Normally he is a healthy, happy looking young man. Last night, he looked thin and grey.
He split up with his girlfriend at New Year, he said, although he had met a new girl since. He showed me their photographs. The old girlfriend was prettier, but I said the present one probably had a bigger heart.
They were still friends, and could talk on the phone. However, they had not met since, and now he had heard that she had found someone new. He was not happy about the news.
Toon, a student, said he can't be bothered getting out of bed in the morning. He eats only one meal a day, as he has lost interest in food. I told him I would call him today to check on him.
'My hair is longer now, so maybe that makes me look thin,' he suggested.
'You look thin because you won't eat,' I told him.
The other broken heart was new. He turned up at Mum's shop with a farang woman I know, who is having trouble earning enough money to pay her bills.
She will not ask friends for help. Instead, she gets drunk and abuses them.
Last night when it came time to pay, neither the farang nor her Thai friend had enough money. Moments before, they were making billing and coo-ing noises - but that abruptly changed when both realised the other could not pay. Then, they sat in awkward silence, with the atmosphere becoming heavier by the minute.
Mum said she was not prepared to extend her any more credit.
'You keep ordering even when you can't pay,' she said.
The farang woman, who is a fiery Algerian-French, abused Mum, a farang regular, me, and finally her Thai guy. Then she stormed off.
'I will come back to pay my bill tomorrow, but after that I will never drink here again,' she said.
Mum asked the Thai guy to pay what he could, but leave himself enough money to get home.
The Thai, aged in his late 20s or early 30s, was embarrassed that he did not have enough money, and offered his ID card as a form of guarantee that he would be back to pay the rest. Tears welled in his eyes, and he started to cry.
I asked him why he was upset: over the farang woman, or something else.
'I humiliated myself,' he said.
'No one knows you here, and everyone is like family anyway, so there is no need to feel embarrassed,' I said.
The two had only just met that night.
'It is better that you find out what these people are like at the outset, than get heart-broken later on.'
A young law student friend called Gap stepped in to offer him comforting words.
I like Gap. He has a sensible head, sunny personality, and unusual sense of humour.
He has just cut his hair, which normally he wears long, and hides under a cap. Now his hair is short, he can get around bare-headed.
The other night, I told him how handsome he looked. He had just finished an exhausting day, racing about town. But when I praised his good looks his chest filled with pride.
When I left Mum's shop, the two of them were still in a huddle talking.
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