Gold Heist!

Our days of carefree life in these northern wilds came to an abrupt halt on Saturday when the slumbering slog of summer was thwarted by a bonafide gold heist. Two maraudering menaces took it upon themselves to toss aside the plexiglass covid barrier, hop the counter with ease, and make off with 100 baht of gold. The locals are wailing and bemoaning the end of civilized Thai days.

There is a lot to explain sans the extravagant storytelling that so wants to take over. 

First, we know of the shop now pillaged. We had actually walked by it on Thursday after Zach's birthday lunch. This is noteworthy in the idea that there are so many gold shops in Asia (they are as plentiful as a meat-on-a-stick grill stand), that I was shocked I actually recognized the storefront from the pictures. I can testify that security seemed nonexistent. 

Second, it did not shatter our idyllic tropical Saturday. I learned about the heist on Facebook via the Chiang Rai group that evening when perusing ads to see if anyone was selling a secondhand oven. 

Third, the audacity of the thieves to pillage in broad daylight. After watching the cctv footage, I give them kudos for their bravery during sunshine, but I absolutely question the bank heisting apparel. Thief Driver is wearing a jacket that bears a weirdly written word of QUICK and a splashy moto helmet. Thief Wingman has a blue bucket hat. Was a beach stop planned post-stick up? Wild west blue jeans and the Asian bandolier of a fanny pack round out the ensemble of the modern day pirate.

Fourth, there are no workers to be seen in the cctv footage. I am curious how the dynamic duo of splashy helmet and blue bucket hat speared fear into the workers, who were most likely stunned to look up from their mobile phones to find themselves privy to a robbery.

Fifth - an observation I cannot type without giggling - these capers pillaged the displayed necklaces with a mighty swoop, jogged out past the front awning, then sauntered - absolutely sauntered - to their motorcycle parked a couple spots to the right of the shop. They proceeded to hop on as if they had just picked up their Thai tea order, then entered traffic in the most cautious and law abiding way. The drive-it-like-you-stole-it cliche has been completely revised in my mind's eye. 

Sixth, of course any news announcement we read is translated, so mistakes are inevitable. I really tried to decipher the "police are currently investigating and arresting them, asking everyone to be careful because we don't know where the culprit is now" sentence, but my attention was quickly distracted by the "100 baht was taken." For immediate clarification, baht is the money name of Thailand, which is roughly about 3USD. I immediately fell into laughter and labeled them the worst gold robbers ever.

Of course, I had to return to the post the next day to see if there was an update on the in-the-wild-but-being-arrested culprits. My label of them quickly fell away when a fellow group follower explained that baht is also the term for the weight measurement of gold. I cannot confirm nor deny Bobby Bo's ability in maths pertaining to a gold standard, but he claimed the culprits actually made away with approximately 2.7 million baht worth of gold (84,513USD). The 'made out like bandits' cliche quickly came to mind.

Sadly, I have not seen an update as to whether the robbers have been apprehended while schlepping their treasure across a border or onto a pirate canoe. There have been no whispers of the loot being discovered stashed in a rice field thanks to a McDonald's napkin bearing a map and a greasy X. Nor have a heard a town crier yelling, "There's gold to be found in them there hills!" 

I confess there is a piece of my hyperactive imagination that hopes they get away and their sauntering style of pillaging becomes part of the Chiang Rai lore. 

Koh Samui: Sunset Moods

This is a post meant only to be soul soothing. No deep words or insights - just a majestic display of tropical skies. Sunsets are my favorite and I have seen so lucky to witness so many around the world. Our days on Samui were spent wondering whether we would get a colorful sunset or would it be thwarted with the rainy season cloud cover. Luckily, we were granted some majestic evening skies. We have not found the sunset spot of Chiang Rai, but we are hunting and I am looking forward to experiencing hill country sunsets. 

Koh Samui: Wat Plai Laem

I profess that this wat complex made me think that if pirates were Buddhists, this would be their lair. It is outrageously flamboyant in color, excessive in size, eclectic in style, and very kitschy in layout. The Buddha even has a bag of loot in his hand!  

It is not hard to imagine a tortuga-esque air of frivolity when strolling the gangways to the seat of the deities, as each have a personal lilypad of dominance. Add some rousing gongs and wild chanting - this would be a hopping sanctuary!

The bigness is overwhelming to a mere mortal like myself. I felt even a god toe would squash me to jelly, which drew my mind to Bilbo Baggins and trolls which instigated a mental game of how many very large fantasy creatures can I envision. For the record, Zach and I do feel that elves were inspired by the angelic deities portrayed in every temple in this part of the world. 

Aside from my wild imagination, I did find the setting of this wat very calming. It was if the water was involved in an effort to counteract the extravagance...or provide an epic splash should something topple. 

After looking up for so long, it was nice to spy the small details around the plaza. Niches bearing ashes of people gone from this world composed the walls around the three islands. The usual trinket offerings lined the walls, while a few photos showed who chose to spend eternity hanging out with a very big god. In essence, we were visiting a floating cemetery, as well.  

Medium and small statues also found a place among the altars and shrines sprinkled around the place. Ganesh is always one of my favorites to suss out because it is an elephant that always seems to be having a good time. 

Wat Plai Laem was bold, gigantic, and actually rather memorable. Though, Zach and I do wonder if we should create a Big Buddha bingo card because these sites are becoming rather common. For all the silly cliches, it does seem that the bigger is better idea is driving current building practices from glass bridges to holy sites. 

To the Northern Wilds of Chiang Rai

Our travel to the northern wilds was a bit anxiety inducing. The flaw of travel hubs is when catastrophe strikes, transportation of all forms is thrusted into mayhem. After hours of research, our migration was a finely tuned choreography of steps, mentally rehearsed multiple of times. A plane ride from Koh Samui to BKK airport, followed by a direct transfer to DMK with the official shuttle bus, with a final plane ride to Chiang Rai. Our slight hiccup was at DMK at the Air Asia counter, when they were persistent in the need for PCR tests. After showing all documentation that we had not spent a moment on Bangkok concrete outside the cloisters of airport, we were handed boarding passes. We soon found humor in the irony of their covid cautiousness after boarding a packed flight.

As with our travel in March, the deserted airports and runways were unsettling. Our flight from Koh Samui parked at least three kilometres from the terminal; the beginning of a pseudo-amusement park ride in a bus through a dystopian wasteland. Hundreds of planes were lined nose-to-tail in every gate zone and taxi lane. Shimmering mylar covered cockpit windows and tires, while engines were encased in canvas covers or missing completely from their underwing fixtures. An entire terminal of DMK was shuttered, with check-in counters stacked with luggage bins and other airport-esque paraphernalia. Traffic was so slow that security officers in all airports helped place items in the bins, as well as aided in the repacking of our bags. What days to be traveling. 

Our arrival in Chiang Rai was met with four separate meetings with an official sort of person. Our beginning destination of Samui along with our answer of living here for one year granted us shocked looks and a pass to walk out the doors. 

Hello, Chiang Rai!

Our days alternate between figuring-out-life busy and by-the-pool lazy. Smooshed in between are the explorations that we love. 

Our hotel is by my favorite wat of the area. I first experienced the Blue Temple last year during our holiday travels. For this land bound mermaid, this little spot of serenity is an oasis. Now, I am am absolutely spoiled to experience it every day without crowds.

The other night, I was unsettled. I felt a little trapped in our one room. I took a walk in the evening drizzle (hello, rainy season!). I strolled to the temple, empty and quiet except for the purr of a vaccuum. I turned the corner to peek in the main doors, to discover evening chores being completed. I stood in the rain and watched the giant white god get a thorough dusting by one monk, as the other wielded the vaccuum with a very strong arm while wearing a sweatshirt (hello, cool evenings of 28C!). Beneath my borrowed umbrella, I was soothed watching such mundane chores. I was also charmed that on a to-do list somewhere in the monk quarters there is a bullet point - dust the buddha.

We actually walked on our school campus and signed contracts. We have met two of our co-workers. We have no idea what curriculum we are teaching, but I can tell you that Monday is yellow shirt day, Tuesday is purple shirt day, Wednesday is free choice shirt day, Thursday is gray shirt day, and Friday is traditional Thai shirt day. The preceding sentence accurately states the summation of Thai education. We are equally fascinated and flabbergasted.

We have discovered some delightful coffee shops and an absolute delicious vegetarian restaurant.

We found the da ma (dancing aunties) spot while trying a new route from a point a to a point b. 

Zach has a lead on where to play football - we even bought the birthday-month boy a ball so he is prepared. 

We signed a six-month lease on a cute yellow bungalow, complete with a ton of green space and a pool. With high hopes and low expectations, we hope to call it home on July 5. It even has a guest room, because we can't help but dream of who may show up in the next year.  

We have learned everything is 4km away - it does not matter where we are in the city. It has become our running joke when trying to figure out a path. We are grateful Grab still works here, but many times we strike out on foot to see where it may lead. 

It is rice planting season which makes my heart so happy.

The river walk is another favorite spot for a leisurely stroll. 

In the twelve days since our arrival, there have been a lot of decisions, a lot of questioning, a dash of frustration, some great conversations with strangers, a few pangs of sadness for the beach bum life, a lot of swimming in a pool, and many, many moments of gratitude for having the opportunity to live here. Last year, as we walked the streets, we remarked that Chiang Rai was not for visiting, it is for living and experiencing thoroughly. Every day we are so thankful that we are getting the chance to live those words.

Koh Samui: Wat Chaeng

This wat complex was on our walk to Nathon Town. There was nothing extremely famous-ish, but I enjoyed it for its mesmerizing golden glow in the setting sun and an abundance of frangipani trees which bear my favorite southeast Asia flower, the plumeria. 

The complex was more a reminder of daily routines for locals, for a motobike or car was seen to turn into the drive every time we passed. I never spotted a monk out and about on the grounds, but our passings were mere minutes in the scheme of an entire day.

I thought we would have more explorations of this place, but we were gifted use of a motobike which resulted in us becoming lazy and driving to town. We always passed, but never turned into the drive. 

Koh Samui: The Great Snail Hunters

The uniform code is eclectic; from straw hats to mish mash textiles to even socks. The tools of the trade are a bucket of sorts (a plastic bottle or battered bucket will do) and a scoop (a coconut shell or what one ladles the curry with these days.) As for hours, they are lengthy, but laughter and bantering is allowed.  

Plopped at the precise spot where land meets sea, the great snail hunter of Koh Samui are a constant of a beach bum life. The scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape of sand in half moon arcs is the soundtrack of the day. 

Families band together in the hunt.

Friends use it is as social hour.

Sun-aged men forage their evening TV watching treat - for it is the the islander potato chip.

 

Hours upon hours are spent scouring for these tiny, practically miniscule, little snails. A one-slurp-and-done snack. They number in the thousands, but it seems the ones burrowed within the moist shoreline are the most delectable. 

As the sun begins its golden glow hour, these great snail hunters fade into the coconut tree line, armed with their treasure. The only thing that hints of their hours of labor are the lengthy swathes of disheveled sand, which is quickly smoothed and hidden by the incoming tide.

Koh Samui: Big Buddha

A tale of two eras seems the best way to describe the area of Wat Phra Yai, aka Big Buddha. The years before 1970, this island was dedicated to the burial of children who died before the age of 10. There is nothing written in English (on the site or internet) to explain the change or shift from final resting place to gigantic Buddha, but some mysterious people gathered and decided to have a change of purpose. As a result, I have many questions.

Who instigated that conversation?

Were there protests? 

Burial implies a lot of graves, so when did cremation become the norm rather than burial? Or, are children supposed to be buried rather than cremated? 

If there were lots of graves, are they underneath the concrete foundation? 

What person looks at a cemetery and thinks, "ah, that needs a temple with a large statue!"

While Buddhism has a very revolving idea of life and death, does special rites needs to be performed for shifting a place of death to a place of life (and ultimately tourist trampling)? 

So. Many. Questions.

While my questions continue to simmer, the fact remains that a handful of someones cahooted and in the early years of 1970, a behemoth complex adorned by an even bigger statue was erected.

The parking lot is filled with the requisite touristy tack, but a few steps towards the towering statue and all frivolity seems to melt away. Granted, we were the only visitors at the moment, so all did seem eerily calm and quiet. Though, to be fair, a 12-metre high/39 foot Buddha seemingly to stare you down as you ascend does instigate a moment of terror which results in the best behavior one can muster.

The Buddha is surrounded by terrific scenery. I find it interesting that outdoor Buddhas tend to face towards land, rather unlike the Guanyin statues who always face towards the sea. A land deity vs a sea deity situation. However, Chris told us that where we stood once was an island; a time when the monks had to row to the main island for their daily alms. Eventually, the locals rallied and decided to connect the two. When that happened or how it happened, I do not know. Today, Buddha not only stares down those climbing steps, but also watches the comings and goings upon a sliver of land. 

Every so often, he hears a plane fly overhead. 

The highlight of this stop was Chris sharing with us one of the rituals of Songkran, the wetting of the Buddhas. It is such a peaceful ceremony, a simple act in reverence. Since we were visiting mere days after the holidays, the statues were still very wet and very clean.