Road to Petchabun

Warawut is only 24 and still finding his style but he clearly has great talent and is going to be very successful. Like many artists his output is prodigious but he has trouble getting his work seen by buyers and that, of course, is the reason we were there.

He’s a character, very engaging, quick to smile, likes to kid around but also a fundamentalist Christian. As he put it, the bible is the basis for everything he believes in. At one point he started a prayer to God that I would be successful at selling his work!

I think it was at this point that the cows invaded! No kidding, a herd of cows wandered at high speed into the garden of Warawut’s house. The herdsman managed to get them out with little fuss except for one calf that clearly liked the look us (or something!) and kept running back from the lane into the garden.

All in all we spent a pleasant few hours with him and I am hopeful that his work will be into the gallery sometimes next month.

Then it was back to the tuk tuk and, yes, we got stuck again. Warawut had again suggested that our trip to see the next artist was just 200 meters but we were ignoring him by this time. Khun Ris once again worked her tuk tuk magic and we finally hit tarmac.

We then chugged our way to Khun Vichian’s house, and it’s a nice place with the most beautiful views of rice fields and the mountains. Unlike Warawut, who speaks no English, Vichian is pretty much fluent having lived for many years in California. His work is quite well known and has been exhibited in many countries.

He’s a charming, friendly and polite guy, with four beautiful children. The girls, aged 7, 6 and 3 decided to turn the tuk tuk into their personal carriage, decorating it with umbrellas and balloons.

I had been quite ill for a few hours — some form of anxiety related attack I think — and I needed a bathroom urgently. Well I was in luck because Vichian’s house is very new, very expensive and with spotlessly clean and modern toilets. My bad luck was that I had left the toilet paper in the car and so was forced, for the first time in my life, to use the hose. An interesting experience, if a little wet!