Category: Living in Thailand (Page 5 of 10)

I went shopping this morning. We were out of bread and coffee. As I walked through the sections I saw the the whole section where they sell alcoholic beverages closed up with a sign that no alcohol will be sold over the next two weekends. This is a nation wide thing and I am not sure if bars are included in the law. I think it is pretty amazing that the government can pull this off. For one part that people just accept this without complaint and for the other part that the government believes that the Thai people will take the occasion of election to get totally wasted. So no alcohol in Thailand’s shops from the 14th.-16th. and the 22th.-23th. of December. Why not do this for Songkran festival where hundreds of people die and thousands are hurt by drunk driving every year?

Update: Also the Bars and Restaurants are not allowed to sell alcohol. Many places close  or have only the Restaurant part open.

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It is still Monday. At least for a view more minutes. I should be in bed, but love the quite in the evening. My kids had a day off today because of Thailand’s constitution day. Last year was the coup d’etat. A new Constitution was written and accepted a couple of month ago. We are still under martial law in Chiang Mai. We don’t feel much of this. Someone I know though lost the business because of the situation. Everything seem to be like always. There will be election for the new government on the 23th this month and so will be another day off. Everybody is encouraged to go to their home towns to vote. There is a lot of lobbying for the different parties going on also in our neighborhood.

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Today I have a real day off. I’m doing nothing. This morning my wife and my daughter left for a riding competition. My youngest I send off with the school bus at seven and my 11 year old stayed at home with a cold. So being up at seven I brewed some coffee and took the dog for a walk around the mubaan (village) After coming back I grabbed the coffee and watched the news for a bit, then went upstairs into bed to read. I like my Saturday morning. Later I came downstairs to have some breakfast.
Today is Loi Kratong. The light festival in Thailand. Everybody washes down their "sins" in little banana floats with candles and let’s hot air balloons into the sky. Of course is everything accompanied with a lot of fireworks and noise.

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I wish you all a great start into the new week. I just came back from Mae Taeng where I led worship in the DTS there. It is quite far out. Still I like going there for ministry during the time of the discipleship school. I really need to get hands on some new songs in Thai and English. The one’s I have are kind of worn. If you know what I mean.
This afternoon Mida should be coming to Chiang Mai to do some voice recording. I haven’t heard from her and cannot reach her either. The difficulty lies in the lack of mobile phone connection in the mountains. We will see if it works out.

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I write this post in German for all the German speakers in Chiang Mai.

Heute Morgen habe ich die Anbetung in der deutschen "Haustreffen" geleitet. Ich weiss eigendlich gar nicht wie das ganze heisst oder ob wir es Gemeinde nennen. Vor einiger Zeit, ich denke schon bald vor zwei Jahren, haben ein deutsches Ehepaar ihr Haus geöffnet und wir traffen uns alle zwei Wochen um zusammen zu "brunchen" und eine Zeit miteinander und Gott zu verbringen. Dies hat sich weiterentwickelt und es kommen schon rmanchmal 30 Leute zusammen.
Ich leite dort alle zwei Wochen die Anbetung in deutsch. Unterdessen treffen sich einige wöchentlich und die rede ist von mehr Struktur. Mal sehen was daraus entsteht. In Chiang Mai gibt es viele deutschsprachige Leute die sich ab und zu in ihrer eigenen Sprache anbeten wollen. Ich werde zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt noch mehr darüber schreiben.

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I’m having a lazy morning. Luckily Lillian brought me coffee to bed and so I didn’t even have to get up. It is raining outside and the option of getting up was just not very appealing. It is cold today, at least for my own standards. I know in Switzerland they would laugh. But it is 21 degrees and I wonder if there is a need to put my book aside and see what the kids are doing. Lillian has left the building for a singing seminar and I’m in charge today.
I haven’t written on my blog for a while and so after breakfast I finally sit in front of my computer. Lately I wondered if I should stop this blog. Or if I should make another effort. Haven’t made up my mind yet. The last weeks were kind of busy and I often lack the discipline to sit down and write. Perhaps I should more use it as a journal. But then it might become too personal.
I wish you all a great weekend. I go now and try to seize the rest of the day. Do the dishes, order lunch, practice the guitar and plan next week.

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Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the latest putsch in Thailand. One of many. There was a four page special in the Bangkok post. I remember the day when it was announced. Thaksin was in New York at the time and the army took over the streets with their tanks and soldiers. There was a mix of excitement and fear topped with the question how that would effect us staying in Thailand.

Since then the tanks have left and martial law has been lifted (at least I think so) A new charter has been excepted and Thaksin is in self imposed exile in London enjoying his football club Manchester city. Living here seems to be like before. That means I don’t really understand how this country works. Except that it seems that power and money play a very important role in it.

Things seem to be back to normal. At least on the surface. There is a lot of talk about the democratic development being set back 15 years. Thailand is still under military rule and there have not been elections yet. I’m not sure but martial law in Chiang Mai has been lifted lately. We never really felt there was one. The interim Government is trying hard to keep the peace and hopefully will not stand in the way of the democratic development and elections in the country.

It will be interesting to see how things will develop into the next year. In the meantime I wish Thailand peace.

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After being in the jungle delivering material for the Team we have this week, Thomas and I drove up to Mae Sai. He needed his stamp for his Passport and I needed a change of scenary. We drove from Fang to Tathon and then to Mea Chan and turned North to Mae Sai. We passed several check points on the way. Apperently the drug problem is back in full swing six years after the controversial "war on drugs".
I haven’t been back on the border for a while. Nothing really changed there. Last time I was there with Dave & Trix (friends from Switzerland) The bridge that you have to cross is very busy all day with people crossing back and forth. I did the obligatory photo shoot under the sign with the funny English (The Northern Most of Thailand). Then we had lunch overlooking the bridge. Closer to Burma without crossing is not possible. Shopping is not that great really. But living in Thailand for so long one gets used to all the cheap stuff. I bought some "fake Adidas" sunglasses for 120 Baht. They were already broken on the drive back to Chiang Mai. So cheap is not always good. 🙂 We made it back to Chiang Mai after a long drive with lot’s of rain on the way. Will it ever stop pouring down.

Rainy season is in full swing. Every time I go up to the jungle behind Hui Kau Laam to work on the pipeline the road is worse and soon driving there will be barely possible without getting stuck. But who doesn’t like a little adventure in between.

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