View of Klong Toey looking up Phra Ram III |
I do not have much to do with central Bangkok, at least as it is known to most farang.
I spend most of my days at my condo, next to a slum community in Klong Toey.
I pop in and out of the slum community regularly, and after sharing the lives of the people there for the past 12 years am a familiar face.
Once, I spent most of my time mixing with the family of a young drinking friend, Ball, whom I met at a ya dong (Thai herb-based alcohol) stand back in the days when they were popular. The first post in that long-running story is here.
After a turbulent youth, Ball is now aged in his early 30s, has a partner, three children, and steady job. In 2018 he moved out of the soi to a rented apartment nearby, which forced me deeper into the community to find a new group of friends.
God knows what they think of this farang - it won't all be flattering, but that's life. It is good to feel part of their community and despite occasional differences we still manage to rub along - disparate souls in one shared, unusual place.
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