I have finally had my first jab – and not before time as Mr Covid and The Variants is still causing chaos in Thailand – perhaps not surprising when less than 10% of the population has been vaccinated! What does surprise me though is that most Thais seem totally resigned to the ineptitude of the government’s handling of the pandemic. For sure there have been some anti government protests in Bangkok but these have yet to spread much further afield. Perhaps this is because the average Thai is so used to such corrupt and selfish incompetence which, in most other countries, would see the Prime Minister and his cronies heading straight for the ‘departure lounge’. Having said that, reading and listening to what is going on (or rather lack of it) in the UK government right now makes me wonder which country has the better mob in charge. Tough call!
Anyway, we must be thankful for small mercies although I had to go to Bangkok to get vaccinated (with Astro Zeneca) which was not ideal as Thailand’s main city is the epicentre of the latest wave of this dreaded virus. The alternative, though, was waiting for what was almost certainly a less than effective dose of the Chinese Sinovac which, for some reason or another that I couldn’t possibly hazard a guess about is the vaccine that has been purchased by the government in significant quantities despite, apparently, costing 4 times more than the Astro Zeneca equivalent and not being nearly as good! Mmmmm!
The rather splendid and yet unopened new Bangkok railway station was the venue for my jabbing. It was quite chaotic outside with people seemingly oblivious to the concept of social distancing
but once inside the building, everything was really quite well organised.
Hopefully, by the time I have to go back for my second dose, the outside waiting area will be as well operated as inside but at least it wasn’t raining!
Next month is usually the wettest in Thailand’s rainy season. There hasn’t been a huge amount of water coming from the skies recently but when it does rain, it can come down in bucket loads!
This rarely lasts for long, though and does cool things down a touch which can be a bit of a relief when it’s mid 30s every day. I much prefer this short sharp burst type of rain than the sometimes seemingly endless grey and drizzly days we have to endure in the UK!
I have mentioned before that food and eating must be Thailand’s 2nd most popular ‘religion’ after Buddhism. And, as the majority of the population was either born in or has access to the countryside it is second nature to eat healthy food, often gathered from the rural areas. Sadly, though, over the years I have noticed an increasing number of locals munching their way through fast food with the inevitable effect on their otherwise slim and elegant body shapes! Happily, though, such folk are still in a minority. Ironically, the current financial difficulties of so many people here have increased the number of folk ‘living off the land’ so to speak. It’s not only vegetables that are foraged from the hedgerows and even paths
but also – and especially loved by Thais from the large Isan province- ants are considered a delicacy
as are , would you believe, ant eggs.
I read somewhere recently that, as the supply of what we westerners would call ‘normal’ food dries up, we will have to get used to eating insects which are, it seems, rich in all sorts of good stuff. There are a large number of psychological hurdles I would have to overcome before I would be happy with that.
I think the 3rd ‘religion’ in Thailand must be gambling. The thought of playing a game of golf, for example, without a wager, however small, is completely foreign to the Thais and in fact most of the south east asian population. Gambling is anywhere and everywhere –
even at funeral ‘wakes’ . And being a superstitious lot, an enormous amount of time is spent on looking for ‘signs’ that might lead to a big win. Nowhere is this passion more evident than when it comes to the national lottery where tickets for the big monthly draw are sold on almost every street corner.
Endless hours are spent by the superstitious Thai trying to predict winning numbers, from interpreting the chants of monks, ‘speaking’ to dead relatives who are,of course, bound to know the winning numbers and, more bizarrely, sometimes using animals to try and get a prediction. A couple of weeks ago I found my wife pouring talcum powder onto a live toad to see if the dusting would reveal a way to riches!
Of course it didn’t but who am I to try and stop such efforts, especially during the current economic hardship endured by so many in this beautiful country.
Despite positive and clearly unfounded public relations exhortations by those in power (and a few who would like to be!), there seems to be little chance of this country fully opening up whilst the vaccine rollout crawls along at such a snail’s pace. So all bars are still shut, restaurants can only sell takeaways and there is a nightly curfew from 9pm to 4am. Add this to the almost complete lack of tourists makes Hua Hin and so many other towns and cities around Thailand look (and feel) like ghost towns.
There is a rumour that restaurants will soon be able to offer limited table seating but only to those who can prove they have been double vaccinated. As there are so few of such folk, if this rumour proves to be true, it will almost certainly have an almost zero positive impact on the Thai economy. Clearly, another governmental masterstroke!
In the meantime, we continue to offer take away food
but on so many days, it ‘s really not worth opening. We just have to keep on trying and hope that my next blog will send out a much more positive message.
Until then.
R
thelasthurrahsite 