Krabi Boats 8

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During the last month I have had quite deep conversations with 2 different ladies who live in my area. Both of theses ladies are mums to young children and both have been considering working away from home.

 takraw

In trying to get back into Thai language learning, I sought out the help of Ms. Noy, who is a neighbor of ours and also a former Thailand championship takraw player. Ms. Noy has made her earnings (and even built her house) from prize money received from winning championships. She has traveled to many places to compete, and even taught at a university. Now she works occasionally as a referee at competitions. But she is not happy with life.

The past month has seen unusually heavy rains across South Thailand resulting in flooding across vast areas of the South of Thailand. One of the areas that flooded was the area we live in, including our home. The road in front of home turned into a fast flowing river and we had water over half a meter deep throughout the ground level of our home.

broken ankleEarlier this year I broke my left ankle in a climbing accident. It was literally and figuratively a pain. Though the standard of medical care of Thai doctors is excellent, I discovered new levels of frustration with the 70's style of nursing in the local public hospital. Despite this, I discovered a number of advantages of having broken ankle in Thailand, instead of back home in Australia:

1. Wet bathrooms - Thai bathrooms are designed to get totally wet. A common bathing style is to scoop water over yourself from a large bucket of water. This allowed me to sit on a plastic chair with my left foot up on another chair while I washed. A friend even rigged up a shower head with a small tap on the end of the shower hose so I could turn the shower on and off as needed. Brilliant!