A Sunday Afternoon Drive in Thailand

I drove Patti’s truck for the first time yesterday. In fact, it was the first time I had ever driven overseas. And, surprisingly, all went well. I only turned into the wrong lane twice! Thankfully, no one was occupying those lanes on either occasion. We drove all the way to the Golden Triangle—which is only about a thirty minute drive at 40 miles per hour—just so we could get some fried chicken at KFC, and search for some more casual clothes for me.

I suppose I simply didn’t come prepared. I knew that this would be village life as opposed to city life, but I didn’t expect this. Patti made fun of me today for wearing tennis shoes and socks to church. Everyone else was sporting flip-flops. There are some more Americans coming this afternoon, and Patti is letting one of the bathrooms dry out before they get here. She says all Americans make the mistake of wearing socks. I brought ten pair.

I didn’t buy any clothes last night because I couldn’t find anything that I liked and/or fit into. The event that truly piqued my interest in buying more clothes was the bicycle ride we took yesterday morning. I should have known better, but I wore what I had been wearing since the day before: silk Savane slacks and a button-up, short-sleeve shirt. Patti told me I’d get wet and dirty on this trip and suggested I change into more casual clothes (which I don’t have). I told her it wouldn’t be a problem, since dirt washes out of clothes.

So off we go. Boy, it was so much fun! We were flying down the hill on those bikes. And Surat, Aling, and Ching Ching were going faster than we were. Then we made it to the street, and had a casual drive through town. It was such a beautiful day. It was still very cloudy and foggy, but the sun was starting to burn off some of the mist and it was beginning to warm up. We turned off the road and onto a dirt path that meandered through the woods. Patti kept telling the kids to go slow at this part; she didn’t want them getting out of her sight.

I was starting to hear the sound of running water … and then I saw the river. The path was going straight into the water. That moment, when my face dropped and began turning white(er), Patti started singing, “Jonathan’s gonna get wet!” I tried bargaining with her. I even suggested that they go on and I go back the way we came. Nope. She wouldn’t let me out of it. Then I reminded her that I was carrying my wallet and passport; these couldn’t get wet. She was unmoving. And she was in the middle of the river, carrying her bicycle across. I continued, telling her that when she spoke before about my getting wet I didn’t think she meant we’d be fording a river.

I guess all my whining convinced her; she told me about the log that crosses over. (Why didn’t she just walk across the log? I think she actually enjoyed wading through that river.) After I made it across and hurled a few of my own insults at Patti, I heard mooing. A lot of mooing. I didn’t think much of it at first, because there are three pastures there. But as the mooing got louder and closer (and as Patti continued making trips back and forth across the river, retrieving bikes and children each time) I realized we were about to be in trouble. Just then, a herd of cows came walking down the road, being driven by three boys. Patti had already made it across with the kids, and she was working on the bikes.

It was so funny to see her standing ankle-deep in goo, looking at the cows advancing on her and wondering which way she was going to go. I told her she had time to make it to the bank, but in that slop (and wearing flip-flops without socks) she didn’t think she could. Then the neatest thing happened: the cows turned left and climbed the slope across the path from where I was standing. This is about a five-foot ledge they had to climb. She joked that they were scared off by all the mud that was covering her. I suggested that it might have been those two, huge angels standing by her side.

After we got home I decided I simply had to have some more casual clothes. The next evening we went to Lotus to eat the aforementioned fried chicken and find me some threads. Driving in Thailand is an interesting sport. The rules seem to be similar to those in America, but there are other spices thrown in the mix just for fun. And there seems to be a completely different set of rules governing motorcycle riders. Anyone who’s been overseas probably knows this; you pretty much do whatever you please. The most interesting thing I noticed about driving here is that there are no speed limits. I mean it. At least, not posted ones. So I kept it around a safe, 70 Kilometers per hour. (That’s about 40 Miles per hour.)

Having been out in the truck for a few hours, I was feeling confident enough to take a stroll on the motorcycle. This afternoon I had a couple hours to blow, so I took off. Patti was a little nervous at first about my riding the motorcycle. But once I showed her I could maneuver it in the front yard, she was okay. I didn’t tell her that was my first time riding one! (I have driven dirt bikes before, but I don’t really consider those the same as motorcycles.) I had no trouble driving the bike. But it did prove a little interesting. There are more obstacles to avoid here than there are in America. And they are much more varied. That’s some of the “spices” I was talking about earlier.

That ride was so refreshing. I waved at everyone as I passed, and they looked at me with such curiosity. I’m not sure if they were curious about my waving, my wearing a helmet (which almost no one else does), or my extremely white skin. Perhaps it was a mix of the three. But on my way home, everyone was waving at me as I passed! :o) I’m two days into this trip, and I’ve already left my mark on this little town.

~Jonathan

October 15th, 2006 · Back to Top · Tagged: Blog, Missions, Thailand

Zeal

A story about my life as a missionary in Thailand.

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