Bus ride along Chinatown towards a flea market.

During the last two months, three of my solar lights had suddenly gone dead. They were about two years old so I reckoned the batteries were gone. These solar lights represented my attempt to be prepared for more expensive electricity costs. And they did help me in cutting down my electricity bills and they were quite useful when the electricity went dead during nasty storms. I didn’t want to throw them away as the solar panels were in still good conditions. So, I had to do some research about repair shops which wouldn’t cost me too much.

I found out that there’s a weekend market for all sorts of electric and electrical spare parts in Bangkok. It’s a bit like the flea market of all kinds of spare parts for old and new vehicles. At this electrical gadgets weekend market, there would be free lance repair shops along the footpaths and narrow lanes. I found out roughly where this market was located but I had to ask the bus conductor for the right bus stop.

The easiest way for me to get to the other side of old Bangkok was to take the ‘hot bus’ (without air conditioning) through Chinatown. This would give me an opportunity to observe Chinatown before the crowds would descend for the Chinese New Year’ s celebration. I loved traveling on this hot-bus as it was very predictable and surprisingly friendly. The driver always drove as if he was in a Formula One race. Luckily his bus guardian which he paid respect to everyday before his journey was working very hard to protect all the passengers. I ought to buy the driver some jasmine garlands one day.

Invariably, the ticket conductor was usually a member of the driver’s family so they could work as a sympathetic team under extreme stress most of the day. They had to put up with selfish drivers who always parked on bus lane and some nasty passengers who tried to take free rides and molest young people while they didn’t pay attention. I used to yell to an old man who tried to rub himself on young girls backsides. Thai people were too passive and timid to cry out for help as they were often made to feel ashamed and guilty for others’ sexual harassment. I just threatened the guy and told everyone to look at his face. People were quite shocked by my outspokenness, but they were quite relieved when the guy retracted to the back of the bus.

So, traveling on these buses was like going on an adventure for me. Sometimes I had to be very alert as some drunken guy got on the bus. An Indian was playing his favourite Indian musical very loudly on his mobile, but people were just too afraid to tell him to be considerate. I had to tell him that it’s too loud in both Thai and English. He was gracious enough to feel guilty and did the right thing. But there’s one incident when the young bus driver was playing very loud music. So, being crazy and refusing to mind my own business, I asked the driver to lower the volume. That almost started a fighting match. He became very angry and aggressive. His eyes and emotions told me that he’s under the influence of some drug.

So, I knew I had to play it safe. Most bus drivers would have some hidden weapons under their seats; perhaps a long knife, a machete, a long sharp screwdriver, a long wooden pole or a home made gun. He asked me to get off his bus. The ticket conductor didn’t know what to do to calm his boss. I had offended the driver by telling him that his taste in music was causing sufferings among passengers. People were expecting a big fight but I was determined to calm down the situation. I told him that I had some illness which affected my hearing and I asked for his sympathy.

But he insisted I got off his bus at each bus stop. I told him I would be getting off very soon then he wouldn’t have to see me again. I did try to safe his ‘face’ by pleading for his kindness on my excruciating pain in my ears. I didn’t have the time to get to the police station and blow this thing out of proportion. I could ask the police to give him a blood test for illegal substances. But that wouldn’t solve any problem. I assumed his physical conditions wouldn’t allow him to live a long and healthy life any way. And he soon disappeared from the route later on, I couldn’t spot him any more.

So, I learned so much from traveling on the hot buses and getting involved in unlikely situations on buses. Like a busy body who couldn’t let a ‘wrong’ situation going on in my presence. I had to learn to be more passive and let go of foregone situations. But the good thing from this act did return to keep me safe from scammers at the flea market. Some other vendors couldn’t stand to see me being scammed by a guy who tried to sell me overly expensive battery for my solar light. They told me to disregard that young guy and get the ‘right’ replacement from the shop nearby. The shop owner became very helpful and gave me a good discount. I thanked him sincerely and told him I would come back to be his customer in the future.

Chinatown was busier than usual, the traffic got much longer. But I was glad to see more foreign tourists along the main road. I did notice more people were selling their gold jewelry at gold shops along the road. The last time gold hit new high, all the gold shops had to operate only three days a week as they ran out of cash. So, I wondered the next time when gold hit 3000 dollars per ounce, what would happen to all the gold shops and banks!

Chinatown represented my childhood and my Chinese grandmother who used to bring me to see Chinese operas when I was only three years’ old. I could still visualise the coulours, smells and crowded theatre. The good old days of my growing up near Chinatown would remain hidden in my memories forever.

But I couldn’t help being concerned about these simple and hard working people in Chinatown. They had no idea about the disguised bio weapons which they had taken, no idea about blockchain or Bitcoin, no idea about digital money and the tyranny of governments and insincerity of politicians. I was sad to have to learn to let go of so many situations, many of my families thought I had something wrong with my brain because I studied too many years. Old Chinese generations preferred to do business than going to colleges. So, most of my Chinese cousins were still living in old paradigm.

Only very few friends who listened to me and followed my suggestions could make lots of profits from investing in gold bars, cryptocurrencies and some had built safe houses in the countryside. These were rich and well educated friends; those who were never exposed to living overseas tended to be narrow minded with less imagination. I did what I could to ‘save’ as many friends and families as possible and to warn them about blackswans and drastic changes in the future.

The ticket conductor was an elderly lady, probably the driver’s aunt. She gave me information about the small road called Bahn Mor where I should get off to find the weekend market for electrical gadgets and electronic spare parts. Being Sunday, most shops along the road were closed making the atmosphere very sleepy and quiet. After five minutes’ walk, I turned left into another lane with tables along the footpath. I expected to see more stalls and large crowd at this market as it used to be seceral years ago.

Nowadays it has become a shell of what it used to be. People would throng the place with out of order electrical appilances such as toasters, hair dryers, stereo systems, vacuum cleaners etc. to be repaired by freelancers at reasonable costs. People who did DIY in their houses would come to this market to buy all electrical wires, switches and gadgets at very cheap prices. I wondered where all the people had disappeared to. I walked around and asked who could repair solar light. A vendor pointed to a stall on the other side of the road.

I found the repair guy looking very bored as if he was waiting all day for a customer. I was glad he told me he could repair the solar light and change the plug for me. I had previously done some research on how to diagnose the causes for solar light malfunctions. I knew the theories but I lacked the right tools so I couldn’t repair it myself. I even ordered the new socket in advance; I didn’t want to appear stupid when talking to the electrician or repair guy. It took only ten minutes to change the new socket and repaired the solar panel. The whole thing cost me about $1.20 which was much cheaper than going to proper repair shop. I was glad I could recharge the solar light again. Hopefully this one would last me two more years.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.