But I had noticed strange colours reflections in the clouds which reminded me of some HAARP machine working. Weather manipulation or geoengineering is the weaponisation of weather and earthquakes. I did wonder how many villagers would understand what I had to tell them so that they would be more well prepared about the unexpected changes in the future. My cycling exercise gave me a chance to be quiet and observe simple lifestyle of villagers by the river.
It was nice and quiet by the river as there seemed to be less people coming out jogging and cycling. I couldn’t help wondering if all the missing people were adversely affected by the mandatory jabs. The number of funerals in the next village was about five per month while here the number was around three per month. In our village, there’s only one old lady left (she’s almost seventy years okd). Three years ago we had about ten elderly ladies over eighty years old in the village. They acted as honorary elders in traditional pagan ceremonies among old generations of villagers.
My gardener was complaining about having no elders left in the village. I was more concerned about the gradual disappearance of village’s traditions and ceremonies including the witch doctor’s healing knowledge. The spiritual center of the village would slowly pale into long lost memories and be replaced by modern materialistic values and beliefs. Then, the connection between the invisible world of spirits and old legends of the land in the share consciousness would become weakened. Younger people wouldn’t be able to hear the voices of tree spirits or communicate with the Naga guardians in the river any more.
I cycled slowly along the river while contemplating possible changes to the surroundings in the near future. It would be very difficult for me to try to educate simple minded villagers about what’s happening in the wider context with possible repercussions on our lives. I wish I could initiate a project to get some villagers together to think and make some contingency plans for various scenarios. But they would be too occupied with their daily routines and survival needs.
I had to be realistic and contented with little things I could do locally. At least I had started planting medicinal plants and plants with edible leaves and flowers. We always gave bamboo shoots to those who would need to cook a big pot of bamboo for some social functions. Our ripe mangoes used to be favourites among the elderly ladies. A villager came to cut fresh grasses everyday for feeding his cows. The fields have been planted with rice so cows couldn’t be allowed into the rice fields. The good thing was that weeds and grasses weren’t allowed to grow wild. I wished he had more cows or more villagers came for grasses to feed their cows.
As I was about to return home, I met a gang of young villagers trying to move their long boat towards the river. The rainy season has raised the water level in the river so it’s time for rowing boats and preparing for the long boat competition at the end of the rainy season. So, I had to turn back to the waterfront and take some pictures. This boat was exceptionally long; I guessed she could take fifty rowers. The boat looked so thin and flexible but she was very heavy requiring almost a hundred people to lift her and push her along the narrow road.
It seemed this occasion raised lots of excitement among children and youngsters. I had never seen so many young kids and teenagers of all ages participated in a village affair like this before. Rowing competition has always been a tradition among villages along the Khong River. During rainy season, villagers had more spare time to build boats, musical instruments and inventing games to compete among themselves and between different villages. Gambling is still illegal in Thailand, so there was no casino or betting shops.
Some villagers had turned to ‘fightjng cocks’ as an outlet for their raw competitive nature. This has become the only traditional ‘sport’ involving animals. In the past, rules for ‘cockfighting’ were reasonable to ensure that their favourite pets wouldn’t get injured in friendly fights. Later people have started to bleed more aggressive and bigger fightingcocks as gambling became widespread. These fights were illegal as knife blades were attached to the legs of those fighting cocks. It bacame a cruel fight to the death which involved lots of bloody money.
So, rowing long boats and competing for prize money deserve support and preservation. A few years ago, there seemed to be a lack of young men interested in joining the village rowing club. Ten years ago, other villages were intimidated by the strength and fierceness of this village’s rowing team. This team won all the top prizes at important rowing competitions in several provinces. Villagers were very proud of their village and rowing reputation. Then, things started to deteriorate as several rowers disappeared and younger people didn’t like the physical exertion of rowing boats. The team started to fail in rowing competitions but nothing could be done.
Recently, rowing has become quite attractive to young men again. I couldn’t believe the new energy and enthusiasm brought by young people. A few years ago, a young man called Om became so keen on rowing thathr formed his own team of friends to compete in junior long boat competitions. His team became very successful and made some money from their winnings. These local heroes became famous and represented the new proud achievement of the village. More younger people and children have flocked to the village boating club.
The process of taking the long boat out of the shelter and up along the waterfront road was quite laborious and risky. All vehicles including bicycles had to park nicely along one side of the road to give enough room to turn the long boat in the right direction. A leader with several helpers had to make sure that everyone lifted the boat at the same time. There was only one pair of supporting wheels at the backend of the long boat. So, muscle power played a big part in launching this long boat onto the river.
I spotted several young kids trying to be a part of this ‘historic’ moment of their lives. But they had to wait a few more years before being selected to join the rowing crews. I was amazed that it took such a long time and lots of patience to move the long boat by about twenty to thiry meters. They were afraid of accidental movements which could break the flimsy wooden boat. It was good to see such dedication and unity among members of various ages. Everyone did their best for their communual efforts and worked as a team without any complaints.
Luckily, a passing pickup truck offered to help in moving the long boat. They decided to place the frontend of the boat on the back of the truck to transfer some weights of the boat onto the truck. So, the boating team didn’t have to lift all the weights of the boat themselves. I watched the slow process for about thirty minutes. The sky was getting dark so I’d better get back to the house as orange cats were expecting me back in half an hour. I was glad to see a nice revival of the local rowing club. Youngsters and children would have a chance to become famous and make some money too. This should be better than seeing them addicted to computer games or drugs. Lively social life would return to the village and young girls could spy on nice looking young men once again.
I would be very keen to watch the annual rowing competition in three months’ time. I hoped other competitors wouldn’t resort to hiring young Laotian soldiers to row their boats in the competition. Some villages hadn’t got enough young people interested in rowing and they wanted the prize money badly. Unfortunately yhere was no rules against outsider-rowers. Older generations of villagers didn’t expect that people would ‘cheat’ for money. Rowing competitions were social gatherings with face to face interactions which helped in maintaining the relationships among villagers and cohesiveness in society. We need all the informal relationships among villagers to help us forge more teamwork efforts in facing drastic changes and impact of big kinetic conflicts in the near future.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
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