» Read the Thai version of this story
Author: Thidarat Vinyasopit
Storyteller: Sakkarn Chaichim
Community Language School: Buddharangsee Thai School
Main School: Regents Park PS
Australia beckoned as a better place for Sakkarn and his wife to bring up their daughter.
From There to Here of Sakkarn Chaichim
By Thidarat Vinyasopit, 4th November, 2001
He came from Nonthaburi Province which is on the outskirts of Bangkok. In his younger days, Nonthaburi was considered as an up-country province because there were a lot of fruit and vegetable farms, rice paddle and lotus ponds. People still used waterway transportation and if you wanted to go to Bangkok by bus you had to wait for hours.
He had a two storey house with open space underneath. The house was built high to avoid the annual floods during October and November. He loved the floods so he could swim near the steps of the house and the water wasn’t dirty (like it is now). Children loved to run around under the house whilst adults were having conversations. People used this area to entertain guests.
His family always had breakfast and dinner together. Their food was typical Thai cusine with rice as a staple. They always had three or four kinds of dishes for dinner such as curry, stir fry vegetables or meat, omelete, chilli paste and fresh vegetables. His parents loved trees so much that they always went out on the weekends to buy trees and plants at a market. There are still some trees at his house now which were growing when he was very young.
Special family days were the birthdays of family members. They went to do merit at the temple, and gave presents. They normally went out for dinner together.
They always celebrated New Year together and the whole family always went to his grandparents’ house (120 kilometres from Bangkok) at Thai New Year. That was the time that he saw all his cousins and relatives. They threw water over each other at this festival and it was great fun for him and everyone.
Some other celebrations that Thai people do together are the King’s and Queen’s Birthday. People throughout the country light candles and sing songs for the King and Queen, and decorate their houses with photos of them.
After graduating as a Bachelor of Engineering, he came to Australia for the first time in 1992 when he was about 29 to study for a Master of Waste Management degreeat the University of New South Wales.
He found Sydney very cold, quiet and beautiful. He met an Australian man in the plane and he gave Sakkarn a lot of good advice which made him warm to Australia and it’s people. He stayed with an Australian family in Clovelly when he came. This family helped him adapt to new life and showed him around. He stayed with them for 1 month and shared a unit with friends so save money. He worked part time at a restaurant.
Australia (Sydney) today has changed a lot. It is not as quiet as before, with more people, cars and traffic jams. It is a lot easier to find Asian grocery shops and all the shops open everyday and until late. There are more two storey houses and they are quite big. People spread around more and there are new suburbs.
He stayed here in Sydney for 3 years and got a job after finishing his degree. The company transfered him to a branch in Thailand. He worked there for 3 years and he started to think of Sydney. He then had a family and wanted to come back here again.
He came back to study again at Macquarie University and worked part time for the same company. After one year, he discussed with his wife about where they should bring up their daughter. They decided on Sydney, believing that the quality of life is better here than in Thailand. He asked his company to apply for resident visa for him and his family. They got the visas easily which was a different story to when he applied for his student visa. (He feels that Immigration law changes all the time and makes it hard for people to come here).
The things he misses the most in Thailand are his mother, relatives, friends and the Thai way of life. He goes back to Thailand every now and then and his mother always comes and stays for at least 3 months every year.
Thailand has changed a lot too. There are a lot more roads and freeways and you will get lost if you drive by yourself after being away for 2 years. There are many similar things between here and there like the fashion of mobile phones, teenagers fashion e.g. ears, belly button and lip piercing, and the drug problem.
The differences are the climate, food, culture, landscape, languages etc. Education system is quite different too, Thai people like to send their children to famous, popular schools regardless of the distance but here people usually send their children to the nearest school. The competition is very high in all areas in Thailand.
He likes the life here because you can still breathe fresh air, better quality of life, the environment is well looked after for the time being and the future. He can still get in touch with Thai culture such as Thai community, temples and food and these make you feel at home and he isn’t lonely at all. He always follows our Thai way of life and is proud to be a Thai wherever he is.
