This month is the start of the rains retreat in Thailand. In accordance with Buddhist tradition, monks will stay inside their temples for the next 3 months to allow the countryside to peacefully rejuvenate in the life giving rain. Farmers use this time to plant rice, spending whole days leg deep in water going from paddies to paddies. Cattle are herded along dirt roads often slippery with reddish mud and puddles.Isaan is a realm of forests and plantations full of spirits, of ancient dialects alluding to the people's diverse ethnic origins and of unchanging traditions from a world far simpler than ours today. That's not to say modernity has not made an impact. Motorcycles replace horses, a satellite dish is mounted over the temple roof and the Red radio accompanies the hard working farmers in their field.
Life in a Red village is almost exactly as I expected to be. They adorn their houses with Red flags, their only source of information on the outside are the Red Radio and Red TV channels. They did not trust anything else and did do not listen to anything else, and they are proud to do so.
Not completely without reason. The rural farmers may be the backbone of the nation but they are constantly exploited and underrepresented in the country's government. They don't care much for foreign policy or encomium growth, why should they when they are the last to receive any benefits, if any at all. What does matters is a fair price for their crops, a generous healthcare policy and a sense of empowerment and these are all things that Thaksin has delivered to them in the past and what they are hoping Yingluck with provide for them now.
Despite winning the election it is still uncertain if the Peau Thai Party will come to power. Understandably the Reds are getting restless. I have not been allowed in to their meetings or told of any plans but I get the sense that these people, many of whom have been protesting and fighting for years, will not hesitate to do so again.
