. I'll come back later to juice it up a bit. I'll try to find some pictures of overturned buses or semis where drivers had fallen asleep during the night. I see at least one a month.
I'll save you from any pictures of the hundreds of dogs strewn along the side of the road. It's not often in the history of life on earth where you can watch Darwin's theory of natural selection play itself out right in front of you. As the weakest links continue to weed themselves out, I assume that before too long Thai dogs will be able to walk and talk and perhaps drive cars themselves.
On this particular day there was a convoy of hundreds, maybe thousands of Honda Dream motorcycle/ scooter enthusiasts. I've seen this a couple times, but before they were Vespa owners. Must be some new trend for thrill seekers and suicidal maniacs - motorcycles are just a step above dogs in the evolutionary chain when it comes to Darwin's Theory and Thai highways.
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