Serve me your takraw

‘Hello, there!’ said Ball, extending his hand.

Mr Ball (not my friend from the slums, but another one), accompanied by two mates, squeezed into a small drinking place by the side of the road close to where I work.

A farang colleague and I had dropped in for a quick beer when Ball and his friends – all takraw players, he informed me – arrived.

I moved my plastic chair to give them space at their own table, but Ball, the chattiest of the three, was having none of it.

‘Please join us!’ he said, ordering a bottle of beer.

Ball and his friends Sorn and Boom, who live and work locally, had been entertaining themselves elsewhere, and all were under the influence when they turned up.

Farang T and I were belly-aching about work and watching trucks roaring past, so didn’t mind the company.

Ball, 23, has a bright smile, terrific body, and engaging personality.

We spent the next three or four hours together, talking about politics, girlfriends, and life in the provinces.

As the Songkran festival nears, the thoughts of these young men are turning toward home. Thais traditionally go home during Songkran to pay their respects to family elders (if they abide by tradition) and throw water at each other on the streets (if they celebrate the modern way).

I didn’t spend much time talking to the other two, as they were too far past it. Sorn, who is gay, asked me the same question over and over again in English.

‘Will you be my lover?’ he slurred.

When I answered, he asked it again, so I gave up. He and Boom, who had dyed his hair gold, had a strange habit of wanting to kiss my hand, and that of farang T.

Boom, despite his hand-kissing habit, is probably straight, I decided...he just gets carried away.

Sorn was more persistent, asking me to sit next to him whenever Ball left us to relieve himself.

‘Are you this thick?’ he asked, holding up one finger.

‘No...average,’ I said.

How about this thick?’ he asked, holding up two fingers joined together.

‘My size is average,’ I insisted.

'I don’t believe it...I am told farang are huge,’ he said, placing my hand in his lap.

Most entertaining, however, was Ball, who speaks passionately about politics – he’s a Thaksin fan, and wants to deal to his successor Abhisit - goes out with a Lao woman, and works at a company making medical equipment.

'I come from Lop Buri, and would love to take you on a tour of my home province,’ he said proudly.

'My parents live in Bangkok because they have jobs here. I am an only child and I live with my girlfriend.

‘Actually, I call her my wife because we have known each other so long. We met five years ago, and have lived with each other two years.

‘Our parents want us to get to know each other before we get too serious, but eventually I hope to visit her parents in Laos and ask if I can marry her,’ he said.

Golden-haired Boom left us an hour before we finished.

When the rest of us had emptied our bottle, we headed for home.

Ball wanted to drive me home, so Sorn and I piled on the back of his motorbike. I don’t know how it managed to take our combined weight for the wobbly trek to my condo, but it did.

Ball took me to my front door, while Sorn waited outside.

Ball’s father, it turns out, lives two minutes away, and Ball not much further from him.

‘I want to carry on drinking,’ he said.

‘I have to be a grown-up sometimes...I can’t give you that money, because your girlfriend is waiting, and has called you twice asking you to come home,’ I said, looking concerned.

‘Well, can I have B100 to spend at work? I have run out,’ he said, his lips hovering just centimetres from mine.

I gave him his money. When I mentioned the need to act like an adult, Ball gave me a hug.

We have swapped phone numbers, so are bound to meet again.

One day later, Ball has yet to make contact, or any of his other friends. That is nothing unusual for Thais.

I am not part of their daily lives, so they have no reason to call. Once the effect of the booze has worn off, they might also lose some of their courage.

But if I was to call suggesting more night-time entertainment – especially if I am offering to pay – I am sure they won’t say no.