Wednesday Walk: my ride home from the railway station.

The rainstorm was still lingering in the south, so we had a nice ride from the railway station to our countryhouse. Daylight hours seemed to have lengthened giving us a chance to see the sunset after 6pm. The weather was very pleasant with light clean air and cool breezes. I knew I had to take some photos of the forty minutes journey. The tuk-tuk could go about 30 kms per hour. But I was in no hurry as I’d rather enjoy the calming atmosphere of this small border town between Thailand and Laos.

Things change very slowly in Nongkhai as tourists just used this place as a transit to cross over to Laos. There hadn’t been much investments into tourism as there weren’t any famous sightseeing spots. Temples in Chiengmai are much more ornate and beautiful. Nongkhai is a simple town by the river with laid back and sleepy pace of life. So, the cost of living is much lower than Udon which is about an hour’s drive away.

Udon is becoming like Bangkok with luxurious malls, expensive restaurants and traffic jams. So, if we ever wanted something luxurious and modern, we could take a bus to Udon. I had done that once and that experience was enough for me.

Most people still use bicycles for short journeys in Nongkhai. In the evening, many cyclists could be seen along the riverfront. There are definitely more motorcycles than cars as they are much cheaper and more affordable for villagers. Traffic jams only occur in front of schools in the morning and evening. During important religious festivals, the whole town would come to a halt as colourful floats and car processions move slowly through town center.

The sunset by the river is the main attraction; many joggers and school children would congregate by the river in the evening. Several street food on wheels would be stationed along the riverfront while restaurants would set up tables and chairs on the footpaths.

Young people and tourists love to have their dinner while watching the sunset. Mobile food vans could be spotted along the river. There are only two restaurants with live music and pop singers. But they dont seem to be very crowded as two years ago.

I enjoyed the slow journey along the riverfront as I could start to relax and change to a much slower mode of life. The blue sky with colourful sunset put me in a calm mood and easygoing pace.

I could observe the slow lifestyle of local people, the old and new houses and motorcycles along the five kilometers waterfront. Actually the waterfront extended to further north of the town, but we were taking a shot cut towards the southern area of Nongkhai.

My eyes always try to spot any major changes along the journey. The evening market has been expanded with more vending stalls and more lighting. There are lots of motorcycles in front of the market which implies that people still have money for food.

A furniture shop has moved to a bigger space. This tells me that more new houses and apartments are in the market. More people are moving to this town, especially European expats.

Life is flexible: people could just set up a stall selling drinks or grilled pork with sticky rice in front of their houses. Some people just park their vans to sell water melons or coconuts by roadside. Several villagers set up noodle shops in their front yards! I wished I could make money by selling food or snacks that way too. But my customers would never come back after their first orders. I have no cooking skills at all and I could only cook vegetarian food. So, I have to work harder on how to earn some income without much hassle.

The major changes along the way are new stylish restaurants on the riverfront and more lands being put up for sale. These restaurants have spacious parking spaces and very nice setting being close by the river. There are live bands with well known artists during weekends to attract more customers.

I have seen these restaurants jammed packed on several occasions. I did wonder where these rich customers came from; perhaps they could come from nearby towns. So, some class of people could still afford to splash out on dining in upmarket restaurants.

The old local restaurant which used to be very popular with families seemed to be very quiet with few customers. I did go to this old style restaurant once long time ago. This restaurant had not changed at all for over twenty years in terms of interior design and traditional menu. It reminded me of my childhood’ s Sunday family lunch at Chinese restaurant. I have no idea how long this old restaurant would still remain in business.

The other major change during the past year has been the purging of big trees along the main road. In the past this road was lined with tall old trees over the past thirty to forty years as local wealthy landowners left their lands unattended in natural state. I used to see many birds in the woods along the road. But I was shocked to see bulldozers clearing the wooded lands, getting rid of all the trees, birds’ nests, reptiles and other small animals.

Once a piece of land was put up for sale, other landowners didn’t want to be left out. So, more land got cleared and signs were put up. The rich Chinese investors would love to launder money in Thailand. Lately, several Chinese businessmen were arrested for hiring Thai nominees to manage and run their grey businesses such as illegal casinos, online gambling websites and real estate projects.

So, Chinese investors had to stay low profile and very careful these days. It has become much harder to sell large pieces of land near the river. I hope that new trees would grow wild again on those unsold lands.

We passed rice fields which have been prepared for planting rice in rainy season. Luckily the price of rice has risen quite a bit so farmers could make some profits. The drawback in this area is that farmers depend on chemical fertilisers too much. So, I had to order organic rice from other provinces where there’s a tradition of organic agriculture. Farmers thought they would get higher yields and make more money by using chemical fertilisers. They have lost the knowledge of organic farming of their ancestors.

We would arrive at the house shortly after we passed these rice fields. We could still get a glimpse of the sunset. I felt very peaceful and relaxed among natural surroundings. It’s such a wonderful feeling to be close to the earth and nature, and being surrounded by trees and limitless horizon.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.

#wednesdaywalk created by @tattoodjay