Bai tiao'in

Bai-tiao: it means to take a trip. This concept of ‘taking a trip’ in Thailand is so different from anything Americans do, it’s going to be hard for me to explain, but I’ll try.  First, Thai’s use it in a variety of situations including literally going on a trip/vacation or taking a trip to the supermarket in the main district (about 20 km away).  No matter what, you spend more time in the car than you do in the final destination.  Many volunteers have gone on bai-tiao’s with their school and/or governmental office in which an enormous double decker bus, fully decked out with disco lights and a rockin karaoke system is rented.  I have only done this once – the round-trip was 10 hours and we were at the destination for approximately 2 hours.  I considered myself lucky as many volunteers have sat on the bus for a round trip of 24 hours to stay at the destination for just 2 hours.   Oh, and Thai’s don’t sleep while on these bus trips  – so that rockin’ karaoke system is rockin’ for the entire time you are on that bus – 4am or 4pm, time means nothing….I mean this literally.  

A regular old bai-tiao usually consists of packing in too many people in a truck of some kind, and no karaoke (thank God!).  Whatever the estimated arrival time is (if there even is one), add a minimum of 3 hours to that – this time reference should be used for doing anything and everything in Thailand.  Us PCVs call this “Thai Time”.

My very good friend Pii Dtang invited me to bai-tiao to take her daughter, Gung (who I love) to her first year of college in a near-by province and the itinerary is to go like this: leave at 8am, arrive 12pm, stay for 3 hours (eat, settle in, etc) leave at 3pm and arrive home by 7pm.  I immediately tacked on the minimum 3 hours and figured I’d arrive home by 10pm – either way I was excited.   I now bring you the story of the bai-tiao to the University.

1                .       

      1.  Pii Dtang and Gung pick me up (at 8:30) and proceed to tell me that we are going with Gung’s boyfriend (his name is Ek), who is going to the same university, and his family.  My enthusiasm level drops a notch or two, as I knew this meant that we’d be packing 2 families into 1 car, along with their freshman college belongings.  Also, as lovely as his mom is (I’ll be referring to her as Mom throughout this story), the woman LOVES to talk and is just exhausting. 

      2.       We arrive at Ek's house and Gung realizes she forgot her registration paperwork – now she must go back home.  When she returns 30 minutes later we begin packing the truck with all of their stuff, including a motorcycle (for the guy), 1 year worth of rice for 2 people, too many pillows and blankets, some food and 2 ridiculously small suitcases of clothes, etc.  I’m told I’ll be sitting in the back seat of the pick-up truck along with Pii Dtang and Mom, when all I really wanted was to sit in the pick-up part with the kids.  Dad is in front and the hired driver is driving.  We are ready to leave at 10:30 and I’m already exhausted.  Apparently so is the driver because he drinks his first of 23 energy drinks throughout the day.

Gung and her boyfriend, Ek

      3.       We are squished in the back, literally my legs are so cramped the pain begins about 5 minutes into the trip.  Pii Dtang and I look at each other and she announces she’s tired and going to nap (I think she finds mom as exhausting as I do).  I announce the same.

      4.       As I’m “napping” Mom is continuously asking me questions and I continue to “nap” and avoid having to answer.  I think Mom is just someone who doesn’t like quiet, so she’s always making noise to fill in the gaps.

      5.       The first of approximately 24 stops at 7-11 is about 1 hour into the trip.  I’m surprised it’s taken this long.  I’m starving and break out my raw carrot sticks and sweet peas for all of us to snack on.  Proceed to have a conversation about how strange, yet good, my eating habits are.

Gung in the back of the truck, passing time :)

      6.       Second stop is to eat lunch.  We pass a trazillion markets, but nothing is good enough for Mom as she claims they are all dirty, so we stop at 7-11 for them to eat 7-11 food which is full of crap. But, Pii Dtang is the bomb and brought lunch so we ate sticky rice and fried eggs in the back of the truck.

      7.       30 minutes later, Mom has stomach pains from having to pee so badly.  Mom had about 2 sips of water the whole trip, yet had to pee every 30 minutes.

      8.       5.5 hours later, we arrive at our final destination at 3pm, which if you refer back to the original itinerary, is the time we were supposed to be leaving.   Either way, I’m super excited for Gung and taking pictures of the campus, the kids and reminiscing about my college days.

     9.       We move Ek in first and realize that none of his roommates have arrived (4 people to a room) and this is cause for much distressed conversation.  They were all concerned because he ‘has no friends yet’.  When I found out, I said he was lucky because he got first dibs on beds.  Another moment that made me realize how American I am.

     ** I have to note that in colleges in Thailand, boys and girls live in separate buildings.  At most American colleges, boys and girls live on the same floor of the same building, but are separated by sides of the floor.  As usual, I was asking a million questions (I wouldn’t be surprised if Thai people find me exhausting as I am always asking umpteen questions) and learned that girls are not even allowed to enter the boy’s dorm building and vise versa.  They must wait outside.

The female and male dorms are all the same
but on different sides of the campus 

All the rooms are the same

The move-in help....only at the female dorms

      

     



     10.   We hang out in Gung’s dorm room for 2 hours, say good-bye to the kids (originally I was the only one who hugged Gung, as in Thai culture there is no hugging, only wai’ing. But then Mom gave them awkward hugs and forced Pii Dtang to hug them as well) and leave to eat dinner at 6pm.  I must note that when leaving Gung’s dorm room, we discovered that somebody had taken my shoes instead of theirs.  So I was shoeless until we hit a market J

Gung, me (shoeless), Ek's sister, Ek's Mom and Dad

11.   We are on the road at 7pm (please note this was the time we were to be home).   Now the back of the pick-up is empty and Pii Dtang wants to sit back there with Mom’s daughter –so do I but Mom can’t sit in the car by herself even though she has dad and driver to hang out with.  Either way, I’m made to sit in the cramped car with her.  I immediately “fall asleep”, she continues to ask me questions and talk to me while “I’m sleeping”.  I’m also freezing, as Thai’s blast the A/C in the car and never lower it.  I don’t know if it’s because this is the only place they have A/C and so they relish in it, but regardless, I am freezing every time I’m in a       
                                                                                       car/bus/van that has A/C.

      12.   We stop at 7-11 another 14 times for the bathroom and regular snacking.  The driver drinks an energy drink at each of these stops.  He also smokes a cigarette and then sprays himself with what smells like old-school car air freshener.  He sprayed so much each time, I thought I’d lose a year of my life from loss of lung capacity due to the fumes.

      13.   I enter my home at 12 midnight on the dot, 5 hours later than anticipated…..not too bad.   

      14.   It was a really cute day at the college.  Gung was excited but said she also felt ‘strange’…..I remember those days in college.  I also remember those regular moments here in Thailand, so I can relate to her!