The initial walk felt a bit unsafe but then we got to a more populated area. Along a busy street we happened upon this large pond with traditional homes on its shore and skyscrapers in the back.
The Thai Labor Museum is housed in an old police station. It opens at 10 a.m. and we arrived just a few minutes after 10. We rang the doorbell and a woman came to the door to unlock it, clearly excited that they had visitors. We learned that the museum was created to try and educate Thai workers. Two Americans visiting the museum wasn’t an every day occurrence.
About 80% of the museum has signs in English, as well as Thai. We had barely made any progress in this small museum when the woman who had unlocked the door ushered in a young Thai man. He introduced himself and said he was a volunteer at the museum. While we were there they were having a meeting of union leaders in their conference room. Since he spoke fluent English they pulled him out to guide us through the museum. It was obvious that he was excited to do so. At one point he went and got a book on collective bargaining that he was reading and showed it to Matt. Matt knew the author. He showed us his union membership card to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Members are nicknamed Wobblies. He is one of two Wobblies in the whole country of Thailand. He shared that he was currently serving on Thailand’s Social Security board.
In room 4 of the museum I started to feel unwell. Drinking a large cappuccino on an empty stomach was doing a number on me. I excused myself to sit in the lobby. The gracious museum host brought me bottles of water and checked on me repeatedly. I was a bit embarrassed but I felt quite ill. Matt and the volunteer had a good time together and Matt learned things about the Thai labor movement he had not been able to find out via the internet. The museum was truly educational, beginning with the first humans to populate this land and ending with events that had taken place as recent as 2020. About 1% of the citizens of Thailand are in unions. There is a nurses’ union in Thailand but it currently only has 5-10 members. It must feel very discouraging and yet this faithful group of people were meeting on a Sunday to continue to work for equity and justice for workers.
Matt bought one of their t-shirts. On the front it says Thai Labor Museum and the back speaks of respect and dignity for workers. The museum hostess sent Matt out with a punch of posters, one of them commemorating the 30th anniversary of the museum and a handmade bag to put everything in. The volunteer said, “Wow. I haven’t even been given a bag.” I took a photo of Matt and his guide, who gave Matt a card with his email address on it.
We got outside and I said to Matt, “I feel very weepy.” I spent half of the tour in the lobby and still I felt the importance of this place and the people who have worked here. I was deeply moved by the dedication of a few and the uphill climb they are on, which is a feeling Matt assures me all labor union workers have. Matt responded with, “I got weepy as soon as we entered the place.” I have seen the most incredible sights on this trip. I will definitely remember them with awe and it was at the little Thai Labor Museum in Bangkok where I was deeply and profoundly moved to the point of tears.
I told Matt that there was no way I could walk back to our place feeling as I did. I also said I needed to eat and I needed to eat something that was familiar. We got a Grab and headed to Artisan Burger near our AirBnB…comfort food at its finest. I felt somewhat better after eating but I really needed to rest. I crawled in bed a soon as we returned to our rental. The plan had been for us to head to the home of Na Mu, one of Melissa’s aunts, where we would have time with the rest of this large family. I told them they could head out without me if they needed to go before I felt recovered. Being who they are they waited for me to get myself back together.
We headed to Na Mu’s house in the middle of the afternoon. This is the extended family we saw very early on in this trip that gave all of us presents. Yves was given two gold necklaces. We arrived with Yves sporting his necklaces from this family and the two gold bracelets from Melissa’s mom. He was all blinged up. Last time we were with this family, Yves either slept or screamed. He was in a great mood this time.
Na Mu had a duck toy that sang and danced. Yves loved it. He danced with the duck. In fact, he danced all evening.
Every family member took a turn loving him up. Yves has FOMO and this evening in which he was the center of attention was heaven for him.
Na Mu hosted us this time because she heard that Matt likes khao soi which is a speciality of Northern Thailand and often connected with Chiang Mai. Na Mu is from that area of the country and is an expert at this dish. She wanted to cook for Matt. When we arrived we were immediately ushered to the dining room table for a feast that began with khao soi. She had made it with your choice of beef, chicken or pork. I was still a bit wobbly in my stomach from earlier in the day. Na Mu’s khao soi is spicy and magnificently delicious.
But that wasn’t all there was to eat. The amount of food was overwhelming.
I stuck to the khao soi and the traditional Thai banana desert wrapped in banana leaves. If a whole table of food wasn’t enough, Na Mu decided we needed papaya salad. Melissa went with her to learn how to make it. They came back with four salad options of varying spice level. Just when I thought we had seen all the dishes we were offered fresh fruit and fresh coconut drinks. What a gracious and generous family.
We headed home exhausted with leftovers, jars of spices to make khao soi and a sweet little dancing duck that Yves loves. Back at home Matt found another large cockroach in their bedroom. This time he figured out how they were entering the apartment. He messaged the owner who arrived at our door within minutes. He said his cleaners had laid traps in the bathroom and found 3-4 cockroaches in them today, which probably means dozens. He comped Matt another night and kindly asked him not to leave a review that included the word cockroaches. We will be glad to leave this place on Tuesday.
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