Travelogues by Bill Pfeil
Pattaya and Songkan
April, '06
A trip to the coconut farm was 'postponed.' So I went to the beach resort town Pattaya, 2 hours by comfortable bus down the Gulf of Thailand east coast from Bangkok. Kilometer-long beachfront promenade for running/walking, umbrellas and beachchairs, food and watersports venders, modern malls and food courts with view of parasailing, jetskis, and coastline growing condos. A walk to everywhere in Pattaya. South end of town has Walking Street with 40 go-gos (they dance wearing only a smile) and nefarious activities Pattaya is infamous for. Initial trips to Pattaya were frightening to me because of the numbers of aggressive girls blatantly trying to trap into marriage the heavy-smoking/drinking grotesque wheezing geezers with hanging bellies who seem to flock to this town. Visa rules are different in Pattaya to attract (and probably concentrate to this area) vacationing euros, dollars, yen, etc. But assuming an observing cultural anthropologist role, it is fascinating to see this underbelly of a permissive socie ty so openly.
It amazes that Thai culture developed both the joy and laughter of spiritual life, and, the ultimate sweet accommodating shapely attractions of the physical world, all in the same country. I enjoy walking and gawking at the two extremes. I have made a Thailand-conceived and a Thailand-nurtured commitment to hold only joy in my life. Skeptical? Keep observing!
We are in the middle of Thailand's week-long rowdy holiday called Songkran Water Festival. Banks/offices are closed for a week. Historically it celebrated the start of Thailand's New Year, and honored elders with respectful displays of water. Now Songkran has devolved into roving singing/dancing mobs in pickups or stationed along streets, all with devilish grins, dousing passersby with buckets, water cannons with backpack reservoirs, hoses, balloons, anything that can deliver water in volume. Baby powder is wetted to a paste and smeared on any faces within reach. Going outside means getting soaked and smeared. Many expats here exodus to hide at Songkran-safe resorts, or to Laos or Cambodia or Burma for their re-entry 30 day visa renewals. I like Songkran, live in bathing suit and thoroughly enjoy acting out being the victim of dousing, to the peals of delight of the local water-bearers. All in good fun. Hope to revel in these rich experiences for decades to come....
Homeward to Hawaii tomorrow, and a full day of flying/sitting. Happy to be returning home to my evolving farm.
Bill's Farm, Box 317, Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96748
Phone: 808-567-6734
Email: BillPfeil@yahoo.com
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