April '09 2nd update

I was eager to see the work in progress having been away for a couple of weeks. By now the rice fields are flooded & transformed green with new seedlings. The farm house merely adds to the backdrop in the distance as a gray patch.














Scaffoldings were erected to plaster the exterior walls.



















Wall was hosed wet before applying the cement layer.














The roof pools are water filled to test for leakage.





























The wet season will start soon in May, the drive way is paved over a layer of soil with rock mix.











Managed to identify one of the 'spider-man' - turn out to be a brother of Chang Ou.



















I tossed the idea of getting each worker a safety helmet - it drew a giggle from everybody! It's their body language to say it won't work. P'Jiap added, "The foreign contractors even impose fines for not wearing safety helmets at their work sites... Thai construction workers just don't wear them". Well, so much for a kind thought and how difficult it is to change a work culture!

It is fortunate no accident occurs at my work site thus far, so how is it going to convince them being safer to wear safety helmets? Besides motorcycle helmets enforcement is still lax out in the provinces.