The Last Days

After deciding to hop a border for a job, our days in Thailand started to take on a patina of sadness. It was not a sadness of great loss, but rather the recurring feeling of it could be a while before we do this or see this again. For if there has been a constant country in our expat tenure, it has been Thailand. Which is why when China kept her borders closed, we acted upon our long-simmering question: What would it be like to live and work in Thailand? Thus, to find ourselves on the other side of that question was bizarre, yet not troublesome. It just meant our interactions and moments were deeply experienced and our last twenty days were quite full. 

We returned to Chiang Rai, for it has become our Thailand hometown. There is still a backlog of stories to be told from our nook in the north, and there were quite a few more added in this sojourn. Lunches, dinners, afternoon teas, meandering motorbike rides, a morning watch party to see the Portland Thorns win the NWSL Championship, bonfires, and even a surprise Chinese opera.

It was during these days that we discovered our plan to ship our three totes of belongings to Vietnam was not to be; Vietnam does not allow secondhand goods to be shipped into the country. Though we were told there was a meager chance of a glitch in the system and customs would accept the boxes, but would charge a hefty import tax; the ambivalence of success in getting our backup underwear, half-completed quilt tops, gifted artwork, and plethora of football jerseys did not seem worth risking. Therefore, this revelation instigated a dash to procure large suitcases and make the shift. 

When we departed Chiang Rai, we were finally fitting in with the locals luggage wise.

Side note: For those who have not traveled SE Asia or Africa, the amount and size of checked baggage is staggering. From striped rice bags to cardboard boxes to bulging suitcases, this is a world where airport trolleys are a must not a luxury. As for the front line airline workers, they all seem to have a harried look to them. There have been a few journeys where we have been ushered to the front of the line with our mere two backpacks and the worker audibly sighs in thanks for a break of wrangling behemoths. Unfortunately, this was our turn to prompt a look of dread in a worker's eyes. 

We did have one good last laugh in Chiang Rai. Sitting in the airplane, I looked out the window to a sight not often seen. During our summer holiday abroad, there was great excitement in Chiang Rai at the end of July when a NOK Air plane skidded off the runway upon landing at the Mae Fah Luang International Airport. It shut the airport down for a handful of days and made national news. It had been months, so I was stunned to look out the window and see the scuttled aircraft hanging out on the tarmac. Stripped of identifying logos and propped up on tires, the offending hunk of metal seemed a warning that flying was dangerous or it was a bold PR move by a competitor or the airport itself saying that NOK Air was not a trusted airline - all which Zach and I said out loud, along with a few snarky marketing slogans that could be pasted onto the shell. Our seatmate even joined our chuckles. 

We planned ten days in Bangkok because obtaining a visa for any country is always a crap-shoot. Our preparation for days of return trips and resubmitting documents fell flat when the embassy worker took a cursory look at our documents, typed the fee into the calculator, and told us to return in four hours. Discombobulation happened on our part for the fee was higher than expected and they only accepted Thai baht. He waved us away and told us to return with the money. 

One ATM stop and four hours later, we returned to be handed our passports with correct visas. 

Thus, we had nine very open days to enjoy Bangkok - which we did. A handful of Chiang Rai people were in Bangkok with us, thus turning our days into a very social time.

We celebrated Alan's birthday, played laser tag with the Po clan, met Caleb's grandmother, had coffee with a former Tesaban 6 co-worker (who is on to amazing things in Australia!), ate all the food we knew would not be eaten for a while, and took a lot of Christmas decoration pictures. 

We even got a bonus delight of celebrating our favorite Thai holiday - Loy Krathong! That night felt a very poignant farewell to Thailand. As we placed our krathong onto the water, we thanked the kingdom for all that it had given and shown us - from sublime rice field sunsets to ancient ruins to bonfires with friends to wacky work mayhem - it was all part of a journey and we were grateful.