Life Change Blog

19th July 2010.

Welcome to The Monday Morning Life Change Blog, keeping you up to date with ideas about change, motivational pyschology and living in Thailand.                                                                                                     

Travelling back from Hua Hin last week we stopped off in Bangkok for a few days. There's several places that we wanted to see, one of which was Dusit Zoo, formerly the private royal water gardens given over for public use in 1935, and also the shrine to Mae Nak (mother Nak) the mother ghost. We decided to go to the zoo first.

It's a good city zoo covering a surprisingly large area of about 30 acres. The magnificent central lakes and wonderful 1930s ornamental pavilions that King Rama V took his tea in are still as he left them and the whole place is overlooked by his huge turn of the century Romanesque throne palace just across the road. It could well have been the inspiration for Walt Disney's theme parks had he ever travelled this way.

Although the landscaped gardens, architecture, baby elephants and huge water monitor lizards that roam free throughout the zoo are interesting enough perhaps the most curious thing about the zoo is the crocodile area. On approaching the large old croc reclining in his pool the first thing you notice is a huge sign on the glass enclosure that reads "please do not throw coins in the crocodiles mouth". Now, I don't know about you but never in my life can I recall a time when I thought to myself, "if only I could throw a coin in a crocodiles mouth" or the mouth of any animal come to that.

It reminded me a bit of a change model that informs our counseling retreat and change holidays called Reactance Theory which is all about how we react when we can't have or do something. It's particularly pertinent in relationship counselling and health behaviour change. I immediately wondered what would happen if I did throw a coin at a crocodiles. I needn't have wondered for long as along came a respectable looking family enjoying their day out. The children ran up to the enclosure and seemed to be asking their father for something; surely it couldn't be coins. Did they not take heed of the sign? In a twinkle of an eye the father produced a big handful of small change and gave a coin each to his children who proceeded to throw the coins over the top of the glass enclosure onto the back of the crocodile. He didn't seem to mind much, and must have been somewhat resigned to a life where it sporadically rains money.

Whether they were trying to get the coins into the mouth of the crocodile was difficult to tell but the excitable coin throwing was clearly a highlight for a lot of people. I watched while several more families did the same.

I'm still trying to work it all out, thinking about wishing wells, animal rights, Reactance Theory, superstition and the like but haven't quite got there yet. If I ever get to the bottom of the mystery of the "crocodile and the coins" I'll let you know.

Until next week when I'll tell you the story of the ghost of the revered Mae Nak, along with ideas about how to change your life and what it's like living in Thailand, goodbye and have a good week.

Alex.