Hmmm, when the blogging cupboard is bare...

I had plans for today’s post but not until it was too late, she says cryptically; I shall post that tomorrow instead.

I’ve been out at Book Club this morning. We read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit; could I tell you about that? I guess I could but perhaps there’s something else more exciting... I could tell you about the physio appointment I had this afternoon and that she’s very pleased my gluteus maximus muscles are finally working and not lying idly against whatever they were lying idly against before I started working out. But that’s a bit icky and maybe too personal…So, I looked in the cupboards for a proper blog subject but the shelves were bare. So I went out of the condo, wondering how far I’d have to go to find something exciting to show you.

I had faith in the fact that I’d find something out in my soi to tell you about. Just a few steps away from our place are the mooing frogs; I really want to tell you about them but it wasn’t raining and they only moo in the rain.

Then I had a little panic. What if we are moving home to the UK this summer? There won’t be mooing frogs or street vendors or soi cats and dogs or spirit houses in my road in the UK. What will my blog be about then?

Anyway, enough panic, I am trying to be zen about not knowing what is happening to me…

This is the spirit house - San Phra Phum - in the garden of our apartment. It is at the corner edge of the property as we come into our drive.

Most houses and businesses have a spirit house, often placed in the corner of the plot but it will be an auspicious place where the shadow of the human building will never fall on it.  A Brahmin monk will probably have been consulted to find the best place to put the spirit house.

The houses are put in the grounds to appease any spirits who may have been disturbed by the building process. (Incidentally, this is Animism rather than Buddhism and as I understand it, they have sort of merged into the Thai beliefs.) It is believed that the spirits can be mischievous and they can make problems for the business or home unless they are mollified. Offerings of food, flowers and incense are put onto the house to keep the spirits happy.

Here's another one. This spirit house belongs jointly to the businesses down the road. 

City of Angels

I have been trying to put this post together for nearly a week. I’ve failed to find the words to describe the evening but I’m posting this anyway. It was one of the most extraordinary nights I’ve ever experienced here.

Last Thursday two friends told me that they were going to an Angel party that evening and they asked me if I wanted to go with them. This is a Thai party, my friend told me, where people-who-happen-also-to-be-angels are taken over by spirits; they go into a trance.

Most Thais believe in ghosts; mediums are admired and monks are consulted to gain auspicious names for babies, lucky dates to get married or open businesses. From what I gathered Thai people believe some people are angels. You can’t choose to be one; you are or you aren’t. When you are possessed by the spirit you can do all sorts of things that you couldn’t normally do. Coincidentally, this month the magazine Traversing the Orient covered a photographer who had delved into this spiritual part of Thai life.

The longer I am in Thailand, the less I seem to understand.

Enough with the talk; I didn’t learn enough to understand exactly what was going on and I think I need time to process it. Suffice to say that three western women turned up to a Thai community party about an hour out of Bangkok and we were welcomed most generously, given free food, and allowed to take pictures. Here are some of mine:

My friend Claire's YouTube of the evening is here.