I am coming up on my second anniversary living in Thailand, along with my second Christmas and birthday. When I met Nee she told me she was from Thailand and I didn't know where that was. "It is near Vietnam, right?" I asked. Well, sort of. You have to get through Cambodia or Laos first, two more countries I only knew from CBS news and the war. My picture of southeast Asia was formed from movies like "Good Morning, Vietnam" and similar fare. I was told it was third world and my only world up until then was the US. Here, then, are my impressions of living in a "third world" nation.
The new term I am told is "developing" nation. A movie like, "The Gods Must Be Crazy" comes to mind with little people running around half naked, sitting in the dirt eating their dinner. A bit like camping year around, though with camping we can always go back to our warm beds and fresh coffee. Folks in poorer countries are already home. If you wander around off the main highways here, you will find villages of people living in grass shacks with walls of bamboo and dirt floors. Still, if you look closely, you might also see a refrigerator or two, motorcycles, satellite dishes and kids playing computer games.
 |
| The long metal pipe here is the drive shaft for the potters wheel. |
 |
| That is a motorcycle wheel she used as a kick wheel. She said she was too small for the wheel her husband uses. |
That said, yesterday we went looking for some pots for our garden. The soil at our rental house is poor-quality fill that only lets weeds grow. We have been growing what we can in pots. In the US, you go down to Home Depot and can get a car load of pots to bring home. Here, you have to find where they are made. Nee heard about a village that made pots somewhere near the town of Chaiprakarn, about 20 km from us. We decided to take a trip and find it.
Road signs in Thailand are few and far between and often misleading. For instance, the immigration office in town has two signs, one points to the office and the other doesn't. At least they have a sign. The place we were looking for was found through what I call Thai GPS. About every few kilometers, Nee stopped anyone she saw, old ladies working in their garden, old men on motorcycles and so on, to get directions. We drove and drove and drove.
We passed a few small dairies each with about 40 cows. In between, we crossed long stretches of farm lands, some already filled with onions and other greens for this growing season.
Finally, after a few wrong turns, we found three houses together, all making pots. These are pictures of them.
Thailand is encouraging everyone to become more self-sufficient, something I have always attempted to live. I am not one to go off the grid, but whenever I can make something for myself, I will, rather than buying it from a store.
The pottery business here could be the star of the self-sufficient movement. Potting wheels were made of car wheels, with small electric motors turning what looked like a drive shaft from a car with a long belt connected to the wheel. Homes are wooden, unheated, and chairs are mostly the floor.
Kilns are stacks of bricks which looked homemade, and a wood fire is underneath. It takes a day to heat it up and another day to fire the pots. The clay comes from a hole in the grown next to the homes, though they say they are looking for a new supply. You can only dig so deep.
We bought a few pots and headed back home. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. Most of their business is wholesale so they didn't care of we bought anything or not.
If you are looking for real Thailand, get off the road and get lost. It is the best thing to do on an quiet afternoon.
