Enjoy the pictures below.
In my education section of the website, I have been quite critical about what I see as being the education system in Udon Thani and Thailand in general, and I stand by that until I see something substantial to make me have a re-think. However, the Thai education system is not quite as insular as I once imagined, and this week saw my daughters school host a celebration and learning day of the neighbouring countries, which includes Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, in short - south east Asia, The start of the day was quite predictable with a main local government official giving a speech and handing out a load of framed certificates, but I was not especially concerned with this aspect. My focus for the day, as usual was to capture the fantastic garments and colours of the day, something which the Thai's are very good at organising (There - I have said it!). I was well rewarded at the very start, as I clamped eyes on an instrument I had not seen before - Angklung, or at lease a variation, which originated in Indonesia. If you are wondering what it looks like, it is the instrument being played by the girls in the front row above. As I said above, my aim was to capture the colour and clothing, and as always the young girls were more than happy for a ferang to take a picture of them. Some of them are just waiting for it to happen! There was even one Thai lady who was nothing to do with the proceedings wanting to get some 'picture time' too. After the second time, I decided to talk to her, and it turned out she was on holiday from England for 4 months, while her husband was keeping life ticking over back home. Enjoy the pictures below. The difference between the Thai, Cambodian and Laos traditional dress is not always to identify, as they are remarkably similar. I was especially pleased with the capture of the Philippines garments, and to me is arguably the prettiest of all the south east Asian region. Just how much the children actually learn about the other countries on the day is quite debatable as most of them are more intent on playing around and talking to their friends, but I believe that during the previous week some of their class work involved getting to know a little about the outside world, or at least the rest of south east Asia.
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It has been a few months since I last got the urge to indulge in a spot of fishing but today I finally made an effort, and really pleased that I did! The last week has seen temperatures around the Udon Thani area drop to as low as about 9 degrees C at nights, which made me wonder just how much of an impact this would have on the fishing. Phon fishing lake is close to our home and coincidentally one of my favourite places to go fishing in and around Udon Thani. It is not a large lake, maybe 200m long x 60m wide, and I am not sure how deep it is although most lakes around here are not much more than 4 or 5 feet. I arrived at about 10:30am and the place was void of anglers (nothing new at that time of day) and the first thing I noticed was the lack of fish activity on the lakes surface, as there is normally fish rolling around all over the lake - not today though. It appears the drop in temperature does indeed put them off making their presence known. I rigged up as usual and tried my luck all the same, but for the next 90 minutes nothing happened other than me chucking in more free offerings. This was the signal for me to get something to eat myself and once that was done, I resumed in my pursuit of some catfish. About 30 minutes later I had the first 'run' of the day, resulting in a nice fat Catfish of about 10kg. To appreciate the size of the fish, the landing net is about 16 inches wide. This fish was very fat at the front, where most of the weight was packed on, and a fish this long normally weighs in at around 6 - 7kg. The lake appeared to come to life as I dragged in another 'cat', but this was was much smaller, no more than perhaps 4.5kg. Another 15 minute wait saw another 'run' and this time it was like hitting a train, at it swam away at some rate of knots. This fish, however, soon gave up the fight but I knew it was a not a tiddler. One landed, it became quite obvious why it gave up the battle quite quickly - it was too fat to fight! This beauty had weight from it's head to its tail and was built like a submarine. It weighed just a fraction under 15kg! My new personal best in Thailand. The session saw a downhill trend after that, with just one more 'tiddler' of perhaps 3kg, then nothing for two hours, at which point I decided to pack in and leave it for another day. All the fish were caught on a very basic 'Bolt Rig' with bread on the hook and used as a groundbait. Fishing does not need to be complicated here as the fish are almost always very happy to feed. Throughout the day though, very few fish rolled on the surface, something I was paying a lot of attention to, due to the recent weather, and something noted for future sessions. I cannot hide my joy with today for two reasons - 1. Personal best fish as highlighted above but more importantly.... 2. The biggest Catfish I have seen anyone catch in this lake has been about 8kg - there are not supposed to be any real 'biggies' in the lake, according to the owners, but it is now nice to know there are some present and I dare say there are bigger fish than what I have caught today swimming around just waiting to be hooked. I will be back to try and find them some time in the new year after the water has warmed up a bit more. For a little more information on fishing in and around Udon Thani, I have a fishing page you can visit. It is rare that I actually give advice on my website, I would rather you discovered the city for yourself, although of course I do provide information of where to go etc. However, this blog is different - I am going to give you one very important piece of advice, and I would urge you to not dismiss this "out of hand" - Network with other ferang in Thailand!
Living in Udon Thani, or indeed anywhere in Thailand, is full of obstacles, pot-holes and barriers, the language not being the least of them. You can research as much as you want before deciding to live here, but until you begin to talk with other ferang that have lived here for some years, you probably wont get the full picture. So who are the best people to network with? I would suggest, if you want to build a network, to approach ferang business owners (or at least part owners of a business). These people are more likely to have knowledge of most, if not all, aspects of living here, either through personal experience or via their customers. Let's assume you have recently moved to Udon Thani to live and you want to find the best place to get your computer fixed, upgraded or even want to buy a new one. Where is the best place to do this? Small things like this, actually require some prior experience, as so many small Thai retail outlets will not do for you, or give you what you are expecting. You may be able to find this kind of information on the various expat forums that exist, but not always and not always in the area you live. As an example, this is just the very tip of the iceberg, as virtually everything you will want to do, is going to be a new experience for you and if you do this alone, you may pay the price for it. Most of the ferang that have lived here, and use the girly bars, will have lots of information about all sorts of things, and if one individual does not know the answer, there is a good chance that they will know someone else who does, and so it goes on. What I have found is that if you are from the UK, it is perhaps best to meet other UK people, US ferang seek other US ferang etc...especially if you want advice on visa's and marriage, as the rules may be different depending on which country you come from (such is Thailand). Udon Thani has bar and restaurants that are owned by people from quite a wide range of countries, and these are where I would suggest your Thailand networking should begin. A more expansive slide show can be viewed on You Tube here >> The Tung See Meung festival in Udon Thani is quite a bizarre time, as it has nothing to do with religion or any of the planets elements - it is nothing more than 2 weeks of concentrated selling of products, of which most are available every day of the year in countless local shops. So, what exactly the point of it is, I am uncertain. However, to mark the beginning of this festival is quite a large parade, just a few days before the Thai Kings birthday on the 5th December. The parades appear to be a little disorganised, and certainly not fluid, as you get spells of 5 or 6 minutes with nothing happening. They start off pretty well, with plenty going on with music and dancing, led by a couple in traditional dress, closely followed by my favourite aspect - traditional Thai dancing. The local army scouts also take part, and where you reasonably expect to see a bit of a march past, looking the part - they just amble by, looking not especially interested in what they are doing, and little or no pride. As with such parades, I act as something of a talent scout, looking for the real 'beauties' (in my eyes), so the following images are of what I considered to be the prettiest on view today. (Click on the images to enlarge) Before the parade, there was one thing I just had to do, and something I had not done to date, and that was to get pictures of two of the three big roundabouts in Udon Thani. Nothing works quite like it should, and I must admit I instantly saw the irony in the pictures, which sum Udon Thani up quite perfectly. When the fountain is working, it looks great, but it just doesn't work often enough. |
AuthorI am a simple ex-pat living the happiest days of my life in Thailand. Recent BlogsArchives
May 2017
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