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| He lives at the end of that grim alleyway |
It was shortly after noon, and I had missed him by minutes. I found trader Joe instead, laying out beef in baskets to sun-dry.
Joe was among guests who joined at our New Year’s Eve drinkathon at carer R’s fragrant-booze stall the other night.
He knows carer R, who is 22 and probably 20 years his junior.
That puts Joe in my own age category.
‘We went for a noodle together, came back here, and R has just gone home for a nap,’ said Joe, explaining R's absence.
I can’t fall sleep on a bowl of noodles, but I am not Thai. Only a sturdy rice dish does the trick for me.
‘How is Ball?’ I asked, referring to the young man with self-lacerated legs, another guest at our drinks party the other night.
Ball is 19, and a possible father-to-be. He loves football, is between jobs (but used to work in a supermarket), and needs friends.
‘I haven’t seen him since the other night,’ said Joe. ‘He’ll be out in the evening...he comes out for a drink every night.
‘He lives inside the community there,’ said Joe, pointing to an alleyway behind us, which leads into a slum.
Normally, I would try to avoid such areas, as the Thais who live there may not want farang looking closely at the way they live.
After leaving Joe, I took a peak down the alleyway.
Three or four builders were lugging construction materials into the slum area.
I joined their builders' march, and at the T-junction stole a peak.
I found narrow rows of two-storey houses squeezed together, competing for space.
The T-junction stank of human urine. It was not a good place to be.
I felt a pang of pity for Mr Ball.
'Are you here?' I thought. 'I hope you are okay.'
Hendrikbkk4 January 2010 at 18:17
ReplyDeleteYour slum adventures are really interesting, including smell and lay out.
I know you prefer pictures of beau garcons and great food, but will be nice to see some pictures of your trips to add some coleur locale, like that drinking place and the T junction.
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Bkkdreamer4 January 2010 at 18:28
I agree, pictures of the slum area would be great, so readers could get their bearings.
But my camera is small, and probably not up to the job.
To get outdoors pictures I might have to ask a friend to take them for me on his camera. Stay tuned.
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hendrik5 January 2010 at 18:10
Further to picture perfect moments, I think it will be even nicer if the pictures are amateuristic and shot from the hip, then it even looks more like a secret mission and a discovery trip.
If you get some one with you to make pictures, it will be an official mission and takes the spontanity out of it
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