Thai Photos 2018 April

A Mysterious Hole

This is a blog about a mysterious hole that has appeared in a brick wall near a bathroom I use.

Realize that bathrooms are not readily available to the public in the kingdom of Thailand, like they are in America. If you are in an area fixed up for tourists there are bathrooms.  If you are in a mall there are bathrooms.    When you do find a public bathroom often times  they charge about three baht. 

The shopping malls have free bathrooms.

What are the bathrooms like?  There is always a scowling, old woman sitting at a little table.  She is the one that takes the money. 

To me it seems like it is the same woman at every bathroom.  They are very similar in appearance and demeanor.   It is like the way all the accountants look like same little weak , anal retentive,  man in America.   I will take a photo of her in the near future so you can see what she looks like.  

There is one bathroom I know about in an area that I frequent.  It is a bathroom in a rundown apartment rental building.  This kind of knowledge is a treasure.  Having this knowledge makes me feel well-informed and expert.  This kind of information is very useful and sets you apart from  common people who tend to flounder about desperately with their urgent unanswered biological excretion needs sadly unmet.  

I got to know this bathroom when I frequented a coffee shop that rented space at an apartment complex.   Now the coffee shop went out of business but I still use the bathroom.   Ha ha ha!

The owner of the building is invariably sitting in an unhappy, dark office at the top of the stairs.  He does something with an old computer in a dark dreary caged in office.   I do not know what he is constantly doing with his ancient computer.  I don't care what he is doing.   Maybe it is a game. Maybe he is looking at his investments.  What do people usually look at on their computers?   I don't know.  

I give him ten baht when I use the bathroom.  He fights me each time.  He says he does not want it but his eyes gleam with the pleasure of acquisition.

Today, I was surprised to see he was not in his miserable little office. 

Today I saw a big hole in the wall near where the owner normally sets!  It is a rather tidy hole.  It looks like it was formed intentionally but very quickly.  There was fresh breeze and light seeping through the hole and improving conditions inside wonderfully. 

I am wondering about that hole.  People do not just pound a hole through a brick wall for ventilation and light.  They make a window that can keep out insects, burglars and rain.  I think a hole like that looks bad and will bring down the value of the building.  I doubt if it was the owner’s idea.   .. And where is the owner anyway?

See photograph. 

I will try to find out about this mysterious hole and blog about it in the future. Maybe I can ascertain what the gentleman is viewing on his computer too.   Maybe the owner will be there next time and I will ask what the hell the hole is all about.

Stay tuned.

17/ 10/ 25  Here I am again five years later.   I never solved the mysteries described in this blog.   Shortly after I blogged this they starting locking the door that lead upstairs to the secret bathroom.  It is yet another unsolved mystery in my amazing world.  

Today it was hot.  I  tried to get some unsweetened lemon tea because I like to avoid carbs. I also like sour drinks when it is hot.  See.

It was a steamy, hot day in Thailand today.  My wife and I were waiting for our car to be washed by a team of young men.  We went to a nearby coffee shop.  I told the lady, “I want lemon tea with no sugar.”  This is one of the few things I know how to say in Thai.

She bustled happily away.  When she brought me my tall, frosty glass of lemon tea I greedily tasted it.  Oh!  It had sugar in it.  I looked at my wife with equal parts horror and annoyance.  My wife said.  “She did not put sugar in the tea.  She put honey in the tea.  

I did not get my sour tea but I drank my sweetened tea.  The good lady was very proud of the fact that she put honey in the tea.

Garcinia mangostana

Dear Reader,

This blog is about a fruit.  I will tell you all about this fruit and someday maybe you can come to Thailand and taste it.   

There are a lot of different kinds of fruit here in this kingdom.  Sometimes when I do not have something better to blog about I will blog about the different fruits. 

Today you will learn about a little fruit named mangosteen, pronounced mangosteen.  The scientists like to call it garcinia mangostan.  I just call it a mangosteen.  The Thai people do not call it a mangosteen or a garcinia mangostan.  They call it a Mang kut.

The fruit experts say it probably originated in Indonesia. 

They have a sweet sour white flesh inside with consistency somewhere between a grape and an orange.  You can peel them with your bare hands.  The flesh is sectioned like an orange. 

This delicious fruit rarely finds its way to places like North America and Europe because the authorities are frightened of the insects that might be imported as well.  I guess they are more afraid of some fruits than others. 

Now after reading about the Mangosteen I hope you come to Thailand on your next vacation so you can have a taste adventure.

One more thing, this fruit is not recognized by the spell check on Microsoft Word.

In this blog I will discuss the difference between an umbrella and a parasol.  I will also tell a story about taking a picture of a woman with a parasol.

An umbrella and a parasol are not the same things.   I want to use my blog to talk about parasols. A parasol is what you call an umbrella when you are not protecting yourself from the rain with it.  It is what you call an umbrella when you protect yourself from the hot sun with it.  An umbrella and a parasol are similar in that they both  provide protection from the weather. 

I like to take photos of dogs in Thailand.  I was walking by a small laundry business last week.  There were two brown dogs lying side by side taking it easy.  I wanted to take a picture of them.  They did not like having me take their picture.  They heaved unhappy sighs and moved down the street to the shade of another shop. I would have liked to take pictures of these two dogs but I did not want to chase them around.

Sometimes dogs do not want you to bother them with a picture but some people want you to take their picture.  Near to where the dogs were taking their afternoon siesta one of the laundry technician women indicated that she wanted me to take a photo of her by waving at my camera, making v’s with her fingers and even throwing kisses.  I am usually looking for something of which to take a picture.  I don’t think I ever refused to take a picture of a voluntary subject. This human wanted her picture taken and I did not mind  taking it.

Photos are nothing but a light recording so it is good if you can have optimal light for the shot.  I asked the woman to move from outside the cool, comfortable, shade of the little, laundry shop and into the bright, hot, sun because it would make a better picture with more light.  She was happy to do so.  What she did is bring some shade with her.  She brought her umbrella outside with her to protect herself from the sun while I took a picture of her in the improved light.  Now the light was not optimal because she was back in the shade but had an umbrella. . . I mean a parasol.  

I am going to post the photo now.  Please, remember that this is not a picture of a woman with an umbrella.  This is a woman with a parasol.  Now that you, Dear Reader, understand all this I will post the photo. Enjoy.

  

Songran lasts for three days!  I took some more photos of the festivities today.

Today was a Thai holiday.  It is was Song Kran day. On this day the Thai people spray and throw water on anyone they want to get wet.  Nobody really knows why.  The lady in the photo has a bowl of water that she plans on throwing on someone.