Too many motorcycles

This morning our young Burmese co-worker broke to us a bad news. “The young man in our neighbor died of a motorcycle accident last night” he said awkwardly smiling showing his black-stained teeth because of his incessant betel nut chewing .

I was trying to recall who was that reckless young man who died unnecessarily but I could not remember him at all. You see, I don’t spend much time in the Day Care Center where my wife and some Burmese fellow workers are taking care of the children while their parents are working very hard. In the center, my wife teaches free English and leads Bible study to the parents of the children and neighbors who want to learn. I just come to the center to pick-up the child and drive them home or vice-versa or do some cleaning up or repair works.

Anyways, back to the accident. Deaths from motorcycle accident are very common here in Thailand. This is not unusual because everybody rides it from a child of ten to a grandmother of seventy. We have been here almost two years and I already heard stories of more than ten accidents related to motorcycle. A friend even saw a motorcycle with two passengers plunge about ten meters up to the air after a pick-up in full speed crash unto it. Also, my wife saw young men and his motorbike rolled ten times when its driver tried to make a u-turn in full speed. And my wife was not exaggerating. Well I hope so.

I started driving the van here two months ago. And the ever present of speeding motorcycles from different directions are making me confused and sick. I mean, I may die of hypertension or heart attack or worst I might find a motorcycle under the van.

I tried to ride a motorcycle taxi in Chiang Mai and I made a promise to myself, I will never ever do it again. I am afraid I might not make it back in one piece to my wife and children. It is a fast way of transportation but very dangerous. Here, you may not die of accident. But if you have a weak heart, you may die anyway. And I’m not exaggerating either.

Thaiwebsites. Com says that:

Way too many young people still die unnecessarily in Thailand due to car and (mostly) motorcycle accidents. The actual number of deaths on the road is reportedly around 30,000. Many more of course get maimed for live, or require expensive medical care (if they can afford it). Reasons are discussed forever.

Motorcycle deaths of course are mostly among young males. Still to common (especially in the side streets) one sees youngsters driving around without helmet protection. Motorcycle taxis seem to be allowed to carry passengers without requiring them to wear a helmet.
Especially in view of the rapidly declining birth rates in Thailand, the thousands of people killed yearly in motorcycle accidents will be surely missed in the future.

The picture is from Thaiwebsites.com with a very sound advise saying motorcycle taxis are fast but not safeway of transport...we recommend you walk at all times.

New job!

I had a long day. The humidity was unbearable. After raining every day last week, the sun shone with vengeance today. The sky was still bright although it was already seven o’clock. It was midnight but the heat still lingered in my skin. I wished that the house had air-conditioning. On a positive note, this heaviness in the air made me anticipate that in the morning, I would wake up with freshness of the falling rain. I have a new job. It is a tiring job; I don’t exactly find it objectionable, at times I find myself enjoying it. However, I guess the work is out of my specialization. Circumstance tells that it’s my job, everyone is looking at me and saying you are the man; I even think that God himself calls me to do this. Servicing the day care, the nursery, the primary school, the church worship, home cell programs, hostel ministries and the timely donation of a Nissan Urvan, makes me the official bus driver. It is a full-time job. I must wake up early and bring the children and teachers to the school and take them home again in the afternoon. On the other hand, I love to be with the children and being around them is fun! Children as always are the most profound theologians. It brings to my memory a quote from Moltmann in his paper, Child and Childhood as Metaphors of Hope: “In children God is waiting for us to take in God. How often have you encountered God in the life of a child through a gaze or embrace, or through the simple, yet profound words he or she utters?"