Recollections of Chiang Mai and Thailand

</b> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03cd4c00dduajq.png"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>        <IMG SRC="043784b0.png" border=0 width="120" height="75" ALT="Flag of Thailand" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><img border="0" src="images/button_pictures.jpg" width="180" height="60"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="indextrain.html" onMouseover="document.images['train'].src='images/button_train_Thai.jpg'" 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border="0" name="bangkok" src="images/button_Bangkok_English.jpg" width="180" height="60"></a></td> </tr> </table> </div>  </B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Recollections of Chiang Mai and Thailand</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Me"><U>About Me</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other"><U>Other</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thai links"><U>Thai links</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Photographic Recollections of Chiang Mai and Thailand</B></div> <div> <B>(1965-1967 AD  2508-2510 BE)</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0650c270.gif" border=0 width="268" height="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Greetings!  My name is Francis.  This web site represents my memories of the time I spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from 1965 through 1967.  I was a member of the United States Air Force in support of our military effort in Vietnam.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>It was my first time outside the United States and I didn't know what to expect.  I have a vivid imagination and I anticipated many scenarios.  None of them prepared me for the delightful and wonderful country of Thailand and the happy, friendly people of Chiang Mai.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Whether it was the climate, the rich and varied types of foods, the Buddhist philosophy, a history of having never been a colony of a foreign power, or a combination of these and other reasons, I found myself in an environment among accommodating, kind people in which I felt at home, as if I belonged.  I remember commenting that, because of its climate and plentiful food, Chiang Mai could easily have been the Garden of Eden for the mythical Adam and Eve.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>After having been there only a few months, I requested to stay another year.  During my second year, I requested a third year but was refused this time.  I was sadly disappointed when I had to leave after two years and actually felt homesick upon returning to America.  I love the United States with its philosophy of liberty and in which people from all over the world have found the freedom to excel in what they do best.  But I must admit to loving the two years I spent in Chiang Mai, perhaps the two happiest years of my life.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="04fc02a0.jpg" border=0 width="448" height="298" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="0">I regret not having learned more about Thailand's culture, history, and language while I was there.  Now, 40 years later, I have begun thinking that Thailand might be the place to live.  Many changes have taken place.  There were no American fast food places then, although rock and roll music and American movies and television shows were always popular.  The pictures I took of Chiang Mai did not show the tall buildings that I see now exist.  Indeed, the population of Thailand was about half its current number.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The modernization - perhaps the word westernization also applies - of Chiang Mai may make it a less desirable place to live for me than the one I remember.  I recall that while I enjoyed visiting Bangkok, it was not a place I wished to live; it was too much like any major city.  Before I pre-judge, however, I will visit Chiang Mai in the next few years to see for myself.  I hope the people of Chiang Mai are the same warm, friendly, caring people who welcomed me in the past.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0541bb70.jpg" border=0 width="283" height="183" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="4" VSPACE="4"></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#663300" FACE="Arial" ><B>It is the people who make a place special.  Before arriving in Thailand, I couldn't imagine being without television, pizza, and the rest of a superficial materialism.  Within a short time, however, I met a young woman (who I later married), moved into a small two-room apartment with a squat-down toilet, charcoal stove, and bamboo furniture (the bed was a firm pad - no inner spring mattress).  Yet, it didn't matter; I discovered that I didn't need anything else.  I was content, peaceful, and happy.</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Living among Thais gave me the opportunity to mingle and get to know the people better.  For example, I remember helping neighbors gather termites as they emerged from the ground (but I couldn't bring myself to eat the fried insects they later offered me).  My future wife often bought fresh multicolored roses to decorate and perfume our small apartment.  We purchased fresh fruit from the vendors who came by every day.  We laughed and played games with the children, and smiled when we saw young boys running naked in the rain, enjoying the simple pleasure of being alive.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We talked with a neighbor who awoke every morning at 3 am to slaughter pigs for sale when the local market opened at 6 am; there wasn't much refrigeration so most of the food was deliciously fresh.  In the mornings, I purchased a block of ice for our cooler and an </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#663300" FACE="Arial" ><B><IMG SRC="05024c50.jpg" border=0 width="292" height="197" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="4" VSPACE="0"></B></FONT><B>order of chicken and rice for breakfast.  About once a week, we went to the Suriwongse movie theatre and purchased a liter of rich, tasty, hand-made vanilla ice cream.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In my entire two years in Chiang Mai, I was sick only once, and that was from spoiled milk that had been flown from America.  Nothing I ate or drank of Thai origin caused me the slightest problem.  I never liked eating rice until I ate Thai rice.  Although America was the world’s leading rice exporter at the time, the American rice my mother made was bleached and tasteless.  Thai rice was bigger and delicious, even when spices weren’t added.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I learned that Americans smelled.  I had the preconceived idea that everything Americans did was superior.  I expected that Thais wouldn't be as clean as Americans.  The exact opposite was true.  Back in the 1960s, most <IMG SRC="0567dc80.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="200" ALT="Chucheun Potihsuwon (future and ex-wife)" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="4" VSPACE="2">Americans didn't bathe daily and men didn't use deodorants.  Thais would often bathe more than once a day.  My future wife soon had me washing frequently.  Whereas an American woman would scold and shout (and her man digging in his heels to resist her nagging), she introduced me to the delightful pleasure of washing me like a pampered baby.  (Hence, I have a bias for Thai women.)  I was soon accustomed to being and smelling clean.  Thereafter, I, too, noticed that many of my fellow Americans and other </B><I><B>farangs</B></I><B> (Caucasians) weren't as clean as most Thais.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Another aspect of Thai cleanliness is the custom of removing one's shoes before entering a home.  The floors of Thai homes are very clean as a result.  And one's feet aren't sweating and smelling from being trapped in airless, confining shoes.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Like some Thais I met, I am a procrastinator.  That was one element in my feeling at home.  Among Thais, I wasn't under pressure to get this or that done immediately.  If the day was pleasant, and there was an enjoyable activity available, chores could wait.  Of course, there are things that can't wait but Americans tend to think that pleasure is sinful and work should take precedence over enjoying life.  For example, at the moment I'm writing this, my house needs to be cleaned, the lawn needs mowing, and things need to be put away, but... </B><I><B>mai bpen rai</B></I><B> (it's unimportant).</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="04a5f7c0.jpg" border=0 width="95" height="124" ALT="Nicole Theriault" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="0">There was joyousness to be found during my stay.  I couldn’t have imagined a festival such as SongKran, where most people become children for a few days and delight in splashing each other with water.  I was reminded of this joyousness when I purchased two video CDs of Nicole Theriault (For the first time in 35 years, I had heard some Thai popular songs and liked her music, so I sent away for her CDs).  In the videos, she was so happy – smiling, laughing, having fun.  She exuded the innocence of a child.  “That’s how it was,” I thought.  “That is the Thailand I remember.”  Seeing Nicole was instrumental in my renewed interest in Thailand.  Thanks, Nikki!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>As I recall other memories, I will commit them here.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>For anyone interested, I have digitized the photos I took while in Thailand, mostly in Chiang Mai, and will put them on this web site.  I wasn't meticulous about dating them, but all of them were taken during the period from October 1965 through October 1967.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> 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