The dogs

In Thailand there are LOADS of stray dogs...apparently people feed them - I think it's got something to do with them being sacred in Buddhism...that doesn't explain the number of times I've seen them being kicked, but never mind...

Anyway, during the day you don't get any problems from them - probably because it's too hot for them to be bothered chasing you...after a certain time though they do become pretty aggressive and it's not unusual to be chased by a few of them down the road - especially if you're on a bike...I haven't been bitten myself but a couple of the other volunteers have so they're not as harmless as I thought.

As you can probably imagine, a lot of them aren't in the best of condition...this one though, that we saw on a trip with the guys to the Wat, is by far the most disgusting one I've seen! I don't know how it was still walking...

Another party

Last weekend we went to a big celebration. One of the guys (Dong) who works for the organisation I'm working for was being ordained into the monk-hood. Most Thai guys do it at some point in their lives. For most of them it's only for a short time, something like 3 months. Dong's only going in for 22 days - which did make the party seem a little bit over the top to be honest.

It was a really brilliant experience - a real taste of Thai culture...when we got there the street procession was already underway...





I think that most of the people involved were members of Dong's family. There were guys playing instruments and (drunk) women dancing at the front. In many ways it wasn't so different from an Irish or Scottish wedding...

Yep - that is a bottle of whiskey she's got under her arm...

The celebrations went on for the whole day and aside from eating and drinking - both of which we did a lot of - there was some ceremony as well...the first picture is from some kind of cleansing ritual (I guess) where we all got to pour water over over Dong and the second picture (I guess) was the important bit...there was lots of chanting and stuff anyway...

The whole thing must have cost a packet - there was so much food it was unbelievable - but it was good fun...They'd paid to set up a big stage with a huge sound system...it was really cool during the day because all of the drunk women were up doing karaoke...I thought that was going to be the entertainment for the day - which would have been excellent - but as it happened they'd also paid for scantily clad Thai women to come and do some singing during the night...Unfortunately for all of you, I was too embarrassed to get any pictures of this, even if it would just have been for journalistic purposes!

It's quite funny really because one of the basic tenets of Buddhism is that your not supposed to drink - but there was plenty going round at this party...also, being a monk is all about self-deprivation...so the nearly-nude singing girls seemed a little bit of a strange choice as well...but apparently these things are par for the course and I wasn't complaining about either...

World Cup fever

This weekend was an important time in Thailand - they were celebrating 60 years since the King's coronation, apparently he's the longest serving monarch in the world. Anyway, we got 3 days off of work, 1 of which was only announced the week before (they do that in Thailand), and there was loads of stuff going on as part of the festivities.

They really do love the King out here, and it's not just because they have to. He has actually been really good and has done a lot for the poorer members of the community...

Everyone, and I mean everyone, has been wearing yellow T-shirts with "We love the King" written on them...so of course I've got one too - it turns out that it was a good investment, I've had plenty of positive comments and favourable treatment!

This weekend was also important of course because it was the start of the World Cup...I've been feeling pretty tired staying up to the early hours to watch some of the games...haven't managed to watch any of the 2am kick offs yet - that will change though...

Everything started so well...I found out that every match was being shown on terrestrial television, I got the TV working at home and when the first match was broadcast on every channel I thought nothing could go wrong...well, as it turned out - I was wrong!

You see, there's been a bit of clash of celebrations going on...unfortunately they've decided that at 8 o'clock (which is the time here for 2pm games back home), for at least half an hour, everyone in the country would rather watch replays of members of the Thai royal family meeting minor members of other royal families at the airport and other such riveting stuff...

I mean, I understand that it's an important time for Thailand and I've got nothing against His Royal Highness King Bhumibol (especially if there are any of those good people from the Thai police force reading this - as I am aware that it is illegal to criticise the King - did I mention that I think he's great btw?) I've even got a T-shirt that says I love him...and I've got nothing against you showing replays of VERY IMPORTANT royal engagements on TV 24 hours a day if you want...but does it have to be on every channel?! Couldn't you just put the footy on one channel? Please?

By the way, I got the last of the money in from the paintings this week and we managed to raise 617 smackers which is a bloody good effort and will go a very long way out here...so thanks again to everyone, it will make a big difference to the guys and is very much appreciated.

Party

On Friday we had a party to "celebrate" our boss's last day at Rachawadee Boys...a couple of weeks ago the head of the charity decided that he was going to do a bit of a reshuffle - to be honest a lot of the staff aren't happy about it...in a job like this you form very personal attachments to what you are doing (and the people you are working with) and an arbitrary move like that is hard to take for the staff involved...They're not in this job for the money (they get payed a pittance), they're in it for the kids they are working with and these moves have served to break the strong emotional bonds they had formed...

Anyway, we had a good time on Friday...a couple of the other volunteers and I arranged the whole party - we stayed up late on the Thursday making some lovely signs in Thai...



And we sorted out some good old party games for the boys to play...all in all it was a huge success...

In this picture you can see Chock attempting to open the "pass the parcel" parcel when the music stopped at him...I can honestly say that I've never seen anyone so excited in my whole life!

Anyway, as it happened it was misplaced cos he didn't win...that honour went to Nung who you can see in the picture below holding the spoils of his victory...Does anyone else think that I shouldn't be put in charge of buying the prizes for the boys' party games?

Later, in the evening, all of the staff and volunteers went out for a spot of ten pin bowling and a Japanese meal which was all good fun...Just a little tip for you though: If you're out with a load of Thais at a fancy restaurant and the bill comes, don't pay it expecting to be reimbursed in a "going Dutch" kind of arrangement...and on discovering that you have just payed for everyone(!) don't then expect anyone to thank you for your "generosity"!

I'm not still sore about that one btw!