I am turning into a bit of a David Attenborough here, noticing all of the local creatures that populate this area. Plenty of cats around which is a good thing - for the first time that I had ever heard of, someone spotted a rat around the hotel but the cats were literally making a meal of it..... Same same with the odd cockroach that wanders in. But I am surprised that there aren't more vermin apparent around the place, not just the hotel area but the streets in general. The drains are quite close to the surface here, running along the side of the road with concrete slabs or metal grilles over them - many are missing and walking at night needs great care if you want to avoid falling down a smelly hole in the dark!
But even when they are all present and correct the big gaps allow the not so lovely aroma of drains to waft around. As well as accessible drains, every few yards there are also little offerings on the floor and on the ubiquitous spirit houses - rice, fruit, bits of chicken and brightly coloured glasses and bottles of pop along with a straw are just left out, perfect street food for rats and dogs but oddly it doesn't seem to get eaten. There are loads of dogs here who root about amongst the rubbish for food but these offerings don't seem to attract them - they must know they are holy...
And of course the are the dogs, so many I think the place is in danger of getting overrun. A larger proportion than there used to be have collars on now so are looked after by someone, but this doesn't seem to stop them being in a bit of a state. I don't think many get neutered so the state of some of the older bitches after a lifetime of puppies is shocking. Most seem to have some sort of skin problems with clumps of missing fur, many are limping along on three legs, some with fur so long and matted (in this heat) they look like candidates for Paul O'Grady's "For The Love Of Dogs". Most look in need of a good vet check. But there are exceptions to this rule. Many pampered pooches are driven along in the front basket on the motorbike, some are so "well looked after" with food and treats that they can hardly walk. My two current favourites are the Thai equivalents of Bertie and Gracie, they live in the same place and run round, play fight, and cuddle up to each other.
I see them most days on one of my walks, they are owned by the man who makes artisan brushes. Ever since I've been here over the last years here's been in the same place, crafting exquisite floor and garden brushes which he sells for next to nothing. Whatever time of the day, morning or evening he is always there. He was always on his own but this year I think his family have moved in, along with the two dogs. His business has now expanded with the girl doing laundry and the man hiring out his car as a taxi. Some days the whole family are there sitting around and very neatly trimming and packing huge bundles of lemongrass which give out such a great smell you want to just stand there and breathe it in. But as well as these dogs with collars, there are still a large number of non owned dogs who wander about at will, bark a lot and are a bit scary. They really need some sort of dog warden system here to keep it all under control. And as you can imagine the state of some of these strays is appalling. For a Buddhist country who believe in kindness to animals their lack of care for stray dogs really lets them down. I just hope this tiny little puppy I saw at the temple has a happier future than most.
The other creature very precious to their owners are the buffalo, not bred for milk or mozzarella, but for fighting, I guess to support the Asian love of gambling. They can be worth lots of money in gambling prizes. As gambling is illegal in Thailand apparently you have to be "in the know" if you want to go to a buffalo fight. Not a problem for me then! Every morning and evening I see them being taken for a walk to a bit of nice new grass. Some of them are really huge and tethered only by a pathetic looking bit of rope through the nose. I walk by as quickly as I can and avoid wearing red...
Geckos and lizards also feature here. I know a gecko in the room is a positive thing as it eats the mozzies but frankly I prefer to use a can of Baygon. Why use nature when a chemical will do the job quicker I always say. Can someone then please tell the Thai gecko in my room that the Baygon can is always at the ready so he ain't going to find any food in my room. He isn't taking any notice of me... Lizards here are generally quite small but in Chaweng there are a couple of guys who have larger ones out in the evening for tourists to hold draped around their necks and take a picture - for a fee of course. I am continually surprised at the number of European tourists who manhandle the poor creatures for their snaps. They really should know better.
One of my favourites to see is the coconut monkey. He rides by as proudly upright as a Vietnamese girl on a bike on the back of his owners motorbike, or lounges comfortably in the metal sidecar, looking around at life. His owner has a collection of very long poles - they look especially long as they are carried on the motorbike and are at least four times as long as the bike. But when they get to their destination the monkey, attached to a very long rope scampers up the high coconut palms, picks the coconuts and throws them down to the floor. Clever!
But looking up you see some other creatures too. Squirrels run along the tangles of electricity cables like a high wire act and (David - spider alert) rather large spiders sit in the middle of their webs just above your head.
Back on terra firma when it rains the frogs come out and seem to wander everywhere, even the main road. The tree frogs also get very vociferous after rain and can be so loud even though they are such tiny creatures. Not so clever though, the roads are spattered with squashed frogs. And the roads are also spattered with the odd squashed dead snake, again even on the main road. But at least they are dead... Also a phenomenon I have not noticed here before are the chickens everywhere.
They were always wandering about on the back roads but now they're all over the place on the main road too. Can you get feral chickens..... And talking of birds, keeping songbirds in cages here is big business. Interestingly it seems a totally male pastime and you often see the men putting the birds out in the sunshine or carrying them very carefully in their covered cages on their bikes. I understand that bird singing contests are really big over here and can have really big prizes.
But I think my favourite of the unusual creatures has to be the huge elephant being transported on the back of the open truck. Not sure it was that good for the elephant though, he wasn't wearing a seat belt....
My least favourite creatures though are the (mainly) German men who feel it is ok to paw any Thai waitress as and when they feel like it. One incident a couple of days ago illustrates it. An inebriated German regular customer comes into the restaurant and decides to take one girl's flip flops off, running his hands up and down her leg, cuddles another and won't let her go and keeps pawing their arms. The girls say no as politely as they can and ask him to stop and try to wriggle away but I guess they are frightened for their jobs if they gave him a kick. What was worse was the German restaurant owner did nothing to stop it until I asked him to. Bless 'em, the girls came and thanked me for my support but it's so wrong that it even happens. They would have intervened had it been a German waitress - actually the bloke wouldn't have even behaved like that with a European. If they behaved like that back in Germany they'd get arrested. I wish people wouldn't change just because they are away from home, wherever you are is no excuse to behave badly. (End of rant!)
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Location:แม่น้ำ,Thailand
