Ranong

---

Ranong is a place where travellers can come to do a 'visa run' across the border into Myanmar and back. At night, the street lights are dim which gives the town a kind of B-grade western movie feel. Business is aimed mostly at locals and life seems relatively normal here. At the hot springs on the outskirts of town, the temperature of the water is a crazy 65 degrees celsius. Reported to have healing qualities. There are several man-made baths available, where you can either scold, burn or scorch your feet, legs or body.

Afterwards, I wander around town soaking up the back streets. I see several dogs in cages in front of a restaurant. Small terriers and Chihuahuas. I’ve seen this in Viet Nam. Usually, it means they are to be killed and eaten for dinner. I approach the restaurant workers and ask them “are those dogs to eat?” They reply in broken English “yes… yes… come back later!” I ask again to verify. This time in sign language. “You kill dog… me eat?” This is difficult to get across but they assure me that this is the case and to come back later, pointing upstairs. I am slightly shocked but not surprised. I imagine they might also have some kind of exotic animal restaurant upstairs. Where behind closed doors you can order elephant trunk soup, fried monkey brains or roast lima.

Walking along the street a little further I see more dogs in cages. This time they’re puppies! I ask the store owner the same thing. Pointing to the dogs and then pointing to my mouth. “Yes, yes…later.” This must be 'Dog Eat Street'. Just like in Viet Nam, where there are streets specialising in one specific dish. Restaurants that are dedicated to providing you with the meat of this human-loving canine. Flabbergasted, I pace back to my hotel room and look at the photos I took of these poor creatures awaiting their demise.

What can I do to save these little dogs? I head to the local pet shop to get an idea of the price for a dog in Thailand. About 1,000 baht each (roughly 50 Australian dollars.) I was hoping for maybe 1,000 baht for the four, but if I can convince the owner to sell them all, I’ll pay more. I have another idea, to visit the Buddhist monastery just around the corner from 'Dog Eat Street’ and find a monk who can speak English and explain my dilemma. He is unconvinced of my discovery and tries to assure me that no one eats dogs (or cats) as food in Thailand. He’s happy that I’m concerned and agrees to talk to the owners of the restaurant.

Returning to the mission to save these little doggies, I begin my interrogation. Pointing to the dogs and communicating in hand gestures and broken English, I explain that I want those dogs in the cages for dinner. They are different people from before but I ask repeatedly “Dogs… eat.. I want… yes? You sell dogs… yes?" They look at me in horror. "No...no...like children...no eat". She points to the dogs saying "like children...no eat!”. I am not convinced and figure it's some kind of ploy to conceal their intentions.

Before they’d offered me the option to eat them and now they say “like children.” Suddenly it dawns on me - maybe I’m wrong. Mostly because of the strange frightened look on their faces, looking at me as if to say "Could it be true? Does this farang want to eat our precious little pets that are like children to us? What kind of people are these farang that come to Thailand with their money and their fancy clothes.? Thinking they can just buy anything they want to and eat it”.

I slowly retreat. Taking large backward steps away from the group of people standing there looking at me in disgust, away from the dogs I was trying to save; crawling back along what I’d previously known as 'Dog Eat Street’; past the monastery where the monk had laughed at me, back, back in time to a nicer, happier time where people in Thailand don't eat dogs! Only in the northeast, apparently.

---