What is life like in Udon Thani?

At first, we only had internet on the hot spot from Ron's phone.   When I stayed at the condo and he went to the safe house, the bank or to purchase supplies for the renovation of the house, I did not have a phone or internet service.   He and TG tried to get internet through the condo and Ron tried to get it through TRUE, the internet phone company.   

TG's mother went to the U.S. the 2nd week of November.   Her son is married to an American girl, and they live in Lubbock, TX.   I thought she just went for a visit but in about a week, TG said we could buy a sim card for her mother's phone, and I could use it while we are here so I could call her or Ron and use the hotspot for internet.    I asked her how long her mother would be away, and she said she got a green card and had gone there to live.    That solved one problem very nicely.    TG added her number and Ron's phone number and showed me how to use the phone. 

Remember, everything is in the Thai language so you can't assume you can figure anything out easily without help.   

Shopping can be a challenge as there will be a few words in English, but the majority of the products will have only Thai.   You would be shocked to see the variety of food available in the supermarkets.  They are very big on snacks and there are packages of everything...crisp dried fruit chips, salmon skin chips, pork skins, cookies that are probably made from egg whites, or thin noodle like snacks that Ron refers to as salted air.  Ron can't read the ingredients to complain about too much sugar or fat.  And, 90% of the snack packages are unidentifiable to us.   Yet, we have seen very few overweight people.  Meats are very expensive but most everything else is cheap.   Fruits, vegetables and flowers are very fresh and beautiful.

There is heavy traffic early morning and late afternoon.   Driving is on the left side of the road but there are no horns blowing or rudeness by any of the drivers.   They are very calm and courteous as there are few traffic lights and many streets coming together at a roundabout where tires are piled up in the center.   There is a steady flow of late model cars and motorbikes, and the motorbikes are traveling the fastest.   We have not seen any accidents.

We continue to use Grab (Uber) drivers as Ron has an account set up on his phone.   When calling for a ride, he types in where we want to go (i.e. Central Plaza, Lotus supermarket) so the driver knows where to take us, and he can tell our location from the phone call.   We do not pay as it is charged to our credit card set up on the account.   This makes it easy not having to have the right change.   Rides are also cheap and fair.  They have nice, late model cars and drivers are always courteous.   We are told the tag number and kind of car that is on its way and how long it will be before the car arrives.   There are no restrictions here about using phones in the car.   Drivers use it for their GPS system and sometimes use it to ask questions and to translate.  Most of the drivers do not know much English but most workers in the mall are very fluent in English.  

Another convenience that we have not seen in the U.S. is the method of paying at a store or restaurant.  Ron can pull up an app on the phone and photo the (QR Code) matrix bar code on the clerk's phone and it will transfer funds directly from our bank to their bank.  The transaction comes up on the phone to register the transaction and you can verify the amount is correct.  This code system was designed by the Japanese in 1994.   No cash is needed, nor a credit card.    It is like using a debit card in the U.S. 

There will not be many vendors at the open fresh market across the street until after 5 p.m. each day. But stores are along every street with no grouping of the same types of things.  A restaurant may be in the center of businesses selling other kinds of things.    

People seem to spend their evenings shopping and eating.   The streets are so busy with cars and motorbikes, we can hardly get across the street.  Motorbikes are parked along the sidewalks and there's little space to walk.   Private businesses set up tables, chairs and racks of things to sell along the sidewalks and many are actually cooking food and selling it as people walk by.   It is very cheap to eat street food and it appears many Thai people get off work and eat along these places before they go home for the evenings.    They are used to the bacterial level of the water and contaminated foods that may have been out in the sun for hours, but we would be sick within a few hours of eating street food   It smells and looks delicious.

When we were in China, at the congregation in Beijing, an American girl attending a university there, was always sick from eating street food.   One Sunday, she told us that was why she missed services so often.   We asked why she continued to eat street food and she admitted that it was cheap and delicious.

Copied from the internet:   The Tung Sri Muang Festival is one of the biggest annual festivals in Udon Thani and one of the most important ones for the Thai people.   There is no religious significance to it.  The main objective of the festival is to honor the King, hence it begins a few days prior to the King's birthday.   It begins on December 1 each year and runs through about the 12th.   It is an opportunity for citizens of Udon Thani and the rest of Thailand to support and encourage the expression of the local culture and Chinese mixed culture blended together.

As this festival is underway, we see a section of the streets set up with everything imaginable for sale by vendors.  A large amount of wooden furniture can be seen and there will be clothing and food.   Crowds will stream through the vendors every night with festivities going on for hours.   

We will not go and expose ourselves to Covid-19.   We do not know the number of cases here, but everyone is wearing a mask; even on a motorbike or driving alone in a car, people will still have a mask on.  

There are Christmas decorations in the mall but nowhere else that we have noticed.   Hotels and places where tourists are located will have wreaths, trees and other Christmas decorations.   It is not an official holiday since Buddhist is the official "religion" in Thailand.   Life goes on as usual but Thai people still enjoy a party and a family dinner on December 25th.  They don't have the usual turkey and ham but often have roasted chicken and other special dishes.  Children have Santa visits at schools to bring sweets and small gifts.   

We do not see as many Buddhist temples or monks here in Udon Thani as in Bangkok or most cities in Laos.  I am sure there are some beautiful and famous temples for tourists, but I have only seen a few as we are driving by.  

I will take pictures again soon and post them in later blogs.   This segment is just for those who have time and interest to read more about life in Thailand.

God bless you all!   I appreciate our family and friends who follow up on this blog and on Facebook.