On Monday afternoon I decided spur of the moment to catch a flight from Phuket to the homestead in rural Isaan. Sisaket. Booked an early ticket requiring I rise at 3:30am, 4am pickup. My driver—whom I use for everything like this—was waiting. In these tough times, a driver with a $100,000 tour mini-bus van is happy to pick you up at 4am for the 1-hr drive to the airport as a sole passenger, $30.

I just came to visit. Sure, I knew Songkran was going on, but I also knew that it was suspended by government policy last year, with alcohol bans and curfews. By that time, about 30 people had died of this mystery, in a country of 70 million. This year, totally coincidentally I’m sure, the first measures closing venues that respiratory viruses target began to coincide with the beginning of the 5-day observance. This is one smart-ass virus. It can tell whether you’re in a restaurant or a bar, for example. It can also tell time. The Thai death toll is all the way up to 97 (Ninety-Seven) by now, population still 70 million.

In the same space of time, about 110,000 people of the total population have died of everything, including 1/5th of those, 20,000 people, on the roadways. This, of course, compels people to drive little scooters on highways—often 2-4 on a 125cc—without helmets, but with masks. Unfortunately, keeping the virus away like that means it also doesn’t offer its general protections over other death, because it is very good at that, apparently. It’s survivable and body crush is not. Get Covid, cough, stay off the highways save your life…. I digress.

So off I went—in spite of the fact that had someone in November of 2001 tried to contrive a way to make air travel the most dreadful thing possible over a space of 20 years, it would never have come close to the worsening situation where by now they have squeezed almost every gram of joy out of it. They do tend to get you to your destination. There’s that. So, I guess they can just continue adding hoops for us circus animals to jump through until a trek through jungles, over mountains, and across raging rivers is preferable.

I think the most annoying thing about it for me personally is the theater of it all, and that includes all the physical security check stuff. Now, you’ll recall that up until a year or so ago, you got messages over the public address systems reflecting all the security requirements—in spite of the fact we’d been bending over for that get-on-the-bus-get-off-the-bus stuff for 19 years already. Can’t hurt to remind you; better safe than sorry.

They had to open my bag to inspect my Supply single-edge razor three times. It’s metal, not plastic. Oh, my, must be a crime and if not, certainly places you under enhanced scrutiny. Jesus I’m sorry. The girlfriend insists I’m clean shaven and owing to the disparity of age where I’m underclass, I have to grant her that. The formula—how an old dude keeps a young Thai chick—more posts forthcoming.

But now, a respiratory virus is in vogue—one that spreads through the act of breathing, sneezing, clearing your throat, and coughing—all curiously human, physiological traits. It’s the greater fear now—you have to have at least one—so the public address messages everywhere, all the time—and even once seated 3 inches from another passenger on an enclosed aircraft—are about “helping to stop the spread,” and by the way, it’s required.

If it’s simply required, why all the veiled politeness? You could annoy me less by simply requiring it and shut the fuck up about it. The reason for all the messaging is simple: it’s to override your basic and innate reason that’s telling you that you are living in a clown-car world theater that has now made health issues political—just as acts of violence using three airplanes out of thousands was done 20 years ago.

We live in a fear-driven world, haunted by politicized demons, propped up and cheered by masses who, in exchange, are offered unearned respect and prestige for their unwavering support of the absurd.

Arrived yesterday at Buri Ram and Yui was there to pick me up. It was noon, I suggested we go eat, so we hit a chicken BBQ place on the way.

The dish you might not recognize to the left is green papaya salad. It’s a staple in Isaan, eaten every day, but they also have a particular style. It’s either served without seafood, or with—typically these small, chopped up crab. In either case, what makes it Isaan is the brewed, fermented fish sauce. Oh, my. It’s dark and rich, and has a certain aroma. Pictured is a Farang (ฝรั่ง — a Western foreigner) version. Only one chili pepper chopped up, standard light fish sauce out of the bottle, a pinch of sugar. Yui’s real thing came later.

After that, we had to make a stop in Surin in order to 1) get a gift for the kids and, 2) stop at Thai Costco (Makro) for party supplies and food.

I was so tired last night so I didn’t participate too much, play-possum-act by 9:30pm.

But, I rose at 6, started bantering and laughing with the family—especially the kids who are so joyous and refreshing. Children feel entitled by nature, but these village kids are the least of that I’ve ever experienced. Make Children a Joy Again. #MCAJA. We’re losing all values that once made even the most annoying of us delights to be around. Unfortunately, the values that motivated and steered children, adolescents, young adults, and the full fledged are now condemned in continuing series of one-word-tag-labels of the day, so we are reverting to a world of abject assholes who don’t care, and it might include me, sometimes. Why ought I care?

At a point I set up my desk and went to work on my continual development, to gently turn this blog into a membership site, plenty of free content—like over 4,000 of the 5,000 posts and plenty going forward. And bang, breakfast at my desk.

So what is Songkran, exactly? Let’s see if I can brief you in the interest of curiosity and learning something today. Who doesn’t like that?

Songkran

Songkran is a term derived from the Sanskrit word, saṅkrānti (or, more specifically, meṣa saṅkrānti) and used to refer to the traditional New Year celebrated in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, parts of northeast India, parts of Vietnam and Xishuangbanna, China. It begins when the sun transits the constellation of Aries, the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, as reckoned by sidereal astrology. It is related to the equivalent Hindu calendar-based New Year festivals in most parts of South Asia which are collectively referred to as Mesha Sankranti.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran

Songkran (Thailand)

Songkran (Thai: เทศกาลสงกรานต์, pronounced [tʰêːt.sà.kāːn sǒŋ.krāːn]) is the Thai New Year’s national holiday. Songkran is on the 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April. In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to five days, 12–16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday. In 2019, the holiday was observed 12–16 April as 13 April fell on a Saturday. The word “Songkran” comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti, literally “astrological passage”, meaning transformation or change. It coincides with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart and with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia, in keeping with the Hindu Calendar and Buddhist calendar. The New Year takes place at virtually the same time as the new year celebrations of many countries in South Asia like Bangladesh, Cambodia, China (Dai People of Yunnan Province), India (Baisakhi in Punjab, Gudipadva in Maharashtra, Pana or Mahabisuba Sankranti in Odisha, Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Vishu in Kerala etc.), Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

In Thailand, New Year is now officially celebrated on 1 January. Songkran was the official New Year until 1888, when it was switched to a fixed date of 1 April. Then in 1940, this date was shifted to 1 January. The traditional Thai New Year Songkran was transformed into a national holiday. Celebrations are famous for the public water fights framed as ritual cleansing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran_(Thailand)

It’s interesting that in Greek mythology, you have Ares, the God of War, also based on that constellation of stars. But, here in the West we have a far younger culture, mostly. Judaism is pretty old, but Christianity basically sucked all the air out of the room and the Romans tried to obliterate everything reminiscent of any and all far more ancient cultural, ritualistic traditions, and voilà, Christian suckers are blissful, though ignorant, of all of it. And Islam is younger than that, still, by about 600 years. In retrospect, I wonder how the rising politics (lying by more clever means) and its instilling of perpetual fear—even as the world grows safer by leaps and bounds—created more modern societies that required calls to certain salvation to replace the rather karmic acceptance of the ancient cultures.

Think about it.

Thai Calendar

To monkey wrench everything even a bit further, you have this.

In Thailand, two main calendar systems are used alongside each other: the Thai solar calendar, based on the Gregorian calendar and is used for official and most day-to-day purposes, and the Thai lunar calendar (a version of the Buddhist calendar, technically a lunisolar calendar), used for traditional events and Buddhist religious practices.

The use of the solar calendar was introduced in 1889 by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), replacing the lunar calendar in official contexts. The beginning of the year was originally marked as April 1st, however this was changed to January 1st in 1941. The days and months now correspond exactly to the Gregorian calendar. The years follow the Buddhist Era, introduced in 1913 to replace the Rattanakosin Era, which in turn replaced the Chula Sakarat in 1889. The reckoning of the Buddhist Era in Thailand is 543 years ahead of the Common Era (Anno Domini), so the year 2021 CE corresponds to B.E. 2564.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_calendar

So, I have to constantly add or subtract 543 (easy to remember though). For instance, the registration on my motorbike expires on month number 2, 2565.

I do not know why they keep that system, so I’ll speculate. Our Western calendar is based on Jesus Christ, along with the ignorant hubris nearly all Christians harbor that the whole civilized world began, then. So, if it so happens that the Thais maintain this system as an our-culture-is-older-and-wiser, I’m chill and high-five with that.

12-year old Chili performs the ritual of sprinkling the cleansing water on three Buddhas. While triune thinking is found throughout religious mythology (Christians believe they came up with THE TRINITY!!!), in this case, it’s familial, and there were three categories in this case. You can have one, or a dozen, or more. Very inclusive—the youngest religion of Wokeism didn’t come up with that one, either.

So here’s a short little 1-minute video clip of the cleansing and renewal ritual. Everyone goes through the whole ritual, including me, though I’m not so much into bowing my head. I prefer a solemn nod.

Thing is, that’s only part of the cleansing and it’s rather external. Then you have to cleanse the insides and alcohol is the recommended ritual for that, at least in Thailand.

Plus, there’s food, of course. No, not a pizza, not a trip to KFC or McDonald’s. Various things on offer, but this was delivered to my desk just as I began to draft this.

No wonder there are so many dietary “paradoxes” in the world. They have yet to figure out why on earth their catalog of drugs, combined with all the dietary advice—paid for by food-engineering companies—always render laughable results compared to whole food, sunshine, and physical exercise or work. Thai men out here in the rural village have zero need of gyms or supplements. And they can get drunk every night for fun and still live to a lean and healthy ripe old age without chronic health problems.

And I’ll tell you something, for you Lowcarb and Keto good folk. Have you ever integrated true level of activity? If these guys didn’t have rice, which is a sound, clean fuel, “how can they do it?” as Yui would ask? These guys bust ass for 10-12 hours in 95+ heat, 95+ humidity. 7 days a week. There aren’t weekends and days off for laborers in Thailand. And you think a gym session a few times per week comes within 100 kilometers? It does not. Wise up.

I will concede that Lowcarb and Keto is likely best for sedentary people, in spite of them fooling themselves with their boutique gym sessions.

OK, are we done? Onward, then.