Farang can't do anything

Farang know nothing and can do nothing. That is common knowledge here. If something needs to be made, it really needs a Thai. Take Frank now. (Because François is really hard to pronounce for most people here, they just baptized me Frenk.) Frenk and Mik had moved Marieke Jacobs' 14-meter-long flags to Thailand with them, with the intention of taking them to their new home. to adorn. Now that the land had been handed over, the fence placed and construction started, it was a good time to put words into action.

Here in Thailand, Frenk does not have to put together the required 7 meters in length with two bamboo sticks. Bamboos of 7 meters or more are in abundance. Only they are a bit wider at the bottom than the Dutch thins, so the tubes with which they had to go into the ground were unfortunately too thin for the Thai bamboo. Fortunately, Pong still had a piece of iron pipe lying around and his son-in-law was kind enough to cut it into two pieces.

One fine morning, Frenk, armed with his machete, went into nature in search of a bamboo of at least 7 meters long, which was no thicker than 5 centimeters at the bottom. It soon turned out that estimating a height of 7 meters is more difficult than you think, especially when you look straight up. The first bamboo that Frenk brought home was therefore only 6,50 meters. However, advancing insight works even with Frenk, and the second stem was more than long enough. All side branches were cut off and the knots also suffered. The bamboo was then sawn to the right length, after which it was inserted into the shaft of the first flag. Frenk had driven one of the iron pipes into the ground and now lifted the bamboo with flag to lower it completely into the pipe. That all went according to plan.

In the meantime, Mik had returned home and was completely enthusiastic about Frenk's work. That gave him extra energy, so he went into the jungle again to score a bamboo of the right size. This was also stripped of protrusions and sawn to size. On to the new country now. The Hilux once again proved its usefulness, because the long stems could be transported very well with it.

There was a lot of digging on the land for the foundation. Pong and neighbor Tui were also there and immediately enthusiastically started to remove the bamboos from the Hilux. They were just as enthusiastic about whacking the iron pipes into the ground with their fists. When Frenk came with the piece of wood he had used so as not to damage the iron when hammering, it was already too late. The edges of the legs were curled inwards.

The result can be guessed: the bamboos no longer fit. Great hilarity. Those farang are so clumsy. Do they arrive with too thick a bamboo, the fools. Fortunately, the Thai cannot be caught for one hole. With the machete they deftly cut away some of the outside of the bamboos and voila. At least it fit now.

Frenk and Mik slid the flags around the stems and with joint forces they were put upright and slid into the pipes. A beautiful white cloud and the almost full moon made it an extra beautiful picture. That made Frenk and Mik very happy. Just like all the help they had received. Because Frenk and Mik are farang after all. They don't make it alone.