On my way to the train station: quiet country life.

I have been taking things for granted too often: assuming things would always be the same. Physical surroundings usually change slowly, only even a strange thing occurred to joint my perception that the dynamics of life put me on edge. I could never get used to sudden change of the sense of certainty of life and daily routine. I like Nongkhai very much as things seemed to change very slowly around this quiet little town with less than a million population. Life has been very simple and easy going around this border town until the measures of the plandemic lockdown reached this sleepy town. I have seen how fear mongering and financial incentives had led to jab injuries among villagers and deaths of friends’ families’ members. But these people have the resilience to survive the hard times so the show must go on.

The swing of land speculation had disappeared as it became very difficult to find wealthy investors. Nevertheless, I have noticed several big houses being build after the end of the lockdown. My friends the builders have been building about a dozen houses for expats who married local villagers. It seems Nongkhai is very popular among Dutch and German expats. A local coffee shop or pub has recently opened for customers making this exist community more lively. The cost of living here is very cheap comparing with other places and you could cycle around town though motor bikes would be much quicker for getting to places. No one is in a rush in Nongkhai as there is no traffic jam and people are very easy going about being as punctual as city folks.

It occurred to me one day that I ought to record the surroundings along my journey to the train station. In the past few years many old trees were cleared for building houses, hotels and restaurants along the quiet country road. I didn’t take any photos of this roads when it was flanked by tall trees and wooded areas. So, I ought to record this e year’s perception of the surroundings along my ride to the train station.

My tuk-tuk driver would follow my suggestion on which shortcut I’d like to travel every time; I had to choose one out of four shortcuts. It’s nice to travel early in the morning to catch the morning light and empty road. Most schools have opened as usual so there would be bikers with students heading to schools along the main road in town. The biggest school would be the old Chinese school where students learn Chinese language as a second language. The other famous school is the Catholic school on the other side of town; they teach English as a second language.

Observing all the various styles of houses along the way is quite entertaining and interesting as new houses reflected changes in trends and fashions. The design of houses could tell me a lot about the cultural background of the owners. I could tell by looking at new houses whether the expats were British or German to the surprise of my gardener. Some big old houses told me that someone in those houses had lived in Europe several years. They just couldn’t help choosing design with European influences and architectural design. It did raise my curiosity as to the family background of certain house’s owners; I wondered if there had ancestors who were quite important in social strata in the past. These people often had privilege information about our real political and social history of the past.

Nongkhai used to be a very important and strategic location by the river. Several hundreds years ago, Siam’s territory covered a large part of area in Laos. Several uprising and fightings broke out between the rebels and nearby neighboring power vying for taking over Siamese territory. So, Nongkhai was like a fort where high ranking officials and military officers would be spending a long stretch of time in quelling and suppressing the usurpers and enemies. Some horrific stories were recorded on the fighting between opposing troops and military leaders had to pitch their wits in wining the battles.

That’s probably one reason why I was attracted to this land with forgotten battles and hero’s. I had strange dreams about these battles long time ago. The strange thing was finding out that my close friends’ great great grand father was the military leader who defeated the enemies in a protracted battle. My research gave me more detail information on the battle and incredible tactics employed in the strategy. I felt an affinity with this revered military leader since I was a young kid years before I came to know my friends. But that was another long story.

I was led to Nongkhai to pay my old connection with the land and my involvement in past life. I knew long time ago that I was a strong and well known soldier during those days of frequent battles in the north- east and central part of Thailand. So, during my first few years there I had been to several temple to perform merits-spreading for all the dead soldiers during those fierce battle years. It’s a Buddhist way to show regret and assist those remaining spirits that couldn’t make it to the next dimension towards subsequent reincarnation. So far, I still couldn’t locate the ancient battlefield outside the town.

The past battles were all forgotten and most new generations of Thai people hardly knew about local history. The pressure of modern lifestyle and progressive materialism plus technological development meant historical memories or records were irrelevant to digital society of the future. Memories would become defunct one day as all memories could be downloaded from the ‘cloud’ . Every household has at least one television and people have been mesmerised by daily covid fear mongering. Local people were very glad that schools have opened so children could learn to read and write their names. Some villagers told me that their grandchildren couldn’t even write their own names as schools were nonfunctional for two years.

Small shopkeepers and food vendors could start their businesses once again. Children and parents could get cheap breakfasts on the way to schools in the morning. Things have been slowly picking up with a few new restaurants doing good business during the evenings and weekends. Adverse economic problems in Laos meant that we could hardly see any cars crossing over to do shopping at local malls. The price of gas has skyrocketed in Laos and all those expensive four-wheel cars could not find cheap petrol for their round trip across the border; long queues were seen at gas stations in Laos.

Luckily we still have all the fresh food and vegetables produced locally though transportation prices have been pushed to consumers. I couldn’t help wondering if we would run out of affordable petrol one day, and whether I should start looking at foldable bike for my journey to the train station. All the villagers were complaining about expensive gas prices and the rising prices of fresh eggs. So, I have been thinking about keeping some chickens in the near future. This quiet ride towards the train station gave me the opportunity to reflect on past history, present social trends and some concern about the uncertainty of future events.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.