New Years Eve

Thai people love ceremonies and celebrations. They work hard to create a worthwhile event and everybody, whole families and groups of friends gather with the intention of having a good time. New Years Eve 2008/2009 was just such an occasion. Thousands of people gathered around Thapae Gate to see in the new year. A stage was erected and a number of acts performed, including 3 lovely Thai girls singing pop music. The audience seemed to know who they were so maybe they are the Thai version of Girls Aloud. One of the photos is of a group singing and dancing traditional songs about how Chiang Mai became capital of the north.

Part of the celebrations was lighting a flame inside lanterns, waiting for the air to get warm and releasing them. The idea is that all personal bad luck and spirits are carried up, up and away. The only problem is that the lanterns get caught in overhead cables, under roofs etc and are potentially dangerous. A couple of years ago one of these objects got entangled in some cabling and several hundred homes were without electricity for several days. Every one that was released brought a great cheer from the people who lit it and even more cheers went up if they bumped into each other, or got caught on cabling or under roofs and freed themselves. For the first few days of January, burnt out lanterns were discovered all over Chiang Mai after they dropped back to earth. All good fun.

Fireworks were also a great part of the event but I must admit to being somewhat worried about that. Anybody was just lighting and letting off rockets, catherine wheels, bangers etc. wherever they wanted with no regards to health and safety. I even saw a father give his small son this tube that has around 4 rockets inside telling the child to point it into the air after lighting it. All that child had to do was point the thing at the crowd and there could have been a major accident with a possibility of losing life, eyesight or limb. Scary stuff. In some areas Thais have a lot to learn and Health and Safety is certainly one regarding fireworks. The local newspaper had an article about a guy who owned a firework making factory and blew himself up while making fireworks.

I thoroughly enjoyed New Years Eve 2008/2009, I had a great time enjoying the atmosphere, the fun and partying that was going on.

Aren't we lucky

We in western industrialised countries are very lucky. Recently I went on a trip to a town called Mae Sot on the border of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). There, I came across a Burmese refugee camp where some 4500 people live. All these people have escaped the problems and troubles in their own country. Beautiful spot surrounded by mountains but what a way to live. These people have no hope other than charity hand outs or government concessions (from Myanmar or Thailand) and their future is so uncertain. So, what problems do we have in the west - none I suggest. There were some vicious looking, fully armed guards around who were surveying me with deep suspicion so I did not feel comfortable taking any film or photos.

Here in Chiang Mai every morning on a road leading into the city centre, there are 100's of people standing waiting for work - see photos. The majority of these people are Burmese refugees and vehicles will turn up and take them off to work on building sites, farms or factories for a minimal wage of maybe 100/200 baht per day (currently 50 baht to the pound). It reminds of the Marlon Brand 1950's film, On the Waterfront, where poor dock workers had to wait on the docks and see if they were going to get picked and earn some money that day. Isn't it a social injustice that here we are in the 2000's and people are still starving and having to bow, scrape and beg for work and for money. What chance do they have in life - there is no possibility of escaping their poverty trap and they are looked upon as pariahs by the Thai authorities. Quick, give me a soap box I feel a speech coming on.

Cricket in Chiang Mai

In the past couple of months there has been a couple of major cricket tournaments in Chiang Mai, organised by the Asian Cricket Council. It is quite a coup for the area as the council has the whole of Asia from which to choose a venue. The men's limited over tournament was a bit boring so I only watched a couple of games and both were very one sided. The winners were Oman, who hammered all the teams they met. The other tournament was the under 19's girls ( see photos) and teams included Kuwait, Iran, Hong Kong, Malaya, Bhutan, Singapore and Thailand. There were some great games and the girls were very enthusiastic, full of fun and energy and looked like they were having a great time. They all approached the tournament in a professional manner, proper practice's, warm ups and warm downs. The final was between Malaya and Nepal which Nepal won easily. Nepal has obvious cricket credentials being so close to India. One of the Malayan girls was run out and she walked back to the pavilion in tears - poor girl. Check out the photo of the ground staff marking out the wicket, this is the Prem Centre where I'm hoping to start a football academy. See in the distance the beautiful mountains. So, unwittingly I've arrived in a hot bed of cricket. My hope is that some of these nations eventually end up on the test playing arena. we could do with some new blood to liven things up. Top photo - some of the Bhutan team enjoying a joke on the boundary; next the winning Nepal team prepare to collect their winners medals. Third photo down - the successful Nepal team start celebrating; Ground staff at Prem; Kuwait do their warm up routines at the Gymkhana Club; Bhutan taking the field at Gymkhana; Malaya going through their fielding drills; Thailand batting against Bhutan at Gymkhana (Thailand won this game)

Football at Agape

For the past few weeks I have been teaching some girls and boys at Agape how to play football. Agape is an orphanage for kids who have been affected by HIV - see www.nikkisplace.org. Either they have HIV (from a population of 50-60, 80% have HIV) or they have been orphaned because their parents have died of HIV. There is a staff of over 40 helpers who are on duty 24/7 plus 3 full time nurses and 3 part time - each kid has to be checked on a weekly basis to make sure the drugs they are taking keep their immune system working 100%. The setting is wonderful, right in the country near a village called San Sai. The buildings are fairly new and the directors and staff work non stop to ensure that the kids lives are as normal as possible. They are great kids and enjoy their football. Of course, the dangers lurking on Thailand soccer pitches are different to those in the UK. In the UK the biggest danger is probably a McDonald's bag being blown across the pitch. At Agape the other week a large snake had to be cleared from the pitch before we could start playing. Also, the surrounding long grass areas are likely to be hiding a snake so be careful when retrieving a football.

It Makes You Laugh

When people are trying to use a language that is not their first one, occasionally they make a nonsense of it. As an example, in a local supermarket they were selling a range of cakes which had the word spelt cack. You could have plain cack, almond cack, butter cack or walnut cack. A week later the spelling had been put right. I had to smile at the prospect of whoever told the perpetrator the meaning cack has in the UK.

In a bakery I saw a range of toasts on sale - you could have sugar toast, garlic toast, shredded pork toast or chili paste shredded pork toast. I went outside to heave at the very thought of inflicting these delicacies on my digestive system. See photos for more cringeworthy delicacies that Thai Bakeries are dumping on their customers. I will give these a wide berth.

Cricket

I never ever thought that I would see a cricket match like this. It was a three way competition between Oman, Iran and Afghanistan under 17 boys. The game I watched was the final between Afghanistan and Iran. Afghanistan were the easy winners, Iran only got 45 runs in their allocated 40 overs which Afghanistan achieved in 8 overs. Despite that the game was played in a good spirit, friendly and good mannered. Just shows that despite the problems in these countries ordinary people just want to get on with their lives and do the things they enjoy. The game was played at the Gymkhana Club which is a lovely location. Hope this comes across in the photos. I regularly sit under a big shady tree and watch cricket - wonderful way to while away a few hours.



top photo both teams shaking hands after Afghanistan's victory
second photo a victorious Afghanistan leaving the pitch
third, fourth, fifth photos Iran batting
last couple of photos Afghanistan taking a breather

Farangutans

I have been supporting and occasionally playing for the Farangutans. A team of expats from Switzerland, Poland, Canada, France and of course the UK. We play in various competitions against local teams with mixed fortunes, some wins and some losses. We do find that the Thai referees are very biased against us and do give some frustrating and totally incorrect decisions. But, its fun and they are a good bunch of lads.
The teams name is from the word farang which is the description used for westerners - tall with long noses. However, I personally feel that it could become a word that is derogatory like other words that describe races and cultures. We will see.