Khun Peter

Monday, December 22, 2008

This is an e-mail which I sent to friends and a few family members just before Christmas. As the e-mail reveals, I didn't want close family to know of this for fear of the concern it would create over my safety here in Thailand. Please note that although the listed date for this entry on this blog will read sometime in December, the actual date of this posting is Feb 12, 2009. The holiday season has passed and I feel it's ok now to reveal to everyone what happened.

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas and are staying warm. As for me... I'm currently sun-burnt from spending too much time out on the beach yesterday and from swimming in my little watering-hole-style creek the day before. A few fellow volunteers are here visiting from way up north and so I'm showing them the spirit of the South. Spicy food, curry, and of course beaches and various water sports. It's about 3 to 5 C up in the north right now which is nothing compared to the winter storms some of you are facing but to me, that's just crazy. It hasn't dipped below 23 C so far this winter and I'd consider that cold at night. I mean, I wear pajamas to bed and am sure to curl up under a nice warm blanket! Don't get me wrong... the fan is always going but still. Boy it's cold over here!!

Well, now that you all hate me, I thought I'd share a quick story with you. This actually just happened yesterday so all of the details are still pretty fresh in my mind though I doubt they'll ever go away. I'm not sure If I ever told any of you about Khun Peter. Peter is one of about 2 or 3 farangs (foreigners) who lives in my village though he has lived both here in the village and in Thailand in general the longest. Born in Algeria but an immigrant to Australia, Peter has the strangest accent of anyone I've ever met. Like a cocky French Canadian with a Crocodile Dundee fetish. Add about half a case of beer and a bottle of whiskey and you've got Peter. He's been living in Thailand for over 20 years. Southeast Asia for another 10 or 15+ before that. And my small village for just over 2 years. Peter lives down by the beach in a small bungalow style shack with about 4 dogs. The true bohemian lifestyle in this tropical paradise. He was a teacher at one of the major universities in Bangkok, or so he claims, but now spends his time as sort of a freelance English teacher. He runs a small school just outside of his home where students can come and learn English during school breaks and he helps tutor community and business leaders on the side. All and all, not a bad way to live out ones golden years.

All the trouble started yesterday morning when my friends and I went out for breakfast. Everyone was talking about Peter. He had apparently been bitten by a snake though no one knew any of the details. More specifically, no one knew if he was alive or dead. Later on, as we made our way closer to the beach and stopped by a small mini mart for some water, we found out from the lady who runs the shop that although Peter was in fact alive, he had been bitten by a snake at his house that was about as wide around as a football. Imagine that if you will... At lunch that day we heard more stories about Peter which were then followed up by questions. People of course wanting to know if I knew anything about Peter. Details or information that they didn't already know. That night we went out for dinner with one of my co-teachers who had just heard the news broadcast over the local radio station. Peter was dead. He had been bitten twice by a king cobra. Once on the upper arm and once on the lower leg while walking his dogs down near the beach. He apparently tried to get back to his house but never made it. He died within the hour.

We ended up going to the funeral that night which was held at the largest temple in the main city. A very small affair. Only about 50 or so people came which is tiny for a Thai style funeral. But interestingly, he had a Thai style funeral. I think for many of the ecco-tourists that come and go around her, they would just ship their bodies back home and quickly forget who they were. His friends and neighbors were visibly shaken and still in shock over what happened. He had a job teaching English to higher ups at one of the small factories in the village. All of the factories in the village are owned by one woman who has various elements of her family running them. He met her, she liked him, she became his patron. At the funeral, all of the traditional rites were observed. The coffin was beautifully decorated and lavishly ornate as was the small alter in front of it. Food was offered to the guests though the funeral being last minute and late in the evening, few people were hungry. In fact, for being last minute, it was very well put together. The funny thing about it though is that I think Peter might have hated all of it. From our meetings and our conversations, he hated the Thai obsession with ritual. He also had more than a few personal problems with how Thai's show respect. A common problem with expats, the idea that respect is shown to someone regardless of who or what the person has done. If they are an elder or of a higher social ranking then respect is given. This flies in the face of the western concept of respect being something that is earned. Meh... it's a Thai thing and it will piss you off if you spend enough time here... so will their music.

I'm sorry if I just brought everyone down but I just wanted to share this story. I knew Peter casually and would talk with him when I saw him but really that's it. I think it just hits closer to home because of how close this community is. Everyone really does know each other and really shares their concerns and feelings for one another. Obviously I wouldn't be dumb enough to tell family this story during Christmas. That's why I'm telling you this story. Even though a few of you are family and I really consider all of you close enough to be family, I don't want my actual family (Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles) knowing about this until I return home. They really don't need to know about all of this.

So yeah. Just another interesting story from the front.

 
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