Energy drinks, mad dogs, and mass tetanus shots

Boyfriend Maiyuu is feeling better after his dog bite.

His mother took him for tetanus injections when he was a child, he told me last night.

Maiyuu, who grew up in Chon Buri province, lived in a shared housing compound with his grandmother, aunt and other relatives.

‘My grandmother owned a dog called Lipo, named after the energy drink. She used to take this energy drink late at night during marathon card-playing sessions.

‘Anyway, one day Lipo started going mad. My aunt was teaching students at home.

‘Doctors from the Ministry of Health visited us and gave us all a tetanus injection as a precaution.

‘Lipo never did bite me, but one day he did go mad so they put him down.’

Thankfully, they took Lipo away to do that.

In the provinces, Maiyuu says public health authorities can visit folks at home to administer care, such as tetanus injections.

Alternatively, they visit schools. Students line up and are given an injection one by one.

Maiyuu's tasty ankle

A street dog has taken a bite out of my boyfriend’s leg.

Maiyuu was on his bicycle yesterday when he tossed a cigarette in the direction of a hostile neighbourhood dog.

He doesn’t like these dogs, as they chase him when he is on his bike.

This one didn’t appreciate the cigarette butt gesture. It bounded after him and bit Maiyuu’s leg, just above the left ankle.

Maiyuu suspects the dog belongs to a som tam (spicy Thai salad) trader, who witnessed the scene.

‘He looked bewildered, as I didn’t stop to inspect the bite, but just kept going,’ said Maiyuu, who presented his wound for my inspection when I returned from work last night.

The wound is not deep, but looks angry. Maiyuu has applied an antiseptic, and is walking around with the wound uncovered, so it stays dry and heals quickly.

‘At first it felt numb, so I didn’t race away, but kept up my normal speed.’

Normally Maiyuu darts about when he is on his bike, but when he passed the som tam dog yesterday was going at dawdling speed.

Maybe the dog was confused to see him going past so slowly, so decided to bite him. Or maybe he is a reformed smoker.

‘I lashed out with my foot as I passed; I think I struck it in the head,’ said Maiyuu.

Excellent. If it had been me, I would have hopped off my bike to have a self-indulgent moan to the owner.

Thais would have been sympathetic, as they love a good drama. They would laugh and point, as laughing is the best antidote to misery, even if it may seem an odd reaction to foreigners worried about the prospect of getting rabies.

I have been bitten by Thai street dogs, usually while I am in a tired and emotional state, so to speak. They know how humans walk, and when we weave about reckon we have hostile intent. These days I try to avoid dogs after I have been drinking.

Maiyuu is taking it all in his stride. He walks normally, without a limp, though the wound looks red and swollen this morning.

‘Did you have bad dreams?’ I asked.

‘No.’

At my smart inner-city condo, we are surrounded by street dogs. A pack of 10 or more lives in the slum section to the rear. Another large family of mutts lives on the leafy side of the condo, by the entrance.

During the night, they howl. A particularly plaintive howl by one mutt can set off a doggy chorus which reverberates around the neighbourhood like a Mexican wave.

I will take a different approach tonight when I pass the dogs on my way home. When I walk their way, they sniff at my ankles, as if looking for a tasty spot to bite.

I am never sure how to react. Talk to them? Pretend I don’t notice?

I try to look friendly, but tonight I shall be extra nice: I might blow canine kisses. If I am lucky, they might let me pass.

Today I visited a temple (not)

Bags aplenty in Talad Phlu

Cart-dining, subdued at night

A gift-wrappng shop

Temple in Talad Phlu

Want a travelogue-style account of life in Thailand?

Most blogs written by foreigners in Thailand fall into that category.

I need only glance at the sidebar of a typical blog to tell me how me about the author’s experience of the place.

If the author posts links to the local English-language papers, and other helpful ‘resources’ for the foreigner finding his way around, I know he’s still painfully new.

As the blog author spends longer here, his stuff becomes more esoteric. He develops his own interests.

I seldom provide travelogue accounts of anything. I write about common, everyday stuff, like a walk to the market with the boyfriend. 

The Thai stuff is almost incidental. I can write like that, because I've been here a while.

Streetside in Talad Phlu...want a travelogue?

Readers appear to enjoy such stories, as they can ‘relate’, to use the jargon. The other day, this blog had 900 unique visitors. So why is everyone so quiet?

Until recently, posts about life with the boyfriend (the most popular ones) attracted an average of eight to 10 responses each. Now, hardly anyone comments. What happened?

My lengthy battle with Anon the Shrink might have put readers off commenting.

I am also happier with the boyfriend these days, which might have put some readers off.

If I wrote more about my problems with him, readers might be more inclined to comment. Readers like to offer advice. And I don’t mind getting it, as long as it’s polite.

Most good stories have a start, middle and ending. This one has a start and a middle. I can't provide the ending, as that's up to you. So, what about it?

Ticking-off over breakfast

‘When will you eat that beef dish?’ asked Maiyuu.

He pointed at a dish we bought at the market yesterday. It is full of bones, and has no meat. It is also laced with chili.

‘I don’t like the look of it,’ I said over breakfast.

‘Well, you insisted we buy it...it cost B30!’ he said.

This is a good illustration of why, as I was saying yesterday, I should leave the food buying to Maiyuu. He knows when he is getting quality. This dumb foreigner doesn’t.

‘You farang always go for dishes you think look attractive. You don’t look at them carefully,’ he said.

’I don’t know how they have the nerve to sell it. There’s no meat on those bones, and it is stringy and sinewy,’I said.

‘Some Thais like to suck the bones,’ he said, passing me a dish of dried fish.

‘Here, eat this. Fish is good for your brain,’ he said. ‘You can do with the help.'

Flirtatious watch, market spend-up, cute car dreams

Maiyuu and I bought food at the market...enough for two days, he assures me.

The market is about 10 minutes’ walk from home and opens twice a week. Stall-holders set up on a large piece of vacant land next to a dormitory.

Maiyuu walks in front, as the space between the rows of stalls is narrow. I call out when I see something which appeals. Tonight it was fish.

Maiyuu turned up his nose at most of my choices. ‘It doesn’t look tasty enough,’ he said. Or: ‘Not fresh enough.’

I trust his judgement, as Thais know their food.

One vendor was selling minced chicken, cooked in red curry powder. Yum. I about to call out when I felt Maiyuu’s firm arm on mine, pulling me away.

‘That’s enough! We'll have no space left in the fridge.’

-
‘We should buy a small car,’ Maiyuu announced, as we were trudging towards the market.

A cute red Mini passed us, but they are expensive, so we considered other makes.

‘A Proton from Malaysia – they are cute too,’ said Maiyuu.

Cuteness rather than reliability is the crucial factor for us – though I would add another condition, that Maiyuu also learns how to drive.

‘Of course I’ll take lessons – how else will we get around?’ he asked, as if I was stupid.

‘What about your teeth?’ I asked. We are saving to get his teeth done, so the car might have to wait.

‘We will make saving for the car a project for next year,’ he said.

-
I put on my watch before I went out. Lately I have been feeling frisky. If I see a wristwatch on a man, it tells me he is available.

If I see a young man outdoors without a watch, particularly if he is in the company of someone, I know he is probably settled, and not looking. Why wear a watch, if you have a boyfriend and are not trying to impress?

I rarely put on my watch when I venture into our neighbourhood, unless I am going to work. Tonight I did slip it on, because I am feeling restless and want to meet new people.

The leather strap is fraying at the edges, as is the body wearing it, but with darkness gathering outside, hopefully no one would be able to tell.

I paused. ‘Will the boyfriend notice if I put on my watch?’ I wondered.

Outside, I put my worries to rest. My boyfriend was himself wearing a watch, a smart one with a silver band. Maybe he’s on the prowl too.