Monthly Archive for July, 2003

Boom Bus

Published on July 29, 2003 in Thailand. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Earlier this month Anchali and I were on the bus from Kanchanaburi to Sangkhlaburi on our way back home from our trip North. The bus seemed a little bit newer and nicer than the standard beat-up air-con Thai bus, but was still nothing special. At least that is what I thought.

One peculiarity I noticed was the lack of a TV (usually standard equipment, put in a custom made cabinet in the front). The bus did have a large 12 volt power inverter, and two NICE looking power amplifiers mounted above the drivers head in the center of the front of the bus. I casually noticed this stuff, thought it was nice equipment for a bus going to Sangkhla, and then forgot about it.

After 2.5 hours or so we were about 20k from Sangkhla and I was gazing out the window at the incredible green scenery, when I jumped. Bass (not the fish, but the frequency) shook my seat, and all the sleeping people on the bus woke up. The driver had decided it was time for some music…maybe he was getting drowsy. It was loud, really loud Isaan music with the bass turned way up. I looked around again and was surprised I didn’t notice the back of the bus when I got on. It was solid speakers. Big cabinets with big speakers in them…taking care of the bass. Along the ceiling there were no less than 14 large standard car speakers spaced every few feet on both sides. Large gauge cable connected everything. Someone was pretty serious about sound on this bus, which is contrary to most of what I’ve seen and heard in this country. Usually VOLUME is all important, even if the sound is terrible, distorted, and painful. The “boom bus” got us home safely, with ringing in our ears and Isaan songs in our heads.

Water

Published on July 26, 2003 in Thailand. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

It has been raining here for six days. Pretty much non-stop. Baan Wangka, the village I live in, sits on a hill above the river. As gravity works the same here as it does in most places, water drains down the hill into the river. Baan Wangka has a lot of dirt, and dirt likes to mix with water when it gets the opportunity. So when it rains, the water (and included dirt) make the river rise, and make it brown. Very brown.

Now the water we use for washing clothes, dishes, bodies, etc. comes from the river. It is NEVER drinkable, but usually clean looking. Not now. Not even close. I’ve never really investigated the water system here (due to fear…probably better to not know about it in this case), but am 80% sure they have some sort of filter/treatment process in place. Whatever…it can’t keep up with the amount of dirt/sand/silt presently playing in the water in the river. Therefore, the water coming into our house is dirty looking. If you put it into a container and look at it, it’s like the water in a mud puddle. Washing clothes, dishes, bodies, etc. with mud puddle water seems counter-productive to the washing process. But I guess we don’t really have a choice right now. Our water bill is usually around $3.00 per month (more expensive than electric and cable) so I can’t complain too much.

Today I see the sun for the first time in a week. Hopefully the river can clean itself and the dirt can settle. At least a little. The rainy season continues for about two more months here, so my guess it will be a while before things clear up. No problem…it’s only dirt.