One of my favourite areas in Samut Prakan Province at the moment is Cape Thunder to the West of the Chao Phraya River. The coastline here borders the Gulf of Thailand. The communities here are suffering heavily from land erosion. This is partly due to the change in farming methods, but also to rising sea levels. Along this coastline, much of the mangrove forests were chopped down to make way for shrimp farming. This has now resulted in about one kilometre of land being lost to the sea.  If you go and stand on the jetty behind the temple and look out to the sea you will see a row of electric pylons in the water and a concrete structure. The pylons mark the route of the old road and the concrete structure was the water tank for the old school. The school was moved further inland in 1982, the same as most of the other houses and the village shrine. However, the sea has already started to catch up with them and they might have to move again.

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I originally met Yui by a chance a couple of years ago and we became good friends. She had always told me that she had a boyfriend and I would often see him come pick her up, take her to eat and buy her stuff etc…It was only after knowing her for the better part of one and half years that she admitted one evening “Steve, Yui pen mia noi na”. (“Steve, I am a minor wife). Actually, I wasn’t very surprised, perhaps she thought that I knew all along – Thai-style like…..she guessed I would find out all by myself.

As you will read, Yui can certainly think for herself; she is charming, has a fun personality and without a doubt would have no problem at all, at just 30 years of age, to find a ‘proper’ boyfriend. She prefers to live though, the life of a minor wife (mistress) – and it is that which encouraged me to encourage her, to tell her story. 

Read more at thai-blogs.com Part 1 and Part 2 

Chavoret Jaruboon preparing to execute a prisoner

Between 1984 and 2002, Chavoret Jaruboon shot dead 55 prisoners. In his autobiography, "The Last Executioner", he describes some of the more notable cases. Two stories in particular stand out. One of them was of the execution of a man who pleaded his innocence right up to the last moment. He said that the real guilty party was the son of a policeman and that he was beaten into making a confession. During his execution, it looked like he was almost being saved by divine providence. When Chavoret pulled the trigger the gun jammed and it wouldn’t fire. He checked the gun but couldn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t fire. They then set up the spare machine gun. After it was carefully aimed, Chavoret then pulled the trigger. But, this one jammed too. The prisoner might have been saved, however, a quick thinking guard decided to search the prisoner more thoroughly. They then found a Buddhist amulet called Luang Phor Daeng hidden in his right armpit. They do say that some amulets are powerful enough to protect you from bullets. Or maybe the monk, whose image was on this amulet, was trying to protect an innocent man. Anyway, once the amulet was removed the gun became unjammed and the prisoner was executed.

Read more at theai-blogs.com in Part 1 and Part 2 >>>