Oh, hey Cambodia! How's it going? - Trat/Rayong, Part I

Back in Bangkok after a quick visit to Trat and Rayong.  Wrote the following yesterday...it's insufferably long, so, I split it into 2 posts:

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Wise words from the road:  Always bring your camera battery chargers with you.  Always.

Tonight, I find myself in a small, but clean, bedroom in a house on a river in a small Thai town.  Soulful karaoke singing alternates with high-spirited whoops and dancing on the large riverside terrace just outside.  Makes me reflect upon the vast array of rooms I’ve temporarily called “home” during this trip…this is the 13^th.  From buzzing metropolises to small market towns to tropical island paradise, I’ve assembled a seemingly random patchwork of homes away from home.  And tonight’s part of the patchwork is a homestay on the Prasae River in Rayong town. 

Spent today in the Eastern Marine and Coastal Resources Research Center (EMCRRC) in Rayong, collecting more information on research in Trat Province and catching up on other work.  I realized, last night, that I will be back in San Diego next week!  Crazy.  After fondly thinking of all of the friends and family who I’m excited to see again, and happily dwelling on all of the fun things I plan on doing when I’m home, I also realized that the next few months are going to be inexorably busy.  So…I’ve been working particularly hard today, so I can enjoy the fun vacation I’ve planned for my final 5 days in Thailand and so I can hit the ground running when I get back stateside.

Pad thai @ JJ Market...aroy maak!

The past week has represented the final “work” phase of this trip, starting with some Thai lessons in Bangkok (I’ve found Thai to be the hardest language I’ve tackled…grammatically, it’s simple, but the writing and tones are daunting…but I’m working on it).  I made sure to get my daily servings of khao niao mamuang (mango sticky rice) and vegetarian street food.  I also might have let the shopaholic within me get a little out of control...

Then I bussed down to charming Trat town, where I wandered around the river walkway (with monkeys frolicking on the other side of the river), crowded teak buildings, sparkling temples, and the cacophany of smells and sights and sounds of the small, but lively, night market.  My reason for visiting Trat Province was to meet with local researchers at the EMCRRC, who have worked closely with my collaborator and committee member Dr. Ellen Hines and with whom I will be working in the future, and to visit local fishing villages with them; basically, to scout out this field site, to get a feel for what it will be like working here so that I can better plan future fieldwork, and to learn more about the work that EMCRRC is doing with the dolphins and fishing communities.

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT – TRAT’S FISHING VILLAGES

The dreary morning after I arrived in Trat, three researchers from EMCRRC picked me up – Khun Ong, Nut, and Ekh.  Though Ong is the only one comfortable with speaking English, I enjoyed the company of the whole contingent immensely – they were remarkably sweet and affable.  We drove down to four villages south of Trat town, talked to village heads and walked around.  I was immediately struck by how different the villages here are compared to the ones I’d just left in the Philippines. Here, the homes were sturdier and larger; the walkways were cleaner; the boats were more expensive.  These people were not rich by any means, but the contrast with the poverty I’ve seen in the Philippines and Madagascar was remarkable.

Another contrast with my other field sites is the presence of large fishing boats; restrictions on boat size for near-shore fishing seem to be more lax here than in the Philippines.  Interestingly, the number of large boats has decreased here, due to rising fuel costs and decreasing catch sizes.   These large boats often employ Cambodians, who cross the nearby border in search of work.  I hadn’t been aware of this, and it certainly raises a plethora of intriguing questions related to social and cultural aspects of these communities.  I might need to find a field assistant fluent in Cambodian…

I added a new type of fishing gear to my growing vocabulary of SE Asian fishery practices: a series of conch shells strung onto a long rope.  The target species is a small octopus, which seeks shelter in the cozy-looking depths of the shell’s coils, little suspecting that these inner recesses, seeming to offer protection, are a façade, are trickery – DEADLY trickery; that innocent cephalopods lured to these shells by the promise of refuge are, hours later, yanked mercilessly from the sea, screaming in confused surprise and desperate protest (but it sounds like a little pathetic, nearly inaudible, adorable and cartoonish ‘squeak’ to people).  Perhaps I’m being a little dramatic. 

Several people in the villages guessed that I was Japanese (they were half right!), and expressed their sincere concern for the Japanese people following the catastrophes there.  It was very heart-warming.

We stopped by the duty-free market on the Thai-Cambodian border at Hat Lek, where I gazed upon Cambodia (“Hello, Cambodia!”) after meandering through stalls filled with sunglasses, phones, antiques, hula-hoops, stuffed animal monkeys clinging to one another with velcro hands, and tasers, among other wares.  As we drove back north, Ong rolled down the window for the immigration check, cheekily saying, “Sa wat dii ka. I. am. Thaaiii.”

Helloooo, Cambodia!

Dinner was at the night market in Khlong Yai, where Ong explained the variety of food stalls (I’ve eaten at food stalls many times before, but there were many mysteries still remaining for me that only a visit with a local guide could clear up) and the three EMRCers taught me some more Thai.  Something about eating food freshly cooked at a rickety stall, while sitting upon a flimsy plastic chair at a simple metal table, gazing upon the bewildering array of food and drink on offer in the neighboring stalls, makes for a superb meal.  Especially with good company!