1.) This year's "place that sticks" is without a doubt my former home-away-from-home Chiangmai, where I spent about three of my five weeks in Thailand. It was great simply to hang out there as an informed ex-resident, now tourist, and surprising some of my old friends along the way.
2.) Hanging out with Pik and Stefan and their kids.
3.) Seeing Peppo, my niece, after seven long years.
4.) Although I didn't seek out as much live music as I would have even 10 years ago, discovering the bands at Tiger Kingdom in Chiangmai was definitely a highlight of this trip. The younger generation of singers and musicians here is very impressive, and though their older mentors--some of them contemporaries and friends of mine--have obviously helped with their development, I can tell that older musicians in Thailand can also learn a lot from their younger sisters and bretheran.
5.) Revisiting Soppong Town, Bangma Pha District, Mae Hong Son Province.
6.) Visiting the old 16th century Ayutthaya City ruins.
7.) Playing fiddle tunes with Sharon and Mick and others at Finnegan's Pub in Bangkok.
8.) Best $12 hotel room: The Rest Bull Bed and Bar in Chiangmai had everything I needed: clean sheets and bathroom, hot shower, fridge, air conditioning, cable TV, free coffee and tea, and relative peace and quiet.
9.) Best $22 hotel room: a toss-up between the S1 Hostel in Bangkok's Soi Ngam Dupli--with most of the same amenities listed above, and Hanoi's Serenity Hotel--also with the same amenities plus an excellent, free American-style breakfast and a desktop with internet access in my room.
10.) Best coffee: Vietnam wins this by a large margin with its strong black coffee sweetened with condensed milk. Thailand tries very hard with its many small espresso machines and $1 lattes, but at heart it's still a Nescafe nation. On the rare occasions when I found kafe boran, the Thai version of Vietnamese coffee, I ordered it in anticipation of my return to Hanoi.
Showing posts with label Chiangmai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chiangmai. Show all posts
Friday, July 4, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Saying Goodbye and Hello to Old Friends
It wasn't easy saying goodbye to Stefan and his daughters when they left for Germany last week. "I'm gonna miss you guys," I told Stefan.
"We feel the same way about you, " he said.
After they left on Tuesday I had just two more nights to wrap up my affairs in Chiangmai--not that I had a lot on my plate, but there was some shopping to do, some food to eat, some TV to watch, and some visiting with Pik.
I also picked up a new friend, Yuriy from Perm, Russia, who is on his first trip to Thailand and this is only his second trip outside of Russia.
He's an IT guy ("I hate it!") who sold all his belongings in Moscow with the intention of "looking for myself" in Thailand.
I remarked that Thailand can be a good place to do that. "Or it can be a very bad place to do it if you're not careful." This observation cracked him up.
Yuriy wants to try to make a go of it in Chiangmai, maybe sign up for Thai courses so he can get a year-long student visa.
He seems like a decent guy, and he's a music fan, so I took him to Tiger Kingdom and introduced him to A and Sakhorn. Yuriry is very impressed with the bands, and especially with the excellent women singers.
I also helped him to find a "hong phak", a room for rent by the month. Within a day we got him set up with something suitable for 2500 baht monthly on a three month minimum lease.
Pik and I had a final dinner together on Wednesday night, then I met her and Yuriy again Thursday morning before I flew back to Bangkok that afternoon.
Of course Pik wants me to move back to Thailand. "We can help you get situated again," she says. She says this every time she sees me.
We've been talking about how to help Peppo get a tourist visa for the U.S., and on Wednesday I went to a specialty travel agency that handles most visa situations for Thais and farang. The travel agent was very helpful with the info, and I wrote it all down and gave Pik a copy so we can begin strategizing.
Pik and I hope that maybe we can sponsor Peppo for a U.S. visit in 2015.
It's sort of sad to be leaving, but I also feel it's about time to get out of Chiangmai--I was getting way too comfortable there.
By late Thursday I was checked into the S1 Hostel on Soi Ngam Dupli off Bangkok's busy Rama 4 Road. The S1 Hostel is a nicely renovated hotel which used to be my regular first stop in Bangkok back when it was called "Honey House".
I was happy with the renovations and with the fact that the price--at 700 baht for an aircon room with bathroom, fridge, and TV--is only 100 baht more than it was in 2007. This is really a bargain for only $22. Does anyone really wonder why I love Thailand?
I've said goodbye to old friends in Chiangmai, but now I'm saying hello to old friends--from the States--in Bangkok.
Sharon is a friend from the old-time music scene in America. As an ethno-musicologist and professor in the field, she has studied--among other things--the contest scene at the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, ID that I attended each year from 2002 to 2005. This is where we first met, and I still have a copy of her dissertation on the subject.
But what a small world it is! She's also done some extensive study of Thai classical and folk music, and she knows a lot more than I ever will about the instruments they play in Thailand and in other musically influential Asian countries such as China. Indeed, one of her mentors is an expert on Thai music, and he keeps his second home here.
In the most serendipitous manner possible, Sharon's husband Michael--an engineer of state of the art packing machinery--was offered a two-year contract with Bangkok company, and Sharon's summer visit to him coincided with my own trip to Thailand.
We've agreed to meet at the McDonald's at Rama 4 and Silom to do some tourist stuff and maybe take in a museum.
After all, she and I both are supposedly on vacation--even if work from home seems to intrude upon us in that way that it seems to do . . .
"We feel the same way about you, " he said.
After they left on Tuesday I had just two more nights to wrap up my affairs in Chiangmai--not that I had a lot on my plate, but there was some shopping to do, some food to eat, some TV to watch, and some visiting with Pik.
I also picked up a new friend, Yuriy from Perm, Russia, who is on his first trip to Thailand and this is only his second trip outside of Russia.
He's an IT guy ("I hate it!") who sold all his belongings in Moscow with the intention of "looking for myself" in Thailand.
I remarked that Thailand can be a good place to do that. "Or it can be a very bad place to do it if you're not careful." This observation cracked him up.
Yuriy wants to try to make a go of it in Chiangmai, maybe sign up for Thai courses so he can get a year-long student visa.
He seems like a decent guy, and he's a music fan, so I took him to Tiger Kingdom and introduced him to A and Sakhorn. Yuriry is very impressed with the bands, and especially with the excellent women singers.
I also helped him to find a "hong phak", a room for rent by the month. Within a day we got him set up with something suitable for 2500 baht monthly on a three month minimum lease.
Pik and I had a final dinner together on Wednesday night, then I met her and Yuriy again Thursday morning before I flew back to Bangkok that afternoon.
Of course Pik wants me to move back to Thailand. "We can help you get situated again," she says. She says this every time she sees me.
We've been talking about how to help Peppo get a tourist visa for the U.S., and on Wednesday I went to a specialty travel agency that handles most visa situations for Thais and farang. The travel agent was very helpful with the info, and I wrote it all down and gave Pik a copy so we can begin strategizing.
Pik and I hope that maybe we can sponsor Peppo for a U.S. visit in 2015.
It's sort of sad to be leaving, but I also feel it's about time to get out of Chiangmai--I was getting way too comfortable there.
By late Thursday I was checked into the S1 Hostel on Soi Ngam Dupli off Bangkok's busy Rama 4 Road. The S1 Hostel is a nicely renovated hotel which used to be my regular first stop in Bangkok back when it was called "Honey House".
I was happy with the renovations and with the fact that the price--at 700 baht for an aircon room with bathroom, fridge, and TV--is only 100 baht more than it was in 2007. This is really a bargain for only $22. Does anyone really wonder why I love Thailand?
I've said goodbye to old friends in Chiangmai, but now I'm saying hello to old friends--from the States--in Bangkok.
Sharon is a friend from the old-time music scene in America. As an ethno-musicologist and professor in the field, she has studied--among other things--the contest scene at the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, ID that I attended each year from 2002 to 2005. This is where we first met, and I still have a copy of her dissertation on the subject.
But what a small world it is! She's also done some extensive study of Thai classical and folk music, and she knows a lot more than I ever will about the instruments they play in Thailand and in other musically influential Asian countries such as China. Indeed, one of her mentors is an expert on Thai music, and he keeps his second home here.
In the most serendipitous manner possible, Sharon's husband Michael--an engineer of state of the art packing machinery--was offered a two-year contract with Bangkok company, and Sharon's summer visit to him coincided with my own trip to Thailand.
We've agreed to meet at the McDonald's at Rama 4 and Silom to do some tourist stuff and maybe take in a museum.
After all, she and I both are supposedly on vacation--even if work from home seems to intrude upon us in that way that it seems to do . . .
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Thailand Story
From about 1985-1989, when I lived in
New York, I spent most of my springs and summers hanging out in the
international busking scene in Europe. From Paris and Zurich, I
would join various bands forming up to play the summer season on the
circuit. The money was actually quite good back then--good
enough to fly to London or Paris 2-3 times a year.
One of my friends, a Dutch one-man band named Thomas van Nes, had relocated to Chiangmai and fallen in love with Thailand and with a young Thai woman. He later married her and they had two sons, now grown.
The band I was playing with at the time, the Rhythm Pygmies, bumped into Thomas in Switzerland during the summer of '89, and he urged us to pay him a visit. The four of us in the band--me, my running buddy Marc from New York on guitar; Gilles,a Canadian bassist; and Christian, a French-Spanish gypsy singer/guitarist; took Thomas up on his invitation just a few days before the Berlin Wall fell in November of '89.
One thing led to another and we started getting gigs in Chiangmai, so we decided to stay indefinitely, or at least for the winter. In the end, the Rhythm Pygmies celebrated its swan song with a lengthy run in Bangkok's Brown Sugar jazz club in May of 1990, and then we split up more or less permanently with Marc and me staying in Thailand while Gilles and Christian returned to Europe.
Marc and I found ourselves hooked on the Thai people, the food, the culture, and the ease of getting paid gigs in Chiangmai. Marc later married a Thai citizen, Pik, and eventually they had a daughter, Peppo.
One of my friends, a Dutch one-man band named Thomas van Nes, had relocated to Chiangmai and fallen in love with Thailand and with a young Thai woman. He later married her and they had two sons, now grown.
The band I was playing with at the time, the Rhythm Pygmies, bumped into Thomas in Switzerland during the summer of '89, and he urged us to pay him a visit. The four of us in the band--me, my running buddy Marc from New York on guitar; Gilles,a Canadian bassist; and Christian, a French-Spanish gypsy singer/guitarist; took Thomas up on his invitation just a few days before the Berlin Wall fell in November of '89.
One thing led to another and we started getting gigs in Chiangmai, so we decided to stay indefinitely, or at least for the winter. In the end, the Rhythm Pygmies celebrated its swan song with a lengthy run in Bangkok's Brown Sugar jazz club in May of 1990, and then we split up more or less permanently with Marc and me staying in Thailand while Gilles and Christian returned to Europe.
Marc and I found ourselves hooked on the Thai people, the food, the culture, and the ease of getting paid gigs in Chiangmai. Marc later married a Thai citizen, Pik, and eventually they had a daughter, Peppo.
Long story short, Marc and I
eventually went our separate ways and I joined a Thai country band,
Banjoman and Friends, whose members were mostly from Phrae province.
We enjoyed a very well-paid run at Chiangmai's Mae Ping Hotel, and
this led to other gigs including private engagements in Thailand's
"Hi-So" scene: Army and police generals (including a
former prime minister and leader of the 1991 coup that ousted
Chatichai Choonhaven), aristocracy including the King and Queen, and
other various and assorted rich and powerful figures.
This experience--roughly from 1992
through 1998--culminated with several Banjoman recording sessions and CDs and
at least one appearance that I recall on national television. So I was
fortunate enough to be hooked up with Thai musicians who were sort of
C- or D-list famous. But these led to other gigs for me with a
few A-list people including Ad Carabao and Nga Caravan.
Perhaps most importantly, all this was happening as Thailand was in the midst of an economic boom which ended only with the so-called Asian currency crisis in July 1997. In other words, Thailand in the mid-'90s was the right place and the right time for me.
Along the way I also met a Thai woman, and we ended up together for about three years--no children--and it was from her that I learned the bulk of my Thai language skills. Meanwhile, my colleagues in the Banjoman group were the ones who introduced me to phlaeng luk-thung and Thai classical music. Banjoman ultimately disbanded in '98 but since then there have been many imitators in Chiangmai and Bangkok--indeed, probably in every major city in Thailand.
Perhaps most importantly, all this was happening as Thailand was in the midst of an economic boom which ended only with the so-called Asian currency crisis in July 1997. In other words, Thailand in the mid-'90s was the right place and the right time for me.
Along the way I also met a Thai woman, and we ended up together for about three years--no children--and it was from her that I learned the bulk of my Thai language skills. Meanwhile, my colleagues in the Banjoman group were the ones who introduced me to phlaeng luk-thung and Thai classical music. Banjoman ultimately disbanded in '98 but since then there have been many imitators in Chiangmai and Bangkok--indeed, probably in every major city in Thailand.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Junta Ends Curfew Just As Niece Arrives for a Visit
Bangkok's military rulers earlier this week eased curfew restrictions in several provinces, including Mae Hong Son, but left the midnight-4 a.m. restriction in the capital, in Chiangmai, and several other areas.
However, in a surprise move, the junta finally scrapped the curfew in all remaining areas effective last night (Friday June 13).
The move comes just in time for the second day of Fifa's World Cup in Brazil. Thais are pretty crazy for football and will watch as many broadcast matches as possible, but many of the live broadcasts will be late at night. Last night there were three matches at 10 p.m., 1 a.m., and 4 a.m.
Businesses with big screen HD and plenty of food and drink are expected, as usual, to cash in on the biggest sports event in the world apart from the Olympics.
While the curfew hasn't really cramped my own earlier-to-bed-at-this-age lifestyle, most Thais and farang are sure to welcome the news. This morning I overheard some Thais talking about how they'd gone out partying in the wee hours. In fact, they were only just returning home, at 10.30 a.m., to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, I had just slept through the entire canceled curfew following a somewhat difficult motorbike journey yesterday from Pai to Chiangmai. While I made excellent time in the first hour of my trip, once I passed the provincial border, I started getting hit by intermittent rain. In fact, the rain forced me to stop half a dozen times in the last 80 km (50 miles) of the trip. It took me about five hours to cover the entire 80 mile journey.
So I was fairly pleased to be back in Chiangmai today, and thrilled to find out that my Thai "niece" Pepo, daughter of my friend Marc, has arrived for a three-day weekend with her family. Pepo looks great and seems very happy and content with life. She was bubbling with enthusiasm about things in general, and she filled me a bit about her PR job with the Bangkok film company.
Her entry level salary is okay, but she also gets paid for overtime. The catch, however, is that she has to put in a lot of overtime. In fact, it seems as if she's expected to put in 16 hour days--everyday.
On the bright side her weekends are free, and she has friends to hang out with as she begins to settle into the work life routine.
This morning I ate northern style food (with sticky rice) with Pepo and her sister Miriam. This kind of food isn't for everybody (for many farang it involves acquiring a taste), but for northern Thais it is an integral part of their culture and home life.
I asked Pepo if she misses northern food in Bangkok. "For sure!" she said, adding that she's far too busy with work to seek out the cuisine in the capital.
However, in a surprise move, the junta finally scrapped the curfew in all remaining areas effective last night (Friday June 13).
The move comes just in time for the second day of Fifa's World Cup in Brazil. Thais are pretty crazy for football and will watch as many broadcast matches as possible, but many of the live broadcasts will be late at night. Last night there were three matches at 10 p.m., 1 a.m., and 4 a.m.
Businesses with big screen HD and plenty of food and drink are expected, as usual, to cash in on the biggest sports event in the world apart from the Olympics.
While the curfew hasn't really cramped my own earlier-to-bed-at-this-age lifestyle, most Thais and farang are sure to welcome the news. This morning I overheard some Thais talking about how they'd gone out partying in the wee hours. In fact, they were only just returning home, at 10.30 a.m., to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, I had just slept through the entire canceled curfew following a somewhat difficult motorbike journey yesterday from Pai to Chiangmai. While I made excellent time in the first hour of my trip, once I passed the provincial border, I started getting hit by intermittent rain. In fact, the rain forced me to stop half a dozen times in the last 80 km (50 miles) of the trip. It took me about five hours to cover the entire 80 mile journey.
So I was fairly pleased to be back in Chiangmai today, and thrilled to find out that my Thai "niece" Pepo, daughter of my friend Marc, has arrived for a three-day weekend with her family. Pepo looks great and seems very happy and content with life. She was bubbling with enthusiasm about things in general, and she filled me a bit about her PR job with the Bangkok film company.
Her entry level salary is okay, but she also gets paid for overtime. The catch, however, is that she has to put in a lot of overtime. In fact, it seems as if she's expected to put in 16 hour days--everyday.
On the bright side her weekends are free, and she has friends to hang out with as she begins to settle into the work life routine.
This morning I ate northern style food (with sticky rice) with Pepo and her sister Miriam. This kind of food isn't for everybody (for many farang it involves acquiring a taste), but for northern Thais it is an integral part of their culture and home life.
I asked Pepo if she misses northern food in Bangkok. "For sure!" she said, adding that she's far too busy with work to seek out the cuisine in the capital.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Cashing in on Pai
Stefan warned me that there has been a lot of new development in Pai, but I wasn't prepared to hear stories of prices doubling or even tripling during the high season.
Pai is the first major town on the road from Chiangmai once you've passed the border of Chiangmai and Mae Hong Son provinces.
Pai has long been a popular destination, especially with young backpackers and independent travelers, but for me it's usually been just a rest stop on the way to and from Soppong or Mae Hong Son town, the provincial capital.
I didn't have a clue where I was going to stay in a town that must have a couple hundred guesthouses, hotels, and resorts, but I knew I only wanted to spend 200-300 baht per night ($6-10). This seemed to be an easy enough mission since I'd already seen many signs offering "Rooms Starting At $300."
I was almost set to check out a place across the street from the Be Bop Bar when an older gentleman rolled up to me and my parked motorbike on his three-wheeled motorcycle and side car. We chatted for a bit, he wondering where I planned to stay, me lying at first that I'd already booked a room, so that I could get a better feel for him and his angle.
He revealed that he worked as a three-wheeled taxi driver and that he could direct me to good accommodations ("Just name your price and preferred type of room") for which he'd be able to claim a 5% commission from the owner. "I have this arrangement with many owners here in Pai," he explained. "If you like the room, I collect from them. It will cost you nothing directly."
I liked his manner, so I agreed to follow him to TaYai Guesthouse where the woman owner set me up with 200 baht room.
She and her husband are originally from Chiangmai, and they entered the guesthouse business in Pai only three years ago to escape the Bangkokization of their native city.
"The air is better here, it's nice and quiet, and there are no thieves. There are so many thieves in Chiangmai! Do you see all this stuff here?" she asked, referring to the kitschy ceramic animals and other tchotchkes decorating her very well-kept garden. "In Chiangmai, this stuff would be gone in one night."
I shared some of my story with her (used to live here for eight years, had a Thai girlfriend, how I learned Thai, played in a Thai country band) and remarked upon how affordable Thailand still is even after some of the most rapid economic development in Asia.
"Ha! Not anymore, at least not in Pai," she said. "If you visit during the high season (November through February), I would have to charge you much more than 200 baht. In fact most places here will charge at least 600 for the room you have, and that means no air conditioning.
"It's so busy here, with farang and Japanese and Chinese tourists, that most places are full. You have to reserve rooms in advance. Just the other day, someone reserved a room here six months in advance!"
This was all easy enough for me to understand: Pai is popular with a certain set (youthful, "alternative", neo-hippie, etc), there are only a certain number of rooms available, market forces dictate these prices, and so forth. And I'd (barely) come to accept that restaurant prices were about double from those of Chiangmai. But then my landlady dropped a real stunner.
"In the high season it gets so full that now they've opened up camping down by the river," she said. "One tent spot is 600 baht! Now they have hundreds of these camping spots, and still the tourists keep coming, Thai tourists, too. Everybody wants to come here, it seems like."
Even now, with the low season, the rainy season now in full swing, she seems to be doing okay. On the couple nights I've stayed here, she 's had at least 8-10 of her 15 or so rooms filled with farang, Thai, and other Asian customers.
Pai is the first major town on the road from Chiangmai once you've passed the border of Chiangmai and Mae Hong Son provinces.
Pai has long been a popular destination, especially with young backpackers and independent travelers, but for me it's usually been just a rest stop on the way to and from Soppong or Mae Hong Son town, the provincial capital.
I didn't have a clue where I was going to stay in a town that must have a couple hundred guesthouses, hotels, and resorts, but I knew I only wanted to spend 200-300 baht per night ($6-10). This seemed to be an easy enough mission since I'd already seen many signs offering "Rooms Starting At $300."
I was almost set to check out a place across the street from the Be Bop Bar when an older gentleman rolled up to me and my parked motorbike on his three-wheeled motorcycle and side car. We chatted for a bit, he wondering where I planned to stay, me lying at first that I'd already booked a room, so that I could get a better feel for him and his angle.
He revealed that he worked as a three-wheeled taxi driver and that he could direct me to good accommodations ("Just name your price and preferred type of room") for which he'd be able to claim a 5% commission from the owner. "I have this arrangement with many owners here in Pai," he explained. "If you like the room, I collect from them. It will cost you nothing directly."
I liked his manner, so I agreed to follow him to TaYai Guesthouse where the woman owner set me up with 200 baht room.
She and her husband are originally from Chiangmai, and they entered the guesthouse business in Pai only three years ago to escape the Bangkokization of their native city.
"The air is better here, it's nice and quiet, and there are no thieves. There are so many thieves in Chiangmai! Do you see all this stuff here?" she asked, referring to the kitschy ceramic animals and other tchotchkes decorating her very well-kept garden. "In Chiangmai, this stuff would be gone in one night."
I shared some of my story with her (used to live here for eight years, had a Thai girlfriend, how I learned Thai, played in a Thai country band) and remarked upon how affordable Thailand still is even after some of the most rapid economic development in Asia.
"Ha! Not anymore, at least not in Pai," she said. "If you visit during the high season (November through February), I would have to charge you much more than 200 baht. In fact most places here will charge at least 600 for the room you have, and that means no air conditioning.
"It's so busy here, with farang and Japanese and Chinese tourists, that most places are full. You have to reserve rooms in advance. Just the other day, someone reserved a room here six months in advance!"
This was all easy enough for me to understand: Pai is popular with a certain set (youthful, "alternative", neo-hippie, etc), there are only a certain number of rooms available, market forces dictate these prices, and so forth. And I'd (barely) come to accept that restaurant prices were about double from those of Chiangmai. But then my landlady dropped a real stunner.
"In the high season it gets so full that now they've opened up camping down by the river," she said. "One tent spot is 600 baht! Now they have hundreds of these camping spots, and still the tourists keep coming, Thai tourists, too. Everybody wants to come here, it seems like."
Even now, with the low season, the rainy season now in full swing, she seems to be doing okay. On the couple nights I've stayed here, she 's had at least 8-10 of her 15 or so rooms filled with farang, Thai, and other Asian customers.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Phrae Boys at the Tiger Kingdom
Tuk and Pik both sent me to Tiger Kingdom in Town, part of the larger Tiger Kingdom franchise.
"You will find the Phrae boys there, " Tuk said.
The "Phrae boys"--from Phrae province--are some of the guys I used to play with in the Banjoman Band during the early 1990s.
Sure enough, I found A, another one of my oldest friends here, leading a group of much younger players which included a fantastic young female singer who sang with such energy and enthusiasm, I was completely mesmerized.
A didn't recognize me at first, but when he did it was all hugs and laughter.
A started out as a founding member of the old Chiangmai Beatles cover band at the Riverside and he became a much sought after bassist. Much more than a bassist, however, he can play just about any stringed instrument on the map. Over the years he followed his heart through many musical incarnations and traveled widely in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.
More recently he returned to Chiangmai to teach and help develop new local talent.
I was so impressed with his group, called Ba-leng Phlaeng, that I felt he's done much more than mentor the next generation. He's actually developing the music itself, bringing the Chiamngmai restaurant/pub music scene to a newer and exciting level.
Lek "Mandolin" was also nearby last night. Another crucial player in the Banjoman group, he's a thoughtful, quiet man who has facial features similar to the Native American. Like A, he was very surprised to see me. We talked about some of our mutual friends including Sakhorn "Mr Action" ("Wait a little bit, he'll be here soon," said Lek), Moo "Bass" (retired from his public school teaching job and now building and repairing guitars), Prasat (leader of Banjoman--still living in Phrae with his wife and now teenage son), and others.
Perhaps the most joyful encounter for me was with Sakhorn--Mr Action himself--whose jaw seemingly dropped to floor when he saw me there. Hugs! In Thailand! Where they really don't do that sort of thing!
He and I had a chance to chat for about half an hour. He was the oldest player in Banjoman (about eight years older than me), and he really looked great and seemed to be doing well. His job last night was to play and sing solo the last set of the night before curfew.
Everywhere in Chiangmai I've been so far owners/proprietors are complaining about the slow, low season and the bad effect of the military's curfew on business.
But Tiger Kingdom was nearly full of customers enjoying fine food and drink and exciting new music, and I was happy to be part of that crowd.
"You will find the Phrae boys there, " Tuk said.
The "Phrae boys"--from Phrae province--are some of the guys I used to play with in the Banjoman Band during the early 1990s.
Sure enough, I found A, another one of my oldest friends here, leading a group of much younger players which included a fantastic young female singer who sang with such energy and enthusiasm, I was completely mesmerized.
A didn't recognize me at first, but when he did it was all hugs and laughter.
A started out as a founding member of the old Chiangmai Beatles cover band at the Riverside and he became a much sought after bassist. Much more than a bassist, however, he can play just about any stringed instrument on the map. Over the years he followed his heart through many musical incarnations and traveled widely in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.
More recently he returned to Chiangmai to teach and help develop new local talent.
I was so impressed with his group, called Ba-leng Phlaeng, that I felt he's done much more than mentor the next generation. He's actually developing the music itself, bringing the Chiamngmai restaurant/pub music scene to a newer and exciting level.
Lek "Mandolin" was also nearby last night. Another crucial player in the Banjoman group, he's a thoughtful, quiet man who has facial features similar to the Native American. Like A, he was very surprised to see me. We talked about some of our mutual friends including Sakhorn "Mr Action" ("Wait a little bit, he'll be here soon," said Lek), Moo "Bass" (retired from his public school teaching job and now building and repairing guitars), Prasat (leader of Banjoman--still living in Phrae with his wife and now teenage son), and others.
Perhaps the most joyful encounter for me was with Sakhorn--Mr Action himself--whose jaw seemingly dropped to floor when he saw me there. Hugs! In Thailand! Where they really don't do that sort of thing!
He and I had a chance to chat for about half an hour. He was the oldest player in Banjoman (about eight years older than me), and he really looked great and seemed to be doing well. His job last night was to play and sing solo the last set of the night before curfew.
Everywhere in Chiangmai I've been so far owners/proprietors are complaining about the slow, low season and the bad effect of the military's curfew on business.
But Tiger Kingdom was nearly full of customers enjoying fine food and drink and exciting new music, and I was happy to be part of that crowd.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Tuk "Pepsi" at New Chiangmai Brasserie Location
Last night Tuk turned up at Pik and Stefan's place. I think he was surprised to see me.
Tuk and his wife Jit run the Brasserie in Chiangmai which has relocated from its excellent riverside location to a smaller spot just outside the eastern side of the old city walls.
Two decades ago Tuk had a reputation as the best rock and roll guitarist in Chiangmai and his specialty was Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and early Eric Clapton covers, and he was always backed by a powerful rhythm section.
These days there's some downsizing happening, and he's playing mostly acoustic guitar now, and mentoring a new generation of younger, hungry local musicians.
Tuk is widely traveled for a Thai, having been to Europe and Japan several times over the years, and there was a period in the mid-nineties when he secured a sponsorship deal from the Pepsi corporation. Since "Tuk" is a somewhat common nickname in Thailand, he was known as Tuk Pepsi for awhile.
He and I had a falling out at one point, but later I realized I had pushed something a little too far, and so I sought to mend fences with him, and today that story is water long under the bridge.
My friend Marc and I were musical partners in the early '90s, and often Thai people couldn't tell us apart, they calling me "Marc" and calling him "Dave".
Apparently Tuk's wife Jit mixed up the two of us again last night. After chatting with her for awhile, she said: "So are you here to see your daughter?"
I explained to her that Pepo isn't my daughter but "she's Marc's daughter", and Jit apologized, but I assured her that of course "I'm here to see her too."
Tuk and his wife Jit run the Brasserie in Chiangmai which has relocated from its excellent riverside location to a smaller spot just outside the eastern side of the old city walls.
Two decades ago Tuk had a reputation as the best rock and roll guitarist in Chiangmai and his specialty was Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and early Eric Clapton covers, and he was always backed by a powerful rhythm section.
These days there's some downsizing happening, and he's playing mostly acoustic guitar now, and mentoring a new generation of younger, hungry local musicians.
Tuk is widely traveled for a Thai, having been to Europe and Japan several times over the years, and there was a period in the mid-nineties when he secured a sponsorship deal from the Pepsi corporation. Since "Tuk" is a somewhat common nickname in Thailand, he was known as Tuk Pepsi for awhile.
He and I had a falling out at one point, but later I realized I had pushed something a little too far, and so I sought to mend fences with him, and today that story is water long under the bridge.
My friend Marc and I were musical partners in the early '90s, and often Thai people couldn't tell us apart, they calling me "Marc" and calling him "Dave".
Apparently Tuk's wife Jit mixed up the two of us again last night. After chatting with her for awhile, she said: "So are you here to see your daughter?"
I explained to her that Pepo isn't my daughter but "she's Marc's daughter", and Jit apologized, but I assured her that of course "I'm here to see her too."
Monday, June 2, 2014
Pik and Stefan and Their Kids
Pik is my oldest Thai friend. She and I have known each other for almost 25 years (I am slightly older than her). She married my friend Marc in 1990, and their daughter Pepo was born in May 1991.
Although their marriage didn't last long, Marc sent money regularly for Pepo's education, and recently she earned her bachelor's degree in film studies from Rajabhat University in Bangkok.
A month ago Pepo found an entry level position in Bangkok with the Kantana Film Company with a decent starting salary.
Stefan, a young man from Germany, met Pik in the hills of Mae Hong Son Province in 1994 where they were both working--Pik as a trekking guide and Stefan as a silversmith. They fell in love and Stefan became Pepo's surrogate father.
In 1995 Pik gave birth to a son, Caspar. I remember Caspar when he was only two or three years old at the time I returned to Thailand in 1997 following a year in the States. At that time Pik and Stefan and the kids were living high in the hills of Mae Hong Son outside a Shan village overlooking a spectacular view of the bordering area of Burma. Their compound became a regular stop for me in my travels in northern Thailand in 1997-98 and early 2001, partly because it was a remote kind of paradise.
In 1999 their daughter Tara was born, followed quickly by another daughter, Miriam, toward the end of the year 2000. Tara was only two or so and Miriam just a baby when I visited the family in early 2001.
They were--and still are--perhaps an unusual family by Thai and even by Western standards. Never very affluent but always hard-working, they believed in a living philosophy of closeness to nature, limited materialism, healthy food, and a "balanced lifestyle" incorporating both work and and plenty of leisure.
This lifestyle was never easy for them. For example, soon it became clear, as the kids grew older, that the school in the Shan village would not be able provide an adequate education for their children. As the kids grew older, it became necessary for the family to move closer to the cities of the north, and away from their homemade paradise in Mae Hong Son.
By the time I returned again for annual visits in 2005-2007, Pepo was living with Pik's parents in Doi Saket, a town just a half hour's drive east of central Chiangmai. Later, Caspar joined Pepo there, and the kids began attending school in Chiangmai.
Around this time, the family acquired a house in Doi Saket while keeping the property in Mae Hong Son. It was here that I last saw everyone during my last trip in August 2007. Pepo was 16, Caspar 11, Tara just 8, and little Miriam only six years old.
Now Pepo is 23 and succeeding in Bangkok while her younger brother and sisters are fast-growing teenagers: Caspar is 18 and attending a technical school, Tara's15 and preparing for a year's exchange study in Germany, and little Miriam is already 13 and just starting the new school year as a high school student in Chiangmai.
While still keeping the Doi Saket house, the family began moving piecemeal but more or less permanently to Chiangmai about 2-3 years ago.
Currently they rent a 2 1/2 story shophouse not far from my hotel, and Stefan also rents a small shop in a heavily touristed lane in Chiangmai's old city where he sells his silver jewelry and custom-crafted silk screen t-shirts.
Life hasn't gotten any easier for them. Though solidly middle class, they have never been as affluent as the typical Thai-farang couple. Every baht they make is hard-earned. The combined rent of their shophouse and store is about 14,000 baht per month ( a little less than $500) which seems very cheap by Western standards but which I know from my own experience can seem quite expensive under the circumstances.
As the kids grow older, the family faces different kinds of problems. Today Pik and Stefan complain about having to pay so much for the IT gadgets the kids desire: the laptops, cellphones, and other items that most Thai youngsters seem to require (and take for granted) in this wired new millennium.
They worry that their teens are wasting too much time in front of their own individual screens, and that this type of activity will negatively impact their education.
Certainly these kind of worries will sound familiar to Western parents, too.
Although their marriage didn't last long, Marc sent money regularly for Pepo's education, and recently she earned her bachelor's degree in film studies from Rajabhat University in Bangkok.
A month ago Pepo found an entry level position in Bangkok with the Kantana Film Company with a decent starting salary.
Stefan, a young man from Germany, met Pik in the hills of Mae Hong Son Province in 1994 where they were both working--Pik as a trekking guide and Stefan as a silversmith. They fell in love and Stefan became Pepo's surrogate father.
In 1995 Pik gave birth to a son, Caspar. I remember Caspar when he was only two or three years old at the time I returned to Thailand in 1997 following a year in the States. At that time Pik and Stefan and the kids were living high in the hills of Mae Hong Son outside a Shan village overlooking a spectacular view of the bordering area of Burma. Their compound became a regular stop for me in my travels in northern Thailand in 1997-98 and early 2001, partly because it was a remote kind of paradise.
In 1999 their daughter Tara was born, followed quickly by another daughter, Miriam, toward the end of the year 2000. Tara was only two or so and Miriam just a baby when I visited the family in early 2001.
They were--and still are--perhaps an unusual family by Thai and even by Western standards. Never very affluent but always hard-working, they believed in a living philosophy of closeness to nature, limited materialism, healthy food, and a "balanced lifestyle" incorporating both work and and plenty of leisure.
This lifestyle was never easy for them. For example, soon it became clear, as the kids grew older, that the school in the Shan village would not be able provide an adequate education for their children. As the kids grew older, it became necessary for the family to move closer to the cities of the north, and away from their homemade paradise in Mae Hong Son.
By the time I returned again for annual visits in 2005-2007, Pepo was living with Pik's parents in Doi Saket, a town just a half hour's drive east of central Chiangmai. Later, Caspar joined Pepo there, and the kids began attending school in Chiangmai.
Around this time, the family acquired a house in Doi Saket while keeping the property in Mae Hong Son. It was here that I last saw everyone during my last trip in August 2007. Pepo was 16, Caspar 11, Tara just 8, and little Miriam only six years old.
Now Pepo is 23 and succeeding in Bangkok while her younger brother and sisters are fast-growing teenagers: Caspar is 18 and attending a technical school, Tara's15 and preparing for a year's exchange study in Germany, and little Miriam is already 13 and just starting the new school year as a high school student in Chiangmai.
While still keeping the Doi Saket house, the family began moving piecemeal but more or less permanently to Chiangmai about 2-3 years ago.
Currently they rent a 2 1/2 story shophouse not far from my hotel, and Stefan also rents a small shop in a heavily touristed lane in Chiangmai's old city where he sells his silver jewelry and custom-crafted silk screen t-shirts.
Life hasn't gotten any easier for them. Though solidly middle class, they have never been as affluent as the typical Thai-farang couple. Every baht they make is hard-earned. The combined rent of their shophouse and store is about 14,000 baht per month ( a little less than $500) which seems very cheap by Western standards but which I know from my own experience can seem quite expensive under the circumstances.
As the kids grow older, the family faces different kinds of problems. Today Pik and Stefan complain about having to pay so much for the IT gadgets the kids desire: the laptops, cellphones, and other items that most Thai youngsters seem to require (and take for granted) in this wired new millennium.
They worry that their teens are wasting too much time in front of their own individual screens, and that this type of activity will negatively impact their education.
Certainly these kind of worries will sound familiar to Western parents, too.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Settling in Chiang Mai
I'm finally settling into something of a quiet routine here in Chiangmai with a cheap but good hotel room:
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=YgOIU47rMIbmrAfK1YDwAw#q=rest+bull+bed+and+bar
The "bar" part of the "bed and bar" service is closed for the low season. I'm also benefiting from a low season rate of almost 30% below the high season rate.
The monsoon season is just beginning so we've had overcast skies the past 2-3 days, but no heavy rains just yet.
The people I've talked to say it's definitely a slower low season than usual, but they don't necessarily attribute that to the recent coup and curtailed nightly business hours.
In this "old city" neighborhood, within the 700 year-old city walls, I have access to a couple good coffee shops, 8-10 restaurants that run the gamut of Thai cuisine, a couple convenience stores, 2-3 Thai traditional massage shops (about $12 for two hours), 3-4 laundry services (about $1 per kilo), and the famous Kasem store:
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=-wSIU-TSPMbnrAeg8oHoAw#q=kasem+store+chiangmai
This is a local institution where you can buy excellent baguettes, imported cheese, vegemite, Fruit Loops (for real!) and other farang goodies.
Also nearby is the Warorot Market:
http://www.visitchiangmai.com.au/warorot_market.html
As nice as it is to feel like I'm settling in, there's also a strange feeling underlying it all: has it really been seven years since my last visit? (Yes, and it feels longer.) Did I really live here for most of eight years in the 1990s? (Yes, but what a world of a different time that was, and what a different city Chiangmai is now.) Can I still speak and understand Thai? (Yes, although I can tell my pronunciation of some of the tonal syllables is a little rusty.)
The youngest people I meet here--those under 25 years of age--weren't even born when I first visited in 1989. At that time Chiangmai's population was estimated to be around 100,000. Today, the city is at least five times that size with about 1.6 million people in Chiangmai Province.
And while The Rose of the North has always been a top destination for farang travelers and tourists, the past decade or so has seen the city evolve into the premier weekend getaway destination for affluent Bangkokians and other middle class Thais.
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=YgOIU47rMIbmrAfK1YDwAw#q=rest+bull+bed+and+bar
The "bar" part of the "bed and bar" service is closed for the low season. I'm also benefiting from a low season rate of almost 30% below the high season rate.
The monsoon season is just beginning so we've had overcast skies the past 2-3 days, but no heavy rains just yet.
The people I've talked to say it's definitely a slower low season than usual, but they don't necessarily attribute that to the recent coup and curtailed nightly business hours.
In this "old city" neighborhood, within the 700 year-old city walls, I have access to a couple good coffee shops, 8-10 restaurants that run the gamut of Thai cuisine, a couple convenience stores, 2-3 Thai traditional massage shops (about $12 for two hours), 3-4 laundry services (about $1 per kilo), and the famous Kasem store:
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=-wSIU-TSPMbnrAeg8oHoAw#q=kasem+store+chiangmai
This is a local institution where you can buy excellent baguettes, imported cheese, vegemite, Fruit Loops (for real!) and other farang goodies.
Also nearby is the Warorot Market:
http://www.visitchiangmai.com.au/warorot_market.html
As nice as it is to feel like I'm settling in, there's also a strange feeling underlying it all: has it really been seven years since my last visit? (Yes, and it feels longer.) Did I really live here for most of eight years in the 1990s? (Yes, but what a world of a different time that was, and what a different city Chiangmai is now.) Can I still speak and understand Thai? (Yes, although I can tell my pronunciation of some of the tonal syllables is a little rusty.)
The youngest people I meet here--those under 25 years of age--weren't even born when I first visited in 1989. At that time Chiangmai's population was estimated to be around 100,000. Today, the city is at least five times that size with about 1.6 million people in Chiangmai Province.
And while The Rose of the North has always been a top destination for farang travelers and tourists, the past decade or so has seen the city evolve into the premier weekend getaway destination for affluent Bangkokians and other middle class Thais.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Thai Curfew Eased Somewhat
Yesterday I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok, cleared immigration very quickly, and bought a seat on the last flight to Chiangmai.
The BCC reported this morning that the army has eased curfew restrictions somewhat from 10pm-5am to midnight-4am. This is better news for the economy which has been contracting all year because of the political gridlock which led to the coup, and the coup certainly hasn't improved that grim outlook.
Half the TV channels are shut down and replaced by an Orwellian screensaver with the name of the junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (Thai acronym Khor Sor Chor), and its red, blue, yellow, and brown seals.
All active TV channels have the Khor Sor Chor logo stamped on the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Thais are quite used to this sort of thing, but it sure looks awfully "funny" to Westerners. CNN is still unavailable, but the BBC, for some reason, is allowed to air its reports on "spontaneous" demonstrations.
The opposition PPT website (or at least its "mirrored" version) is apparently unblocked by the authorities. Maybe that's because the site is in English. Check out the links below for PPT's newest online reports:
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/interview-with-released-political-detainee/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/hrw-thailand-rights-in-free-fall-after-coup/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/national-peace-and-order-maintenance-council-announcement-no-372557/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/prayuths-press-conference/
The BCC reported this morning that the army has eased curfew restrictions somewhat from 10pm-5am to midnight-4am. This is better news for the economy which has been contracting all year because of the political gridlock which led to the coup, and the coup certainly hasn't improved that grim outlook.
Half the TV channels are shut down and replaced by an Orwellian screensaver with the name of the junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (Thai acronym Khor Sor Chor), and its red, blue, yellow, and brown seals.
All active TV channels have the Khor Sor Chor logo stamped on the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Thais are quite used to this sort of thing, but it sure looks awfully "funny" to Westerners. CNN is still unavailable, but the BBC, for some reason, is allowed to air its reports on "spontaneous" demonstrations.
The opposition PPT website (or at least its "mirrored" version) is apparently unblocked by the authorities. Maybe that's because the site is in English. Check out the links below for PPT's newest online reports:
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/interview-with-released-political-detainee/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/hrw-thailand-rights-in-free-fall-after-coup/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/national-peace-and-order-maintenance-council-announcement-no-372557/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/prayuths-press-conference/
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