They're Baaack!! Return of the Tourists

 

The foreign tourists have been starting to come back to Thailand.  Not the former great numbers of Chinese yet, but “farangs”, i.e., westerners, and some Middle Easterners are showing up. 

I have been extremely spoiled for two years, because the Covid pandemic shut down all incoming tourism.  I seemed to be the “only farang in town”, and I admit that I really liked that.  The trains, malls and theaters were empty and I roamed freely.  I didn’t have to witness crude behavior from farang (Euro-American types) or Chinese tourists.  There were only Thais and myself out and about, and I felt like I blended in.  But the dread tourists are trickling back.  I feel crowded now. 

We are all still expected to wear masks everywhere in public – it’s the social norm here as well as the law – but some tourists are arrogantly ignoring it, thumbing their noses at Thai values, and to me, as an expat, this is embarrassing to see. 

What I hate most is that public spaces are more crowded again.  Yes, that is selfish of me, but I am by nature a solitary rambler. 

“Ramble on; and now’s the time, the time is now, to sing my song...”. (Led Zeppelin). 

-Zenwind. 

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Royal Ploughing Ceremony

 

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony was this morning, and I always try to watch it on TV.  It takes place around this time every year, to acknowledge the beginning of the rice-planting season, just before the Rainy Season begins.  It is an ancient ceremony introduced from India, its first mention being in the Ramayana.  Brahmins – Indian Hindu priests, these being historically attached to the Thai royal court – officiate at the ploughing field. 

After the Thai king has finished the Buddhist part of the ceremony at the Grand Palace, he arrives at the ploughing field.  Then two beautiful white oxen, huge with golden embellishments on their horns, are harnessed to an ornate wooden plough with a single blade.  Brahmins led the plough procession, followed by the oxen.  A chief Brahmin has his hand on the plough, and following are young ladies with baskets of rice seeds and flowers.  The Brahmin tosses seeds into the ploughed furrows as they go round and round. 

At the end of the ploughing, the oxen are fed.  Their given choices are:  rice, corn, green beans, grass, water, or rice whiskey.  Their choices are interpreted by Brahmin astrologers (who also have chosen the auspicious date for this ceremony) for predictions of the future harvest. 

Needless to say, my confidence in astrologers is zero.  But it is a beautiful ceremony to watch. 

-Zenwind. 

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Absurd Misadventure

 

I had an extremely trying day recently, to put it lightly.  I got locked into my toilet cubicle, in our outside second-floor veranda toilet-shower area.  The doorknob locks on our doors, both inside and out, are crap.  They are cheap, poor-quality shit that often freeze up.  Through the years, we have had numerous episodes where someone was locked out of (or into) some space or another because the cheap doorknob-locks froze up. 

I went into my toilet cubicle and, per usual, pushed the lock button once inside.  When trying to get out, I turned the knob, which released the lock button with a click.  But the door was still firmly locked.  I could not open it to get out.  I was stuck. 

I tried climbing up out of my cubicle, over the high walls under the veranda roof, to either the shower stall next door or the outer veranda, but I soon realized that I would seriously injure myself if trying these strenuous acrobatic maneuvers.  I only had marginal toe-holds on water pipes, and the long reaches were beyond me.  (And, days later, I am in extreme pain from those attempts at the climb-out.) 

But I was extremely lucky – or “Be Prepared”, as in the Scout Motto – in this instance.  I had my phone.  I always prefer a “Compact” phone, a small 4.7-inch waterproof Sony, one that I can easily put into a pocket of my swim trunks that I wear at home every day.  (If I want more readable internet connection detail, I will access my 8-inch Mini Tablet or my laptop, both of which are less conveniently portable.) 

Locked inside, I called Tuk at her office, and – my extreme good luck again – she answered.  I told her my tale of woe, and she contacted a locksmith to come and rescue me.  It took about an hour, but I had assets:  a toilet, a smartphone, and a towel to wipe the sweat out of my eyes from this accursed tropical heat and humidity (a reminder of my first landing in Vietnam in 1969, when I noticed all Marines had a towel around their necks, to wipe sweat off their weapons and faces). 

The locksmith changed the lock, but also added sliding latch-locks to the inside doors of both toilets and the shower room, so that we don’t have to use the undependable doorknob locks.  I don’t want to go through that again. 

-Zenwind. 

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A New Barber

I have found a new barber, and I am pleased.  (My regular haircutter of over five years is not working anymore.)  I chose this new shop because their barbers are noted for their English-speaking ability.  It is near my most frequented movie theater and shopping centers when I go deep into the city, and is close to transit hubs. 

My new barber, Dew, understood immediately what I wanted and – most importantly – errs on the side of not cutting much off, until I asked him to cut off just a little more, twice.  (I absolutely detest barbers whose first instinct is to scalp you down to the bone!) 

The shop has a classic cool old-time vibe.  I noticed that the bottle for spraying water was a modified Jack Daniel’s bottle.  Everyone is easy-going and friendly.  I’ll be back. 

-Zenwind. 

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Screaming Pain & Agony

Caveat:  I’m not actually screaming, but I’d like to.

It is really difficult to sleep, as my hip pain makes any position uncomfortable.  My range of walking is limited to not much more than 100 meters a day.  I’ve quit stretching and any other exercises, because it hurts too much.  Constant deep pain wears you down. 

In other news, we just got over a week of unseasonably cold and rainy weather, very unexpected.  A high-pressure system over China brought cold air down to us, and it disrupted what would normally be dry and hot conditions.  The Hot is back now, so we will sweat out the upcoming Songkran holidays – the hottest time of the year. 

-Zenwind. 

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Immigration trip & Physical Pain

Today I successfully completed my dreaded annual ordeal at the Immigration Office, applying for an Extension of Stay in the kingdom for another year on a Retirement visa.  I have the routine down quite well, preparing the financial documentation and providing numerous copies of passport info, etc. 

But they always throw a surprise at you, every single year.  They told me right off that I needed a copy of a “house registration”, something they’ve never asked me for before and which I’d never heard about in the online forums where foreigners share info on Thai visa issues. 

Do they do this just to screw with farangs?  It throws an instant panic into the applicant, who wonders if their extension of stay will be denied or what will they have to do to get over this new hurdle. 

I got to see an immigration officer anyway, and she was very professional and decent.  It seemed to be going well, as I was photographed and processed as normal.  But I had to sit and wait for three hours before they returned my bankbook and my passport with an OK stamp for the next year.  I’m good through March 2023, but I’m dazed and in pain from the long wait. 

These last weeks, my hip pain has become alarming.  I can barely walk, and climbing stairs is brutal.  The scariest aspect of it is that I cannot exercise in any way, and I know that routine lack of exercise is a downward path that I do not want to accept. 

This was a stressful day.  After long agony at Immigration, I limped home the last few meters like an old cripple.  Physical pain wears you down. 

I will watch a comedy film this evening, and then I will meditate myself to sleep.  Dukkha – accepting it and then releasing the negativity – letting it go. 

-Zenwind. 

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Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was born one century ago.  (12 March 1922 – 21 October 1969).  He was a great influence on my early life.  In a rare post to my main Zenwind blog, HERE is my tribute to him.  

-Zenwind. 

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Hot Season Begins

 

Sweat City normality is back.  I saw it coming from my close monitoring of weather forecasts.  We lucked out this year, with a February that was not too bad, with dew points only in the “somewhat uncomfortable” range.  Tonight, the dew points will be in the “very humid, quite uncomfortable” range, and tomorrow in the “extremely uncomfortable, oppressive” range. 

This means, for the long foreseeable future, getting dressed to go out while under a fan and a/c, and then when moving through the house to the door becoming wet with sweat already – before ever getting out into the sun.  Returning from a 100-meter walk to the store, I am soaked through, clothes wringing wet.  Without a bandana sweatband, I would be blinded. 

So, “Summer” is back, and April will be the most intense.  The Rainy Season, starting in maybe June or July, will still have high, uncomfortable dew points, but at least the clouds will sometimes shield us from the sun. 

I regret that I have squandered my opportunities to explore new neighborhoods on foot while the weather was more comfortable, although my recent hip pain has hindered my marches.  The new MRT train route would allow me to check out new areas on the far side of the river.  Maybe next winter.  

-Zenwind. 

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Vax Booster, but No Haircut

 

I finally got my Covid-19 Booster vaccine Saturday morning.  This booster was the Moderna mRNA at a private hospital, and Tuk had bought “full dose” (two shots) appointments for herself, her parents and me ahead of time early last year.  But the Moderna vaccine didn’t arrive in Thailand until November or so, and by that time Tuk had two shots of Sinovac and a Pfizer booster, and her parents and myself had already gotten two doses of the A-Z.  So, Tuk had to do some trading to get me just a single Moderna as a booster. 

The private hospital was only several klicks away and easy to get to.  The staff was terrific, there were no waiting lines to speak of, and the whole affair was completed quickly.  Our goal now is to get the parents there for their boosters, but we will have to allow time since their last A-Z shots and figure out how to transport them there.  When they are finally fully-vaccinated, with boosters, then I will feel more confident to go out into more crowded venues for music, etc. 

Our Cool Season has lasted for an unexpectedly long time.  We had one “cold” week in December, as normal, with following weather that lacked the usual brutal humidity of the rest of the year.  In my experience, February was never as semi-comfortable in past years as it has been this year.  I still sweat horribly if out for a long walk, but it has not been 24-hour suffering with rising dew points. 

But this will change soon.  The Hot Season normal will begin, and I will long for the relative shade of the Rainy Season come June or July. 

I cannot get a haircut.  My regular hair cutter is not working right now (and I don’t know exactly why).  She speaks good English and knows exactly how I want a cut, and I have been a regular customer for well over five years now.  I’m vain about my hair, and I abhor being scalped by barbers who don’t understand what I want.  I’ve always been this way, searching for barbers who I can stick with for as long as possible.  My hair is now slowly growing out long, like it was many times so many years ago.  The difference now is that it is silver.  I cut some around my face to keep it out of my eyes.  As the Hot Season comes, we will see how long I can take the heat. 

I am still enduring bad hip pain, especially when trying to sleep, and I don’t know why this is happening.  I haven’t fallen.  I did pull low back muscles, above my rump and on either side of my sacrum, many months ago when lifting storage boxes, and that set me back, making most exercise go on pause for a long while.  Also, I had minor surgery in December and had stopped exercise for a while, with a lot of leg cramps when starting back up again.  Those stops in exercise routines are killers.  It’s hard to start back up without further injuries.  I’ve had painful episodes on the treadmill and have had to stop that for now.  I have better luck sauntering my walking haunts in the neighborhood without pushing it in a Gung Ho frenzy, then slowly ramping it up when possible, listening to my body.  Push ahead – steady.   (It’s tedious.  What’s it going to be like when I get old?) 

However, all in all, life is good. 

-Zenwind. 

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The Eve of St. Agnes

“St. Agnes’ Eve – Ah, bitter chill it was!

  “The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold!” 

(John Keats, you bright poetic meteor, blazing across the sky, you died way too young.) 

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I hear it is chilly right now in my old stomping grounds in NW Pennsylvania, although not reaching the degree of the long, deep bitter cold spells of the 1960s and 70s.  I miss bivouacking out in that sub-zero snow, in the silent still air.  Utter stillness, complete frozen silence.  The Moon and stars sparkling in crystal-clear heavens. 

Here, tonight, it is rather comfortable, for the tropics, when sitting outside.  The air is relatively cooler and drier than the normal for the rest of the year, and there is a gusty breeze that is refreshing.  (It is overcast, and tomorrow will be cloudy with a very small possibility of rain, which is rare for this time of year.)  Still, mosquitoes are always a problem at night, so I have a lit mosquito coil in front of me with a fan behind it, blowing the coil’s fumes in my direction.  Sitting in swim trunks, I have also applied a bit of repellant to my feet and shoulders, spots that often get bit. 

An update on my health:  The biopsy I had done on my prostate last month provided rather good news.  There are no obvious signs of cancer.  (Yet much of the science on these prostate problems seem to be inexact and prone to flip-flops in diagnoses, so my doctors and I still have a heads-up attitude and will monitor the case closely and regularly.) 

In other health news, my FMS (fibromyalgia) is knocking me completely out right now.  Pain City.  Cripple Creek.  Undoubtably, my surgery and its down-time contributed to this.  Then I got horrible leg cramps and pulled leg muscles a couple of weeks ago when walking my normal routes, which put me further out of action and into a further downward FMS spiral.  I think the cramps might have been caused by stopping my usual vitamin and mineral supplements, stopped by order when taking specific antibiotics after surgery.  I also think I over-did it, getting into the Gung-Ho attitude and marching too fast for too many days in a row without any rest days.  (However, I refuse to accept that “getting old” – soon to be 72 years old – has anything to do with it!) 

My primary FMS pain sites have been predictable for 40 years.  The first and foremost is at T7 on my spine, right between my shoulder blades.  In the last few days, it hurts so much there that it is painful to take a deep breath.  The secondary FMS pain site is my tailbone/ sacrum area.  But lately I’ve been having a new bad pain more widely in my outer hips, which makes walking difficult.  (I normally walk briskly, and no one ever overtakes me, on foot, on the sidewalks; yet this week I’ve had young Thai men walk past me, and yesterday two Thai women walked right by me easily!)  This alarms me, since walking is my primary way of life – and it always has been.  Hobble along, hobble along! 

On the plus side, I’ve been reading great stuff on Kindle, and I have been keeping up with seeing decent films in the cinemas.  Costing less than two bucks a flick – senior rates here – I see films in matinee in almost empty theaters.  I love movies, and seeing them on the big screen is amazing. 

It’s getting late toward midnight, and the mosquitoes are closing in on me despite my defenses.  So, I will close now and post this. 

-Zenwind. 

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