Thailand Part I

My brother John moved to Thailand in 2017 when he retired.  He retired early and his pension was minimal, but Thailand was affordable. I had never been there before so decided to go and see what it was all about. Jerald and I went there about a year after John moved and by then he was settled enough to show us around. 

Thailand is a developing country and like other developing countries much of the infrastructure is still in the works. Sidewalks and streets can be a bit bumpy and uneven but are mostly like the ones we have here in maybe a poorer part of the US. Bathrooms are tricky because they rarely provide toilet paper or hand soap. Also, toilet paper is not allowed in the toilets, often a garbage can was provided next to the toilet for used tp. 

One excursion Jerald and I went on was to an elephant preserve where working elephants were rescued and could live a peaceful life. It was raining and very slippery, but nothing stops the “experience.” They gave us big bunches of bananas to feed the elephants and these giants would run right up to you to get their snacks. There was a baby elephant that kept charging Jerald. It was kind of scary and he even knocked Jerald down a couple of times. What was even more intimidating is that right behind the baby elephant was mama and her friends. 

There was an option to bathe the elephants. I just couldn’t bring myself to do that because it seemed ridiculous to bathe an elephant as if they can’t do it themselves. A lot of people thought otherwise. 

A little story about tp.  On our way to the elephant sanctuary, our guide van stopped at a rest stop so tourists could change vans depending on where they were going.  There were also nice facilities there, so I took advantage and used the rest room.  At this point of our journey, I had already learned to double check for toilet paper prior to choosing a stall.  I couldn’t find any.  I saw a tourist at the wash basin and asked where to find the tp.  She said “at 7-11.”  Sure enough, two doors down, was a 7-11 (there is a 7-11 on nearly every block), and that is where I bought one roll and kept it in my backpack for the remainder of the trip.  

Thailand is known for cheap massages and where we visited, they were plentiful. I’m thinking about $5 for an hour massage. Sometimes there were themes like the business run exclusively by blind people. The person taking the money had limited vision but everyone else was completely blind. Then there was the place run by/for women in prison. John explained some were allowed to give massages during the day and if they did an outstanding job they would eventually be released. That massage was particularly rough. Then there was the nice place. I had a traditional Thai massage there and it took weeks for me to recover from the sheer power she put into pulling and prodding at my shoulder and back. 

We toured around with John’s longtime friend, Lan. It was great having her because she was a lot of fun with a cool personality, great English, and super knowledgeable about things to see/do. Plus, a great translator that streamlined everything for us. 

At the end of our Thailand trip, we went to John’s new hometown and got to see his apartment which was nice. He paid about $400 a month and it was gated with security, a big pool and sauna, and a good sized, nice, one bedroom apartment. 

Before finishing this narrative, I must include a comment about the many temples we saw. They are all over and came in different sizes from quite small to giant.  Also, there was varying degrees of ornateness with some reminding me of the famous wall paintings at the Vatican. 

After leaving Thailand our next stop was Japan.