Matt Owens Rees

Today’s entry in the Beyond the Bamboo Curtain series strikes a different note from recent stories. I hope readers enjoy.

Listen for the sounds of Thailand when you visit or stay here. Particularly in rural Thailand.

The sounds tell stories that sights alone cannot.

Have I missed any sounds out? Let me know in the comment box below.

The birds’ bright ballads at the break of day, the insects and frogs with their mating calls in the early evening.

After a while you’ll come to expect the loudspeaker announcements from the local pooyaibaan. He is elected by the local people but won’t go against any orders from the central government in Bangkok.

Your neighbours will be eagerly awaiting his regular updates on what’s happening in the community: a charity event to raise funds for the local school, a blessing at the wat when it opens a new meeting hall, or informing of a neighbour’s recent death.

Evenings will bring the happy laughter, though not always melodious singing, from your neighbours’ homes.

You will hear the distant chanting of monks from a nearby wat or the shouted instructions of an outside fitness or aerobics class.

During election time local politicians and their teams, canvassing in their slow-rolling pick-up trucks, loudspeakers blaring promises, will be asking voters for their support in the upcoming elections.

Driving around yourself, one minute you’ll see a singing, swaying, and dancing crowd escorting a novice monk to his initiation.

The next moment, and further down the road, you may see the garlanded coffin of your neighbour on full view in front of his house.

Drive into a restaurant or shopping mall car park, and you will hear the attendants blowing whistles for all they’re worth to help you park.

Whistle-wielding wardens whistling with wild abandon

Police use whistles a lot to draw attention to other cars and pedestrians and to beckon you forward. Teachers on duty outside a school entrance do the same.

You’ll find yourself obliged to follow their directions even though they have no legal right to direct traffic.

Especially around wats, you will hear dogs barking. Noisy fireworks will be let off to announce a death or to celebrate some event or a party.

Guidebooks will tell you there’s much to see in Thailand. But there’s just as much to hear.

For tomorrow’s short daily post, I’ll describe the funeral of my wife’s university friend. I attended on her behalf as she had work commitments.

It was a moment of shared memory—more a tribute than a farewell. Though I’ve attended many cremations in Thailand, this one moved me in ways I still struggle to explain.