Rural Thai Adventure

Saturday 18 July was the first day I’ve actually felt cold here in Thailand. It’s the rainy season and it had been raining off and all night and day.  The children arrived with extra clothes and hoodies saying its cold.  It remained cold for several days and everywhere we went people were commenting on how cold it was.  It was actually a very pleasant 23⁰C but even I felt cold!   I didn’t need to use the fan some nights and I’d only needed my morning shower instead of several throughout the day.  In the early evenings as I sat around in my singlet top and shorts I felt quite cold! Unfortunately after hearing the pesky buzz of mosquitoes one night, I decided it was safer to keep the fan on to blow away any that were lingering around.

On Sunday, Temjai had invited me to join her on a trip to her new placement at the Charenthum Church, Pong District, Phayao Province.  It is nearly 2 hours south of Chiang Rai and 2 ½ hours north east of Chiang Mai. She was trying out a new route, which Google maps had suggested, that took us in the opposite direction to her original trip which was via Chiang Rai.  The road wasn’t what she thought it would be and although it may have been a bit quicker (she wasn’t sure about that either) the way was a lot rougher with potholes full of water due to the recent rain.  Finally arriving at the church we were warmly welcomed then showed around Temjai’s new accommodation at the back of the church.  The church members had painted it sky blue, which was a colour she approved of, as the other choices, pink or purple, were not in the colour palette she would have chosen.

We were then ushered to the front of the church, right in front of the loud speakers which is a position I try to avoid but being a guest I had no choice.  I stuffed dampened tissue paper into my ears to help with the volume, it’s good my hair is over my ears as I’d would have hated to offend anyone.  The first half of the service was dedicated to the children. There were about 8 boys and one little girl. Two older girls who both

played the keyboards were later asked to join the younger children for an action dance.  The children were asked to invite an adult to join them.  I noticed the little girl standing alone so I took her hand, partnering with her for the dance.  It was lots of fun especially when I was able to join in with the singing.  The second song was a bit more complicated especially as I didn’t know the song or the words and couldn’t hear what was being sung.  Although I did know one or two of the hymns and songs we sang later in the service.

Once the children left for their Sunday school classes, Temjai and I sat through a very long sermon which neither of us could really understand as it was spoken in the northern Thai language which sounds very much like Laotian.  This is because the Pong district is quite close to Laos and many people have migrated from Laos since the war in Laos which lasted from 1959 to 1975.  Having sat so long in the car and now through the sermon, my back was telling me ‘enough!’ I was glad to be able to stand up and move once the service was over.  Some of the church members then took us for lunch at a local food seller’s stall just down the road.  Both Temjai and I were surprised the servings were so small.  I was glad I had also ordered an avocado smoothie to help fill me up.  We had a lovely time getting to know the girls, two of whom were just a few years younger than Temjai.

From here, Temjai wanted to show me the new Evangelical centre “Ton Naam Mai Chiwit” which is translated “New Beginnings of Life” which was also in the Pong district.  She had punched in a drop-key when she had visited with the pastor the previous week so was confident we would find our way on Google maps.  Boy was she wrong!  It was a 46 minute drive most of which was off the main road on a rural track.  At first we thought it must be Google taking us on a short cut (as it sometimes does) but as we got closer we realised Google was taking us on a wild goose chase deep into farming blocks to a dead end.  When we were about 5 minutes out from our drop pin destination, we decided to call it quits and turned around.  We were both very confused as the drop-pin photo had shown the correct place but the route took us way off track.  A warning not to fully trust Google maps!  We then retraced out tracks to the main road where we continued our journey to Phayao.  Temjai then stopped at her residence in the 15^th District Church Phayao, which is also the Mission Centre with whom she works.  It was interesting to hear that it had been established by German missionaries many years ago and was now run by the local Thai Christians working with missionaries like Temjai from India and others from Korea.

Before heading back home, we stopped off to walk along the shores of the Phayao Lake where we were enticed by an ice cream vendor.  She had lots of consumers, even though she only had one flavour of ice cream – coconut.  Her specialty was to cut a young coconut in half, scoop out the soft flesh then add scoops of creamy coconut ice cream, a scoop of purple sticky rice, two ice apple or palm fruits and sprinkle it with roasted peanuts.  Wow!  It was delicious!

On our return we took the highway route via Chiang Rai and although it wasn’t much quicker, it was a lot less stressful and smoother.  Due to our of the beaten track adventure, the fuel was very low so we topped up before heading back.  Both our phones were also showing less than 30% I turned mine off and Temjai’s, which was on GPS, lasted till we saw our familiar route back via Carolyn’s home.  We stopped off there for a few things at the market and 7/11 store before arriving home.  Praise the Lord most of the way there had been without rain, although it was very overcast and at times sprinkling.  Not so on the way back, and although it wasn’t heavy rain, we did need our umbrellas when we stopped at the market.

On the Monday the cleaner turned up, having been asked to come on the Friday and not the Monday. I wasn’t impressed as I had planned to catch up on things on the computer and wanted some peace and quiet.  I wasn’t going to make a fuss so kept out of her way.  Before she left I heard her try calling Temjai. Temjai had stayed up late watching the soccer so I knew she was more than likely sleeping in.  Sure enough when I heard from her later, around 11am, she hadn’t heard a thing!

Some of the work I had been doing on the computer was compiling a list of common Perth weeds which I’d gathered during a TAFE class in 2022.  I had a heap of photos, some with and some without names. I’d been meaning to compile a proper list with photos since that class but hadn’t gotten around to it – six years! that’s what I call procrastination!  I had encountered a problem which had put me off finishing the project.  All the images were far too large for my Word doc so I’d been reducing them once I’d added them to the page but had run into problems as the page kept freezing!  Then I thought, why not see if I can reduce the size of the photo before adding it to the page.  Now you might say, well that’s obvious but I really hadn’t thought about it till now.  Praise the Lord I finally worked it out as it was so much quicker and earlier, although I still needed to swing the photos around so that they were the right way up.  I’m hoping I can eventually add this list with photos to the community garden website page where I already have some listed with our ‘Common Weeds’.

I had another message from Milkky wanting to catch up before I left, but I politely told her I was busy. She then said she would meet me at the airport but I let her know that I prefer that no one come to send me off and maybe we could meet up next year.  However, I doubt it, I’ll be very wary after these eventless rendezvous.

I’ve slowly been eating through all the goodies I brought from my pantry in Oz; walnuts, seeds, decaf coffee, chocolates. I’m hoping this will lighten my suitcases.  Mind you I do have two small packets of coffee and a few gifts that were given to me at Mae Sot for my birthday so maybe now it’s evened out. I was pleased I am now able to put my red carry-on inside my black suitcase so that I only have one suitcase to lug around and one backpack to take on as hand luggage.

My last Tuesday at the primary school I forgot I was taking the older children and had only put into my bag the lesson for the younger children.  Praise the Lord the headmistress kindly drove me back to the house to pick up the other lesson.  While they waited, the children wanted to know if I was coming and were pleased to know I was just running late.  They had started to enjoy my lessons, maybe because I always had a few games at the end.  This class was no different, we had a lesson on when to use ‘is’ and ‘are’ then ended playing animal Bingo.

After school I walked to Pi Nee’s food stall where I ordered lunch and something to take with me on my travels to Bangkok.  I still have a few more days before my departure but it’s always good to be prepared.

Photos:   1. Arrowroot– Thalia geniculate    2. Baan Sawang – taste class    3. Charenthum church – kids activities    4. Lunch with church members    5. Phayao Lake    6. Coconut ice cream    7. Tuesday’s class

Prayer & Praise Points:

Please pray for smooth flights for me as I prepare to fly to Bangkok on the 26^th and then on to Bali on the 27^th July.

Praise the Lord for watching over me and Temjai in all our travels and adventures.

Please continue to pray that I will be conformed to His image and that others will be drawn to Him through my words and actions.

Please pray that the remainder of my time here in Thailand will be fruitful.

Please continue to pray for the Karen families not only here in Thailand but also left in Myanmar. Persecution continues as churches are not only bombed but landmines are placed within their grounds.

Pray for families who have applied for visas and permanent residency with their families abroad, especially Matt’s family in Mae Sot. Pray that they will be united with family soon.   Pray also that, while they wait, their situation in Thailand will improve and that they will be able to provide for their families.