I am easily bewildered

This posting is a bit out of date, but on Saturday I commented (24 hours late) at Kate’s novel racers’ coffee morning.

I was late to comment because I was in a state of confusion; it wasn’t Good Friday here in Thailand but it was a public holiday, so husband was off work, which meant I got bewildered and thought it was Saturday. It also wasn’t helped by the fact that Sister-in-Law and family are here and the grown-ups went out on Thursday evening to experience some of the Bangkok nightlife (blimey, the mind boggles!) and I felt terribly hungover most of Friday.

So I apologised at coffee for being so late, and I said it was down to Chakri Day here in Thailand, which I wasn’t sure what it was and was too poorly to be able to go away and research.

But it troubled me that I didn’t know what’s going on here: I’m a guest in Thailand and it matters to me that I take part in the culture. Also I grew up encouraged to 'look it up', and no inertia can really prevent me from doing that, eventually.

I have put that right and now I know that Chakri Day, which was last Friday, was the anniversary of the founding of the present Royal dynasty, of which His Majesty King Bhumibol is the ninth King.

So now I feel much relieved and we’ve all learned something too.