On both sides of the street, we pass rowhouses where shops occupy the street frontage. The owners live above the shops, in place which rise three or four levels off the ground.
They run businesses or lease out space on the ground floor. Among them are motorcycle repair shops, video rental outlets, and eateries.
I like visiting rowhouses with upper storeys. Often the staircases inside are narrow. I have seen one townhouse in this part of town which is narrow inside, but rises seven levels off the ground.
They are mysterious, like visiting cul-de-sac apartments with winding staircases in 18th century Europe.
Further along, the shops give way to what look like slum housing. There, we passed a group of 20 or so teenagers singing and playing guitar.
I stopped briefly, in the middle of the road, to listen to them.
A Thai boy in the group spotted me.
'He's gay,' he announced.
Two or three girls turned to look, smiling. The boys carried on singing.
If being gay is more fashionable these days, it has failed to make an impact here.
That might be just as well, because I would prefer to fit in.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome, in English or Thai (I can't read anything else). Anonymous posting is discouraged, unless you'd like to give yourself a name at the bottom of your post, so we can tell who you are.