Tha gets married!

My translator, Tha, dropped a bombshell a couple of weeks ago, when he announced his plans to get married six days later. We didn’t even know he had a girlfriend! The girl he married was known to me, but she’d always been introduced in the past as his sister!! All very confusing...! Most marriages are arranged, but he and Chinda had known each other for 2 years and chose each other. I’m not sure exactly why there was such a rush to get married, but apparently the monks had told Tha that Sunday would be a lucky day for him! Five colleagues and I travelled the 50kms to Stoung by motorbike, while Bram and Rachel came by bus from Siem Reap. I got a chance to wear my new posh Khmer-style frock, but the glamorous outfits of Kaknika and Sopeap rather put mine into the shade (see photo of them with the CoDeC Director Mr KimChouen and Bram). Chinda and Tha greeted us at the entrance to the restaurant dressed in traditional Khmer clothes, but then for me things started to go downhill.... We were ushered to a table and given our meal straight away (11.00 a.m.); Rachel, being vegetarian, couldn’t eat anything! By 11.30 a.m., about half of the guests had finished their meals, so they got up and left. Chinda then changed into her jeans (so no photo of her!), and by the time our party left at 1.00 p.m. it was all over! It was all a bit of a disappointment; I had expected a ceremony, dancing and speeches. Fortunately, Tha and Chinda were quite happy with the proceedings, although they’ve now reverted to their previous lifestyles, with him living in a room in Kampong Thom and she living with her family in Stoung. People do lead very strange lives out here!