"So they named the town after a bird that doesn't live here, alright!"

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LOENG NOK THA (small rural town in the Yasothon Provence)

Day 1, 2 and 3

Rural Thailand to me really consists of one major place an that is Chang Mai, which the most recent of the cities of Thailand I have learned after the infamous backpacking destinations of Bangkok and Phuket. So to say my knowledge of Thailand is poor is being extremely generous. Hell I know more cities in small countries like Luxembourg than I do in one of the world's most visited destinations. I guess you are now assuming that my lack of knowledge indicates that I had no real desire to venture there and well to be completely honest that is true. Before I briefly stopped in Bangkok on may way through to Europe. But six-hours in the city Ken Joeng described as the city of Squalor in the infamous movie 'Hangover 2,' it made me quickly realise that my preconceptions about Thailand being uninteresting and a place I wouldn't want to visit were completely wrong. Instead I discovered that Thailand was a country that I really wanted to explore and less than a year after the fleeting visit I decided to venture across and explore and decided to venture to a largely unknown (well to tourists) area of Thailand, the North-East. Or as the locals of the area would describe the area, Isaan country.



Ok, a second and very influential reason for me venturing there was because my father had relocated there and staying with him was a good starting point to discover an area of Thailand I didn't even know existed or the fact they call themselves something different. Isaan (or Isan) the name comes from Sanskrit word Ishan, which means North-east direction and that is where in Thailand they live. That is a very, very crude explanation but simplicity is key to understanding. The region for a long time was one of the poorest areas of Thailand, but recently it has become one of Thailand's fastest growing economies. But in the town I was staying in, you honestly wouldn't have been able to tell. Loeng Nok Tha has the exterior image of a poor rural town and unfortunately that is an accurate description of the town in reality too. Money is not a common site in the area. But fortunately that is apart of the charm of the place, it has a simple and rustic charm that could easily make any visitor to the city fall in love with the place.



I arrived in the town fairly late in the day and the first thing that happened was going out to dinner in a street side outdoor restaurant. It was a series of tables covered by a pergoda of rusting iron roof that looked like it was going to collapse in strong rain. On top of the worn iron roofing was a green shade cloth, I am not exactly sure what the reasoning for this was but I can guarantee you that it didn't add anything to the aesthetic appeal. Maybe this is an Isaan thing, or perhaps it unfurls to become a mosquito netting around the dining area. But I quickly realised this was not the case, when for the next hour or so during the dinner my exposed legs and arms were getting ravaged by mosquitoes. Other families were dining around in smaller more intimate shelters for lack of a better word. I was fortunate enough to be invited to join my father, his partner and some of her friends with the meal and I quickly got to observe the many differences with the interesting dining experience offered. Firstly, women tend to take control of the dining experience. I do not mean this in any sexiest way but for this and almost every other dining experience I had in the area the women would commandeer your plate and pile it full of food to the point where it is almost spilling of the brim of the plate. By no means was this a terrible thing, but I really wish someone had warned me about the hell that I was about to experience with Isaan food.



Amazing, delicious and unique are all accurate and fair descriptions of typical Isaan food, but that is not the word that now typifies Isaan food to me, instead the word that comes to mind is spicy. Thai food is world renowned as being amongst the spiciest in the world. Well the fact that Thai people even describe Isaan food as spicy should tell you something. The first couple of bites were fine, in fact it didn't seem that hot at all, but as time went on my mouth became number and hotter by the second. It was just the one dish that was almost inedible, well to me in the least. The Isaan people were able to eat it, but they did say that even they found it spicy but I assume that was just to make me feel better that I struggled so badly with the dish. Do not avoid the Isaan food because of this one bad experience I had, there food is fantastic and is yet another reason why you will love the region. Just remember to ask whether the food is spicy or not before eating it. Or if you have the opportunity do what I did and still do, ask the locals what they suggest you should have. After all they are the most knowledgeable and it is a good way to ensure the best chance of having a memorable meal you would be wanting to write home about. Another difference was the way they serve beer over there. They will serve there beer, usually the local brand, Leo, with a large cylinder of ice to keep the beer cold. Thailand in the hot season lives up to its name. It gets ridiculously hot and that is saying something coming from someone who lives in the great state of South Australia where days in summer are often above 40 degrees.



The next day in Loeng Nok Tha let me experience something I had never bargained on or for that matter ever imagined I would experience, standing in front of a class and teaching them English. After a night of drinking with a local teacher I was asked if I wanted to teach a class full of kids some basic English. Without the slightest hesitation I agreed and the time had come, I was about to teach what I thought was going to be a small group of Thai children. Well I was close in the sense I was teaching English, but it wasn't a small group, it was a 150 strong room full of children from as young as five to a few in their final year of primary education. Having no specific plan of attack with my teaching I decide (well get forced) to wing it. It went well teaching the children basic greeting through a translator and local teacher called Not. I also taught them how to count to 10 and some basic body parts. But unfortunately I feel I may have traumatized the poor children having exposed them to my singing. I wish I could apologise to the children and anybody who had to experience that trauma, but unfortunately my Thai is so non existent I still do not know how to even say hello or goodbye.



Loeng Nok Tha like almost all the rest of Thailand is a Buddhist area and in the morning I ask if I could go to the temple and experience what a Buddhist ceremony at a local temple. Fortunately I was allowed to go, but honestly I had no idea what to expect and still to this day I really don't know exactly what happened but it as fairly awesome. To get there even though it was all of 400 metres away, I used a scooter to get there just like millions of Thai people do. It is an inexpensive and openly accessible modes of transport that is openly available. As you come closer to the entrance you are greeted by a large gold coloured archway that is decorated with Buddhist images like the sitting Buddha, dragons, Elephants and soo much more. The temple grounds are vast and full of rustic buildings, newer more advanced buildings with satellite dishes attached to the roof and lavish gold fused temples, which beautifully coincide with the view of Thailand today the mixture of the historic and religiously rich past, the recent poor and the development into the future Thailand is starting to get. But the star of the temple is a beautiful small temple that is lavish. Adorned by golden dragons perched on railing that act as guards and intricate and painstaking design that looked like it would have troubled a master artist, it was a building that caused me to really stop and really take in the majesty of the contrast. Here I am in what was once the poorest area, with olden near totally dilapidated farm houses and barren, burnt fields and amongst this almost a shrine like figure, kind of acting as a reminder of the power faith can have. It can bring you success and wealth. Which is ironic because that sort of goes against the teachings of Buddhism. Happiness through being not obsession with materialism is a key principle, but that building created an image of desire in my mind and I would assume it would do something similar for the locals. But hey I am not a Thai, nor a Buddhist.



After walking around the grounds observing and admiring, I realise that the local monks live within the temple. Dressed in the iconic orange robes made famous by the Dalai Lama, for the first time I have actually got to see some Monks. But the thing that I will take away from the day is the ceremony. It is a 45 minute long prayer where it is almost chants rather than speaking, it keeps you interested, but not understanding Thai I have zero idea of what was really going on. But the thing that really surprised me was giving of food. Every person hands over some description of food into large brown bowls. It could be something as simple as a handful of sticky rice, or it could be a small carton of milk or a packet of biscuits, but it is essential to give every monk some food, as it is a sign of respect and admiration for the religion. Another thing that surprised me was payment. People offered money for the opportunity to pray with the monks and some people even gave the monks money before and after the ceremony. I assume it is either a sign of respect or an offer for success and health in their life. After all material possessions are less important to Buddhists than to us in the Western cultures. Or well it is meant to mean less.

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