Garden party at our resort

Fortunately, Charly's life is full of pleasant surprises (unfortunately sometimes also less pleasant ones). Until a few years ago, he would never have dared to predict that he would spend the rest of his life in Thailand. However, he has now been living in Thailand for a while and in recent years close to Udonthani. In this episode a small impression of a garden party in our resort.

Garden party at our resort

In the resort where we live, there is generally a serene tranquility. The only sounds that occasionally resonate are the barking of a few dogs and the sound of a heavy motorbike belonging to a Thai young man who, of course, wants to let you hear the sound of his motorbike when he returns home.

There is one noisy exception. Once Prayut has transferred money to the local air force again, they can make a number of training flights from the airport of Udon Thani. And that makes quite a bit of noise. But luckily that's only a few times a day and the suffering is over after about twenty seconds. More than those sounds are barely perceptible in our resort. No communal swimming pool, so no screeching of parents / grandparents gathered there with their babies and small children.

Yes, if you listen very carefully you can hear the traffic on the highway to Nong Khai and twice a day the train passes from Bangkok to Nong Khai and vice versa.

For a change from that serene tranquility, I sometimes feel the need to get some city feeling by driving to Udon center. There you can sit on a terrace, enjoy the view around you and have a nice meal. And of course do the necessary shopping at TOPS or at Villa Market. After that I always hurry back to our oasis of peace.

A neighbor boy had a serious accident a few months ago. With, of course, his motorbike. Luckily he made it out alive. After a number of operations and a few months of rehabilitation, the kid has made a full recovery. That should be celebrated and Buddha should of course be thanked and especially asked to provide even more happiness.

The family of which the young man belongs, a fairly youthful group, decides to organize a grand garden party for this purpose. The family consists of a few young men and women who all have good jobs. You could just call it a Hiso family. Of course, these young people also all have friends. It is decided that everyone, including friends and their employers, will contribute to the costs of the party. Thus happens.

All residents of the resort are invited to the party held on a Saturday. There is already a lot of activity on the day before. A large stage is being built with a pair of terrifying-looking loudspeakers. A large number of red plastic chairs are set out. A large tent cloth is also stretched, so that no one has to sit in the sun.

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On Saturday morning it's time. Around 7 o'clock in the morning the monks are sitting in the garden ready to pronounce their blessings on those present, but of course especially on the family and the young man, in their inimitable mantras. Food has been prepared for the monks by the resort residents. Teoy had also got up early in the morning to cook food for the monks. After the mantras have been pronounced and the monks have eaten, the guests may also eat. That food was provided by a catering company and, according to Teoy, was of a mediocre quality.

I am not present at this protocol myself. I usually go to bed late and wake up late. This is a result of my tendency to follow sports competitions and other events in Europe. And as you know, the time difference is at least five hours and now even six hours (until the end of March). So I never really adapted to the local timetable. I am currently trying to adjust my life in that respect by keeping 2 o'clock in the night as the last time to go to bed.

At 9 o'clock, very early for my feeling, I also go to the party. I introduce myself to the hosts/hostesses and then carefully sit down on one of those red plastic chairs. With my hundred kilos you could just fall right through that. Teoy recognizes this potential problem and stacks two chairs on top of each other. Indeed, that's a bit safer. The atmosphere is pleasant. People talk to each other a lot. Some resort residents meet each other here for the first time and like to get to know each other better. Experiences about the resort are exchanged. To that extent, this is not only a celebration for the Buddha, but also a celebration of getting to know each other.

Meanwhile, the stage is occupied by a couple of sexy-looking dancers and a singer. And yes, what I feared is actually happening. Those terrifying looking speakers spew out a sound that is probably far above the permitted (in the Netherlands, here in Thailand they don't have such a limit) decibels. Conversations are therefore hardly possible. But nobody cares about that. The food continues unabated. And, most importantly, there's beer and whiskey. What else do you want?

The atmosphere becomes more jolly and the guests start dancing. The singer, occasionally alternated by a singer, does his very best. The dancers too, of course, and the stage now has the full attention of all the guests. More and more chairs are moving aside and Thai dancing is now gaining more followers. I sit quietly and watch the whole thing at ease and with great pleasure. My neighbor Nan comes to sit with me and tries to have a chat with me. That works reasonably well with pieces of Thai and English mixed together and with some hands and footwork. You probably recognize this.

Maybe just buy the Travis Touch Plus for 199 euros. This seems to be a modern speech computer, with more than 100 different languages, including Dutch, Lao and Thai. You pronounce a sentence in Dutch and he translates it into Thai or Lao, for example. Vice versa is also possible. Someone pronounces something in Thai (or Lao) and it is translated into Dutch. Still useful, if at least those translations are reasonably correct.

Encouraged by Nan talking to me, more resort residents are now trying to contact me. Not very surprising. I am one of the very few farangs in this resort and the only one who has bothered to come to this party. In the end there are about 5-6 Thai around me and Teoy sometimes acts as an interpreter. Not so easy with the noise coming from the stage, but it is extremely cozy and there is a lot of laughter and drinking. It gets even more fun when Teoy's daughter arrives at the resort with a few school friends. The party is now in full swing. Everyone seems to be having a good time and having a good time. And despite the drink, I did not see or hear any discord. While most people are already present from 7 o'clock this morning.

Around 3 o'clock slowly but surely the invited guests disappear. The organizing family and supporters retreat to their garden. Around 4 o'clock the music also stops and the singer, singer and dancers disappear from the stage, which is then quickly broken down. The organization switches to karaoke and people do their best to sing and dance. The whiskey is starting to do its job nicely, but they are persistent, as it turns out.

Teoy, her daughter with friends, and I are now sitting in our own garden, with a direct view of the place where the garden party takes place. We have a drink and Teoy's daughter goes to get Thai food on the motorbike. I stick with a Cordon Bleu that I brought with me from daSofia the day before. This is also a nice get-together and I enjoy the spontaneity of our teenagers. Around 8 o'clock in the evening, the condition of the organizing partygoers also fails and the whiskey wins. Which results in a return of serene tranquility in our resort.

It was a wonderful day, full of nice surprises. As far as I'm concerned, this should happen more often in our resort. Maybe I'll throw a party like that myself sometime. Just need to come up with a reason. Maybe after the renovation of the bathrooms and the fencing around the garden? Who knows. I'll keep you informed.

Charly (www.thailandblog.nl/tag/charly/)