Ekk, the taxi driver (part 2, final)

Most nights now, Ekk takes me to Mum's shop. He has also joined me at her shop twice for a drink.

Under the brighter lights of that place, he looks different. His skin is much darker than it appears in the dim glow of the streetlights, while we are in his taxi.

He has hooded Chinese eyes, which is unusual for an Esan boy. However, his other facial features - the high cheekbones, the sharply defined curve of his chin, high-rising, slender neck - have a strong Esan likeness. He wears rough, baggy jeans, and a white shirt, or t-shirt.

When he is the taxi, he wears an unbuttoned blue shirt over that, to keep out the cold. When he takes his taxi out, he also wears several Buddha amulets around his neck, for good luck. In short, a typical Thai boy, entering adulthood.

Before fixing cars, he once worked as a chef for four-star hotels in Bangkok.

Ekk lives with several male friends, in a place not five minutes from me.

'I do my own washing, and can shop for clothes and food,' he said. 'I do not go shopping for clothes often, so do not have to worry about that.'

After I get home from Mum's, I usually call Ekk, or send him a message. He goes to bed at 2am, and rises the next day at 9am to fix cars. He does not return my messages: few Thai boys are good at texting. However, I suspect he does not mind. Often, they give us something to talk about the next day.

So, what does Ekk want?

Over our drink last week, Ekk told me he wanted to learn English. I opened a textbook in front of me, and asked him to read. He has almost forgotten how. I suspect he also wants to travel, as many of his questions to me are about visas, and living overseas.

One night last week I asked him if he had a girlfriend.

'No,' he said. 'I have never had one.'

He does not get the opportunity to meet girls, as he works seven days a week. I suspect that when they hear what he does for a living, some decide to move on.

'Have you ever had any experience with girls?' I asked.

'My friends I have told me about women. I know the theory, but have not had a chance to put it into practice,' he said.

Thai boys are so admirably frank. They say things which westerners would never dream of uttering, if they thought such admissions would make them look bad.

That night, in my customary text message, I apologised for asking him about what could have been a sensitive subject. The next day, he laughed, and said I could ask about whatever I liked.

Last night, he dropped me off at Mum's, then came back an hour or so later for a drink. After that, we both returned together.

'I forgot to tell you,' he told me. 'Today's my birthday.'

I asked him if his mother had called for his birthday.

'She did. I told her I would send a birthday present.'

I asked him why he was sending his mother a present, and not the other way around.

'I don't know if other people think the same way as me, but...every year, I give Mum a present on my birthday, because I think for mothers, giving birth to a child is the best they can do for us. Mum gave me life, and I want to thank her. Some mothers also lose their lives during childbirth, too, so for them the birth of their child leads to their own death.'

Usually, he sends his mother gold jewellery. The gold may be small in quantity, but its value is not: Ekk can spend up to B10,000 baht on a birthday present for his mother. This is a Thai version of the welfare safety net. If his mother ever runs short of money, she can sell the gold for cash.

Ekk has not decided what to give her this year. Once he has bought her the present, he will sent it back home by road transport delivery.

He went home to plant rice just recently. He returns to Esan again at Christmas, to harvest the crop.

Ekk has asked me to go back with him at Christmas. If I go, it will be my first trip to Esan.

I told my boyfriend about Ekk. 'Oh, so you are eating taxi drivers now?' he asked. 'You have moved on.'

My boyfriend is blunt. However, he knows his place in my life is secure, so he can say these things.

A huge gulf separates my life and young Ekk's. I want to get further involved in his life, but I am worried about where it may lead. We are so different - what on earth do we see in each other?