Since I retired I have taken a greater interest in the work that other people do. I have the time to watch them, for one thing, and the interest to see how other people are spending their lives so differently from what I used to do in a classroom. A lot of work in Thailand is a part-time activity, something you fit in between farming, child-rearing, and so on. This does not mean it is not real work, just that as a rule there is no particular urgency about it, and no tight schedule that needs to be kept to. I have felt frustrated a few times when visiting villages that Thai Tourism Authority leaflets assured me were hives of craft activity only to find that everyone is out in the fields, or at the wat or a neighbour's house celebrating something or attending a funeral. I'm more used to the pace of life now, and that means my levels of frustration have decreased considerably.
Today I'm going to feature a man I found at work in a temple compound. I was there to visit a museum, and he was the man who unlocked the building and showed me the exhibits. But when no-one was visiting the museum he was busy producing cement tiles for the wat. While he was unlocking the doors and opening the windows, his young grand-daughter helped him out.
The following sequence showed the pecise but relatively unskilled work that her grand-father was engaged in.
What I did not find out was where in the wat these tiles were going to be used. Looking at the few pictures I took of the main buildings I can not see any of them. I think it is possible that they would decorate the perimeter wall or possibly the gateways.
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