Thai Sport Day and Marching, Isaan Thailand.

Our sport day had arrived, and the students had worked hard overnight. I spoke to one of the students from year 11 and he told me that he hasn’t been home, that he and his other classmates slept at the school finishing everything off and getting ready for the parade. Apparently they got 2 hours sleep at the most.

Team Blue Cheer and their offering, pretty impressive.

Team Black Cheer had done a great job and their cheer area looked top notch.

And my Team Red’s cheer area, wasn’t a bad effort.

Assumption College sport day flame waiting to be lit.

And as I walked to the university to watch and photograph the parade I took some pictures of Thai traffic. This driver, a typical ignorant and idiotic Thai driver with no common sense and only worried about himself is cutting into the motorbike lane and pushing them right across. Thais do believe that the bigger the vehicle then you have right of way. This really fucks me off and often leads to me letting the driver know they have fucked up and I am pissed off.

I arrived at the corner of the university and could hear the beating of the drums from the marching band; the students had started their parade.

And this is the main intersection, peak hour and really busy. I couldn’t believe that the powers to be decided to make the students march at this time of the morning, absolutely ludicrous.

And a student in a beautiful Thai outfit leading the parade proudly.

And the school name, this was so all the furious motorists could call the local government and complain.

And the first traffic balls-up, this guy had cut between teams marching. I had actually tried to stop him but he ignored me and ended stuck on the inside of the marchers.

And as the parade headed down the main road, two motorists were stuck on the inside of the marchers. Thankfully they were released after some teachers made a gap for them.

The marchers reached Tesco Lotus, about halfway to their destination. Traffic was banked up as far as you could see down the main road.


What amazes me is how close cars and motorbikes come to the marchers; sometimes it is just centimeters away from hitting a marcher.

And then as Clint Eastwood (Gunnery Sergeant Highway) said in Heartbreak Ridge, “It’s a cluster fuck, sir.” And this one just because I love it (I've drunk more beer and pissed more blood, banged more quiff and busted more ass, than all you numbnuts put together.)

All the traffic had been brought to a complete stop by the one and only police officer we had. The marchers were crossing over into the right hand lane. If you look and see how far the marchers stretched back, this was going to take a while and cause traffic mayhem.

I then noticed that the traffic on the other side of the road was also banking up. This shouldn’t be as these lanes were clear.

And what had happened was a crash, a small one thankfully. Either the drivers of the car or motorbike were rubbernecking at the amazing parade happening and not being so attentive about driving.

And the marchers marched on, there were now two groups that were split in half and on opposite sides of the road with a 500 metre or so gap between them.

And the marchers marched on; there were now two groups that were split in half and on opposite sides of the road with a 500 metre or so gap between them.

The band and marchers in front then had to wait for the others to catch up before heading into the school.

I have never been a big fan of this parade before as it has nothing to do with sports, but I tolerate it and go along with it as in previous years. This year delaying the marching time by an hour was a decision that should have never happened or been allowed.

The person or persons who made this decision need to be pulled over hot coals and also have a psychiatric check, the parade though harmless and probably the most enjoyable part of the whole day should only be about the costumes and content and not about “maximum exposure”.

All the locals know where our school is, it is bloody hard to miss it.

So this was the march to the school and this was just the start of the day and all the shenanigans that were to come.

Brunty

Beating Drums and Jet Engines, Isaan Thailand.

At school we are hitting what can only be called the ‘silly season’. We have so many ceremonies and special days ahead and this brings about a lot of mind numbing activities.

Our newest building on display, a sports gymnasium.

One of these days is happening tomorrow. We have our sports day and for the past two weeks there have been different sports played against the four school teams. There are 4 colour teams, blue, black, red and white. This is team blue and the stand being pimped up.

This tent is for the VIP people, so I will (not) be sitting in there.

The black team has put a lot of effort into their stand. Some teams have been staying at the school until late into the nights trying to complete their props.

My team is red and the stand was a little bare still. But tomorrow I know it will be spectacular.

The year 11 students have spent many days preparing props for the day.

‘Wonder Red’, maybe it should be “Wonderful Red” but I will not got involved.
I have been here close to 5 years and pretty well seen it all, but sports day still makes me shake my head at the levels of idiocy at times. For the last two weeks, yes, two weeks. The school timetable has been adjusted so that the last hour of the day, from 3pm to 4pm the students can practice cheering.

What they do is simply, join their colour team and then are brainwashed into remembering cheers, the same cheers they do each year. 10 days of this is too much really, I sit there after a day and the repetitive beat of the drum starts doing my head in.

Our year 11 classes have to organise all this sports day going ons. These students are actually judged and graded on their effort, so a lot is put in for this day.

It means some teachers have hardly seen these kids over the past two weeks, and also other students from classes have been hijacked to participate in cheering activities.

A parade along Ubon Ratchathani’s main road from the Rajabhet University to our school, this is always the most over the top part of the day. Outfits are usually outrageous, some border on the side of a red light district area. In another country there would be no chance in hell students would be allowed to wear some of the outfits.

Also this year, the parade time has been changed. The parade usually starts around 7am and it arrives at the school by 8am, right on peak hour traffic time. This year they are starting at 8am and marching during peak hour traffic time. This is apparently because maximum exposure is wanted for the school.

I am totally shocked by this, how can people who make these decisions be so selfish and not use their common sense if they have some at all. 8am the road is like an inner city street with cars scuttling to work. This parade is going to cause havoc tomorrow.

I am also really worried about safety; I am probably the only person who is. There will be traffic police, a few each year are tasked at trying to control traffic. Motorbikes will be going everywhere. I am expecting chaos at times.

Tomorrow there will be a few sports played but most of the day is centred on outfits, dance, and cheering.

I will enjoy the day as I always get a good laugh through the day; I will try and photo journal the day so you can take a walk through this day.


And the beating of the drums isn’t enough to distract students lucky enough to be studying in classes. We are very close to the airport and air force base, of late there have been a lot of hours being clocked up by pilots.

The flight path is directly over the top of our school, and they do a small loop practicing touch and go landings. For a few hours most days the sound of roaring jet engines are echoed through the classrooms and school grounds.

I am not sure if I will be able to sleep tonight as the excitement of tomorrow is becoming too much for me. But I will try very hard to get a few hours of shut eye.

Brunty

STA Property Services, Accommodation Bookings and More, Ubon Ratchathani Thailand.

There is a new company just started up here in sleepy Isaan country. STA Services is a property management, tour booking, motorcycle, car hire booking, and accommodation company. It is easier to say that they pretty well cover it all.

STA Services has been started up by a few expats and their Thai better halves. Tom, Lance and Lek will do all the foot work for you. If you want to sell a property, have it rented out, seek accommodation, hire a car or motorbike or go on a tour, the guys can help you.

The two better halves of the expats speak excellent English so you won’t have the lost in translation problem you get in Thailand. So if traveling to Ubon Ratchathani you can give them a call for any needs you might have.
Tom – 085 410 7191 or Lance – 081 607 9851 or Lek – 080 480 4378.

It can be a little tricky to find, I will put a map up at the end of the post. If you are a local then it is next to N-Joy an expat bar that is run by Lance. Lance is what I call an old style publican, the way good old publicans used to be. Loves to have the odd beer, shoot the shit and have a good laugh. He is a really good guy and calls a spade a spade.

This was just after the Remembrance Day service, the expats were just starting to trickle in for some free tucker, a few cold drinks and a good old chat.

N-Joy is open late most nights if customers are willing to consume cold beverages and there is also a pool table and darts to keep you entertained as well. Don’t play Lance as he is a shark and also the local Irishman as he is a real shark and will happily relieve you of some money. There is a very multicultural crowd that gets to N-Joy, sadly I don’t make it there often as readers know, I don’t drink much and spend most my free time with my niece.

N-Joy also has a book swap on offer, you bring books in and exchange for others. Also there is a dvd swap as well. If you are an expat newbie and would like to meet some more foreign locals, head on down to N-Joy on a Friday or Saturday evening. Lance also cooks a great feed as well if you are feeling peckish.

View Ubon Ratchathani in a larger map
N-Joy is the blue marker at the bottom left of the map. It is an approximate of where N-Joy is. You head down Phalochai road, past the prison on the left and maybe another 600 metres and N-Joy is on the right hand side.

Brunty