Thainapped in Chantaburi

Thainapped in Chantaburi

Last weekend I had an experience of Thainapping, the word that Peace Corps volunteers use when hustled off somewhere by Thai friends on short notice, usually without explaining where or why.  My host sister had told me we were going “to the sea” on Saturday.  Okay, I said, sounds good.  Shortly before we left she mentioned that we’d be staying over one night, so I stuffed pajamas and a clean skirt into my bag. With my host sister and me, there were six of us in Kruu Thanchanok’s Mitsubishi Triton Plus. It was a tight fit for the four in the back seat. We coped by taking turns scooting forward so the person next to us could lean back.

We headed south via Bangkok and down through Chonburi Province, where our first stop was Pattaya, one of Thailand’s most popular beach resort towns. But we didn’t go to the beach. My travelling companions wanted to go to “Paradise,” which bills itself as The World’s Largest Art Illusion Museum. It gives visitors almost unlimited photo ops with images of famous people, places, and works of art.  Below are just a few examples; you get the idea. If you’re on Facebook, you’ve seen some of these photos already.

Me and Host Sister, Kwanta

Kruu Jiraporn, Kruu Yupin, and me

Camel Ride

It's not a mirror . . . 

Bird Woman

After“Paradise,” we went to the so-called floating market – many cities have these. They aren’t really floating, but constructed on bridges and piers over the water. From there, we headed further south through Rayong Province, where we did stop at a beach. There are many jettys such as the one in the photo below, so you can walk out to get great views in all directions.

Kruu Ampai taking photo of Kruu Thanchanok

Sadly, the views of the beach also included an over-abundance of litter, mostly plastic bags, as you can see in the next picture.

But it was getting late and the sun soon went down, so the litter was out of sight. Here are a couple of photos of the sunset, taken from the table where we had dinner outdoors, with delicious food from a street vendor.

Sunset in Rayong

After dinner we drove about 3 more hours to our destination in Chantaburi Province. Somewhere along the way I had learned that the niece of Kruu Jiraporn was getting married on Sunday and we were going to the wedding. We spent the night at a nice mountain resort, our rooms presumably paid for by the bride's family. 
Here are a few pictures from the balcony.

Balcony outside my window

View from balcony

This guy held out the hope of coffee, but alas, he was just another photo op, as you can see with Kruu Ampai. The coffee shop was closed.

 The wedding was at the home of the bride’s parents. When we got there, everyone was eating breakfast (without coffee) – a meal for those who’d had to get up really early, and also to keep us occupied until the wedding started at about 9:30am. 

This wedding included a ritual I had read about but not seen before: The bride and groom must pass through lines of people holding little chains to block their way, and the groom must “pay” to be allowed to pass.

Children holding chain

Jiraporn and me holding a chain

It’s hard to see in the photo, but he’s handing me a red envelope with 100 baht inside. (30 baht = $1 US)

Inside the house, other rituals took place, to formalize the marital union and convey blessings and good wishes from the families and friends. The ritual pictured below was fun to watch.  You can see that the man in the picture below has fanned out 1000-baht bills to form a wreath on the floor.

Next, he spreads out gold chains and hoops in the circle; the groom will later put the chains around the bride’s neck.The woman in the white lace blouse to his left is the wedding planner, keeping a watchful eye on everything.

In the next video, one of the grandmothers sprinkles flowers, rice, and tua ngawk (mung beans) over the whole thing, so that all together, it represents wealth, love and commitment, good health, and many children.

Below is a picture of the wedding banquet, which included the usual six courses and bottles of Hong Thong (whiskey) on each table (we didn’t partake). Since most every dish had meat in it, I took the opportunity to work on my chopstick skills (which are lame at best) by picking up peanuts, one at a time, from the seafood salad appetizer. (There’s no video of me doing this, you’ll be glad to know).

The bride and groom making the rounds of tables

After the wedding, which ended before noon, we were invited to visit the fruit orchard owned by Kruu Jiraporn’s family. They raise durian and rambutan. Durian (or turian in Thai) is a fruit that seems to have worked very hard to evolve a form that will deter people and animals from eating it. You can see one hanging from the tree in the picture below.

Hold it carefully.

And on the left you see the owner holding a durian by its stem, to keep from being stabbed by the sharp spike-like thorns on the shell.

In Thailand, durian is known as the King of Fruits. Here’s a picture of a durian cut open, so you can see what the edible part looks like:

I think it looks like a little purse of yellow dough. It’s soft to bite into, not crunchy or juicy like most fruits. To me, it tastes mildly of onions that are just beginning to rot. However, many Thais say it’s their favorite fruit, so don’t take my word for how it tastes, but ask around for other opinions.

The other fruit raised in this orchard is rambutan (ngaw in Thai). It has a tough shell covered with little wavy fringes. When you cut it open, there is a firm, translucent fruit inside that is similar in texture to a lychee, one of its close relatives. Rambutan is less juicy and less sweet than lychee.

Yu Pin, Thanchanok, Ampai, Kwanta, me

Kruu Yu Pin and rambutan

Kruu Jiraporn with Rambutan

We left the orchard with the back of our vehicle filled with fruit.

So there you have my experience of Thainapping in Chantaburi – not too much beach, but quality time with several of my fellow teachers as well as Art Illusion, wedding, and orchard more than made up for that.

Pst: I’m not much of a beach person anyway. Remember, you heard it here.