Heading back south today. I have about 1000km to drive, but I will do it in 2 days as the roads here make that sort of distance nigh on impossible for 1 day. Just the 132 km from Pai to Chang Mai takes a good 2 and a half hours.
The road is endless, but the checkpoints have fortunately not been a problem, despite having been through 6 of them today. It’s strange, but on the motorbike in Chang Mai foreigners are always stopped, whereas in the car the moment they see a ’farang’ driving they wave me through with a smile.
The views have been beautiful for lots of the journey, but that does mean twisty roads through the mountains and slower speeds.
After 7 hours on the road we stopped in the outskirts of Phitsanulok at a pleasant little hotel for 550 baht for the night (about £13). Looking for somewhere to eat, I saw a restaurant that was asian and western about a mile away. It had really good ratings, so I thought we’d try it out and see what the fuss was about.
I’m really glad we did! It was actually a house owned by a retired RAF guy and his Thai wife. We picked the perfect night to go as there were quite a few local expats there. Two Americans, including a Vietnam vet, several English guys, an Aussie and a German. They were all sitting at a big table eating and drinking, while all their Thai wives were sitting at another table having their own party. The owner, Doug waved us in with a big welcome. We sat down at a table for two, but soon the Thai wives grabbed my friend and sat her down with them, while I was offered a seat at the guy’s table. Doug was on the bbq and I was offered a range of meats or wonder of wonders a steak pie. I actually went for the giant pork chop, which was really tasty and juicy. The beers and conversation flowed and I learnt a lot about expat life in Thailand, duly filed away for future consideration 😉
The visa situation is actually quite easy, so long as you can show an income of 8000 baht a month (10000 if you are retired) you can get a yearly visa. You have to pop along and visit your ’probation officer’ as they jokingly call him every 90 days, so they can check all is ok. It apparently takes 5 minutes and is not at all onerous. Doug asked if I was coming back this way as his pie supplier is in Buriram and that’s where I’m headed next.
After a lovely evening, the bill came to only 520 Baht. Quite often it’s the impromptu and unexpected evenings rather than the planned ones that give the most fun.
Another long day of driving today, about another 500km. There is a lot of traffic and the highway I’m on at the moment is very uneven, it’s a bumpy ride.
We stopped at another temple on the way, that had been recommended and it was heaving. My friend told me in her words that it was a ‘making merit’ day. There must have been thousands there, but we still found a parking space and wandered around. The temple, as so many of them are, is at the top of a hill with fabulous views and impressive architecture. They have a food hall where you can sit on a bench with a long table and hang your legs over the edge of the cliff and eat while enjoying the view. The food was good too!
After many more hours of driving we arrived in Satuek, which is 50km north of Buriram and the home village of my friend and some of her family. A relative died recently and the funeral is tomorrow. Tonight we are paying respects at the coffin, which is heavily decorated and inside a some ornate outer coffin. I’m not quite sure who the relative is as it appears to be loosely translated here. I think it was her great aunt. After being scrutinised and giggled at by numerous female members of the family, I escaped to eat some dinner. They all think I’m very handsome 😂, it must be a foreigner thing. They do seem quite hung up about having light coloured skin and mine is very light! Most of the creams and make up contain ingredients to make you look paler.
Arriving early at the house for the funeral, they lift the coffin down, still in its outer ornate casing and wheel it off to a waiting 4×4. One of the wheels squeaks loudly, which doesn’t set quite the right tone. I help carry hundreds of what I can only describe as goody bags out to another waiting 4×4. Inside is various food and drinks and a bag will be distributed to everyone who attends.
We drive off in a procession to the nearby temple and having sat down outside the temple, the ’hearse’ drives around and around the crematorium/temple. a rope is attached to the vehicle with many people and monks walking along holding the rope. It gives the appearance that they are pulling along the ’hearse’.
There then follows a very long sermon, by a monk and a lot of chanting and praying. Every so often one of the family walks by offering bottles of water to everyone. Later they come around giving a flower to each and every one. I am the only foreigner here and the subject of intense interest. Much whispering and pointing goes on. The main speaker after the head monk is the local school director and he is very keen to meet me and be seen shaking hands western style with me.
Thai funerals are not cheap affairs. When my friend’s mother sadly died the funeral cost her 350,000 Baht. About £8000, a lot of money in Thailand. I believe the crematorium fee is in the region of £1000 on its own. Then a couple of dancers came on, dressed in beautiful traditional clothing. One man and one woman. This was followed by the giving out of various gifts or prizes, which mostly consisted of fans. In addition there are several lottery sellers wandering around selling tickets. It’s very strange, but apparently buying a lottery ticket at a temple is good luck, so there you have it.
The funeral finally ended after nearly 4 hours, with us all walking past the coffin and paying our respects one last time as we placed our flowers atop the coffin and left clutching our goody bags.
Then we drove to Buriram to see my friends shop and meet her children, who run the shop most of the time. We commandeered one of their motorbikes to whizz off to the night market and grab some food. The bike was a nightmare to drive and it was apparently the better one of the two!The front tyre was almost flat and it pulled to the side as well as having a bent double brake lever. I pumped up the tyre, but couldn’t do much else with it without a set of tools and a few hours.
Tomorrow I am on the bus back to Bangkok as I will soon be off to Vietnam !
