Your legs are great - what about the face?

Even as old men, Thais can possess fantastic legs.

Many of the time I am sitting at my regular drinking hole when I see a handsome pair of legs approach.

I am seated, so the first thing I get to see from an approaching Thai is his legs. I gain my first impression of the man from the area beneath the thighs, stretching down to his toes.

I make my initial assessment from his dress – often, colourful boxer shorts, and casual footwear – as well as the physical state of his limbs. Hairy? Smooth?

Ideally, they must be longish and shapely, and not too hairy, thanks very much. Stocky, drum-stick style legs are out.

After 10 years of examining Thai legs from seating position, I have developed good leg appreciation skills.

Once I have surveyed the legs, my gaze moves upward, particularly if I appreciate what I see below the waist.

Yet even after examining strangers’ legs for as long as I have, Thais can still take me by surprise.

My regular drinking hole, just down the road from my office, is in one of Bangkok’s nastiest industrial areas. Trucks roar up and down, mocking our attempts to appreciate the meaning of life over the stillness of a beer.

The drinking hole is frequented by teens, including the notorious dek waen and dek skoi (teen racers), who speed up and down, three or four perched on each vehicle.

Our establishment is run by the patient K Lai, a woman in her 40s, and her husband, who after early valiant attempts to speak to me in broken English, has now given up.

The young visitors notice me sitting there when they drop in for their Cokes and cigarettes. They give the farang a quick once over.

Many young men strike show-offy poses, as they know I am watching them.

Needless to say, many possess great legs. They are young, after all.

The drinking hole is also frequented by a smattering of hi-sos - several large companies base themselves in the area, because rents are cheap - and solid worker types.

Some of these solid types are taxi drivers, who rattle up and down the main road nearby.

They pick up the odd tourist who has lost his way. Many of the drivers are from the provinces and can barely find their way around, but tell the tourist valiantly that they know the way back to Silom.

Others, more sensibly, stick to servicing the seedy Thai-style karaoke bars and other sinister entertainment spots which litter the back streets.

When trade is quiet, the taxi drivers drop in to Lai's shop for a quick beer, or a chat.

They gather with the motorcycle hire guys behind Lai’s roadside shop, which is perched in front of a large truck yard.

Trailer trucks squeeze in and out of the yard at all hours. As the do so, our beers rattle, our bodies shake.

The other night I was keeping vigil over my beer when I saw a great pair of legs approach.

The owner was wearing colourful mid-length shorts. His legs were tanned, firm, and smooth.

At first his face was hidden by the plethora of snack bags strung up at head level around the serving area.

Finally, I caught a glimpse.

The owner of those shapely legs was not a handsome teen, or even one of the hi-sos who drop in for cigarette supplies on their way to more exotic destinations.

He was a ragged taxi driver in his 50s, his face creased and jowelly. He just happened to possess a terrific, well-preserved pair of legs, most out of keeping with the appearance of his face.

How can the legs have stood up so well to the passing of time, when the face shows every passing moment?

His legs were jarringly misleading.

If I could glimpse at the world as this man viewed it when he was young, would it look much different?

Perhaps his life simply carries on, merging one day into the next.
 

But his legs don't. They stand out boldly as evidence that - at least as far as his bottom half is concerned - man can stoutly resist the ravages of time.