[Vat Haysoke in Vientiane on 7/15/23] I’m back in Laos, where I belong. I haven’t touched Beerlao, though, going on four days, and I won’t for a while. Pain is a great teacher. Eating saner and much less, my body is healing. Yesterday, I dragged Mark to the Black Stupa. As I gaped, Mark seemed underwhelmed.
Will we ship over loud Western commercial music? Japanese and American (mostly American because they're bigger) SUVs? Loud talking, obnoxious Americans who think if they just speak loudly enough everyone must understand them?
No! That's all so crass and passe'. We'll send them Disney Princess movies. Any adult exposed to that dreck gets Tranquil real fast.
Here in The States, particularly California it's called "tranq." And it's making a lot of American's "tranquil" to the point of terminal (as in death). Apparently having been "adulterated" coming through the Mexican drug cartel pipeline. I've seen images on the Internet of strung-out, slowly dying Tranq users in my former home, Sacramento, California.
Nothing like a good, powerful depressant to acclimate oneself to declining American capitalism. If you can't afford a roof over your head and half the Republican legislatures thus think that makes you a criminal, well heck, at least you can be calm about it. Nobody likes a "sore" loser; or, for that matter, a loser with sores. Flesh eating notwithstanding.
Hopefully now that I'm "retired" (rejected from the American labor market that never treated me with any decency, anyway) I might make my way to Laos. Just don't make my watch any execrable Disney movie trash on the way or there. (Or expose me to any other Western capitalist import designed to squeeze money I don't have out of me.)
As a lower class American (in an ostensibly "classless" society) I've had enough.
Without knowing you but with knowing what it is like to be repulsed by modern America and to have thus moved to Asia, I would highly recommend you do check out Laos. Merely putting yourself in a radically different environment can be rejuvenating.
If you do make the move Eastward (which I hope you do) a first stop in Bangkok or Chiang Mai Thailand for a few months might be easier for getting your bearings as an expat. Chiang Mai is cheaper of the two.
Both of them have a lot of foreigners and each one is easy to get set up in. That might minimize initial culture shock. Then you can head to Laos
PS. Worth checking out Portugal and Ecuador too. Both have low income requirements for residency, offer permanent residency after 5 yrs and let you into their cheap medical system. Portugal's is considered top rate.
'Winners write history, and the past is mostly recorded by the privileged'
I often forget that fact and it's helpful to be regularly reminded of it.
Fortunately the internet has, for better or worse, democratised information so that your next observation 'even now we don’t care to know what it’s like to live for decades as a roofer, assembly line worker, dishwasher or geriatric nurse, etc' isn't as pervasive as it once was.
You might say that having only a small group of readers proves your point but my overall feeling is that many people are as interested in reading authors they can relate to as they are reading about the rich and famous.
Unlearning lessons inculcated into us at school, or at least reading an alternative view, is essential. In that sense the internet is even more important than the development of the printing press, since it allows easy access to a variety of authors on as many subjects as you have time to follow.
That said, it's ironic the same forces that shaped young minds at school continue to be able to do so via ubiquitous porn on the internet. And so the distraction from truth continues.
I'm curious--despite the sometimes abject poverty sometimes witnessed in cities like Vientiane (e.g., the beggars you describe), and that are frequently written about by travelers, one never hears about "homelessness". Could it be that despite this poverty, the vast majority of these people nevertheless have some kind of rude shelter to go to? If so, it is all the more interesting that The Great Capitalist State can't seem to solve this problem.
Vientiane? Ha! The hotel staff stole my bicycle and had stolen others I discovered afterwards. Cops give you the fisheye. And shy! Laotians make Thais look extroverted in comparison. At least the cannabis is good and cheap.
Một người bạn em ở Việt Nam (thông thạo tiếng Lào, tiếng Thái) có nói Cộng sản Lào đang muốn thay hệ chữ viết thành một kiểu 'giản thể', giống tiếng Đại Lục và tiếng Quảng.
Anh đang ở Lào, liệu có dịp hỏi thăm về việc này không ạ? Em có chút tò mò.
I couldn’t agree with you more that at this point global war is a fait accompli - or our accomplished fate, as the case may be - what with human fossil-cold warrior Biden pushing interwar 20th century-style protectionist policies and Xi Jinping channeling his inner Mao but - as the song says - what can a poor boy to do? I can’t stop this thing from happening anymore than I convince you that the Black Stupa conceals the living and infernal “heads” of the beast revealed in Revelation chapters 12-13. so why bother? It ain’t like there’s a place for this
Linh, glad to hear you are laying off the Beerlao. Alcohol is tough on the immune system. Make sure to eat healthy meals as your symptoms sound a lot like malnutrition. Just trying to be helpful here.
"Unbitten" used as a perfect transition, with its double entendre for "unbidden." That is a flash of brilliance. Worth a monthly subscription. Not a fan of lengthy comments, though. Write your own Substack, you armchair Faulkners.
Vientiane is the most unusual capital city that I have visited. It is (or at least was in 2018) as tranquil as a small village. Vientiane also gave me a sense of time travel to a long ago Thailand or at least what I imagine it was once like.
"Tranquility." Maybe we can fix that, for ya?
Will we ship over loud Western commercial music? Japanese and American (mostly American because they're bigger) SUVs? Loud talking, obnoxious Americans who think if they just speak loudly enough everyone must understand them?
No! That's all so crass and passe'. We'll send them Disney Princess movies. Any adult exposed to that dreck gets Tranquil real fast.
Here in The States, particularly California it's called "tranq." And it's making a lot of American's "tranquil" to the point of terminal (as in death). Apparently having been "adulterated" coming through the Mexican drug cartel pipeline. I've seen images on the Internet of strung-out, slowly dying Tranq users in my former home, Sacramento, California.
Nothing like a good, powerful depressant to acclimate oneself to declining American capitalism. If you can't afford a roof over your head and half the Republican legislatures thus think that makes you a criminal, well heck, at least you can be calm about it. Nobody likes a "sore" loser; or, for that matter, a loser with sores. Flesh eating notwithstanding.
Hopefully now that I'm "retired" (rejected from the American labor market that never treated me with any decency, anyway) I might make my way to Laos. Just don't make my watch any execrable Disney movie trash on the way or there. (Or expose me to any other Western capitalist import designed to squeeze money I don't have out of me.)
As a lower class American (in an ostensibly "classless" society) I've had enough.
Without knowing you but with knowing what it is like to be repulsed by modern America and to have thus moved to Asia, I would highly recommend you do check out Laos. Merely putting yourself in a radically different environment can be rejuvenating.
Thank you. You have may have saved one lost sole's life.
But remember Virgil saved Dante. And it can be disputed who was the better writer.
If you do make the move Eastward (which I hope you do) a first stop in Bangkok or Chiang Mai Thailand for a few months might be easier for getting your bearings as an expat. Chiang Mai is cheaper of the two.
Both of them have a lot of foreigners and each one is easy to get set up in. That might minimize initial culture shock. Then you can head to Laos
PS. Worth checking out Portugal and Ecuador too. Both have low income requirements for residency, offer permanent residency after 5 yrs and let you into their cheap medical system. Portugal's is considered top rate.
Good luck
Hi Linh
'Winners write history, and the past is mostly recorded by the privileged'
I often forget that fact and it's helpful to be regularly reminded of it.
Fortunately the internet has, for better or worse, democratised information so that your next observation 'even now we don’t care to know what it’s like to live for decades as a roofer, assembly line worker, dishwasher or geriatric nurse, etc' isn't as pervasive as it once was.
You might say that having only a small group of readers proves your point but my overall feeling is that many people are as interested in reading authors they can relate to as they are reading about the rich and famous.
Unlearning lessons inculcated into us at school, or at least reading an alternative view, is essential. In that sense the internet is even more important than the development of the printing press, since it allows easy access to a variety of authors on as many subjects as you have time to follow.
That said, it's ironic the same forces that shaped young minds at school continue to be able to do so via ubiquitous porn on the internet. And so the distraction from truth continues.
I'm curious--despite the sometimes abject poverty sometimes witnessed in cities like Vientiane (e.g., the beggars you describe), and that are frequently written about by travelers, one never hears about "homelessness". Could it be that despite this poverty, the vast majority of these people nevertheless have some kind of rude shelter to go to? If so, it is all the more interesting that The Great Capitalist State can't seem to solve this problem.
Vientiane? Ha! The hotel staff stole my bicycle and had stolen others I discovered afterwards. Cops give you the fisheye. And shy! Laotians make Thais look extroverted in comparison. At least the cannabis is good and cheap.
Glad to hear from you on your feet.
Anh Linh,
Một người bạn em ở Việt Nam (thông thạo tiếng Lào, tiếng Thái) có nói Cộng sản Lào đang muốn thay hệ chữ viết thành một kiểu 'giản thể', giống tiếng Đại Lục và tiếng Quảng.
Anh đang ở Lào, liệu có dịp hỏi thăm về việc này không ạ? Em có chút tò mò.
Cảm ơn anh.
I couldn’t agree with you more that at this point global war is a fait accompli - or our accomplished fate, as the case may be - what with human fossil-cold warrior Biden pushing interwar 20th century-style protectionist policies and Xi Jinping channeling his inner Mao but - as the song says - what can a poor boy to do? I can’t stop this thing from happening anymore than I convince you that the Black Stupa conceals the living and infernal “heads” of the beast revealed in Revelation chapters 12-13. so why bother? It ain’t like there’s a place for this
street fightin’ man, no.
Linh, Congratulations: "my body is healing".
The pictures of the doors, the temple, and the dragon are beautiful. Thank you for posting.
Linh, glad to hear you are laying off the Beerlao. Alcohol is tough on the immune system. Make sure to eat healthy meals as your symptoms sound a lot like malnutrition. Just trying to be helpful here.
"Unbitten" used as a perfect transition, with its double entendre for "unbidden." That is a flash of brilliance. Worth a monthly subscription. Not a fan of lengthy comments, though. Write your own Substack, you armchair Faulkners.
Vientiane is the most unusual capital city that I have visited. It is (or at least was in 2018) as tranquil as a small village. Vientiane also gave me a sense of time travel to a long ago Thailand or at least what I imagine it was once like.
It is impressive, and quite beautiful, the Vat Haysoke.