Life in Phana

Back to Phana... again

Here we are back in Phana, far from the floods that are ravaging much of Thailand. We have been here a week now, but our broadband connection was only restored yesterday, so this is my first post in some time.

Our journey from Bangkok was uneventful although the train to Ubon was diverted via Chachoengsao, and the journey time was two hours longer than usual. Warin Chamrap, where the train arrives, on the south side of the Moon River, was quite flooded, with the two large lakes overflowing and people who had had to evacuate their homes living in makeshift shelters along the main road to Ubon.

Arriving on the outskirts of Phana, the fields were full of rice and it looked as if here, at least, there is a good harvest in prospect.

At home in Phana we found  the garden hedge in full bloom and  attracting large butterflies:

We had heard that some of the sandy paths in Don Chao Poo Forest had been 'improved' and we were somewhat fearful that this meant more concrete. It wasn't as bad as that, and perhaps is not so bad at all. Certainly if these new paths encourage people to explore the forest a bit more that might be a good thing.

 

The paths lead to the four Buddha images that have been in the forest for the last 30 or so years.

The monkeys seem to have adopted the paths. Whenever they spend time on the ground, they seem to prefer to spend most of it on the roadways and now on these paths. They eat ants and termites and it may be easier for them to spot these and pick them up from the hard surfaces.

There are still some very pleasant, sandy paths, shaded by the tall canopies of the yang trees. This one leads off one of the concrete roads. I took the picture early on my first morning back in Phana, with the sun just beginning to break through.

It made the perfect welcome back to Phana.

Renewing car tax and car passport in Ubon

I have just completed the process of renewing my car tax and car passport in Ubon. Every year I am surprised by how easy it is and how good it makes me feel that I can do it all by myself. That last bit is rather pathetic at my age, but still, that's how it is. This year I noticed how little Thai I needed to use and how little English the three officers I dealt with had to use. It was almost a communication-free series of events. Apart from the usual politenesses, I only had to ask one question and answer a few in the affirmative. In order to ask my question I did check in advance that I knew the word for 'documents'. When answering, I took a while to remember what Por Lor Bor meant or referred to, and that was it as far as language went.

So what did I have to do? First job was to pay for my new insurance policy since I cancel my old one each time I return to UK. The company (which I am happy to say has changed its name from AIG so I no longer feel I am indirectly supporting Man Utd) kindly suggested that I should only take out third party from now on due to the advanced age  of my car. This saved me more than half my usual premium, but is not subject to any refund so there's no pont in my cancelling it from now on.

Armed with my policy document (Por Lor Bor) I drive to a place that will check the identity and road-worthiness of my car. They take a lot more trouble over the identity check. This takes about 10 minutes and I leave with another document.

Next to one of the two land transport offices in Ubon. I park the car, march upstairs clutching the log book and road-worthiness document, press a button and take my number slip from the machine and take a seat opposite a row of counters. The automated number-caller lets me know there are only three people in front of me. My number is called, I sit down at the counter where the female officer does not greet me so I too remain silent and hand over the log book and piece of paper. She feeds the log book into a computer terminal, puts the document in a basket, and says 1,446.00 baht in Thai, takes my money and gives me change and a receipt attached to my new windscreen sticker. And that's that. Another ten minutes at the most.

Next I go to Ubon's other and main Land Transport Department Office (near the airport) for my car passport or International Transport Permit, to give it its proper title. I could do both jobs here but I know the car tax system at the other place and it seems simpler than here. This is where I have to explain that the car is registered in my son's name and ask what documents are required (I never remember). I have all the documents: the log book, photo-copies of my passport and my son's, a letter from my son in Thai and English giving me permisssion to drive his car in Thailand and abroad, and a stamped application form in his name for the Permit. This is the original one I used four years ago and I always expect them to want a new one. If the car was registered in my name then all I would need to present is my ITP and the log book. A helpful young woman filled in a smaller application form for me, attached a number card to it and told me to "Put in box". I worked out that she meant 'basket', did that, sat down and listened intently for my son's name to be called. This is the newer office but they don't have an automated calling system, another reason why I prefer the other place, but they no longer do the ITP there. The young woman also told me I would have to wait about 40 minutes but in fact I got my renewed ITP after only 15 minutes, so maybe she meant 14 minutes. I preferred to hear 40 minutes because then I felt really pleased that it didn't take so long. (This is like my new credit card, the bank said I should receive it within 28 days and I got it 3 days later. Good work. Good psychology.)

So apart from driving to Ubon (45 minutes) and from one place to another, I completed all these things by spending about an hour in offices. The slowest was the insurance company. The government offices were very efficient indeed. How often do you hear that?

 

Pic of the Day 19 April - 25 April 2010

Last week my Pic of the Day featured wat gates. I am fascinated by the variety. Some wats clearly go out of their way to make the main gate eye-catching and different. Of course they all illustrate something about Buddhism but many of them also seem to be setting themelves up as a tourist attraction. 'Temple tourism' is big business in much of Thailand and in small, out-of-the-way provinces wats may be the only tourist attraction.

Photographing wat gates is not particularly easy. There a two main difficulties. Firstly, because many wats, and almost all urban wats, are located next to a main road, there is usually a thick tangle of cables in front of the gate. The first picture is a not-too-bad example of this. Secondly, in small old cities such as Phrae, it is often difficult to get far enough back from the gate because the road is too narrow.

I hope you will enjoy this selection, some of them quite plain, some with a story to tell, and a couple of them rather eccentric, to be frank.

       

     

The gate in the fifth picture shows the Hindu God Indra riding on his three-headed elephant. You can get an idea of the size of this gate from the telephone box at the end of the road on the right. This is at Wat Sa Prasansuk, Ban Na Muang, Ubon Ratchathani. The second gate is at Wat Phra Lao, Ban Phana, and the third and sixth gates are both in Amphur Phana.
  

  
  
 

Community Fishing Day

In my last post, I mentioned that from the top of Phu Lon mountain in Si Muang Mai District of Ubon Ratchathani Province, I could see some large lakes. I did not mention that I could just about make out lots of people in and around the lakes and I could hear music interspersed with loudspeaker announcements. Lots of people, loud music (it must have been loud because I was a long way away) and announcemnts ... it sounds like a Thai fesival of some sorts, doesn't it. So when we had finished looking around Phu Lon, we went off to find out what was going on.

 

 

 

 

We didn't really find out what was going on, but in addition to what you can see in these pictures there were a few food stalls and lots of families getting ready to barbecue any fish their menfolk caught.

In Phana there are a few small communities which once a year throw their fish ponds open to the public. Anyone can come along and for a fee (usually 100 Baht) they can catch as many fish as they want or are able to. And as here in Si Muang Mai, it becomes a fun day out for families. Usually they catch more fish than they need so they are able to offer some to neighbours and relatives. The fees which are collected are shared amongst the community owning the fish pond.

A Buddhist Place in Ubon Ratchathani Province

On maps of Thailand you sometimes find places marked as 'Buddhist Place' or 'Buddhist Centre'. In Thai they would usually be spoken of as 'Somnak song' (written as Somnak Sangka). They are not really wats because mormally no monks are resident there, though confusingly road signs pointing to them often refer to them as Wat Something or Other. They are quite common throughout Isan, though only a few are shown on maps. The reason for their prevalence in Isan is that they are associated with the forest monk tradition which had its strongest roots here, and still has, though finding suitably quiet and remote places to practise meditation is becoming more and more difficult.

There is one such Buddhist place near Phana, in Si Muang Mai District, Ubon Ratchathani Province. Si Muang Mai is a few kilometres off the road between Trakan Pheutpon and Khong Chiam, and Wat Phu Lon, as the road signs refer to the place, is some 20 kms beyond Si Muang Mai, on top of a low mountain ridge, close to several very small villages.

At the foot of the mountain there is a large car park, empty on the two occasions I have been there. There are also toilets and a large wooden sala. Clearly the place is busy and used for certain festivals and other Buddhist occasions. You climb the steps made of local laterite blocks to reach a flat, rocky area at the top. From the top you have fine views of the surrounding countryside: rice fields to the south and west, fields and large lakes to the north, and another ridge across a valley to the east. Not far beyond this second ridge is the Mekong River.

It doesn't take long to discover why this remote place makes it onto local maps. The entryway has been touched up a bit, but otherwise this very small cave is one used by the most famous of all the forest monks, Phra Acharn Mun Bhuridatta . He wandered all over Isan and there are many places similar to this as well as forest wats and even the occasional urban wat which still commemorate his staying there. Phra Acharn Mun (sometimes written as Phra Ajaan Man Phuurithatto) was a famous meditation master and he instituted a long line of revered meditation masters who had studied under his guidance. The last of this direct line is Phra Maha Boowa, himself very old now but still teaching.

 

Phra Maha Boowa has written a biography of Acharn Mun. In it, he has said: '

The life and passing of Achan Man is full of accounts of encounters with tigers and other forest creatures, stories of overcoming fear, and miracles. His biography paints a vivid picture of his ascetic life close to nature and how he was revered by the people. In Thailand, regional pride takes various forms. The story of Achan Man is not only an archetypical story of a forest monk but also a picture of a major figure who emerged from the Northeast (Isan).'

 

 

Relics of Phra Acharn Mun are enshrined in this that on the mountain. He was born in Ubon Ratchathani Province in 1870 and died in 1949. He became a novice when he was 15, but was fully ordained after a break at the age 22. He was ordained at Wat Leab in Ubon and given the name Bhuridatta, which translates as 'Gifted with Knowledge'. He studied insight (vipassana) meditation under Phra Acharn Sao Kantasilo at Wat Leab.

This strange building is at one end of the flat area at the top of the mountain.

Inside is a shrine room, the door always open, and a visitors book:

Outside, a rocky alcove shelters this Buddha Image and statues of two monks. The one on the right may be of Phra Acharn Mun.

And finally, here is some good advice which, like the car park, suggests that this place is sometimes frequented by a large number of people:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little-known Thai Tourist Destination

 

My Pics of the Day this week were all taken at stalls at Kaeng Sapheu, a popular riverside venue at the town of Phibun Mangsahan, in Ubon Ratchathani Province.

Check them out by using the tab at the top of the page.

 

 

 

People come here especially in the dry season when the River Mun is low and the rocks exposed.

 

 

 

 

There are several different facilities for visitors, including toilets at 3 Baht a time (Thai and foreigner, you will be pleased to know) and these rubber rings and bathing clothes. Most people bathe in the clothes they came in, though.

 

 

In the park overlooking the river you can have fabulous lunch-time food (and drink), the specialities being laab (of course, this is Isan) and prawns of various sizes and cooked (or not) in several different ways.

One of the most colourful sights here is the Chinese temple which overlooks the river.

 

 

The town of Phibun Mangsahan is renowned for the salabow made here. You can find them all over town. Some of the best are close to the bridge and the old bus station, both close to Kaeng Sapheu. The road to Ubon (via Warin Chamrap) has loads of little outlets at the roadside stretching up the hill out of town for about one kilometer. In both cases the passing tourist trade is being targeted.

 

 

 

 

 

These steamers in one small outlet give you some idea of the scale of production.

Something else that the town of Phibun is famous for is foreigners. Across the river from the park is the Kaeng Sapheu Hotel which has a mini-village in its grounds specially built a few years back to provide homes for Japanese retirees. And I have heard rumours of a nearby village where almost a hundred Scandanavians (Norwegians, mostly, I believe) spend much or all of their time. I suppose that one of the attractions is that Phibun is the lower eastern Isan home to the Thai Immigration Department, the place to go to renew or extend your visa. And just a few kms down the road is the Chong Mek border crossing to southern Laos.
 

Shop-house Fire

A fire destroyed several old shop-houses next to the new market in Trakan Phuetpon, Ubon Ratchathani Province, early yesterday morning. The fire is said to have started at about 4 a.m. and took the life of an old woman sleeping in one of the shop-houses. News of the tragedy was current in Phana a few hours later. Trakan Phuetpon is a district town 19 kms to the east of Phana. 

As is usual in most such fires, an electrical fault is said to have been the cause.

The pictures speak for themselves, I think. They were taken about 10 hours after the fire started, by which time everything was under control.

 

 

 

One of the shops was a gold-shop. Presumably the gold melted, but should have been recoverable. But was it? And who by?

Eating out in Ubon

I have had to visit Ubon a lot in the last few weeks. This is not a hardship because Ubon is only a 45-minute drive from Phana now that the road from Muang Samsip is all dual-carriageway. But going to Ubon has never been a hardship because it is my favourite city in Thailand. I have some favourite places to eat there, depending on how long I am going to be there, what sort of business I am on, and so on. But even favourite places can begin to seem jaded (really it is me who is jaded, of course) if you eat there too often, so I have been trying a few new places.

The first new place I tried was Spago , and I have been back several times now. Next up was Peppers Bakery, where I ate too much cake but came away with some great bread which I hadn't realised I had been missing. Then, on another occasion, after meeting my daughter and her family at the airport, we headed off for breakfast at  Dao Cafe. A week later and I was having lunch at a place called Baan Glang Soi where I really ejoyed the meal (and Pensri enjoyed hers) and I also had my camera with me.

 

 

The restaurant is halfway down the soi, as its name tells you, the soi being Soi Sukha- Upatham 15. The soi is quite wide so parking wasn't too much of a problem, though I'm not sure all the residents would agree.

 

 

 

 

I knew I was going to like the place as soon as I walked in. I love garden restaurants, and this one was quite small and looked cool even in the sunshine.

 

 

 

Most of the seating seemed to be outside in a kind of open wooden sala. There was also an air-con room with karaoke. Sometimes these are not very well sound-proofed, but this one was not too bad. A large group came in while we were eating and wasted no time in starting to sing, but we could hardly hear them. I liked the musc that was playing in th garden, too. It was the soothing, rather old-fashioned kind, new songs  (and Ubon singers) but they reminded me strongly of the sort of music I heard when I first came to Thailand.

 Our table was close to this feature. I must say I admire their taste in statuary.  The restaurant was the sort that you used to find in Bangkok in small sois off Sukhumvit Road, but they are all gone now, replaced by hotels and condos mostly. Ubon hasn't come to that, which is a major reason for liking it. There are still plenty of shady lanes (though in fact this one wasn't, except for the little oasis of a restaurant).

 

 

 Of course we didn't just go to the restaurant to listen to music and reminisce over old times. Pensri ordered Prawn tempura with rice, and  I ordered pork steak with a mustard sauce. I thought I asked the waitress if it would be served with french fries, and she said yes. She thought I was making a side order of french fries. When they came, after a salad and a bun with butter, the fries were delicious and I still had some left when my steak arrived. This was just as well, because as is often the case, the steak was served with some nicely crisp vegetables, but only six french fries.

Dao Cafe and Baan Glang Soi were recommended to me by a friend in Ubon (thank you, Michael), but when I got there I realised that I had read about them both before. In fact, all four of these eating houses have been reviewed at We love Ubon. The name of this site says it all, really. It is the place to go for information about Ubon Ratchathani from a guy who knows the best of the city. But I guess you all knew that already!

Street Art in Ubon Ratchathani

I have just discovered a brilliant new project in Ubon Ratchathani. The Royal Thai Air Force base is on one side of Upalisan Road, and this is  the route many people  take to get to Ubon airport which adjoins the base. The RTAF base has a concrete wall that prevents people seeing into the compound and this has recently been painted white. (Previously it was the usual sad, dirty grey colour of most concrete buildings in Thai cities.) And now school students have started to paint murals at designated spots along the wall. The intention is clearly to cover the whole length of wall and schools have been allocated their own spots. Some have made a start and I have seen students of varying sizes at work. This time I was able to take some photographs. They seem to have the theme of the work of HM the King.

 

 

 
 

Some are not quite finished:

 

Some are just about to have a start made on them:

 

I am really looking forward to seeing how the wall develops. I shall make a point of driving along there every time I go in to Ubon.

There have been other similar projects in Thailand, I am sure, but I am not aware of having seen any. It shows great creativity and skill on the part of the students, I think, and imagination on the part of whatever authorities initiated and organised it. Well done them.
 
 

 

Car Tax and Passport

 

Last year Pensri and I made a 3-week road trip through central and northern Laos, and the year before that we drove around the south. Here we parked beside the road in Hua Phan Province, on the way to the former capital of the liberated zone, Xam Nua.

 

We had stopped to admire this view:

 

Incidentally, we had had the car washed during our 2-day stop in Phonsavanh. Earlier it had looked more like this:

 

Anyway, yesterday I realised that my car tax and car passport (International Transport Permit) were both due for renewal and since a long weekend holiday is about to start I decided to get on and do it.  So I gathered the paperwork as quickly as my inefficient filing system allowed and headed into Ubon.

I have a sister-in-law in Ubon and her husband kindly looks after the insurance of my car for me, mostly because when we go back to England we get a rebate on the policy for the months the car will be off the road and he takes care of that. And the car, too, which he always starts every now and again and has checked before we get back. So I had to call on him first to pick up the insurance documents and he reminded me to go to the insurance office to pay the government premium, which this year has been reduced to 600 Baht, + stamp and VAT bringing it to 645 Baht. Last year it was about 750 Baht.

Second stop was the place which carries out a few tests on cars over a certain age (7 years, I think). This took about 15 minutes so I got to the Land Transport office at 12.20 and about 30 different people told me in a variety of English, Thai and sign language  that they were closed for lunch. So a lunch break for me, too, at the excellent Spago which I learned about from Darwin at We Love Ubon .

Back to the Land Transport office after lunch and it only took me 15 minutes to complete all the formalities and get my windscreen tax sticker for 2553 (2010). What was needed here was just the car registration log book and the insurance documents.

Next I renewed my car passport which required some different paperwork but was again very easy. This is the third time I have had a car passport (as everyone here calls it). The first year was fairly complicated and there were lots of pieces of paper involved. But last year they were just putting a computerised system in place and issued me with a new book and assured me that in future it would be very straightforward. And it was.

The only complications arise because I don't officially own the car, my son does. So what I needed here is a form signed by him and me, photo-copies of his Thai passport and my British one and a letter in Thai and English giving his permission for me to drive the car "in Thailand and other countries". So only a small amount of forgery was required. Plus the car registration document which had just been updated. This took another 20 minutes and could have been less if the woman whose signature was required had not left her desk just before my documents were put on it.

So it was a successful day in the cluthches of the Thai bureaucracy. I must say it was all very easy, very pleasant, and everyone was very kind and helpful. At one point a woman pushed in front of me at the photo-copy machine but when she got to the front of the queue the woman operating the machine turned her away and took my stuff. That was nice.

So now I am looking forward to our next trip to Laos. In the meantime I'll post a couple of blogs about those previous trips. I'll do that when things have quietened down following Phana's Rubbish Parade later today and the King's Birthday tomorrow.