cinco de mayo it's not

Yesterday was May 5. I know that the date at the top of this post says May 5; if I was a more intrepid explorer of this software I probably would have figured out how to tell it that I don't live on Pacific Time; but I haven't, so you'll have to imagine with me that it's already May 6. Which it is.

Yesterday morning Husband, Mom, and I were awakened at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM (they've got a 5:30 in the morning now?) by the music which, avid readers will recall, is often to be heard coming from the loudspeakers at the police station across the street. It's not usually so early, nor is it so loud, and I won't even mention the horrible bone-rattling thumping bass.

Husband grumbled something about a noise ordinance. I reminded him that even if it existed, such an ordinance probably wouldn't deter the good folks at the police station, the boys in brown, if you will, from playing music. What are they going to do, arrest themselves?

Because the music (which had actually begun the previous night but had stopped at a reasonable bedtime hour) was so early, so loud, and so persistent, I wondered if it might not be a national holiday that we didn't know about. It's happened before, I have to admit. We know about the ones that fall during the school year, but since it's still summer break here and will be for another 3 weeks, we don't have the (decidedly mixed) blessing of constant administrative memos. These are only occasionally in English and often irrelevant, but they do serve to keep us informed of things we'd already know if only we had the slightest idea what was going on around us most of the time. Like national holidays.

Anyway, that was my suspicion, so I went online and checked the Bangkok Post. Surely if it was a holiday there would be some mention of it in the newspaper.

There was nothing in the Bangkok Post, so we decided the music (which was still playing) was just there for the enjoyment of the town. We proceeded with our plans for the day: Mom and I were going to head into Bangkok for some sightseeing and a Thai cooking class. Husband was going to go to the office and continue working on the piece of music he's writing. Mom and I got into a taxi...and arrived at the National Museum half an hour before we expected to. There was no traffic. None. I don't think I can convey how strange that is, especially during what should have been the heart of morning rush hour.

We walked around the neighborhood until the museum opened, noting what looked like the preparations for a celebration in Sanam Luang: pavilions, tents, and lots of people walking around setting things up.

Finally we saw it.

A sign, posted in English, stating the following: "The National Museum will be open on May 5 (Coronation Day)."

Coronation Day. The commemoration of the coronation of King Bhumibol, Rama IX, longest-ruling monarch in the world and beloved of the Thai people. Big holiday.

It's been at least a week since I felt that stupid.

I called Husband to let him know: not only did this explain the music, but it was a pretty safe bet that the air conditioning wouldn't be turned on in his office today, so I thought I'd save him the trip. Mom and I saw the museum, went shopping, and went to our cooking class. Luckily not even a major holiday can stop commerce in Bangkok. Husband had a more difficult time of it: we know from experience that our small town shuts down on holidays, so when we know one is coming we try to plan so that we won't have to go out for food (though we've gradually improved the kitchen situation, it's still easiest and cheapest to go out for most meals). This one, however, caught Husband unaware. After biking around town and finding that all of our usual places were closed, he ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, and by the time we met him for dinner at the night market in Bangkok he was really hungry for something more substantial. Poor guy.