Back to normal

Well, Thai New Year has come and gone; Easter has been celebrated and we have just had a week going back to normal.  But I ask what is normal?  I ask this especially after Songkran when everyone just lets it all out, as they used to say.  The picture here shows a street scene for the occasion and gives a flavour for what happens.  It is mayhem. 

Well, the week that was didn't have the people and the water guns on the streets but life was every bit as unpredictable or adventurous.  I think of the ever present demands of a chaotic Thai work scene.  They think they are going along in a smooth and organised way but they never quite make it; something is always missing.  I think of my day at the refugee centre.  A large donation from a school arrived for distribution.  I was in charge and no matter how organised you were in preparing the donation of clothes and other items for distribution, you faced the rush by the people for whatever they could get.  I found it sad to watch as it struck me that the mad rush for whatever was dehumanising. 

We may be back to normal but life is every bit as chaotic and unpredictable as during Songkran.  It just happens in different settings and in different ways. 

It's New Year again!

Yes, it is New Year's.  No, I am not going mad.  It is Thai New Year on 13, 14 and 15 April.  This year, this is during the same week as Holy Week.  It is named as Songkran.  Interestingly, both Easter and Songkran use water as their central symbol but in very different ways. 

The Thai Songkran Festival, like easter, uses water as a sign of blessing.  That is how it started but, over time and for whatever reason, this simple and lovely water blessing has been transformed into full-on water fights in the streets of Thailand.  No one is safe from being drenched as we venture out over this three day festival.  It can be seen to be over the top but this is the way it is.     

So the symbol for Songkran shifts from water to the water gun which becomes a necessary accessory for everyone when leaving one's home.  The streets become full of pick-ups on the move carrying drums full with water and with people armed with their water fighting armoury.  Some major streets are even closed and named as "water playing" zones.  The fire brigade is present at these zones to make sure there is enough water so as to have water sports going at full capacity.  No one nor nothing is saved from being pelted with water.  Foreigners are special targets.  When on the bus, you have to make sure that the window is up as otherwise they will get you.  This is not just the game of children but of people of all ages.  It is done in good fun and all you can do is join in and enjoy.  I think this paints the picture. 

Everything will come to a stop for this, even the ongoing political protests.  Everybody becomes a participant and has fun throwing water at everyone else.  Hey, wait a minute!  Maybe here lies an answer to Thai political woes and strife.  Let's have Songkran all year? 

Happy Songkran!

There is a test, you know.

My good friend here in Bangkok, Om, has a 13 year old nephew named Ote.  Om's family comes from the northeast of the country in Buriram, a rural province.  They are farming stock, growing rice and raising pigs. 

As happens elsewhere in so many countries, country folk send their children to the big city for a better education in the search of a better opportunity.  In Thailand, that means sending them to Bangkok which is the central focus of opportunity for the whole country.

Ote in Bangkok

So Ote is ready to start secondary school at the beginning of the new academic year (2014-2015) this May.  His family has decided that it is best for him to go to Bangkok for his education.  So here he is staying now with Om and applying to get into a certain secondary college.  Part of the application process is an entrance exam as there are 650 students applying for only 220 available places at this school. 

Well, Ote passed the exam and got one of the 220 student places.  Well done, Ote!  Om took Ote to meet his new principal who told Om that many families, whose children didn't pass the exam, are coming to ask her if their children can still attend the school.  It must be a popular school.  Well, Om told me that those not passing could still get into the school if the family paid 20,000 baht (about $700) to the principal.  That is big money here for a working family. 

I was just blown over and automatically responded with my lines of 'this is what is wrong with this country' and 'it is no wonder Thailand has such political strife'.  The reality is that corruption is alive and well and at every level, involving all political sides and every sector of government.  The sad fact is that this country, and it is not alone in this, presently lacks the decent leadership and the political will needed to turn it around.  That strength of leadership and will is lacking on all sides of the political divide.  No one side can throw the first stone. 

This is so sad for the people here.  They deserve so much better.  Where to from here?  More protests?  More words?  More of the same?  There is a need for new and effective leadership, showing new and effective ways of operating.  But from where?  Here is the real impasse.