My first encounter with Thai hospitality

Thailand, Ayuthaya,
21-01-2010.

I wurm myself through the waiting passengers for the late afternoon overnight train to ChangMai, whole Thai families sitting on the platform surrounded by dozens of bags and carton boxes, small todlers asleep on the chaotic heaps of luggage while Mum is breast feeding the latest arrival to the family, still half asleep the little infant is nonetheless suckling its Mum's teat like her whole world depents on it - I suspect she does. Nearby a canine Mum is envolved in just the same little motherly job though the poor bitch has got five hungry mouths to feed at the same time and is deperately trying to scratch her scrawny behind.

Farangs aplenty sitting on top of huge backpacks and buzily reading the Lonely Planet - no doubt looking forward to the hilltribe trekking ChangMai is justly famous for. Dressed in shorts and sweaty T-shirts and just as happily sucking away on the straws that portrude from Chang beer cans and plasic cups of iced Coca Cola.

In between this colorfull scene I soon detect what I am after, the group of food vendors that has arrived from the neighboring country side on crappy old bikes carrying baskets full with cooked rice meals, small pieces of boiled egg and vegetables which they hope to sell on the train before departure - just ten Baht for a healthy but small foam bowl of food.

Eating it by myself I can't but compare this ten Baht meal to the twice a day small plastic bag that would just about fit in the palm of my hand containg about the same amount of rice and egg, the same few pieces of veggies while I was in jail in this crazy but highly mistifying Asian nation - it were your relatives and friends that were supposed to feed you, bring you the nessecaries to survive a stint in a Thai rathole. Luckily my fellow "room mates" were always happy to share their meals with me. My first encounter with Thai hospitality - considering I was in jail this statement would go both ways I suppose!!!

Sitting here in a local internet cafe being surrounded by young Thai kids
noicily playing computer games, sceaming at each other whenever they gain access to another level - not like the internet cafes in Bangkok's tourist district or maybe Pattaya where I am usually surrounded by young local beauties in sexy skirts sending MSN messages to their Farang Sugar Daddies in far-away Farang Lands hoping for an increase in thier monthly allowances. More often then not they have several windows open at the same time which makes me wonder just how many of these elderly Farang males they have in their pockets - somehow they always seem to manage to keep them hidden from each other though...