Year of the Snake came in with a bang.  Well, many bangs actually.  Seems that a never ending volley of firecrackers is the approved method of celebrating Chinese New Year. Continue reading →

For eight months I have relied on hired cars, public transportation, and the kindness of friends (and sometimes strangers) to get me to and from school and other destinations in Songkhla and Hat Yai.

For the round trip of most of the entire first term, I took a car, two motorbike taxis, and a mini bus.  Starting in late September, I cut out the car, added an additional motorbike taxi, mini bus, and tuk-tuk in the morning, and swapped one of the afternoon taxis for a ride from Rafik (a fellow teacher).  In December, I started going to the gym.  Add another motorbike taxi to get from the gym to the mini bus.

The public transportation between Hat Yai and Songkhla ends at 8:00 pm.  Therefore, if I want to spend time with friends in Hat Yai, I have a curfew of 7:30 pm or I have to take a “metered” taxi home at a cost of 500 baht.  That’s $15.  To put that in perspective, my usual round trip with two motorbike taxis, two mini buses, and a tuk-tuk costs only 110 baht (just shy of $4).  And although the taxi has a meter, they WILL NOT turn it on for you at night.  They know that you have no other alternative and won’t drive you for anything other than flat rate.

Additionally, being a slave to public transportation has impaired my photography and leisure activities.  If I pass a sight that I want to shoot or a place I would like to shop or investigate, tough luck.  I can’t tell the mini bus to stop.  I could stop the motorbike taxi but it would cost me more money just for a quick look-see.  And I don’t feel right asking a friend to drive me around on a photo excursion.

The upshot of riding on so many buses is that I have had the opportunity to read 14 novels in the last three months… Continue reading →