My travels permitted a trip to this wondrous land of mystery in July and August of 1999.  The unique opportunity that was made possible by my nephew made it memorable in more ways than should be possible.  He arranged for a van and driver to take us on a jaunt through about 2000 km of rural Thailand.  The trip can only be described as awesome and inspiring. 

My background is all high tech and seldom in the last 15 years have I been very far from my computer.  So, leaving the computer in Bremerton, Washington and not returning for 3 weeks had me worried that there would be withdrawal pains.  No pains were noted for several reasons.

Jannapha, rice farms, Friendship Bridge, Temples, Statuary, Wax floats, Cave Paintings, and people.  As the saying goes, save the best for last, so I will provide some detail in the reverse order from the list, since Jannapha is by far the biggest reason for making the trip such a phenomenal pleasure.

To view photographs 

People.  From this short trip I do not pretend to be any kind of an expert on the people of Thailand.  I never the less experienced a level of comfort that was not anticipated.  I speak no Thai yet felt very comfortable and at home at all times, whether I was in a remote village or in a downtown market.  Courtesy abounds and left me full of respect for the treatment that was shown to me throughout the trip.

Cave Paintings. The experience of witnessing cave paintings left me breathless and absolutely awestruck.  I may be unique in this reaction having spent much of my free time over the years fascinated with the evolution of mankind.  These studies have taken me through the wonders of books and photographs, as well as through movies and TV programming to be in awe of the abilities of our forerunners to take advantage of their surroundings and resources.  To witness the cave paintings in first person left me numb. 

Wax Floats.  In our community we sponsor a festival called the Armed Forces Festival that includes a parade.  In our country we have many parades such as the Rose Parade and Macys parade all of which have floats of one kind or another.  The Wax Floats that I refer to in this subject are part of a festival that is held in a remote city in Thailand.  They are breathtaking in their beauty, size, and intricate work required to create such a work of art.  The winning float from each parade is saved and used in subsequent years.  To witness many years of these fantastic creations in one viewing area after the parade was a wondrous experience.

Statuary.  The statues on display throughout the country are a measure of creativeness few ever have the opportunity to see.  The huge variety of creatures imaginary and real that have been turned into statues throughout the centuries is indeed a marvel to behold.

Temples.  Every where there are temples of red and gold that are scrupulously maintained.  Some are many centuries old and have been reconstructed or refurbished from the many wars that the region has had to endure again and again.  During the trip we visited many of the temples, some in fabulously refurbished state and others still in ruins.  The care and love that was required to build these edifices had to be very significant and must have required many years of work to complete.  The roads of stone that bring you to each of the temples usually involves many hundreds of yards of pathway with greatly ornamented statuary marking the sides.  Up the hills and down the valleys as you earn your right to visit the temple or shrine through physical effort.  To be sure the reward at the top (all seemed to be on the top of a hill) makes the trek very worthwhile.

Friendship Bridge.  The northernmost portal in Thailand borders Laos and the Mekong river that serves to separate the two countries.  Spanning this body of water between the two countries is the Friendship Bridge.  On the Laos side is the capitol city.  We spent a day with a guide showing and describing the many attractions of the city.  Pictures are included of some of these attractions elsewhere in this discussion.

Rice Farms.  Chicken and egg here.  Are there so many rice farms because Thai staple food includes rice, or does the staple food include rice because there is so much rice grown in Thailand?  These farms are tended in much the same fashion as they have been for centuries, with an occasional glimpse of a tractor doing some work, but by far the most common assistant for the farmer is an ox.  It was a memorable experience for us to be able to visit the family home of a rice farmer.  We spent the better part of a day and were treated like royalty during the visit.  This may have been influenced by the fact that the farm we visited belonged to the parents and family of Jannapha, who is described next.

Jannapha.  My entire trip was spent with Pha at my side.  My estimate is that we walked about two hundred miles during the trip, and even though our languages are different, and neither of us understands the language of the other, we were able to communicate very effectively.  Pha is a very quiet and bashful lady with an almost regal elegance in her manner and looks.  The trip was enriched by the company of her and remains in the front of my mind as the most awesome memorable three weeks of my life.

UPDATE

Late November of 1999 found me returning to Thailand for the purpose of bringing Pha back with me.

This trip proved to be taxing on patience and required all the fortitude that could be mustered.  The VISA for Pha was most carefully prepared by the US Embassy staff in Bangkok and required dotting every "I" and crossing every "T" that has ever been required.

When going to Thailand for this purpose it was expected that I would return December 4.  The many details of getting a VISA for someone from Thailand came into play and the trip was extended over and over again to permit Pha's return with me.

After much effort and many false hopes dashed we managed to prevail and her VISA was granted on December 28, permitting us to return on December 30, 1999 and making her one of the last Thai people to come to the US in the 20th century.

She is busy getting acclimated to our cultural differences and the fact that no one here speaks Thai and we are very much enjoying the time together.

Plans continue to mature.  My resignation as Executive Director of the Bremerton Chamber is effective February 1, 2000.  Beginning in February we will start preparations to move to Thailand for a permanent residence.  The plan at this writing is to return on or about March 18, 2000.

March 16 was the magic day and found us in Bangkok on our way to a hotel stay in Pattaya.  While we were in America my nephew was busy looking for likely places for us to rent.  The first full day here we looked at 4 places he had selected for our consideration.  Pha fell in love with a small townhouse that has two rooms upstairs and two rooms down, so we have signed a lease for a year.  So instead of staying in the hotel we moved in to a furnished, although sparse, it was to be quite nice when compared to a hotel room.  We stayed at the hotel for only 4 days and then have spent the next two weeks getting acquainted with where we live.  All transportation is through generous friends, or taking a motor bike taxi to the main thoroughfare, where we catch a baht bus.  We have managed to pretty much finish the project of setting up the condo for our needs, by hauling our purchases on a motorbike taxi.  Some items were just too much for a taxi and assistance from nephew was provided by nephew for things like the over sized TV we bought.

Now we are preparing for the visit of son John in a few days.  (John met a Thai friend of ours and a couple years later they were married and are now living in Denver, Colorado.) During his visit we will again hire a mini van and take a tour of the northwest part of Thailand including the ancient city of Chiang Mai.  We are excited about his visit, and he is quite anxious to get a little vacation from work.

Visa arrangements are in process for retirement needs and we expect that to be ready next week.  After John's visit we will take a few days and go to Pha's home village.  We are all anxious to get together with her family again since Pha has so much built up excitement to share.  Her trip to America was a delight for her and for me and let her come in contact with snow for  the first time in her life.  What a wonderful time we had during the 90 days that she was with me.

Now we will begin a new phase in our relationship as we search for a place to buy a home, but instead of taking a year we quickly found a piece of land suitable for building in the North East part of the country.  We bought and hauled in dirt to raise the land to street level and will wait a year before beginning construction so the rainy season can do it's settling duties.

We are also making plans for a visit from our very good friend Tudtong Johnson and her two daughters from America.  Her Thai heritage brings them home to Thailand two times a year.  We are looking forward to seeing them in June and hope that they will be able to spend some time with us while she does her Thai business.

Our Thai House

We have purchased a small piece of land in the Northeastern part of Thailand in a village called NaTae.  It is about 60 km from the Mekong River and is in the heart of Thailand's rice farming area.

During our December 2000 visit to the village we began the construction of our Thai style house.  The construction will be similar to the Lao type homes that permeate the area.  The basis of the home will be 9 vertical posts that are about 14 inches square and about 20 feet high.  The main living part of the house will be the ground floor which will be built second after the completion of the second story.

The building process has been slow but steady over the last 9 years and most of the buildings are in place and painted.  You can never tell when you are finished because changes in life are quite constant in Thailand and the final construction never ends up being final.  We now have our house with 9 rooms, 3 are bedrooms, A large farm type kitchen, a nook for coffee, and a living room plus a family area.  This area is all tiled and finished as much as we plan.  It is rustic in that the ceiling is open and the quality of the wood is visible.

In addition to the house we have a computer room (separate building) and a spare house which we use mainly for storage but the area under the house has ended up being the main area for our life style.  We have cemented in most of the front part of the property and the area under the spare house is no exception.  Thai people prefer to use that type open air area for cooking and we have added a couple tables and chairs as well as a wooden bed for use by anyone that wishes to take a nap.  When it is time to eat straw mats are laid out on the cement and people gather around the food and share what ever is on the menu.  This area serves us very well and about 90% of our living is in this area.

Photos of construction.