Living an Isaan (Part 8)

The Inquisitor now has a unique opportunity to follow the average life of a small Isaan family. Sweetheart's brother. A typical Isaan life, the ups and downs, probably with the main question: how to build a life in this underprivileged region? Time for a sequel, The Inquisitor takes you to the past, in a modern age, in what calls itself a modern country.

Living an Isan (8)

 
Despite the renewed work ethic that Piak brings, it remains difficult to earn enough money. Suddenly the lucrative sale of charcoal has come to a standstill, a line through the bill. The buyers no longer show up, nobody knows why, the rest of the village and surrounding area now have a large stock that they are forced to keep dry, difficult, some have no storage space for it. Piak and Taai are currently still working on the warehouse of De Inquisitor and liefje-lief, but that is gradually coming to an end. Bricking and occupying walls is the last thing, then they get the last slice of the agreed sum. Four thousand baht, but their bill in the shop has risen to almost two thousand baht and sweetheart knows that The Inquisitor speaks on that - that is not ruthlessness, but prevention of bigger problems, Piak is rather casual about those things but also very cunning, he counts on the good-heartedness of sweetheart, but The Inquisitor has not built a shop for her for that and she also realizes that.

Liefje-lief had already suggested that they also give them the finishing of the warehouse, but De Inquisitor does not want that. He likes to do that himself, a matter of spending time, as a hobby. Install window and door, install ceiling, paint, furnish. So Piak and Taai have to look for other vital income, on top of that it is not the intention that De Inquisitor will continue to provide them with work, it has been good enough.

It is no longer possible to grow more vegetables, the land must now remain available for rice cultivation, we have to wait for the rains. There is also little activity available where Piak could work as a day laborer. The only new construction in the village this year has been outsourced to a professional contractor, no chance to fit in between. Poa Deing has his own family working on the house for his daughter. Bee, the enterprising lady from the village is now engaged to someone from outside the village. Relatives of her fiancé are now working on all the projects she has running, such as the large-scale cultivation of melons, forest clearing, small-scale rubber cultivation, etc.

Now don't think that both newlyweds are concerned about that. Unexpected opportunities often arise, they count on that a bit. And there is another possibility. Taai's family earns quite well from raising chickens – on a small scale, which they then prepare for sale. They are on the small night market of the town every day, but there is a lot of competition. That is also the reason why her family, in this case her mother, does not want Taai to open a new stall independently.

But liefje-lief and De Inquisitor had often had conversations with each other in the past: it could be very lucrative if other things were offered for sale for the shop. A coffee stand, one stall, fresh vegetables, … . The shop would enjoy the arrival of more people, potential customers. Only, who could and would do that? Sweetheart has all her hands full with the shop, she can't make coffee, can't prepare soup while she has to serve customers in the shop. The Inquisitor, who occasionally raises a hand in that, of course, can't do that either, we don't want any problems. And so far we haven't found anyone.

Prepared chicken! Tough ! Yes, a solution. Only Taai and Piak don't even have the finances to buy the necessary things. You need a stall with a shelter from the sun. Gas fire and gas. Baking tray. Crafting table. Knives and other cooking utensils. Packing material. And of course – chickens. So we sit down together at the table, and behold, Taai already had this idea in her head. She was just too embarrassed to suggest that, besides, she thought she had to save first to cover all investments. Save ? How ? Of what ? In those four months that Taai has been part of the family, they have, very proudly, been able to put away two hundred baht … .

Pretty soon we get out, the investment is divided: liefje-lief and De Inquisitor advance the money, Taai pays off, ten percent of the daily profit. Piak has to make the stall himself, in steel with a nice colorful tarpaulin over it. He can also weld the work table together. All told, it's a financing of… six thousand baht. The use of water and accommodation is free in our shop because we know that her customers will also buy from us – drinks and others. Taai is enthusiastic, becoming your own boss, a dream of many Isan ladies who like to be independent. And Taai's self-esteem is maintained, she thinks it is only right that it is a kind of loan, but without interest, without installments, which makes it all much easier. Only, the release of the family lands (more next blog) throws a spanner in the works. Can Piak handle the rice paddies alone? Shouldn't Taai step in too often and therefore close her chicken stall - detrimental to sales of course. So together it is decided to wait a while, and possibly start the stall later.

Happy after this conversation, Piak and Taai go to grab some fish. Not in a pool this time, but in a small river, half an hour's walk away somewhere in a forest. The Inquisitor goes along at the request of sweetheart, who also comes along because the daughter can easily handle the calm period in the shop alone, and she is not fond of catching fish anyway, she prefers to hang on her laptop in waiting for a rare customer between thirteen and sixteen o'clock in the afternoon.

 
Piak does this very cleverly: he dams the shallow river, two earthen dikes fifty meters apart. He then pumps this part empty so that there is only five to ten centimeters of water. And then you go in, so does The Inquisitor. Just like them, barefoot. Like them grabbing fish with bare hands. Like them, body and limb full of mud after ten minutes. That's laughable, of course, The Inquisitor is much too slow, too clumsy, and happy when he can catch a fish of five centimeters. But that is gradually getting better, now and then he can proudly show a few larger specimens.

After a while the buckets are already quite full with fish, in all shapes and sizes. is coveted but the hardest to grab, they wriggle in the mud. And against the banks, between the left behind leaves and branches, there is also a kind of small catfish. Who will be The Inquisitor's next prey. He thinks. A tenacious, fast fish. And with mean spines behind the gills, but The Inquisitor, unlike the others, doesn't know that. On a subsequent attempt, The Inquisitor receives a kind of electric shock in the index finger, which immediately endured a very severe pain. Really, really painful. Lots of blood even despite a very small visible wound. Liefje-sweet immediately knows what is going on, that fish species is known for that. (dangerous). And immediately take action. The wound must be cleaned immediately, disinfected, otherwise it will take a day or two. Please, same pain? Because it is very painful, silly actually from such a small fish. Yes, the pain will go to your elbow and to the shoulder if the fish has got you right. Quick disinfection? How ? Here, everything full of mud, dark brown water, half an hour's walk home?

Dear reader, use your imagination. The wound was disinfected on the spot, behind a bush. Hilarious actually. But good result, because the pain remained really strong for the first hours, but towards the evening it finally softened a bit. The three Bear Changs may have been responsible, but The Inquisitor slept soundly. And he is sweetly grateful for the drastic disinfection.

To be continued