grinned and the group walked off down
the road.
There was a
concrete structure under the stairs and Dave realised it was a bathroom.
Through the open door he could see a squat toilet and a large barrel that was
obviously what passed for a shower. There was a table next to the bathroom and
a single gas burner connected to a waist-high propane gas cylinder. The
kitchen.
As Zed and Lek
helped Zed’s mother prepare food, the teenagers came back with a case of Chang
Beer and a bag of ice. The group
had now swelled to six. Lek pulled
out some more mats and the men sat down and started opening bottles of
beer. One of them waved Dave over
and Dave sat down with them. He was handed a beer and an ice-filled glass and
although he doesn’t speak much Thai he was made welcome. There was an old dirt-encrusted
television on a wooden table and Lek connected it to one of the many extension
leads snaking around the floor and handed the remote to Dave. He managed to
find a channel showing Italian football and the Thais seemed to appreciate it
so he settled back and drank beer and watched the game. The Thais drank quickly and within half
an hour the beer had gone and the guys were looking at Dave. Dave realised that they expected him to
buy more beer and when he saw them looking over at him he grinned, took out his
wallet, and gave them five hundred baht.
Dave figured the
more beer he drank, the less he’d think about the food that he was about to be
served, all of which seemed to be being cooked in one large wok. Once a dish was prepared it was placed
on a mat on the floor where flies would swarm around it. Large moths were
fluttering around the two light bulbs that illuminated the kitchen and bathroom
area, and mosquitoes were constantly settling on his exposed skin. A couple of cats were wandering around
the cooking area and no one seemed concerned at the way they kept sniffing at
the plates of food.
Dave was on his
third beer when the food arrived and it didn’t taste bad at all. There was
barbecued fish that was really tasty and they had made a spicy prawn soup that
was as good as anything he’d eaten in a Thai restaurant. Dave wasn’t a big fan of rice but he
was hungry and wolfed it down.
After the
food, he drank another couple of
beers and he ended up being carried to his bed by two of the teenagers. The
last thing he remembered was handing over another five hundred baht for beer
and then he groped his way through the mosquito net and passed out.
It was late
morning when he woke, with a fierce hangover and a raging thirst. He wrapped a
towel around his waist, picked up his wash bag and headed for the bathroom. The
young men were still sitting under the main house, drinking beer and watching
TV. They grinned and cheered as Dave went into the bathroom. The concrete walls were covered in
cobwebs and the smell from the squat toilet made his stomach lurch. He cleaned
his teeth and used a blue plastic bowl to throw water over himself. When he left the bathroom, Lek and Zed
were sitting on a mat eating what appeared to be the leftovers from the
previous evening. “Are you hungry, Dave?” asked Lek.
Dave hadn’t seen
a fridge so he figured that the food had been left out all night. “I’m fine,”
he said. “I don’t usually eat breakfast.”
He went back to
his shack and changed into a clean shirt and jeans and pulled a Singha Beer
baseball cap out of his bag. The sun was fierce and he didn’t want to burn his
scalp.
Dave’s plan was
to show Zed what a good guy he was, and he figured that the best way to do that
was to spread a little money around. He went back outside and asked Lek to show him the inside of her
house. In fact there was very
little to see – there was just one large room that ran the whole length
of the house, criss-crossed with heavy beams. There were two windows at one end but the rest of the
windows were boarded up with sheets of corrugated iron. In fact
the road.
There was a
concrete structure under the stairs and Dave realised it was a bathroom.
Through the open door he could see a squat toilet and a large barrel that was
obviously what passed for a shower. There was a table next to the bathroom and
a single gas burner connected to a waist-high propane gas cylinder. The
kitchen.
As Zed and Lek
helped Zed’s mother prepare food, the teenagers came back with a case of Chang
Beer and a bag of ice. The group
had now swelled to six. Lek pulled
out some more mats and the men sat down and started opening bottles of
beer. One of them waved Dave over
and Dave sat down with them. He was handed a beer and an ice-filled glass and
although he doesn’t speak much Thai he was made welcome. There was an old dirt-encrusted
television on a wooden table and Lek connected it to one of the many extension
leads snaking around the floor and handed the remote to Dave. He managed to
find a channel showing Italian football and the Thais seemed to appreciate it
so he settled back and drank beer and watched the game. The Thais drank quickly and within half
an hour the beer had gone and the guys were looking at Dave. Dave realised that they expected him to
buy more beer and when he saw them looking over at him he grinned, took out his
wallet, and gave them five hundred baht.
Dave figured the
more beer he drank, the less he’d think about the food that he was about to be
served, all of which seemed to be being cooked in one large wok. Once a dish was prepared it was placed
on a mat on the floor where flies would swarm around it. Large moths were
fluttering around the two light bulbs that illuminated the kitchen and bathroom
area, and mosquitoes were constantly settling on his exposed skin. A couple of cats were wandering around
the cooking area and no one seemed concerned at the way they kept sniffing at
the plates of food.
Dave was on his
third beer when the food arrived and it didn’t taste bad at all. There was
barbecued fish that was really tasty and they had made a spicy prawn soup that
was as good as anything he’d eaten in a Thai restaurant. Dave wasn’t a big fan of rice but he
was hungry and wolfed it down.
After the
food, he drank another couple of
beers and he ended up being carried to his bed by two of the teenagers. The
last thing he remembered was handing over another five hundred baht for beer
and then he groped his way through the mosquito net and passed out.
It was late
morning when he woke, with a fierce hangover and a raging thirst. He wrapped a
towel around his waist, picked up his wash bag and headed for the bathroom. The
young men were still sitting under the main house, drinking beer and watching
TV. They grinned and cheered as Dave went into the bathroom. The concrete walls were covered in
cobwebs and the smell from the squat toilet made his stomach lurch. He cleaned
his teeth and used a blue plastic bowl to throw water over himself. When he left the bathroom, Lek and Zed
were sitting on a mat eating what appeared to be the leftovers from the
previous evening. “Are you hungry, Dave?” asked Lek.
Dave hadn’t seen
a fridge so he figured that the food had been left out all night. “I’m fine,”
he said. “I don’t usually eat breakfast.”
He went back to
his shack and changed into a clean shirt and jeans and pulled a Singha Beer
baseball cap out of his bag. The sun was fierce and he didn’t want to burn his
scalp.
Dave’s plan was
to show Zed what a good guy he was, and he figured that the best way to do that
was to spread a little money around. He went back outside and asked Lek to show him the inside of her
house. In fact there was very
little to see – there was just one large room that ran the whole length
of the house, criss-crossed with heavy beams. There were two windows at one end but the rest of the
windows were boarded up with sheets of corrugated iron. In fact
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