Waterworld

The past week or so Korat and many other parts of Northeast Thailand have been under water.  Apparently, it was the worst flooding in 15 years.  No doubt there was massive destruction, property ruined, farms destroyed, and lives lost, but there always seems to be another side to natural disasters in Thailand - particularly floods, which aside from the undeniable devastation, can be kinda fun. 

All of the floods I've lived through while in Korat or Chaiyaphum have always been more like events than "disasters".  Granted, there is always that initial anxiety when the water starts to rise, but soon after it stops, and everyone has assessed the damage to their property, it was time to drive around town to see who had more damage, park your car in the middle of a newly formed lake and give it a long overdue wash, let the kids play in their new pool, throw out that old TV that didn't have a remote control anyway, go see the big politician or movie star who has come to hand out supplies... Instead of feeling humbled and awed by the power of Mother Nature, I always felt like a Circus had come to town unexpectedly.

This time, I'm high and dry in Bangkok, so I've plucked some pictures from multiple websites and forums* that show Thai people in the different stages of post-flood life (ie after the water stops rising), as they try to survive and put their lives back together - and, as always, doing their best to make the most of a bad situation with that eternal Thai smile.

Okay, not everyone is smiling....

*I got the pictures from the following websites:

Korat Farang

Paradoo

Pantip Forum

Sirichai Digital

The Downside

I can't always show the rosy side of life in Thailand, so to keep things balanced here are two things I did not like about Bang Saen beach during a holiday weekend.

Triple Parking

...and serving food in front of the bathroom.  Did you ever see that Mythbusters where they measured how much fecal matter can be found on a toothbrush?  Well, it turns out that they found it everywhere - and that was in a private bathroom.  Imagine a public restroom servicing hundreds of broken stomachs every hour.

Needless to say, Nuch and I did not order any food from this vendor.  We bought it from some vendor walking along the beach - who was smart enough not to let us see his kitchen.

View From A Beach Chair

On Sunday Nuch and I took a quick day trip Bang Saen beach which is about an hour away from us.

Thais do everything they can to keep their skin white, so when they go to the beach, they typically spend the entire time underneath a canopy of beach umbrellas.

If they go out in the water, they're usually half-dressed.

It was a holiday weekend, so the place was packed, and aside from myself there were no foreigners to be seen.  I assume they all went a little further down the coast to Pattaya.  I was like a grain of salt in a sea of pepper - regardless of the Thais' efforts to avoid a tan.

The first order of business was ordering our seafood lunch, which we promptly ate, and then, decided to take a picture of it.

After that I simply lounged in my chair and watched the world go by.

We finished the day with a nice burger to balance the Thai beach adventure.

Empty Nest

Here's the latest update on the baby pigeon that was hatched on our balcony.  By the way, I looked it up and a baby pigeon is called a squab.

So, here's the little squab.  He's been around for a couple weeks now, and on Sunday he was still waiting to take that first big step from the 8th floor. 

Today, Nuch noticed that it had finally flown the coop.

But no worries - there will be no empty nest syndrome at our home. 

On the other side of our balcony, we found two more future squabs.

Perks

After almost 8 years in the sofa business, I finally have some decent sofas.  Since I first arrived in Thailand, I've always rented apartments, and they've always been furnished, so there was never any need to make the investment. 

My apartments mostly had crap sofas, but instead of buying nice ones, there was always a certain comfort/ freedom in knowing that without owning any major household items everything important to me could fit inside my Mr Incredible-sized compact Toyota - a set of golf clubs in the trunk, two suitcases in the back seat with a couple boxes of personal items, and a lap top computer and TV in the passenger seat. 

As happy as I am with my new furniture, it  is with a tinge of regret that I now find myself burdened by my larger-than-toyota-compact possessions, which, ironically, I bought for the sole purpose of bearing the burden of my big ass.

Here's how it all came about.  Earlier this year, my company sent some samples from our Chinese supplier to our Thai supplier.  The idea was to transfer the production from there to here, but in the end nothing happened, so the samples sat, boxed up in the Thai warehouse.   Tired of sticking to the PVC sofas in my apartment, I offered to free up some space in the warehouse and have the samples moved to my living room. 

Being they were samples, only bits and pieces of a particular model were sent over instead of complete 3 seater, 2 seater, chair sets - thus, the mix-n-max sofa showroom look. 

In case you're wondering, I have not changed my nationality - the Union Jack is back in fashion in the UK.  You may also notice that instead of satellite or cable, I have Rabbit Ears to keep my $1000 TV in tune. 

Nuch and I bought a coffee table and a rug to complement the sofas (more possessions!!! - it's a vicious cycle). 

Between the rug and I - it's a battle to see who will be bald first.