Soi Dogs
More than the police or criminals, it is the dogs that run the streets of Suratthani. You are very much in their space.
There are two types of dogs here. The lap dogs who are pampered beyond belief – ride in the baskets of motorbikes, wear little jackets, have elaborate hair dos and live inside; and then there are the real dogs. The latter are the ones of which I speak.
They usually hang around a certain area. One assumes near their “owners”, but dog ownership is very much a communal concern. Everyone feeds them. It seems to be a very Buddhist practice to feed animals – be they soi dogs, pond fish or the birds. It is hard to tell who belongs to which dog.
They run in packs feeding from the trash and where ever else they can, drinking from the little ponds of fish that people keep outside their houses and shops. No one seems to care. I have been bailed up by these bastards on more than one occasion. Charging at them and yelling while getting ready to whip them with my keys seems to have kept me safe. Another method is to bend down and touch your toes. The theory being: that years of having stones thrown at them has taught them to stay away from people bending over. I was very surprised when I first tried it, to find dogs running for cover.
I have also had them chase after me while I ride my motorbike. Doing some “soi exploring” one free afternoon, I was greeted by a dead end and a pack of angry animals. A quick u turn and I was off. Lifting my legs to avoid getting bitten, I shot off, first gear revving out as I could not put my foot down to change gear – much to the amusement of the locals.
I know a few people who have not been so lucky and been bitten by these creatures – both Farang and Thai. Usually a long course of rabies injections is the result. It is worth while. I am not sure how common rabies is but some of these animals look as if they are in a pretty poor state of health. Open sores and loss of hair are frequent conditions.
For example: “Ugly”.
Ugly was in residence on our soi since I arrived. His name was derived, from his appearance. It would be hard for me to give you an accurate disruption. His breed is unknown to me. A medium sized dog with dark fur, his eyes were cloudy with cataracts – I am pretty sure he was nearly blind, his hearing was not up to much either. His most noticeable feature, apart from a broken foreleg that never healed properly, was a giant lump growing on his back. The thing covered maybe a sixth of his back right flank and extended out maybe as much as three inches.
This animal would limp around taking refuge in our front yards and getting his sustenance from the local s who would put food out for him.
It seems cruel to keep this bugger alive, but putting him “to sleep” is not really acceptable in Thai culture. Apparently it is not a service offered at your local vet. Thai Buddhists take “thou shall not kill” very much to heart. You never know, that might be one of your ancestors.
We complained to the management of the school, but our Thai boss said to keep out of his way and he will disappear to die of his own accord soon enough. I do not care what your religion is: if you ever see me walking around in that condition, put me out of my misery.
Unfortunately, he did not disappear, things got worse. For months he limped around. He spent all day gnawing at that huge lump on his back. Eventually it burst open into a huge rotting wound.
Soon after, the flies got in and the thing was a turgid, festering mass of maggots. I could not look at the poor bastard. I would walk down to my house putting my hand out to block his view. I was amazed at how life can continue under such conditions.
Eventually, the ex boyfriend of one of the teachers on the soi came through. Listening to people’s complaints he decided to take action. He paid a tuk tuk driver 1000 B to take him away.
I would like to think he was taken to temple – this being the usual practice for relatives, animals and children that you can no longer look after. I fear that more likely, his last vision (if he had any at all) was a brick, the inside of a sack and the bottom of the Tapee River.
Anyway, the moral of the story is: watch out for the dogs when you visit Thailand. Most of them are really cute, but every now and again, one will bite you in the arse.
Rubbish
Suratthani has very few bins. If you have rubbish that you need to throw away, the common practice is to just drop it. People are employed to come around and pick it up. How convenient! At the same time it does not stop the crap from making its way out into the jungles and rivers.
It is not uncommon to go to the most amazing places of natural beauty and find chip packets, beer bottles and cigarette butts. Yuk!
One theory I heard about this was that: up until recently most foods came wrapped in banana leaves. Therefore it was fine to drop them just anywhere – organic biodegradable packaging. Since the introduction of plastic the required disposal methods have not been adopted. The tradition of lighting fires to dispose of your rubbish is still alive and well. It is quite common to find to find people, even in urban areas lighting little fires then stacking it full of plastic. Every now and again I would return home to find my house filled with the fumes of burning plastic.
What do you do with your household rubbish? You just dump it at the end of your soi (street). Every now and again a truck comes round, with about half a dozen guys (and gals) hanging off it, and pick up the bags and boxes. Even if it is collected it only gets taken to a giant smouldering hole in the ground just outside town – allot like home.
Of course, with all this little hanging around, it attracts wildlife. Street dogs and rats the size of rabbits, abound feeding off the tasty morsels found in these piles of crap. Walking down the street late at night, it was my policy to steer clear of the piles of carp as you never knew when you would disturb some rabid rodent that would come flying out in your direction.
It is fairly common to be sitting in a restaurant and see rats running here and there. Every now and again you will see said rats skinned and hanging in the restaurant’s cold display cabinet, right next to the pork, chicken and frogs. Always the best places to eat.
When you are on the river or on a ferry over to the island you will see people just throwing their plastic and cigarette butts straight over the side without so much of a thought. There are no fines for littering outside Bangkok and even there is not all that common.
As I explained to my kids: one cigarette butt can kill a three hundred year old sea turtle. I encourage them to go and explain this to anyone they see throwing stuff off the side of the boat. Hopefully, through education we, can change this but it is going to take a long time.
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