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Notice to readers: So far I have only called him “the boy” because I found it hard to call him by any other than his real name. But he needs a name so from now on his name in the blog will be Chalerm.
The next four days Chalerm and I were sightseeing in his province. During this time I didn’t see any other foreigner.
We went by train to a dam the government had built. In the West watching nature getting destroyed has gone out of fashion. But here the locals lined up to be taken on a trip along the edges of the dam while sitting in charts pulled by a tractor. I enjoyed the folk life. A man came with a digital camera and took pictures of everyone. I gave him an annoyed glance since he hadn’t asked or explained what he was doing. When we came back from the tractor pulled trip he sold plates with the pictures on. It wasn’t up to Buckingham palace standards but I just had to buy the one with me (looking grumpy) and the boy on it. I have since kept it on a shelf at home.
There was a small museum where the posters informed us that 3000 people gratefully had moved out of the area in the name of progress. Dead trees lined the shores of the new artificial lake.
We went to Lopburi city to see the temple monkeys. Chalerm pulled me back when I took pictures of them and warned me they were ill tempered. I could see that with other tourists, if the moneys smelled food they didn’t take no for an answer.
Then we went to see the ruins and the museum. The archaeological exhibition was impressive.
The boy kept fingering the old statues.
- The sign says don’t touch anything, I said.
- But I am Thai people, said the boy.
- It doesn’t matter, I said. - You can’t touch that.
But he did and when a museum guard came and gave him a stern look Chalerm produced that guilty Thai smile.
I was taken by Phaulkon Constance’s house. It felt like I was one of the first Westerners to come to these parts but the Greek had been here 300 years earlier, serving as the first minister of king Narai. The farang had been the second most powerful man in Siam, at least until the king died and his successor threw Constance to the tigers. Constance had conspired to make Siam a French colony.
I enjoyed being with Chalerm. We had our little arguments and the language problem was frustrating. I had expected it could be tiring to spend five days with one person but it wasn’t. I had a sense of belonging when I was with Chalerm and I was thinking of us as a couple now.
I decided to buy him a gift to show my gratitude for the trip. I saw he had no watch so I took him to Big C in Lopburi to get him one. But when we came to the watch and clock section in the mall he wasn’t interested in any of the Seiko or Casio watches on offer. They were from 3000 to 5000 baht.
- Expensive too much, Chalerm said.
- Never mind, I said. - It is a gift from me to you.
I was willing to pay for a quality brand watch. But Chalerm didn’t want any of them until we came to a small stall downstairs. There he found a 300 baht plastic watch.
- That’s a girl’s watch, I said.
- I like, said Chalerm.
He put it on and since his wrist was small it looked right on him.
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