Hi everyone! I have been routinely reading this excellent blog ever since I was directed to it by a starter web site. Well, I guess it’s time I spill the beans and share some of my unusual experiences. I’m sure Richard will be happy to have another writer in his camp:). I hope you all enjoy my first ever blog. I promise to do better the next time!
Let’s see…starting from my dawn of time….when was your earliest memory?? I think mine would be at about five. I was living in the countryside in Nakhon Sawan province between two villages inhabited by each side of my splintered family. As you may know, in the LOS back in the mid 60’s, it was very unusual (especially in the countryside) that you did not stay with your birth parents. My parents met, got married, had me, and the two families never got along.
My dad’s side was poor. He’s 25% Chinese and lost his father to the Japanese occupation at the end of WWII. I am told Grandpa B was executed or beheaded. I would love to research this a bit further when I get back next time. Hence, my Grandma B had to raise my Dad and his younger sister alone and under a negative stigma. They barely got by and my father grew up without a father. He did not have the opportunity to get much schooling. Making money to support the family day-by-day came first! This is very much like the farming settings in early America….”Little House on the Prairie“?? Nevertheless, he grew up attending the “Thai School Of Hard Knocks“. He became a regional Muay-Thai kick boxer champ in the area…got a motorcycle…and began visiting nearby towns. So, this is how my foot-loose and fancy free Dad found my Mom in a near-by village 40-some odd years ago.
My Mom’s family was quite different from Dad’s. They were “real” Thais stemming from Sukothai and Kamphaeng Phet with many relatives and land. Mom’s father, Grandpa I, was the village head-man and a doctor. He had a clinic right under their two-story Thai house made of teak. I remember rifling through the many drawers of herbal plants, animal parts, and remedies. He had jars of gruesome specimens in formaldehyde solutions that would scare me at night. We had no electricity and running water to speak of. We collected rain water off of the tin corregated roofs. I had an uncle who had a house with a diesel generator across the street. There was a community well about a 100 yards from the house at the base of the mountain by a shrine for water in the dry season.
Whoops! I’m getting distracted…more on country life and schools later I promise! My Mom was the oldest of six children and was “most rebellious”. She, along with her cousin, pretty darn much ran the teen social scene in that small village. Grandpa I had many guns and kept most of the boys at bay. I guess opposites attract, or the bad boy/good girl magic happened. My Dad didn’t give up pursuing Mom, even with a pistol at point blank touching his chest. Get killed or get my Grandpa I’s permission in marriage was his ultimatum. The outcome…as you can read…is why I’m writing to you now. Still, what a shaky way to start! Bye For Now!
Chok Dee Krup!
Komsun
