Submitted: An Isan fairy tale in book land
My name is Guido De Ville and I have been living in Damme (Belgium) for many years for 7 months and in Thailand for 5 months. I have enjoyed reading Thailand blog for many years. After all, I am the author of a few books myself and I run my own publishing house Zorro (see www.zorrobooks.be).
In Damme, together with a colleague, I run the smallest second-hand bookshop in Flanders (15 m2). Feniks, located in the front of the City Hall. At first I thought it was the smallest of the Low Countries, but that turned out to be wrong, because in Amsterdam there is apparently someone with an even smaller bookshop (8 m2).
Three years ago I accidentally ended up in a small second-hand bookshop in Chiang Mai. I actually even found a few Dutch-language books. I got talking to the manageress Jackie. We talked about the declining book sales that apparently manifested themselves all over the world. Like me, she used to teach. She English and I in interrogation techniques and lie detection. She came from Isaan from a family of 5 girls.
Father tried to feed his family by going to Saudi Arabia at regular intervals to toil in road construction. He was sometimes away from home for three years straight. Not so exceptional for people from Isaan. When he was just 55 years old, he succumbed to a lung disease that he contracted over there. Nevertheless, three of his 5 daughters went to university afterwards. All in the same way: working in Bangkok during the day, attending university at night and studying at night in a room they shared with a few others. Jackie became an English teacher. The inhabitants of Isaan are indeed often rather denigrated (especially by the other Thais, but also by Falang), but wrongly.
After all, being born in Isaan you automatically have to deal with some obvious disadvantages: you are poor, rice prices continue to fall, Isaan is far from everything, you are not really held in high esteem and you are a victim of the capital city's corruption. For example, a place in education is (was) not awarded according to expertise, but according to your financial contribution. But most of them are diligent workers and they are gradually getting out of the doldrums.
Sometimes I compare the Isanese with the West Flemish here a few years ago. Lagging behind far from the capital, religious peasant mentality, viewed skewedly by the arrogant and haughty inhabitants of Brussels (and later Antwerpers) but also with a strong will and tenacity.
In the meantime, Jackie returned to her native village of Ban Sarot in Surin, where she teaches English four days a week in the poor local school where she once went to school herself 35 years ago. And, with my help, she opened a B&B with three dirt-cheap authentic rooms with every comfort in and around her bungalow: the Mango Cozy Corner. It is indeed in the middle of nowhere, but it is wonderful to be in the real authentic Thailand of Isaan. She gives English private lessons to locals, but she also immerses falang (figuratively in a Thai bath for a week). After that week you have mastered basic Thai. Much more than our previous queen of Belgium, who knew Dutch after she was once so followed a language immersion in Dutch and had only learned 'good morning' and 'that's nice'.
Her sister (also university educated) teaches you a real massage in a week, with a recognized certificate. You will also be taught the real Isaan cuisine in a week. And if you want to cross the border to Siem Reap and Angor Wat, your trip will be perfectly arranged.
You can read more about this and the philosophy of the house at www.mangocosycorner.com. I wrote the Dutch version. Anyone can always contact me for more information [email protected]. Or visit me in my bookshop FENIKS in Damme.
And something to complete the circle, in every room you will also find some Dutch books for reading.
Because don't forget, it has been scientifically proven that those who read books live longer.
Guido Deville
Her sister (also university educated) will teach you a real massage in a week, with a recognized certificate. You will also be taught the real Isaan cuisine in one week!!!!!
And all that in a week I think my wife went to school in Khon Kaen to learn massage and cooking all in all half a year 3 months Thai massage and 3 months cooking class!!!
Dear Guido and those books from Ned. origins are, I think, left behind by tourists or in the case of farangs who died.
Hello Guido,
If by the smallest 2nd hand bookshop in Amsterdam you mean the rightful twist at Ceintuurbaan 384, I can tell you that it will be moving to another building somewhere in mid-October.
That could mean that you have the smallest 2nd hand bookshop.
http://www.deterechtekronkel.nl/
Regards,
Ronald
You write: "For example, a place in education is (was) not awarded according to expertise, but according to your financial contribution"
This is absolute nonsense what you write because you suggest that this is still the case…
Maybe that was the case in the distant past, but nowadays you have to study for 5 years at a university, where you don't just show up, because there are rules for that too,
Then after your university studies you have to take an exam in the place you choose where you want to become a teacher ... In addition, the exams for Udon Thanien other cities, for example, were compiled by a university in Bangkok and this was quite tough and not easy to do !!!!
Of the 87 students who wanted to work in Udon and the surrounding area, for example, only 6 passed the exam and they were immediately offered a job in and around Udon Thani…
However, the others who had enough points have to wait until a job becomes available somewhere.
However, then you also have a large group who did not pass and they have to take the exam again next year and in the meantime try to get a job somewhere to provide for their livelihood...
My daughter came second, so she immediately got a job as a teacher…
She had to fight hard for it just like the other students all over Thailand…
Nothing more is accepted with Tea Money today….
What a very nice message, Guido! We read it and thought here we go, we want to see that little bookstore, and we want to meet that man. But where is Damme? I thought you had a (little) bookshop in Thailand, but that's not the case. And what a nice story about those girls, three of whom went to university. I would like to meet them like this. Which bookshop in Chiangmai was that? Something bizarre: I bought the book “A Physician at the Court of Siam” by Malcolm Smith in Chiangmai in 1994. That cost 225 baht. Last week I wanted to buy a new copy of this book from Asiabook in Chiangmai. Price? 995 baht!! How is that possible? (By the way, a very interesting book, not only about the medical situation in Thailand around 1900, but also about the culture, the way of thinking of the people back then..)
Sincerely,
Jan
Dutch books do indeed roam everywhere in Thailand, although not in large numbers. Abandoned by travellers. (weight) The decline in book sales is due to digitisation. Even library books are read online nowadays, even in Thailand. I'm glad about it, because as a book reader I used to always carry kilos of books. Now my smartphone is enough. Well, the offer is not 100%. Much work has not been digitized. But there is sufficient supply to tackle months of boredom in Isaan.
thanks for the responses.
Robert48 : You're right of course. In 1 week you will not become a top chef, nor will you learn massage down to the last detail and your Thai will not be 100%. But you are already well on your way.
Ronald: I'm still looking into the smallest bookshop in the Netherlands. I'll keep you informed.
Jasmine. I'm sure your daughter earned her teaching job thanks to her expertise. But I can give you many examples to the contrary. And that nothing is accepted in Thailand anymore with Tea Money is very naive.
Jan: Damme is located in West Flanders, a stone's throw from Bruges and about ten km from the Dutch border town of Sluis. You're always welcome.
Butchery van Jampen: digitalization is indeed one of the reasons for declining book sales. But reading online only accounts for a few tiny percent of sales. And it is not for me at all because I still find it essential to feel a real book between my fingers. Although it is indeed a bit of a drag and I am probably old-fashioned. And by the way, the books that you will find in the mango cozy corner are books that I brought with me. And they are not Dutch books but Dutch-language books.
Greetings
Guido.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. The piece writers here rarely do that. Certainly copied from professional writers. Dutch books indeed! You are right. Turnover is indeed declining due to digitalization. In the past, when I ran out of reading material, I would look for second-hand (are we talking about second-hand with books?) books in Thailand. I walked into bookstores everywhere. Nowadays never again. I search online. Still a shame! The atmosphere of the bookstore, the smell of books! Especially old books! But I'm getting old. And lazy. I digitize. And that is lazy