Under Construction

Isaan, sometimes spelled Issan or Isarn, it is still the North East of Thailand and its poorest area.   I'll try to remember to use Isaan since Thai's generally put the accent on the last syllable. Isaan means 'plateau' and the country side is certainly flat.

Bus travel in Thailand is convenient, economical and makes a very nice way to get around the country where air travel options do not exist or costs are high.  Roads can be rough, in some case due to buckling under the heat of the summers sun and the size of the bus takes much of the roads unevenness out of the travel, making it a better option then car travel. 

I am the only ‘foreigner’ on this part of the trip.  This is not uncommon when traveling to the more remote areas of Thailand.  I’ve grown accustomed to this and in no way is it ‘threatening’.  Very often someone friendly will adopt you to make certain that you get where you want to.   Sharing food or snacks if often part of this Thai hospitality.   The people of Isaan are very friendly and quick to smile, very helpful and anxious to befriend a stranger even though some of these people are very unfamiliar with ‘tourists’.

Today is Tuesday and the ‘color’ for Tuesday in pink (each day has a color).  The sky train is awash in pink shirts (about 60%) as many Thai people show their respect for the King (sometime I’ll do a story on the King, but for now suffice it to say that no man on this planet is more revered by his people then the King of Thailand) and for the country.

Soi 4 to Mo Chit 40 baht on the sky train,  I use the sky train where ever I can to avoid the flat fees often preferred by the taxi drivers, 49 baht to the bus station by metered taxi, and 227 for a  6 hour bus ride from Mo Chit to Buriram.  9 o’clock bus, expecting to arrive about 3P.  The rice fields look amazingly green and lush.  It is now the beginning of the ‘rainy season’ and this area of Isaan has been receiving its badly needed rain.

Planned trip to Buriram to meet Roger Walker, Director of the Tree of Life Orphanage.   Met a very nice young lady on the bus who was most gracious to let me use her cell phone to let Roger know when I would be arriving at the bus station in Buriram.  She resisted taking money to pay for the call.  I think she was getting some ‘merit’ from Buddha for her good deeds.  None the less, I very much appreciated her acts of kindness.  She told me that her family in Buriram are rice farmers, but they do not own their own land and as ‘rent’ turn over one-half of their crop to  the land owner.  Unlike what most people would think, land in Thailand is not cheap.  Very expensive for such a poor country and such a low standard of living for the people of Isaan, the countries poorest area. 

Passing through towns whose names I don’t know as all of the signs in this part of Thailand are written in Thai.  Good thing that I’m not driving or else I’d still be lost. 

The people on the bus are friendly, but very few speak any English at all.  The small amount of Thai that I can speak makes the trip much more comfortable.

Most interesting to see the local Thai people on the bus watching the rice paddies as we go by on the way to Buriram and thinking how much more intimate their knowledge of the painful steps that must be followed to grow rice, then I know. Growing rice is difficult, back breaking work.   Spending long hours in knee high water or calf high mud, following a water buffalo pulling a single blade plow. Knowing about the planting/replanting,  control of the water, hand harvesting and the control of the water buffalo.  Isaan is a flat plateau and perfect for growing rice except for the lack of water.  This lack of water makes it so that in most areas of Isaan, only one crop of rice  is grown  per year, and sometimes lack of water makes it so that no rice crop can be grown.  This in contrast to some areas north of Bangkok, where four crops per year are often achieved. 

At the station, the fans are blowing, food vendors enter the bus with all sorts of food to sell.  Chicken, pineapple, water and soft drinks to make your trip more pleasant.  The bus will stop at least every one and half hours to refuel the passengers with many other food delights.  Neither the passengers nor the driver can go more than an hour and a half without refueling. 

The bus is pretty full.  Cost for this bus is 75 baht for the one way trip.  This would be very difficult area to travel without being able to understand and speak at least a little Thai, at least understand times and money amounts.   

Out past the green rice fields and water buffalo.  On a very bumpy and with much of it ‘under construction’, the two lane highway  will take me a the three hour trip to Roi Et. 

Many of these people speak Isaan, and not Thai.  When they tell me fares, they speak to me in Isaan, which I can’t understand at all.

About one hour into the trip the rains started.  Rain in Thailand is not exactly what you imagine.  It comes down so hard and fast that I  can only describe it as a waterfall.  While it normally doesn’t rain for more than a half hour, it can sometimes rain for days.  This is not one of those times.  As there was no air conditioning the windows were open. The water built up so fast on the highway that the first car coming in the opposite direction, sprayed up water and flooded the side of the bus across from me.  A couple of very surprised passengers quickly closed the windows, but the ‘damage’ was done.  Hopefully they would dry out before we got to Roi Et.   

About half way there, the road became under construction making our maximum speed about 20 miles per hour.  This was very appropriate as the water buffalos that use the road too, were often not very fast about getting out of the way.   

Leaving from the Mai Thai Hotel, the tuk tuk fare was 60 baht to the bus station.  Prices for short trips by tuk tuk are not really inexpensive and since there are not very many options, they don’t really need to be competitive. 

The Mai Thai Hotel is an old but grand hotel in Roi Et.  A little remote from the city center, but possible to walk if you were ambitious.

Breakfast at the hotel was 85 baht for their buffet breakfast which did include several selections that foreign tourists could enjoy. 

I had been told by some Scandinavian tourists that the Mai Thai Hotel was ‘the’ place to stay and that they thought it was 600 baht.   When I should up at reservation, they quoted me 800 baht.  Sensing my reluctance, the hotel manager quickly revised the rate to 500 baht.  This is a very good value for a hotel of this quality at this price.   While the hotel is an older hotel and not perfect, it does offer many amenities and conveniences. 

Porters at the bus station are there to provide good service.  They are very surprised with even a small tip.  It is a most pleasant surprise.  I think the ‘minimum wage’ in Thailand is now 130 baht per day. 

During one section of the trip everyone getting off the bus said ‘goodbye’ (in Thai) to me as they were leaving.  A real testament to their hospitable and friendly demeanor.  I really enjoy these little kindnesses too make a stranger feel welcome. 

The rice fields seem to go on forever.  This is what makes it so that Thailand is the worlds largest exporter of rice.

People of Isaan are very fun loving, people loving, and color loving.  Even trucks might be decorated in multi colored (you might say gaudy) paint, buses, tuk tuk and motorbikes might be similarly painted. 

I Thailand vehicle ‘right of way’ is principally determined by who has the larger vehicle.  The bus driver on this part of the trip is highly responsible, however ‘right of way’ is a constant struggle with the many slow moving vehicles that populate rural roads.  Flashing headlights for vehicles (including ours) attempting to make a two lane highway accommodate vehicles three wide are not uncommon. 

So I decided to walk back to hotel which was about one and  a half miles so that I could get to see more of the city.  On the way back, along the river, up ahead, I could see a small pack of stray dogs chasing cars and motor bikes. These are not at all like the soi dogs that are so common throughout Thailand. These dogs are very aggressive.  I have learned to be wary of these dogs as they tend to work in packs and if one of the dogs were to attack a pedestrian, I have little doubt that the rest of them would join the ‘hunt’.  I crossed the road so that I would have traffic from both directions between me and the dogs.    There was little traffic however; and it was no surprise that the dogs spotted me.  The only way back to the hotel was along the river, so taking a different route was not an option.  Only one of the dogs crossed over and even though he was threatening, he would back off as long as I didn’t turn my back to him.   That sounds very easy, but where there is a pack of dogs as I had faced in Mae Hong Son early one morning, they tend to circle around you, so that there are always dogs at your back.  This didn’t happen on this occasion, but I would warn anyone on foot to be extremely cautious in this situation and avoid it whenever possible.  I have had similar experience in Kanchanaburi, though this one particular dog was much more aggressive and stalking then I had previously experienced. 

Kanchanaburi….headed toward the bus station in the morning there were three packs of dogs.  Two of these dogs had muzzles.    I know these dogs weren’t muzzled because of their barking and strongly suspect that they must have attacked someone at some point.  Tuk Tuk fare is a ‘negotiated’ 40 baht to the bus station.   In Bangkok I can go much further for 40 baht, but again lack of competition makes transportation more expensive in the rural areas.  Bus fare  all the way to Bangkok is only 91 baht on the second class bus.  First class bus  was 141 baht, then another 50 baht taxi fare to the sky train headed to Ekamai bus station.  40 baht for the sky train and 169 baht for the bus to Koh Samed.