About 10 years ago Mali and I spent a few days at the Thai sea-side resort of Hua Hin. One night I was talking over a few beers with the Farang proprietor of the guesthouse that we were staying at. He regaled me with a story about his last trip home to Great Britain where apparently his 25 year old nephew  had asked quote "do they have cars in Thailand" to which he replied -" of course they bloody well do." That little anecdote made me think about my return to Australia from holidays in Thailand. At home when I am  boring people  with stories about the "village" I am often curious what their visualisation of Ban Phutsa is - "dense jungle, shrieking monkeys and a cast of people straight out of a Tarzan remake"?.

The following is both my visualisation and experience of the village of Ban Phutsa. Ban Phutsa is located on the great Khorat Plateau of North-East Thailand. The village can be found 70 kilometres from the provincial capital of Nakhonratchasima via the small town of Phimai. (see map) The journey from Phimai to Ban Phutsa is about 12 kilometres on the road to Chum Phuang . The town of Phimai's main claim to fame are  the Khmer ruins -"Prasad Hin Phimai" situated in the middle of the town.

The short drive to Ban Phutsa from Phimai takes you along a sealed road past a string of villages including its two immediate neighbours Ban Rangka and Ban Ta Ban. The road itself mirrors all the change that I have witnessed over the past 24 years. In earlier trips, the road was a thin broken strip of bitumen and shared by buffalo carts, Farm Trucks, bicycles, motorbikes, chickens and other livestock and it had a country lane feel. Today the road has been widened but the country lane feel has certainly disappeared, replaced by a "wall of death" avenue filled with big trucks, Isuzu utilities, cars and the usual string of motorbikes gradually being outnumbered by the former. The chickens and livestock are still there but they travel at their own risk.

Once you have passed the village of Ban Ta Ban and the large school on the left you have arrived at Ban Phutsa. It has to be said from the outset that there is nothing immediately special about the village. Somebody driving past picking their nose or changing the station on their car radio could miss it after two or three eye blinks. Like most Isaan villages the layout of Ban Phutsa has evolved over time by circumstance rather than design. There are four roads that lead into the village off the Chum Phuang road. Originally dirt and sand tracks, most have now been replaced by a ribbon of concrete.

As mentioned above, the layout of the village has evolved over time. Houses are spread unevenly throughout the village and their style and comparative value determined by the economic circumstances of their owners. Most of the houses are timber but newer dwellings tend to be built with cinder block with Ferro-concrete roofs. Interspersed between the houses throughout are coconut trees, small tapioca and sugar cane fields and also a couple of rice fields. From my first visit till the last, the village has a wonderful unplanned feel - it has simply grown up. The village itself is almost an island surrounded by vast acres of rice-fields. The fields are inter-connected by large earthen dykes that also serve as roads.

But its the human  movement in the village which is of main interest. At any time of the day there are a constant stream of people and vehicles moving about the place - school children walking to the village school, village monks on alms round, trucks and motorbikes moving out to the rice fields, friends and neighbours visiting one and another.

This movement is always accompanied by the insatiable curiosity of the villagers - cries of "bai nai" (where are you going) constantly ringing out. The main meeting points are in the two village markets and the village temple (Wat). Apart from its vital role in both the purchase and sale of fresh produce the market is also a centre for meeting, greeting and gossip (no secret is safe in the village) .

But of course its the temple that is the true human centre of the village. Here the villagers meet and celebrate their culture. The temple and its environs are open to all and is frequently used by the villagers. It is often said that a foreigner will never completely understand what a Thai is thinking and after 24 years of visiting I would have to say that is correct. However I truly believe that foreigners such as myself can approach an understanding simply by appreciating the importance of the temple to village life.

Of course modern times have also impacted on the village. In 1984 electricity became available and four years ago piped water pumped from a reservoir became available. Prior to this water had to be drawn or pumped from wells. The sight of steel water towers has become commonplace both in Ban Phutsa and surrounding villages. Due to its proximity to Phimai and the fact that many villagers work there, Ban Phutsa has a sort of suburban feel about it now. The relative prosperity of many of its inhabitants also means that businesses such as a furniture factory have been established.

What of the future?. I described at the start of this chapter the incident of the British Guest House owner and his dimwit nephew and went on to ponder what a foreign perception of a Thai village could be. These views tend to be static ones which are ironically aided and abetted by the Tourism Authority Of Thailand. On the other hand I have always found Thais to be enthusiasts for modern times and not resistant to change as long as core values are not affected.

To illustrate that point I have included a photograph of my sister-in-law Porntip on her brand new three-wheeler Motor Bike presenting alms to the village monks.

How Ban Phutsa evolves further into the future I look forward to with both interest and optimism.