Just back from two weeks in South East Asia, Thailand and Laos.
What impressed was the vitality of the people, here in Melbourne, we are so sombre and serious.
In Thailand, despite the political troubles, a giant elephant in the room, if you will excuse the pun, the people are mostly content to enjoy life, good food, good company, good family ethos.
We spent most of the time in my wife’s village, 8 kilometres from the heart of Khon Kaen in Issan area of Thailand (the north east). Aunts and uncles, cousins, grandmother and her parents all lived within a couple of hundred metres.
As a gregarious family, there were also many friends/neighbours whose company was enjoyed – how often? Every meal, there would be a minimum of 10 people sharing the dishes on offer, this included first meal of the day aka breakfast (I hesitate to call it breakfast as there was no toast or cornflakes or weeties on offer). The cry of “gin khao” ( “eat rice” , literally) was the call to come and join in the dining.
