Betel-

Chewing

On my first visit to my wife’s village near Sukhothai I was confronted by a strange and uncomfortable sight. Her grandmothers enjoyed chewing some weird substance, and at first sight it seemed rather gruesome with what looked to me like pieces of twigs sticking out their mouths and heavy gum-bleeding.

I now know that my wife’s grandmothers were chewing betel nuts and leaves. The chewing of this discolours the teeth so they become red. The chewing induces a slight intoxicating effect and is an acquired taste valued by many Thai villagers. So instead of being some painful ordeal, the betel chewing is an enjoyable and relaxing pastime for Thai elders.

The betel forms a part of Thai culture almost as strong as another fundamental crop –  rice. The Thai word generally used for betel is mahk, and a common expression for hard times is khao yahk, mahk paeng – “rice is hard to find, betel is expensive.” This shows that rice and betel have long been considered equally fundamental to the lives of the people.

A rather more light-hearted expression is jaek mahk, literally “to hand out betel” – in other words to punch someone in the mouth and draw blood, giving them a red mouth like that of a betel chewer.

Mahk has traditionally always played an important part in rural courtship and betrothal. A young man who wants to woo a fair maid tears off a piece of betel leaf and throws it playfully at her. In a wedding ceremony the Sin Sot money will often be put in a bowl with Mahk. An old song is sometimes crooned plaintively by a forlorn bride to her reluctant groom who has failed to show up for the ceremony: Eek ghee wan kan mahk ja ma? – “In how many days’ time will the betel-bowl come?” The song goes on, Mai kan mahk! – “I’m a betel-bowl widow!”

The old women of a village choose to chew betel to keep their breath fresh, to pass the time, to enjoy the taste – but also because it becomes slightly addictive. Scientists have identified a few health risks associated with the practice, such as the increased risk of mouth cancer.

The health risks of chewing betel compared with the most harmful addiction of Western society, smoking, seem smaller. My Danish grandmother is sometimes receiving urgent respiratory assistance due to her addiction to cigarettes, and however much I love and respect my grandmother, I must declare that Westerners should beware of finding other distant practices distasteful when it could easily be said that we practice one of the most harmful ourselves.

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