Beach Therapy Thai Village Style
Beach Therapy – In Desperate Need
Many of you are probably in need of some beach therapy right now.
Worldwide, COVID-19 has grounded aircraft, drop-kicked suntan cream into the 2 for one basket, and catapulted tourism back to the ice-age. Where and when is it all going to end? Because now, every day seems the same.
Routine day-to-day life in a Thai village can get like that too, pre-COVID-19 and beyond. What to do?
A Beach For the Bum and Whoever
I’m more of a whoever than a beach bum. The beach not only gets sand between my toes but gives me itchy feet as well. I can’t sit on a beach for too long because after a while I find it to be tedious. That’s the way I am.
On the other hand, I have no problem sitting for an hour in our village garden, but, now and then I do wish I could feel some grit between my toes and on my hands. So, there was one solution. Wilai brought the beach to the village, albeit, only a bucketful or two.
Beach Therapy – It Is, and It Isn’t
Our garden beach isn’t going to attract hawkers or jet-ski operators, and sharks (loan) don’t come near our garden gate. On the flip side, our small beach has coconut trees, iced-drinks, ice cream and Thai masseuses (above board), on-call, near or closeby. Cold beers and snacks abound.
From time to time, I enjoy some beach therapy. A half-hour here and there, one-hour major-league, weather permitting or places to go. What our beach lacks fun-wise, it gains in privacy, up to a point. The peace, still and quiet, can in an instance lay broken by any number of things. The good, the bad and the indifferent do appear occasionally.
Another One Bites the Dust
Half asleep, half-dreaming, a noise suddenly snapped me wide-awake. Goy, our main security dog, was digging, sniffing and scratching around the open-air thatched kitchen/workshop (a type of sala). I immediately knew what Goy was doing and that my beach therapy had come to an abrupt end. Goy had seen or smelt a snake and was trying to get at it.
The snake had buried itself deep inside the gap between the workshop concrete base and wood cladding. Goy was trying to break the wood free and would not give up. I retreated to our house and grabbed my camera, returning to a safe distance. Wilai and her mother were inside the workshop and showed no concern. They had seen this scene play out many times. I had only experienced it one time before.
Goy broke the cladding free, and the snake slithered through the grass. The ‘dispute’ was over in seconds. Too quick for me to point and click my camera. Goy bit the snake just once. That was enough. The snake coiled, twisted and died.
I’m not sure what type of snake it is or was, but maybe a reader can help. All I know is, my beach therapy had shattered in pieces. Snakes scare me like crazy, me and a billion others. I didn’t go back to our beach for quite a while.
Are you in need of some beach therapy?
Stay safe, tread carefully and enjoy.
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