Never Sit Underneath a Coconut Tree

view from Gong Gong's house at dusk of the tung na (rice paddy) and coconut trees by the rice farmer's shack










My grandfather is 90 years old (91 in Chinese years) and has seen a lot in his day. He is a newspaper man and has been the editor of several Chinese newspapers since the age of 26, appointed by the Chinese government. With an editorial to write every day, he has always been full of advice and has very strong opinions. Even now.

Every morning, he wakes up and sits on the porch overlooking the tung na. His house is about 30 km from Bangkok and can be considered suburban and is pretty peaceful. While we were sitting watching the rice farmer make his way back to his shack and listening to the birds singing, he turned to me and said, "Never sit underneath a coconut tree. A coconut can fall and hit you on the head. Banana and mango trees are ok though. We're sitting by both right now. You should eat the mangos and bananas from my trees." It isn't the same as when he told me to go to law school but at 90, I'm glad he's still looking out for me.

The tung na, however, can be very noisy. At night, the frog and insects raise a racket. In the morning, the farmer shoots blanks to scare off the birds - cranes, etc. Or he will start plowing at about 7am for the entire morning. No need for the water buffalo anymore. Sad, i'm sure they are much quieter. not that i want my sabbatical to interfere with the farmer's means of income and the production of food. i'd just like to sleep in.


a water buffalo, much like the one that saved my grandfather when he was a little boy after he fell into a rice paddy. this one is very old, each ridge in the horns represents one year. this one was saved from the slaughterhouse. proceeds from the park go towards buying buffalo from the slaughterhouse. one can cost about 5,000 baht (35 baht = $1).

pic taken at the Buffalo Preservation Park in Su Panburi, 2 hours north of Bangkok