Politics is banned in Isan

 Here in Isan one man has banned politics. At least, he has forbidden all talk of politics on his farm.

  

You can see the large writing in red on the notice on the left of the picture above. It declares his farm a "Politics Free Zone". Underneath, in black, it warns that political talk is forbidden here. And thanks you for your consideration.

The owner of this farm visits it most mornings on his motorbike. I suppose he does a bit of farming before he goes off to school, because  he is a teacher at one of the primary schools in an outlying village. Pensri and I often see him when we are on our early-morning bike ride. He is a distant relative of Pensri and urged us to visit his farm sometime when we cycle past.

 

 

 

The dragon fruit cacti are the only crop he cultivates, but he has created much more than an orchard here. He clearly likes to spend leisure time in this peaceful spot just off the Phana by-pass.

 

He can entertain his friends sheltered from sun and rain. There are books here, a television set, refrigerator, cooking facilities, and so on. And outside the shelter there is more seating and picnic tables. I like the way that he has made use of a variety of furniture that has seen better days and probably been thrown out by his wife.

 

 

 

You can tell a lot about his character, I think, from this little oasis. It is rumoured that he won a fairly large sum on the lottery and spent it here. No Benz for him, but a place where he can relax with his friends, eating and drinking, and NOT talking about politics.

 

 

 

And if he wants to spend the night here, this little room looks very comfortable, and reminiscent of a monk's kuti.

 

Perhaps he is planning to add a door on this little building sometime. In the meantime, I suppose if a queue forms outside they can be distracted by the picture on the wall.

 

I am indebted to Wikipedia for unknowingly supplying me with the following picture and information about dragon fruit (Pitaya); in Thai แก้วมังกร, kaew mang korn.

 

Particularly red-skinned pitayas are a good source of Vitamin C.

Pitayas are rich in fiber and minerals, notably phosphorus and calcium. Red pitayas seem to be richer in the former, yellow ones in the latter.

The seeds are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and in particular Red Pitayas contain very little saturated fat.

Pitayas also contain significant quantities of phytoalbumin antioxidants, which prevent the formation of cancer-causing free radicals.

In Taiwan, diabetics use the fruit as a food substitute for rice and as a source of dietary fibre.

Pitaya supposedly increases excretion of heavy metal toxins and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure. Eaten regularly, it is credited with alleviating chronic respiratory tract ailments.

Comments

[Mike]

Lawrence some nice photographs of a very pleasant place. I would say a good place to chill out, but not at this time of the year ;-)

[martyn]

Lawrence an excellent post with a picture at the bottom which solves something I've wondered about from time to time. The name of that delicious fruit.

I've eaten the dragon fruit a few times before but didn't know its English name, or Thai for that matter. I like it chilled in the fridge then cut and put in a bowl with ice cream on top. It's wonderful but probably none too good for your diet.

The head teacher has a wonderful 'hang out' farm, it looks so serene and ideal for whiling away those hot afternoons and early evenings with a beer or three. Perfect.

Banning Thai politics wouldn't go down well in rural Isaan, all those villagers would miss their 'tea money' handouts from election candidates. It's quite a profitable time right now for rural people with the coming July election.

I'd like to have your blog fed to my desktop but your subscribe facility appears to be broken. Any chance of a fix.

[Lawrence]

The man I wrote about here, a 'distant relative' turns out to be the brother of the distant relative we have staying with us in Exeter at the moment. Will I ever get all these relatives sorted out?

Mike, isn't it hot right now? A good time to chill out, I'd have thought.

With all the vote-buying, maybe it is a very good time to keep quiet about politics, Martyn.

It sounds like a pretty healthy fruit to me, too; especially the bit about excreting heavy metal. Lots of people think heavy metal is shite, don't they?

Will see what I can do about sending stuff to your desktop, but right now I haven't a clue how to do it. Facebook is the best I can do at the moment.

I've just realised that I've disagreed with everything you guys said. But thanks for your comments all the same -- very welcome as always.

[TJG]

Looks like that farm is owned by a sensible man, I too think there should be areas where you're not allowed to talk about politics. Democracy is great, debating is great but not all the time everywhere...

Dragon fruit is tasty, I've even seen dragon fruits which has flurescent purple flesh! If it wasn't so bland I'd make dragon fruit sorbet

[Lawrence]

Thanks for your comment, TJ. I agree, it is still good advice to avoid discussing politics and religion with your friends. As for the sorbet, wouldn't a drop or two of lime juice do the trick?

[Lawrence Michaels]

I'm really happy that the election is finally over and people will go back to their pre-political talks. It's one thing when people actually know what they are talking about. It is quite another when they appear to be repeating the same things that other people have been telling them. Politics + Ignorance of Politics is grounds for a very frustrating conversation that I don't even want to be a part of.

[Lawrence]

Hello, Lawrence M. I would think pretty much everyone in Thailand is glad the uncertainty is over. But most of the time everyone just gets on with their lives whatever is happening, though that wasn't so possible when the yellow and red shirts were disrupting life in Bangkok, was it.

[Catherine Wentworth]

Good post Lawrence. And good going for him! It did get tedious after awhile. interesting, but there has got to be a point of enough... you know?

I had the same feeling about the wedding of the young UK royals. I wish them well but I don't want to talk about the wedding ad nauseam. And boy, did that upset my British MIL when forced to admit that I didn't sit in front of the tv for hours watching the event ;-)

[Lawrence]

Thanks, Cat. His politics-free zone pre-dated the election and no doubt it will remain in force.

This was the first royal wedding I ever watched some of, and then only because a Thai neighbour came in and asked why I wasn't watching. Didn't like to explain in case I got arrested.