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Mam's Dad, RIP |
September kicked off with an all out
war of words between the neighbours over a land dispute.
Apparently you aren't supposed to keep your distance in this kind of feud
and so both parties were asking us to take their side. Taking a
leaf out of George W.'s book it was "your either with us or against us". Both
sides called up their friends of friends who knew people in moderately high
places. One side bought a top army guy, plus entourage, to stay in
their bungalows; the other had a visit from an old bloke who was obviously a
'somebody' as he had a guy who's job it was to follow him around, carrying
both his mobile phones for him. Needless to say our bridge plans,
after being delayed earlier by another idiot neighbour, were still on hold
as you never know which of the visiting dignitaries were good guys who
didn't give a toss what you were building and which would see a few poles in
the ground as a money extorting opportunity.
Come the middle of the month there was
a big meeting involving all the riverside residents regarding the dos &
don'ts of building stuff on the riverbanks. Most of those present were
severely pissed off of as what started out as they were now mixed up in what
started out as a neighbourly spat. Top brass from the planning
authorities, marine park, national park etc proceeded to tell the assembled
masses how to live, what they could and couldn't do and so on. As more
than a few of the locals pointed out, there seemed to be some reluctance by
the powers that be to enforce any of the "strict" rules on cashed up
property owners and developers and a quick changes of subject were
substituted for replies when direct questions about how and why certain
hotels had been allowed to bend the rules into a pretzel shape. As the
scene rapidly descended into a farce, the high-ups decided that the poor
never really would understand politics and so it was best to head off to a
nearby seafood restaurant so as not to waste the entire day.
A couple of days later the 'Pu Yai' - a
local guy who has the unenviable task of enforcing the wishes of the local 'kamnan'
(headman) came around checking all the houses on the riverside. Everything
was OK - he found no signs of any dodgy building, except for the places (our
neigbour's new bungalows) where he had been had told to find signs.
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Cremation ceremony |
The following day were in the car on
our way to the ferry to go and visit Mam's parent who were staying
with her brother in Rayong. When we were on the ferry she got a call from
her Mum. Her Dad hadn't returned from his morning run on the beach.
By the time we got off the ferry she knew her Dad had drowned.
The remainder of September and most of
October were taken up with the funeral and family related stuff away from
Koh Chang.
Stay
at Baan Rim Nam
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