Pirahna Fishing in Thailand

The first time I saw the hand printed sign advertising Piranha Fishing, I was 3 hours into a mountainous motorbike trek in northeast Thailand.  My butt was aching and I had pulled off at a scenic overlook to give my rump a rest.  There, tacked to the guard rail of the overlook was a very unprofessional, hand drawn sign with a picture or two advertising Piranha Park, 8 km north of Pai.   I had not come to Thailand to fish, so I disregarded the sign. 


I arrived in Pai at 6 pm just as the sun was beginning to set.  After dark is NOT the best time to be searching an unfamiliar Thai town for a room, so I pulled out my trusty "Go Thailand" book to get a recommendation for a cheap safe room.  The book gave a few suggestions, all of which required that I first locate the bus station.  Not knowing what such a thing would like like in Thailand, I rode my bike up and down the market vendor lined streets looking for a large, official-looking station that was big enough to house a bus or two....this was wrong thinking.

I drove by this building several times before being tipped off by the long bench out front, that this might, in fact be the bus station.     Next, I was to walk about 70 yards to locate the Duang Guest House

Advertising is not exactly the strong suit of Thais (more on this later).   Fortunately, the garage door was opened when I arrived and I was given the choice of 2 alternative rooms.  I chose the one that came WITH a bathroom.  This turned out to be the DELUXE Suite, as it not only had a bathroom, it also had a fan and a TV showing all Thai programming. 

My room cost 400 baht or just under $12.  Note the outdoor sink that my neighbors who did NOT have the Deluxe room got to use.

The next day, I wandered around Pai.  I considered simply staying in my $12 room two nights in a row, but there was a part of me that wondered if changing rooms might afford me a DIFFERENT experience.   Then I stumbled upon another hand drawn sign advertising Piranha Park.  In fact, as I rambled around town, at every juncture, I seemed to bump into more of these hand drawn signs.  Finally, it occurred to me that I was getting an invitation....It was worth the trek by motorbike to at least find out who was the marketing mastermind behind all of this advertising.

Until this moment, I had gotten used to missing numerous sights in Thailand.  Along the road, there tended to be one sign saying something like "elephant tracks, 3 km"....that would be ONLY sign.   Yet Pirahna Park managed to plant a sign at exactly the right place, just when you started to doubt if you were going the right way, there would be another of those signs, in English.     When I finally arrived, I realized that though this was a fishing park, it was really about the closest place to Nirvana that I could find, at least by my standards.

The "park" consisted of 3 large ponds that I later learned were dug by the Thai government 10 years ago when the govt went up in the mountains on a mission of digging ponds for families to grow Tilapia in.

These 3 ponds were fed by fresh mountain water diverted directly from a waterfall coming off the mountain just behind the park.  The owners piped the water in, and had it cascade down their own rock water fall to oxygenate the ponds and to provide a never ending cacophony of waterfall music.

The owner also built 3 beautiful bamboo bungalows, each one with an outdoor bathroom complete with hot water shower.  Unfortunately, given it was "high season" here, all 3 bungalows were rented.   So, the owner offered to pitch me a tent to sleep in by the lake.   This for a whopping $6 / night.  At first, this seemed steep.  What I didn't realize is that it was a large tent with the most comfortable Thai pallet bed.   It was the best sleep I've had in a long time.

My tent was pitched under a pavilion on flat soft ground.   The door to the tent was only 3 feet away from the pond, and the spot came complete with a public toilet only 15 feet away.

This was the view from tent.  

I learned an old Thai method for catching fish.  Though the "novelty" fish in these ponds were Piranha, there were much more significant fish to catch.   The park was full of enormous catfish, snake-heads, carp, and numerous other types of fish I was unfamiliar with.


Turns out that the piranha, though aggressive feeders, are not the same dinosaur toothed fish that we all read about in the Amazon.   These piranha have tiny, razor sharp teeth, but they tend to eat smaller fish AND nuts and berries.    This was the first of 5 piranhas that I caught that evening. 




The owner of this park is a Thai / UK couple.  Their goal is to provide people with a beautiful place to have a fishing experience with fish they can't catch anywhere else...people are requested to release the fish so that others can enjoy the experience.

The more I poked around the Park, the more intrigued I got.   They owned numerous acres of tropical ponds and fertile farmland.   I realized that they were almost completely self sufficient.  They have large holding tanks, not for breeding, but for growing.   The fish thrive in the mountain stream fed ponds, and the breed like crazy.   He regularly nets the babies and keeps them in these separate tanks to grow them up.

The mother in law, probably in her late 50's actively farms the grounds.  In the back ground is rice, an you might be able to make out the words "pirahna park" in yellow shrubs lining the dirt road.   They grow rice, papaya, coconuts, cabbages, and I suspect numerous other vegetables...I just didn't feel comfortable going out in their farm land in my sandals...what with the cobras and all....

If it wasn't being farmed, the land was covered with the most beautiful landscaping, forever in bloom in this tropical climate.  This is landscaping just below the owners house which fronts along one of the ponds.

The owner was a builder in the UK before relocating here and marrying the Thai daughter 10 years ago.  He built this house, and all 3 of the bungalows around the ponds.   I assume there will be about 3 more bungalows added before he's done.

Oddly, I did not get a picture of the UK man.  He was very colorful and friendly, and no matter how much I raved about the haven he'd built, he just smiled and and agreed that it was a special place, in an Aw shucks, thank ya mate kind of way.   This is his wife, washing off the front porch / bar.

 

Their daughter is a cute little girl who looks completely Thai, but has her Daddies curly hair.

This was an attempt to capture the night time view from my tent using time laps with my litlle point and shoot camera.

Finally, the family dog had just given birth a to a litter of the cutest puppies.  It was fun to watch the puppies scramble for the next available teat.  Mom was incredible patient and resigne to play her role:

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Thai Street Scenes

Though I didn't take too many voyeuristic photos of people, there were a few shots that really stood out to me as favorites

Monks are seen everywhere, ranging in age from 7 to 70.  I especially liked this picture I took from the backseat of a car as we were zipping along the highway.

Though the streets are crammed with cars and scooters, I still occasionally found some old-schoolers relying on manpower.  Clearly, this one had already survived a busy day.











 Necessity is the mother of invention.  Thai's look for many ways to carry as many people with one motor scooter as possible.  I once saw a family of four squeezed on one scooter.  I thought this was an ingenious, albeit hazardous, way of transporting happy preschoolers.

These little girls were dressed to the Nine's.  They were perfoming a series of traditional dances at the very first Temple I visited.  I was struck with just how poised and grown up these little girls, roughly aged 7 - 9 appeared!

As I roamed the countryside on my motor bike, I came across a make shift volleyball court in the middle of one of the most impoverished tribal communities I'd seen.  What I saw these boys doing was AMAZING.  They were playing volleyball using soccer rules...no hands allowed.

For the most part, Thailand is dominated by "homeless" street dogs.  The well cared for "pets" are distinguished, however, as they're dressed in their Sunday best

 This little fella was waiting his turn for a ride on a bike that was being fixed.  I just loved his concentration

Money was running low so I tried out a few ways to generate some pocket change..... I'll keep my day job

International Relief - Bathroom observations

As I have just circled the Globe, I consider myself an expert in comparative Restroom practices.   Here are my observations based on comparative studies in Frankfort, Germany, Chicago, Ill, Tokyo Japan, Bangkok, (Southern) Thailand, and Chiang Mai, (Northern) Thailand

Frankfort, Germany:   Stall doors go clear to the ground such that there is less intimacy with the person seated to your left and right, and less anticipation from those outside waiting, watching the “under door dance”.

Tokyo Japan:   Heated Toilet Seats!!!!   This gets my innovation of the trip award.  I’m assuming that there must be a hygiene by-product of heating, because the down side is that it discourages you from contributing to needed commode seat turnover.   In addition, Tokyo maintains a full-time FEMALE bathroom person who stays ever busy, even nudging gentlemen “in-the-act” gently out of the way in order to clear the floor around them.   Tokyo also has the most dependable high-capacity hand dryers that actually work.  Unlike the American version, these blowers do not contain instructions that inevitable have a 4^th step scratched into the aluminum casing “rub hands on pants”.

Thailand….without exception, ALL toilets come equipped with a little water hose, similar to those that accompany most American sinks and occasionally, showers.  At minimum, there is a water faucet with bucket, if no hose is available.   There are NO pictures available for Americans instructing them in the use of said hoses.  NOR are there paper towels that one might use to dry ones’self off after hosing their backside down, after all, this would defeat the purpose….said paper towels would inevitably end up in the toilet.

Most Thai bathrooms come with toilets complete with seats.   Urinals frequently come with a breathtaking view.  AS I was cycling down a mountain from Pye, I stopped at a roadside toilet and coffee shop.   (actually, this suggests they sell both….it was actually a coffee shop and a toilet).   The Men’s room had arrows pointing in two directions.  If you went left, you found a half wall with urinals attached.  The wall stopped about chest level, and afforded you a beautiful view of the mountains and country side.   If you went right, it took you to 2 separate stalls, both of which had the doors unattached and standing, leaning against the wall.   There were no toilets inside.  Just a 3 foot high Barrell that was half full of water.   I still don’t know what its purpose was.   I quietly mingled for 10 minutes and inauspiciously followed about 7 Thai men to the men’s room just to see what happened if you didn’t ONLY need the view of the mountain.    Unfortunately, the “view” seemed to be the need of choice on this given day.

By the way, I did make a brief foray into the ladies rooms at this roadside stand.   They were very clean and private.  Each had a separate door.  The toilet looked more like a white porcelain sink embedded in the floor.  A hose was nicely mounted near by.

Most bathrooms don’t have a separate shower.  Rather, a shower is mounted on the wall of the bathroom, and the bathroom floor has a sink drain in the middle of the floor.  I guess this is equally conducive for the bottom bathers, so why bother installing a full shower stall!

Un-Thai'd... Dog's life in Thailand

Thai Dog’s Life

Of all the animals that are depicted in Buddhist scenes at the many elaborate Temples in Thailand, I was struck with the absence of dogs…especially given their presence everywhere in Thailand.  Street dogs are a distinct part of life in Thailand.  

When I first started observing dogs everywhere, I was trying to determine if there were apparent owners. 

 On occasion, I encountered dogs wearing dirty t-shirts.  I think this identified them as pets.  Most of them are dirty, scraggy, and homeless. 

Maybe that is a matter of perspective, though.  In the same way that monks depend exclusively on “alms”, daily handouts placed in stainless steel bowls they carry with them everywhere, perhaps this is how the street dogs should be viewed.  They are not abused.  And I never ran into one that was aggressive to me in anyway (this was also true of monks).   Perhaps dogs are simply considered to be “everyone’s responsibility” like the monks.

At the Prem School where Tanya’s daughter attends, I ran into an American woman who relocated to Thailand to open a golf school with her husband. 

She is actively involved (started?) a charity to raise money to provide dog food to the local Wats (temples) to supplement the rice that Monk’s provide to street dogs.   In addition, it is their goal to give as many street dogs as possible a full regimen of shots, and appropriate sterilization.

I saw very few cats in Thailand.  Interestingly, even in the most impoverished areas both in the mountains and along the train tracks in Bangkok, what I DID see were lots of handcarved bird cages with colorful little finches in them.

Fit to be Thai'd. Thai's love their Royalty

The Thai’s LOVE the Royal Family…most say it’s a far greater obsession than the Brit’s have with their royal family. The story is quite compelling.

The king has been king for 60 years. He’s currently 84, so that means he became King shortly after graduating with a degree from Harvard Univ. The king’s face is on every denomination of currency. This would suggest that it will be an expensive transition someday when he passes.

There are huge pictures of the King, and to a lesser extent, the Queen, all over every city. Huge Gateways, like overpasses, carry his picture, as do many many shrines. He is in failing health, and there was some speculation that he might pass during my visit (no coincidence here).

Twon nights ago, I was standing atop the highest building in Bangkok, on the 78th floor. On the expressway below, traffic was stopped, and about a 1 mile stretch was completely empty…until an entourage of about 8 cars, with lights flashing, appeared. It was the Royal family, or at least a subset of it.

I learned that the Royal family is generally seen at night. They sleep during the day, because they are out so late…Not because they are party animals. Rather, it has been the Royal families tradition to “no sleep until their country has gone to bed”. It is the ultimate act of respect, a value that pulses through all of Thailand. This kind of commitment to the people of Thailand is one reason they are revered.

Though the King plays the same role as the UK’s Queen, the impact of the royal family is huge. Most any project that is of great consequence to the country is sponsored as a Royal project. Royal projects work. About 10 years ago, a Royal project was to go out into the poorer provinces and dig small ponds for tribal communities so that they could grow fish…as and example.

The successor to the King is up in the air. There is 1 son and 3 daughters. The son is not popular at all. One daughter stepped down from her royal standing years ago in order to pursue a career as an actress. She is now in her 60’s. Another daughter is Harvard educated, an MD. One of the 4 children died, but I can’t remember which one.

On my last day in Thailand, I visited the National Museum, which would be equivalent, in purpose, to our Smithsonian. IT is a series of poorly maintained, un-air conditioned Wat Temple buildings with salvaged items from 10 – 15 centuries ago. It is a Royal project to engage the people of Thailand in the preservation of their arts and culture. On the day that I visited. I was probably one of 10 visitors at the multi-building museum.

Why I'm in Thailand

People keep asking me this!!!

There are many answers to this question….some were answers I myself was unaware of when I started planning this trip.

The easiest answer is this….I’m in Thailand because I was invited to come by a close, albeit distant, friend of mine from Eckerd College, Tim Johnson. 

Earlier this year, as I was fretting about the impact on my business of the economic downturn, I got an email from Tim letting me know that he was planning a 6 month sabbatical in Thailand.   He sold a book idea to a publisher, and received a tidy little sum as front money to write it.  Tim’s book deals with the fate of Tibet in a post-Dalai Lama world.  Tim has met with the Dalai Lama, and has traveled with his entourage for about 3 months.

In addition, he has lived in Beijing for the last 6 years, where he is the lead report for the McClatchy news service.   (McClatchy is the 3^rd largest US newspaper company.  They own the Raleigh and Charlotte papers among many others.)  Tim’s primary reason for relocating to Thailand was that he needed a safe haven for writing something that could be viewed as even remotely “critical” of China.  Tim is a pretty high visibility correspondent in China, and Tim has had to take a lot of precautions to arrange for backups of all of his research and files on servers all over the world, with no access by the Chinese government.  Seems “big brother” is alive and well in China. 

Tim’s wife, Tanya, was born in Nicaragua and went to college in Russia.  She is a colorful, extraverted Katherine Zeta Jones-ish woman who owns any room she walks in to.  Her field is PR.  Immediately before I arrived, Tanya was traveling for 2 weeks herself as she was taking a tour group of Chinese business people to Mexico.  Tanya, like my wife Allison, lives to dance, and she’d rather dance than probably most anything else.  She’s an outstanding cook, and she and I had a GREAT time doing a Thai cooking class together (she’d already done 2 others).  She has deliberately spoken Spanish in her household since her babies were born specifically so they have Spanish AND English as native tongues.   Daughter Sophia frequently lapses into Spanish when calling her parents as it gives her an element of privacy in whatever setting she is in. 

Tim and Tanya have two very talented daughters.  Their oldest, Michelle, is from Tanya’s first husband, but has lived with Tim and Tanya since she was about 6.   She also maintains a close relationship with her Nicaraguan father.  Michelle is a freshman this year at Wellesley college in Boston.  I saw pictures of her.  She is a charming, petite international young lady who could probably pass as a native most places in the world, both due to appearance and accent.  She has black, or dark brown hair cut in a Chinese bob.  I  could easily mistake her for being Chinese, Thai, Hispanic, or American.  I didn’t get to meet Michelle.

Who I DID get to meet was Sophia, age 12.   I usurped her bedroom, which didn’t matter too much because she seems to rarely be at home.   She catches the bus to her school, a 30 – 45 minute trek, at 7:10 am daily, and gets home about 6 pm…unless she is spending the night with any number of friends.   Sophia has, in her short 12 years, lived in China, Thailand, the US, and Nicaragua.  She is fluent in English, Chinese, and Spanish, and speaks all with a native tongue.  She’s quickly learning Thai, both spoken and written, and I assume her skills will exceed those of her Dad’s shortly.  Sophia is very soft spoken, smiles constantly, and she is naturally attuned to technology.  Tim and Tanya asked if I might help her with a powerpoint presentation she was to develop discussing the evolution of the art movement of her choice.   She chose Op Art (are you kidding me, and this is 7^th grade?!).   As I attempted to help her, I quickly became aware that she needed no help at all.  Her comfort with Technology is such that she quickly figured out Powerpoint on her own, and her capabilities far exceed those of her parents!

Night Train to Bangkok

Its Monday, and I’m on the last 3 days of my journey. Today I said good-bye to Tim, Tanya and Sophia, the family that made this adventure possible. At 6 pm, I boarded the train. I’m traveling 2nd class and will have an overhead berth. As I write, its is 7:30 pm.

For the first time since arriving in Thailand, I am completely surrounded by people speaking every language BUT English. The 3 berths across and adjoining mine are full of French speakers. Behind me are Germans. A little further down, a contingent of Japanese or Koreans are clicking happily away.
Though I’ve now been on the train for over an hour, no one has bothered to give me an orientation to the train, or to the ground rules. I’m noticing that a whole bunch of people, not me, have been given boxed lunches that include a fried chicken leg, some fruit and cookies. If this was an oversight, I’m hardly disappointed. I do wonder if this was an option to purchase at the time of the ticket, OR If there was a place that everyone frequents to buy a box lunch and bring aboard. I suspect that is the case. I think I was offered a beer for $4 by a very hurried female porter, but the offer was kind of a glancing blow sent in my direction, but aimed more directly at the French people.

I’m sitting on a comfortable bench-style seat that could seat 2. Its facing another similar bench seat, with an adequate, removable table in between. I’ve been blessed with having NO seat mate…which is a bit befuddling because when I bought my ticket, I was told there were no bottom berths. If I’ve got the top bunk, I’m wondering who gets the bottom one? I’m told that around 9 pm, the staff will come around and remove the table, fold the two seats down into a lower berth the size of a full size mattress. Then, MY upper berth, the size of a twin bed, will fold down. I’ve just wandered the train and noticed that one family has already folded their berth down and the Japanese daddy and little boy are sitting crosslegged on their bed behind a curtain, like they are hiding out in a first class secret snoopy hiding place.

My friend, Marcia, an expert on all things Thai, told me to make sure to visit some of the 3rd class cabins. Frankly, its hard for me to differentiate the first from 2nd class ones to my taste, and I walked down 5 cars without ever finding the car I expected with people sitting on stools, holding their chickens and smoking opium. Perhaps I walked in the wrong direction. I dare not ask anyone for information, as I’m finding the porters to be a bit busy and unresponsive, and not exactly the most English friendly people I’ve met.
My first challenge when boarding the train was stowing my bag. Though it would fit in the overhead bin of any American Airline, it would NOT fit under the seat as required. When I motioned to a female steward, wondering if there was an alternative to stowing larger baggage, she simply said in broken English…under seat. She then turned and walked away. I unpacked half of my bag in order to make it fit. I now have under my seat, 1 suitcase, 2 pairs of shoes, several bags of souvenir gifts, and a small bag of toiletries. I had intended to pack a rooster, but forgot it in the rush of last minute packing.

The Thai countryside looks just like what I would imagine Mississippi, Montana, or Nebraska might look like after sundown….Its basically pitch black…Hmm, could also be similar to a NY City subway during a blackout I guess.

Well my porter (is that what you call a train stewardess) just walked by and asked me the following question, without actually stopping. “ewe bef nlye?” I have no idea what I’ve just declined, but I did so politely. As the evening goes, I may start nodding my head enthusiastically and reply, “Why Yes! My fwee don neckting”. I’m guessing I’ll get a bowl of chicken toe soup. Stay tuned.

Whoo hoo, its now 7:40 and a couple of the Germans have opened the upper berth. The mattress looks pretty spartan. I’m thinking I’ll defer bed time for as long as possible.

Coming up next…..think I’ll visit the toilet, just to see if they stock toilet paper. Every toilet in Asia comes complete with one of those little pistol gripped water hoses that we Westerners generally reserve for the kitchen sink. It will be hard for me to look at my kitchen sink hose again.

Just back from toilet. Had toilet paper, but no toilet. Simply a hole in the bottom of the train car such that your deposits are made directly on the train tracks below. Fortunately, there are handles at all the right places bolted to the walls, no doubt for desperate Americans like me that cannot squat without caroming off the walls.
Back from toilet…..Oh great (embarrassed sigh) ….now I think one of the French ladies is making eyes at me. This could get awkward before the night is over…………… (3 minutes latere) False alarm. She wasn’t making eyes at me. She was trying to get my attention to see if I would turn off the ceiling fan that I control with the switch in my berth. Dag…

Hey, cool, we just went by a house right next to the railroad. I was able to watch TV for about 1 second. Now…its back to black darkness.

Just got back from exploring the train. Found a dining car and got a bowl of soup, some pad thai, and something with duck. Not nearly as expertly prepared as in the market place.

As friend Marcia suggested, I walked the entire length of the train looking to compare my 2nd class accommodations with 1st and 3rd class. So far, the only 1st class evidence I can find is maybe he larger lower birth, and perhaps boxed dinners? This does not appear to me to be 1st class though. Further, I can’t locate a 3rd class at all.

I’ve found very few Thais on this train. Mostly Europeans. 2 cars down from mine, I found myself trying to walk down the aisle of a car of 70 year old, rowdy French senior citizens. Their berths were all fully turned down into beds, but since the night was young, they were all standing in the narrow aisle chattering away in not so elegant French. I was able to actually make out bits and pieces of the conversation from my 3 years of French training 30 years ago. My dramatic moment came when I encountered a very rowdy, animated 70 year old French woman holding c ourt in the middle of the train. I was needing to pass by her, and she was loudly entertaining about 5-6 other seniors in very close proximity. Suddenly, her eyes caught mine, and before I could complete my “excusez moi s’il vous plait” she grabs me, and pulls me toward her lower berth. Simultaneously, she is announcing in French what I clearly make out to be “no no monsieur, you may NOT get into my bed with me. (much French laughter then ensued…in character, I then apologized profusely with pardonnez moi, Mademoiselle, vous etes tres jolie. (I believe this was the first phrase I learned in 9th grade….shortly thereafter we learned vous etes bete and tu es stupide)

(several days later)….The rest of the train trip proceeded relatively event free. My berth was hard and stuffy, but I found that if you strip down to your bare essentials (behind the security of your shower curtain, you can toss and turn in fits of sleepfulness quite nicely.
On to Bangkok…