OznAsia

Perhaps democracy is the best system of government we have but it is certainly not perfect. In Thailand politicians are often accused of buying votes but is it so much different in the West? Perhaps our politicians don't put actual money in the hands of voters but they do often come up with policies that will directly benefit a large number of voters, sometimes to the detriment of the country as a whole.

But it is impossible for a government to get it right and please all the people all of the time. A case in point is the situation that the Australian government is faced with in relation to boat people trying to reach Australia as refugees. At one end of the spectrum are those who say the government should be compassionate and allow asylum seekers in. At the other end are those who say that to do this would be to send a signal to millions of other potential refugees that Australia is easy, just find a boat and push off in that direction. Both sides are right. The answer therefore lies somewhere in the middle. This is the path that the present Australian government is currently taking in relation to asylum seekers who wish to escape the possibility of being victims of genocide in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately in the eyes of most Australians the government has got it wrong. Half the country seems to think Australia should open the doors and welcome all those seeking asylum. The other half thinks we should use all means necessary to keep them out. I'd hate to be a politician. The government's current path appears to me to be the right one but it doesn't seem to be pleasing many Australian voters.

Labels: Australia, politics

Noah Ouedraogo, my seventh, grandchild was born on November 1 to my daughter, Melanie. That's Mel's third boy and my sixth grandson.

Labels: Australia, birthday, family

Today I had a free day in Bangkok. As you may be aware I particularly enjoy walking around with my camera/s, snapping away. In the past I've often done this in the evening and let me assure you it's way cooler then, but that didn't suit me so I decided to spend the morning wandering.

My friend, Ead, was heading to Victory Monument. I got a lift with him and from there headed on foot in the direction of Din Daeng. I walked up and down the streets and laneways (sois) until I reached the slum area under the expressway.

After I returned to Victory Monument I took the sky train to Siam, had some lunch and spent the afternoon in the relatively new Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. There were several interesting exhibitions and I was able to wander with the sound of live classical music in the background. And it sure was cooler than out in the street.

I pretty much used up all the battery power in my cameras and as I have time I'll process the best and post them on my flickr page. The first of them are there already.

Labels: Asia, Bangkok, photography, thailand

Thai people tend to have rather long names often extremely difficult for Westerners to pronounce. It seems all Thais have nicknames which makes it a lot easier for us.

Nicknames don't always seem polite but Thai people are not usually bothered. My friend's nickname is Moo. That is the equivalent of calling someone Piggy in English but he doesn't seem to worry about it. His daughter's nickname is Eiko (not sure of the spelling) which is actually Japanese. When his son was born they chose the nickname Mac but wanted to keep the 'i' sound a the beginning. He became iMac. And my friend is not a Mac user.

The baby got his nickname as soon as he was born but his formal name takes a little longer. An astrologer has to work out what is auspicious for the child. There are certain conventions. They like lots of syllables but I did hear that there is a limit. Only royalty can have names over a certain number of syllables. Don't quote me on this. I can't find anything authoritative but I'm sure I heard something like that.

It's become fashionable for Thais to receive English nicknames these days. But you can't be sure. Some words sound English but perhaps they have a Thai meaning. For example, one kid in a class I teach is nicknamed Poo. They might choose to spell it differently but that is the pronunciation. I looked it up in a Thai dictionary and in Thai it means soil; ground; place; land. Take your pick.

Here are a few more nicknames from my classes. I'll spell them the way they sound: AA, Ache, Bam, Base, Bim, Copter, Fa, Film, First, Gate, Gong, Jack, Jam, Jay Jay, Jeanie, Joke, Joy, Jerry, Lily, Miaow, Mo, Oat, Parn, Pee, Pie, Pin, Pim, Ping, Ploy, Prim, Program, Pry, Spy, Youie.

Labels: Asia, thailand

To put these present tooth issues in perspective I'd like to go back to the beginning.

I had teeth that were giving me lots of twinges, thermal aches and such. This dentist in Mahasarakham was recommended. He removed a couple of old fillings and replaced them and told me to come back in three months. Up to that point everything was fine.

Apparently most Thais don't come back for follow up if they feel fine. He was surprised to see me back. The teeth were not bothering me, at least way less than before. In retrospect, I think he saw this as an opportunity to 'make business'. He told me that the second tooth had a crack and that I should get the root canal treatment and a crown or I would end up with continued troubles. He's the expert, I thought, I took his advice.

After all the troubles (see earlier blogs) I got a second opinion from a dentist who said that my continued pain was coming from the tooth next to the one that had been treated. She suggested I not go back to the first dentist but return to the specialist in Khon Kaen.

I did. She checked it all out and I put my case that I wanted either her or her husband to put the crown on the tooth and also to do the root-canal treatment on the next tooth. She called her husband to take a look, for a second opinion. He was reluctant that they should do this for 'ethical' reasons, ie I had been referred to them by the dentist in Mahasarakham and it was unethical for them to take his patient from him. I've encountered this before in Australian medical practice. The ethics towards colleagues are higher than the ethics to the patient.

I explained that I'd been upfront with the dentist in Mahasarakham and told him I was going to get it finished in Khon Kaen and that he should call him and get his OK before he went ahead.

He spent ten minutes on the phone and came back in to say they had agreed that I should return to Mahasarakham to finish the treatment.

During this discussion I mentioned something about them having treated the second tooth and I was corrected. No they had treated the first one. It took me a little while to wake up. It seems that somehow they'd got the wrong tooth. I didn't think of it while I was there or I would have asked to see the original referral document (if they still had it). Did he tell them the wrong tooth? Did they get the wrong tooth? Or am I still confused?

But one thing they all seem to agree on is that the second tooth is the one with the crack and that is the one from which I am getting pain at times (thankfully not now).

Someone recommended another dentist in Mahasarakham. I caught a sorngtheau into town one night to pay her a visit but I backed out. I found the clinic but I changed my mind. Somehow all of this has undermined my faith in dentists. The temporary crown is still in place. The tooth is not bothering me. For the moment I have decided to leave well enough alone.

About a week later I was riding my bicycle home from the night market. My phone rang. I stopped and took the call. It was the wife of the dentist in Mahasarakham. She told me my crown was ready could I come in and have it fitted. I said that I didn't want to do that. 'OK. Thank you,' she said. And that was it.

Labels: Asia, dentist, pain

My mother who is 96 recently went into hospital because she was having difficulty breathing. Here is a report I have received.

'...the upper chambers of the heart, the heart beat is irregular. She has not had a heart attack. This problem with the heart only started a few weeks ago. Because of the difficulty of her breathing it is putting extra stress on the heart. If she was to go home she would be back in again in about 4 to 6 weeks and then it would be the end.'

The report went on to say she has been hiding her pills and they think this means she wants to end it. I disagree strongly.

I think my mother and I are very similar on this one. We both believe that drugs don't make you better, they make you sick. When I was diagnosed with prostate troubles, the drug the urologist scared me into taking caused symptoms ten times worse than the ones I had. I only took one. That was several years ago. And my prostate condition is still manageable without drugs. I think my mother believes the drugs are, if not actually killing her, at least making her much sicker. I don't blame her for hiding them.

Perhaps in thirty years time I'll be in a similar situation. When my time comes I hope to die naturally, not because of the drugs someone makes me take. However, I hope to be a little different from my mother. Instead of hiding them, I trust I'll be able to just say 'no'.

Labels: family, Hazel

There must be more stray dogs in Thailand than in any other country that I have ever visited. It is an aspect of Thai Buddhism that people take care of stray dogs. If you feed a dog, that is considered to make merit (good karma) for you. I have not seen this, at least not so commonly, anywhere else.

When I was in China there were stray dogs on the campus where I was staying. I never noticed anyone feed them until some Thai students came to stay. I was having dinner with them one night and when we finished they collected all the scraps off our plates in a plastic bag. 'What's that for?' I asked. 'To feed the dogs.'

Mahasarakham University has grown since I was here in 2003. There are twice as many students. And it seems there are at least twice as many dogs on campus. They (the dogs) are not aggressive, at least not towards me, but at times they can be noisy. Often that's early in the morning when I'm trying to sleep. As I ride my bicycle around the campus I notice there is also a lot of sexual activity going on among the dogs. I decided something has to be done before they multiply more and more.

My friend and boss was recently appointed as a vice-president of the university. Prior to this, it was easy to see him. I could walk into his office for a chat just about any time. Now it seems he spends most of his life at meetings and going backwards and forwards to Bangkok. I mentioned to his secretary how hard it is to see him these days. She suggested that she would make an appointment on my behalf. By time we met the list of things I needed to discuss with him had become quite long. But right near the top was the dog population issue.

I suggested to him that it would be a good project for the veterinary science students to catch the dogs, sterilise them and release them. He was inspired and immediately picked up his phone and rang the head of the veterinary science department who was also enthusiastic about the idea. It's nice. My friend has a lot more sway as vice-president and indirectly it gives me a little more sway.

The MSU veterinary science department is quite new. They only have first-year students and they do not have the experience to be able to handle this project. But no problem. They'll borrow a few final-year students from Khon Kaen University and our students will work with them. A decision was also made that our department would chip in some money to buy some drugs to immunise the dogs against whatever canine diseases are prevalent here.

They felt sure the students would be enthusiastic about the project too. They would see it that they are improving the dogs lives and thus they too would gain merit from the exercise.

Labels: Asia, Mahasarakham, thailand