Lonely boyfriends, Thai family in spares

Maiyuu's tuile desert...the boat-shaped part is plain tuile, and the sail-like wafer slice sticking out the top is tuile made with thin slivers of almond.

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I am going overseas to see my family this month. Maiyuu is looking for a present for my parents. ‘People your parents’ age are so hard to buy for,’ he complained. ‘They must have everything they want by now.’

Maiyuu is not looking forward to my departure.

When I am here, he pedals to the market every day to buy food.

‘When you go, I won’t have to go any more. I will be alone in the condo, and missing you.’

‘I will call, and send many text messages,’ I said.

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Two days off from work lie ahead. What to do with them?

Maybe I should do something young and energetic, like going to see friends (I still have some of them, don’t I? Let me check).

I live in a big, exciting city after all. But I doubt I can be bothered.

At midday we will watch Mamma Mia on television. That should kill a couple of hours.

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I hate the internet in the mornings.

About 9am, when I like to post, my internet service is intermittent at best, presumably because everyone is getting into work and switching on their computers.

Bugger them...they should just wait. Can’t they see an artist is at work?

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‘Mama...Do this. Ma...Do that.’

That’s my Thai-Chinese student, Bass. I teach him English.

We meet at his family’s shophouse for lessons.

One day I walked in to buy something. A young man jumped to his feet to serve me, speaking in English.

This was unusual. Most Thais I meet are too shy, or gave up on the language years ago. But here was a young man who enjoys learning, and was keen to talk.

I asked him simple questions in English, to test his skills. He understood everything, and replied promptly and politely.

‘Would you like to teach English conversation to Bass?’ asked Mum, who was listening.

And so we began. We meet most days in the afternoons for English lessons.

Mum likes to watch us talk, but Bass would rather she do jobs about the home.

‘Ma...fetch more paper, please. And a pen?

‘Ma, please answer the phone.

‘Mama, a customer needs serving.’

Mum does as she is told.

Middle-class Thai parents indulge their offspring. But their kids are also expected to pull their weight, at school if not at home.

It is school-holiday time. Bass, who is 15, helps his mother in the shop, but spends most of his days playing computer games, and talking to his girlfriend (‘No, she's just a friend,’ Mum insisted, when I let the dreaded ''girlfriend'' word slip).

He spends hours a day talking to the girl, whom he met on the internet.

Mum lets him get away with it, because it’s part of the deal she has made with her son to keep him on the right path.

She can tolerate his self-indulgent behaviour at home, as long as he works during the school term. Where girlfriends or other potential sources of academic disruption are concerned, Bass must keep his sights set low.

‘He is too young for girlfriends...still a baby. He must finish school, go to university and get a job before he can think about such things,’ said Mum.

‘That’s a long way off yet,’ I reminded her. 'I don't think of him as a baby.'

Bass's comprehension of English excellent. His Mum, by contrast, has none.

Bass, who ahs an elder brother at university, attends an all-boys state school; but before that, he studied at private single-sex school where most instruction is in English.

His academic record is excellent.

After school, he takes extra tuition classes. Every Monday, he takes military training.

Mum, Dad, and their two sons might do something as a family - go the shops, play sport - once a week. But for the rest of the time, it’s work, work, work.

My student's rigorous academic regime reminds me of the one I myself suffered at secondary school. But that was in the West, at a private school which charged high fees.

Mum and Dad could probably afford to give him more freedom and independence without risk of spoiling the goods.

While I am teaching, Mum brings me fruit, Chinese tea, home-made chrysanthemum juice, and other treats.

If I started issuing orders to Mum too, would she jump just like she does for her son?