When we first told Ava we were going to Chiang Mai, her eyes lit up with excitement. Then I heard her telling a friend that she was going to see Chaiya My.
Chaiya was our beloved family dog who passed away in August. Ava used to call her Chaiya My. It took some explaining (and choking back tears on my part) that Chaiya is still in heaven, not Chiang Mai.
We have had no shortage of doggy friends in Chiang Mai. In most developing countries, the stray dogs look like scraggly road terriers. A pale brown color, pointy noses, and forlorn expressions. Here, the dogs all look like purebreds. Even though they don’t live in a home, they seem to ‘belong’ to a store, a hotel, a temple, even a cart. Here are a few cuties that were willing to pose.
And this is the one that belongs to our apartment building.
For the dogs who are even more fortunate, here is our local grooming spa.
And here is the price list. 30B = $1. I can tell you it cost us about 30 times this to groom Chaiya in New York City. Hot oil treatment? Can I get one of those?
But don’t get too close.
Despite it all, we still miss our Chaiya My, even in Chiang Mai.
To learn about dogs displaced by the recent flooding in Thailand, go here.
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