July 24, 2006
The Bank
Today I went to the bank. I asked my host mother if someone could take me to the bank on Monday and since it is only open from 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM, it was arranged so that Boonmee could take me before he headed to Phang Nga town for a meeting. Not a quick trip as I perhaps thought first thing in the morning. We took Soopa to school, proceeded to drive beyond Ban Triem to another school, picked up a teacher and headed all the way down to town. We arrived before the doors opened and waited in the car for a bit – but were at the door with about 8 others when the doors opened. It was a rush to get inside and everyone proceeded to head directly to a red button which they pushed to get a number. Luckily the teacher was assigned to take care of me and got in line and I ended up with number six. Very similar to the DMV – permanent seats were arranged for a long wait. Eight different employees milled around the bank in their yellow shirts (Monday) and we waited. Eventually the teacher told me that they would start helping people in 20 minutes. We waited and when 20 minutes passed, 2 out of 4 windows opened. They took people in order of number, but there were some interruptions of course. One woman sauntered into the bank showing off her new earrings in a plush velvet box. All in all it was funny, watching the slow yet official operation of the bank. I cashed my check without a hitch and we were on our way – about an hour later.