Domestic bliss

Well I got the roller and paint brushes going today and the result is our downstairs living space is starting to look pretty good and most importantly Luna likes it. Unfortunately the room has a suspended ceiling consisting of many tiles probably about (100) and each one of these needs to be individually removed, cleaned, painted and replaced. It's going to be a long process as I cannot use the roller. However the end results will be good. All surfaces are being painted a pastel green emulsion and I must say it makes a very pleasant change to the appearance and feel of the room.

It is domestic bliss. I woke up this morning and Luna is smiling and she brings me a nice cup of coffee and neither of us really appears to have a care in the world. Where is that old sense of fear and foreboding that once typified the start of every day? In those dark days I used to chain smoke first thing in the morning and I recall massive fear arising from the general chaos of my life. It was not like that this morning and it never really has been that way for some time in my life.

The worst part of the my day was the 30 minutes I spent taking Luna to work, the school run. In comparison with how it used to be this was bliss. On returning home I had a spiritual hour or so and then cracked on with the paint job accompanied firstly by a recording of Celtic v Motherwell from Saturday and then the BBC World Service which had a strong African news emphasis: the sudden death of singer Miriam Makeba, the stand-off in Zimbabwe and the impending catastrophe in the Congo. I think I once saw Miriam Makeba in my drinking days but other than acknowledging her as a name I am afraid I couldn't tell you much more about her. I also enjoyed listening to an interview with the Australian writer Thomas Keneally and Sting on his love of Edward Elgar's Sea Songs! Ah good old Aunty Beeb, truly outstanding coverage and quality, and not a mention of Jonathan Ross or my poor old buddy Russell Brand.

So as you can see I am truly immersed in Thai culture!

I had a snooze this afternoon after finishing painting and mucked around on the internet. Luna provides some additional tuition in the early evening with the school's seminarians.... yup adolescent boys who may proceed into the priesthood! From talking with my old friend Tony McGowan I always think semenarians would be a more apt nomenclature for these poor boys! While waiting for Luna I had a brief chat with Fr Siripong, the school headmaster, parish priest and God knows what else. We were talking about Khun Thaksin and he was saying how in his opinion Thaksin was excellent in his first term but then corruption came.  I beg to differ, Father, I think he always was a rogue.  I told the good father how I was always saddened by Thaksin's apparent indifference to the dignity of human life: if someone is perceived to be a problem or gets in in the way then kill them!

I will always remember Thaksin's war on drugs when over 2000 are believed to have been killed by the police in extra-judicial killings in just a few months in 2003. In true Thaksin style he declared he would eliminate Thailand's drug problem. I heard it said that a series of confidential telephone hotlines were set up and that people could phone in their suspicions; in this process a fair few people decided this would be an excellent way of settling old scores and duly  reported their rivals/adversaries who typically would be shot resisting arrest, i.e.  shot down and fire arms left by their corpses to demonstrate their resistance. Unfortunately a couple of elderly grandmothers were killed in this process along with others considered unlikely to be caught up in any aspect of drug dealing and this brought the true nature of the scheme into sharp focus. Such was the volume of killings at the same time that Thaksin announced his war on drugs that few people had any doubt about what was going on. Drive fear right into the heart of the general population, life is cheap, baby. Amnesty International published a fairly damning report. It created a bit of heat and it stopped but over 2000 people died. Sorry to differ, Father. 

Undoubtedly Thaksin is/was the supreme populist. Drug use and drug dealing are a major concern here as in most parts of the world. And Thaksin likes to give people solutions and I guess the thinking was....well what is the problem, if these people were involved in drug dealings then they deserve to die. 

And now I am just hearing on the BBC that the home of corruption itself, the Republic of Philippines, has come out and declared that Khun Thaksin would be persona non grata . How the mighty fall....that really has a wonderful poignancy, almost chutzpah methinks!

So I brought my filipina wife to Tesco's and we ate in the food court and had a pleasant evening indoors watching TV and being in bliss! I had a beautiful bowl of chicken drumstick noodle soup.....there's Thai culture for you! When we got home Luna was pleased with my efforts today with the paintbrushes and rollers!