To a certain degree this introduction to the Village Vibe is a little superfluous as the individual pages and their link titles are fairly self explanatory. However I thought it important that some introductory comment be made about the choice of subjects.

But first another disclaimer. As I brushed briefly in my Introduction to this website, it could be argued that I don't have the credentials to give an accurate assessment of a Thai village due to the fact that my visits to Ban Phutsa are quite brief. Also, I openly admit that I have not dwelled on or even discussed the poverty and corruption that worms itself occasionally into village life. Again my defense of the chapters in the Village Vibe is that they accentuate the positive aspects of the village rather than the negative. Another criticism might be that I claim that Ban Phutsa represents Village life in Isaan and Thailand in general. Not so - whilst Ban Phutsa could certainly be regarded as typical there would be a thousand other villages which are richer, poorer, bigger, smaller but in the end are just simply different. A Farang experience of each of these villages could be quite different to mine with Ban Phutsa. In the final analysis, I can only call things as I see them.

The purpose of Enter The Village was to describe the physical location of Ban Phutsa and its place in Isaan. In the Village Vibe I want to reveal the human side of the village by focusing on significant events such as marriage, death and the ever important role of the Sangha (Community Of Monks) in village life.  Including a chapter focused simply on my wife's family is probably a little subjective but I believe is still of interest.

But finally, the thread I hope is found in these individual chapters of the Village Vibe is the all pervading influence of Buddhist practice in Thailand. If you are interested click the following link and enter the Village Vibe.