Chapter 8

"Sergeant Baker, you and Sergeant Tweed see me immediately after we all check in!" the Major said in a strained voice when he had recovered from the sight of Suenee and Phesila standing outside the hotel with our children. Captain Tamusarit had already walked over to Suenee and greeted her and Phesila with a traditional Thai greeting.

"Sawat Dee krup," he said with a smile, as he waied.

"Sawat Dee ka," both women replied with a wai and a smile.

"It is good to see you again, Suenee Sa," the Captain said, "But I didn't think it would be here," he added.

"Yes, Captain, our amulets directed us to come here. We will see what we can do to help in your quest to stop the enemies of our people," Suenee told him in her soft voice.

"And who is this other lady?" the Captain asked looking at Phesila.

"This is Phesila. She is the daughter of the Governor of Luang Phrabang, and Sergeant Tweed's wife," Suenee said in introduction.

"Ah... !!" Captain Tamusarit said, slightly embarrassed. "Sergeant Tweed is a very fortunate man."

Lesia couldn't be restrained any longer and rushed over toward me on her short legs. She tripped just before reaching me, but I caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Daddy, daddy! We came all the way on the rot fai," she told me excitedly, and giggled as I picked her up and held her in my arms.

"Were you a good girl?" I asked.

"Yes!" she answered, and shook her head no at the same time, leaving me wondering. Tweeds daughter, Dang, still wasn't used to him since his return, and all of the strangers here frightened her. She began to cry. Phesila assured her daughter that all was well and patted her back to sooth her fears. The other members of both Teams were staring at Tweed and me in disbelief during all of this.

"All right, let's all get registered and then store your gear in your rooms. Return to the lobby after that. There will be a formation there in half an hour or so," the Major told our Team. Captain Tamusarit repeated the same thing in Thai for his people. Everyone lined up at the desk to register and get their room key. Suenee had approached me and our daughter during this time.

"Why is the Major upset, my Bill?" she asked in her soft voice.

"We didn't mention to him that you were coming up here," I told her, as she took Lesia back.

"Do not worry. All will be well," Suenee assured me.

"Phesila and I have rented a furnished house," she told me next. "It isn't too old and has electricity. It will be fine for all of us while we are here. It is on Rattanakhet Road near the Police station there. It is only a short distance from Wat Phra Singh on Singhaklai Road where Phesila and I will be holding classes," Suenee told me, as she moved closer to me.

I leaned down and gave her a short kiss. Suenee blushed big time even though we have been married for several years, as that just wasn't done in public in Thailand at that time. Tweed had Phesila in his arms also. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone else there to see us; that is, until the Major walked back out of the hotel with an angry look on his face. The Major signaled Tweed and me to join him by the side of the hotel in the shade.

"Exactly what are both of your wives doing here, and how did they get here?" he demanded, trying to remain calm.

"They came on the train, sir," I told him. "You gave us permission to see them off."

"You failed to mention that they were coming here, and why are they here?" he asked again, becoming upset.

"We are here, Major," Suenee said interrupting me before I could speak. "To do exactly what I told Captain Tamusarit. We will help in your quest to stop the enemies of our people. The Amulets have directed us to help you," Suenee finished.

"The Am... !! the Major said, and paused to reconsider what he was going to say.

"Are you saying that THEY and YOU will be taking an active role in the coming operations?" he asked still shocked.

"Yes, the Amulets definitely will. Phesila and I will help where we are able," Suenee told him.

"And the children?" he asked nervously.

"We have a woman to watch them," Suenee assured him. The Major let out a long breath then.

"I don't suppose that I can talk you into returning to Lop Buri?" he asked.

"The Amulets have directed us to be here until the enemy has been defeated and you return to Lop Buri," Suenee told him.

"Have they perhaps told you what they intend to do?" he cautiously asked next.

"They will destroy the Chinese supplies and stop their minions, as they did in Cambodia and Laos," Suenee informed him.

"All right!" the Major finally agreed. "Baker, you and Tweed still have a room here. I expect the two of you to be here each morning and also in the event of an alert. How the two of you do that is up to you. Am I understood?" the Major demanded.

"Yes, sir!" we both answered.

"Go get registered. After the formation, if everything you're responsible for is taken care of, I'll see you in the morning," the Major said dismissing us. We saluted and went in to register.

We went up to the room that both of us were in after registering, and dropped off our field gear and most of our other gear. We only took some civilian clothes and toiletries with us. The formation started when we were all assembled in the lobby. The Major outlined what he expected of us and what we would be doing in the next couple of days. He then turned us over to MSG Sorenson, who reminded everyone about the expected behavior while in Thailand. We were dismissed until the next morning then. Captain Tamusarit was holding a similar formation for his people.

Chiang Rai still had many samlors and a good number of tuk tuks. Suenee had gotten two of the tuk tuks for us and had given them the address of our house by the time Tweed and I returned. She had taken charge of the box that I had brought with me before we went in to register. They took off once we were all seated.

While many of the major streets in Chiang Rai had been paved in the recent past, I noticed that many of the Sois, or smaller side streets hadn't been and were still dirt or mud, as we made our way to the house that Suenee and Phesila had rented.

The house was in a walled and gated compound. It was a single story wooden house with a steep tile roof. There was an older woman there who opened the personnel gate for us when we arrived. She Sawat Deed, waied, and bowed as we entered.

"This is Bua Gal. She is the maid / cook and came with the house. She will watch the children when we are at the Wat, and if we need to help you. She also knows the local economy and where to obtain things," Suenee told us. We had all Sawat Deed, waied, and bowed as we entered.

The house consisted of a large gathering room in the front with the kitchen behind it. The bathroom with a shower and a real toilet was next to the kitchen. Both were tiled. There were two bedrooms on each side of the gathering room. The floors were mahogany and beautifully finished. The walls were plastered and there were ceiling fans in the gathering room and one of the two bedrooms on each side of it.

Tweed and I were impressed with the house and the small compound that surrounded it. That is until we actually checked the bathroom and kitchen to discover that they both used lead pipes to carry the water that came from the city and was definitely NOT for drinking, and was just barely useable for washing.

For drinking water there were large klong jars at the side of the house that caught the water that drained from the roof when it rained. There was also some bottled water to be had in town, but it was expensive. Actually, the local beer was cheaper, as bottled water was a tourist commodity and therefore expected to be expensive. The electrical system of the house was basically the same as the ones in Bangkok and Luang Phrabang had been - very rudimentary.

After Tweed and I had put our things up in the bedrooms, lunch was served at the rear of the gathering room where there were a table and chairs. Tweed and I quickly discovered that the cook liked spices, especially peppers, and used a lot. As I have said before if you aren't sweating when you eat, you aren't eating real Thai food. This food definitely qualified. On seeing the condition that Tweed and I were in while eating, Suenee spoke to the cook about the use of spice in the food. The old woman only grinned and returned to the kitchen.

Following lunch, the children were put to bed for a nap. That was when Suenee insisted that we go with her to see the Wat where she would be teaching her classes with Phesila's help. The Wat was close enough that we could easily walk there from the house.

"Wat Phra Singh was founded in 1385 by King Muang Proma and all of its buildings were built in the classic Lanna architectural style," Suenee told us as we walked toward the Wat. "The Wat has been restored several times. It originally housed the famous Phra Phutthe (Buddha) Sing image which was believed to have been brought here from Ceylon during the Sukhothai period," she continued.

"That image now resides in Chiang Mai in a Wat of the same name. The Wat here now houses a replica instead," Suenee finished as we approached the Lanna-style Ubosot, or main prayer hall which is a long, tall building and houses several Buddha images beside the Phra Sing Buddha image.

"The famous Ebony and Gold Buddha image, and the Purple Jade Buddha are also housed here," Suenee continued, as we looked down the long Ubosot to the area where the Buddha images resided. "Also there are many other Buddha images here that are gathered beneath the Bodhi trees that the Wat has in addition to a pair of sweet-scented Sala Lanha trees. It was under one of these type of trees that the Buddha is reported to have been born," Suenee told us, as we walked around the grounds of the Wat.

"The Wat also has a Pali language school on its premises to teach and preserve the language that most Buddhist sacred texts are written in, and that is used in prayers and rituals," Suenee informed us. "I am interested in learning more of the Pali language so I can assist in more ceremonies. I have already spoken to the Abbot here, and he has agreed to allow us to hold our classes under one of the Bodhi trees," Suenee finished.

I must admit that the Wat was beautiful and the atmosphere very serene. The wiharn, or assembly hall, that we also visited, was very extensively decorated both inside and out, and I had to marvel at the extent of the details and how long it must have taken to execute them.

Dinner that evening was less spicy than lunch had been but was still very tasty. The cooking here was different from Bangkok or Korat, and more like Luang Phrabang. That evening after playing with our daughters for a time, we all went to bed early as we would need to be up early in the morning to go to work. It was very nice to have Suenee next to me in bed again. I had definitely missed her on the few nights that we had been apart.

Saturday morning after a quick breakfast, Tweed and I set off for the hotel. It was a nice walk in the daylight as it was only about a kilometer away, and we were there in ten minutes or so. As soon as we entered the lobby, the Major called us over.

"I spoke to the B-Detachment in Chiang Mai last night, Baker. They are anxious for us to start our daily reports to them. We have a report time of 2200 hrs. I believe that we should set up our issue radio equipment in the Team House's commo room so we can begin sending in those reports, though there is certainly little enough to report at present," the Major told us. "We'll keep your radio for later when there is greater distance to cover," he added.

"All right, sir. I'll get Broyles, and we'll get right on it," I told him. Captain Tamusarit came over just as I was finishing.

"How did Guard Duty go last night, Captain Tamusarit?" the Major asked.

"About as I expected, sir. I had two men on at a time - in case of trouble. Some of the regular Army soldiers took a little convincing before they believed that we were serious about no one touching our equipment. I'm sure that they will pass that seriousness on to the others in their unit," Captain Tamusarit told us with a smile.

"Yes, I'll have two of our men on at a time tonight also to impress upon them that we are just as serious," the Major told him. I left then to track down Ted Broyles and inform him what we needed to do. I found him just returning from breakfast at a nearby restaurant.

"Ted, we need to set up the AN/VRC 47 after the formation, so we can communicate with the B-Detachment," I told him, as we strolled through the door into the lobby.

"Okay, we'll have to dig it out of trailer number 2. I take it that we aren't going to use your radio here," he said.