Life is getting more demanding each day; it’s the psychological and emotional impact of the overall vibes and tension which seem to be flowing quietly in our society. The long lockdown has taken its toll on so many small and family businesses. The streets and shopping centers have become deserted but most people just didn’t show their feelings outwardly. But I could feel their sorrows and sufferings. On top of this, the official fear mongering has made people’s life very miserable as they had to queue up and be on the waiting lists for their inoculation. These people believe that they would be safe after they got the jabs. On the other hand, many people have started to get injured and died mysteriously after taking their second shots. Families of the dead people were not allowed to go near their beloved family members.
So, life is getting very tense in terms of emotional experiences from dramatic turns of events. I did wonder how my grandparents felt during the Second World War when they had to live under the risk of being bomber by Allied airplanes and had to face rationing of food including frequent blackouts. I know we will get past these crazy years one day, so I had to try to survive all the difficulties like my grandparents did through their hard time. I was often drawn to go near the area of my childhood days and our first family home near Chinatown. So, I would hop on a bus and just enjoy the bus ride.
As the afternoon sunshine was rather bright, I decided to stay on the bus and take photos of the old buildings along Yaowarad road which is known as Chinatown. I took a photo of the bus driver’ s family. Several years ago I had a good conversation with a bus driver who told me that the little bus was like his house. They practically lived and worked in the bus. This is a funny system of contracting out by government’s department; I have yet to do some research on the official or minister who invented this project. It was an ingenious way of making hidden commission via the bus company who rented out the bus to unwitting contractors. Most drivers had minimum education and thought that renting a bus would be a good way to get rich. They just had to drive along the bus routes and make money by selling the bus tickets. After paying off monthly rent, there would be enough profits to support the whole family.
They didn’t know that the official would continue to offer more license to more bus drivers; thus creating fierce competition among bus drivers. Furthermore, the official had the power to control prices of bus tickets so pricesof tickets could not keep up with rising expenses and reducing passengers. Everyone in the family helped out with selling bus tickets to passengers. These people couldn’t afford nursery for their children so you would often see small children sleeping on the front seats of the bus. Taking this little bus made me get in touch with the reality of other people’s lives and difficulties. So, I started to count my blessings.
If there weren’t many passengers I would probably had a chat with the driver. I always found these humble people very kind and accommodating. Most passengers wouldn’t talk to each other. Sometimes I started a conversation which involved the bus driver and several passengers. Then, I could breathe more comfortably knowing that I was among human beings and not robotised people. I could never pull this act in modern air con or electric buses whose most passengers are more well off.
The old buildings along Yaowarad in Chinatown always warmed my heart and made me smile with hope. These days the road is quite empty of traffic and most shops and restaurants are closed during the lockdown. Only food stalls selling take-away food are allowed to operate; but the curfew has to be observed. Therefore, nighttime markets and food vendors have to be closed for over two months. I could see a few gold shops opening for business. If they could choose they would rather stay closed as there were more sellers of gold than buyers. People are selling their gold bars and jewelry to survive the hard time. I had to dip into my crypto and gold to survive the spell of unemployment as well. Life has been quite tough but I still have many blessings.
The old shop-houses are well over a hundred years old; these were built during the reign of King Rama V who wanted the poor Chinese immigrants to have proper and hygienic housing at a very low rent. My family also benefited from this scheme, the accumulated savings of my parents made it possible for us to move to a much bigger house when I was a kid. Life was good and full of possibilities and opportunities in those days if people were willing to work hard.
I did wonder how the new buildings could replace the old shop-houses as these could not be modified under the old laws. The Monarchy was gone and the new rich class of people moved into politics and commerce. The corruption started blooming many years ago after several coups which meant that old legislation was replaced by new ones which supported the interests of certain groups of people. We had more than sixty constitutions shredded during ninety years of democratic system of government. The average frequency of having a coup was two to three years! I do wonder what would happen to my country at the end of this year.
ช่วงเวลานี้เราเริ่มรู้สึกอึดอัดมากกับการล็อกดาวน์ และสถานการณ์บ้านเมืองที่เริ่มส่อเค้า ว่าจะต้องมีความวุ่นวายโกลาหล และปัญหาการเงินการธนาคารในช่วงปลายปีนี้ อย่างหลีกเลี่ยงไม่ได้เลย เราก็ไม่รู้ว่าจะทำอย่างไรดีจึงจะมีส่วนช่วยให้ปัญหามันทุเลาลง. เราอยากมีอำนาจหรืออิทธิฤทธิ์ ในการทำให้พวกนักการเมืองและคนที่ฉ้อโกงและฉ้อฉลรับรู้ถึงความจริง และความเลวร้ายของการกระทำผิดของพวกเขา และทำให้พวกเขารู้วสึกผิด เพื่อกลับตัวกลับใจใหม่. แต่คิดว่าเป็นการฝันเฟื่องมากเกินไป. เราก็เลยขึ้นรถเมล์ไปเที่ยวเล่นถิ่นเก่าของเราดีกว่า
ถนนเยาวราชเงียบเชียบมาก แทบไม่มีคนมาเดินเที่ยว รถยนต์ก็มีผ่านมาน้อยมาก ร้านอาหาร โรงแรม และร้านขายของปิดกันเป็นส่วนใหญ่ มีแต่ร้านที่ขายแบบตามสั่งเพื่อเอาไปกินที่บ้านจึงจะเปิดได้ เราขายของกินเล่นแทบไม่เปิดขายกันเลย. เราจึงนั่งถ่ายรูปจากบนรถเมล์ดีกว่าลงไปเดินตามถนน ร้านขายขนมไทยที่เราชอบก็ไม่เปิด เราเห็นร้านขายทองเปิดอยู่สองร้าน ในร้านไม่มีลูกค้ามาซื้อทองเลย. ตอนนี้มีแต่คนเอาทองไปขายเพื่อเอาเงินมาซื้อข้าวกินมากกว่า เราชอบดูตึกเก่าๆ ที่สร้างมาในสมัยรัชกาลที่5 แต่ก็งงว่าทำไมจึงมีตึกใหม่สร้่างทดแทนตึกแถวเก่าได้ ไม่รู้ว่ามีใครไปเปลี่ยนแปลงกฎหมาย หรือสัญญาเช่าในอดีตหรือเปล่า
เราคิดถึงวันคืนเก่าๆ ที่คนใช้ชีวิตแบบสบายไม่ต้องคิดมาก แค่ขยันทำงานชีวิตก็จะดีเอง สมัยก่อนค่าครองชีพถูกกว่ามาก คนหางานทำง่ายมาก และมีทางเลือกมากมาย จะขายของก็มีคนซื้อของ ไม่ค่อยมีคนตกงานมากเหมือนสมัยนี้ ชีวิตไม่ต้องมีความเสี่ยงและความกลัวมากขนาดนี้ ยิ่งทางการพยายามขายความกลัว เพื่อขายยาฉีด บนผลประโยชน์มหาศาล ชีวิตคนไทยยิ่งเสี่ยงตายและพิการมากขึ้น น่าแปลกใจที่คนวงในที่รู้ความจริง และเป็นพวกมือาชีพ ทำไมจึงไม่มีใครออกมาแฉความจริงบ้างเลย ผลประโยชน์หลายแสนล้านบาท มันคงเสี่ยงต่อการถูกทำให้อายุสั้นลงกระมัง เราก็ได้แต่คิดว่าเราต้องเตรียมตัวเตรียมใจอะไรบ้าง เพราะอนาคตอันใกล้นี้ เราเห็นแต่ปัญหาความวุ่นวาย และความทุกข์ของคนเดินดินธรรมดาทั่วไป อยากให้วันคืนที่สงบสุขและมั่งคั่งกลับมาในปัจจุบันบ้าง
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
#wednesdaywalk created by @tattoodjay
It is such tough times for so many all around the world, and it can get emotionally draining on us for sure, thinking of the bus driver and his family can put things into perspective for sure
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk
Thanks. I do hope things will improve very soon in the near future.
We can but hope
Thank you very much for your kind support.
So interesting to look through your photos and read about how times are changing in your country. I like the look of those old shop/houses.
Stay strong my friend.
Thank you very much! It’s getting more and more challenging. Glad you like these old houses.
Very beautiful!
Beautiful post! Your grandparents must have lived a hard life. The story of the bus driver is interesting. I find it strange to live in a bus, but it is possible.
I hope things are better there soon! It seems amazing that the bus drivers have survived. I like that the whole family goes along :)
Sorry to hear that you had to dip into your savings, and I hope you can get back on track financially.