Thai Shorts

by Lilburne, Guy

  I never intended to live my new life in Thailand like that. It sort of just happened. Before I had arrived out here I had planned to travel around the country. I was going to do some painting, maybe even start writing, but I sort of just fell into the bars on my first day here and I never got around to leaving them. Why should I? I was usually happy or drunk and sometimes both. The life suited me and I didn’t think much beyond that.

  Each evening I would shower and change and walk down my soi, past the waste ground on the corner, cross the road and jump on a baht bus to take me down town. The first night I walked this route I noticed the little girl selling cigarettes at the edge of the waste ground. She was about twelve years old and a tiny, skinny little thing. She had great big eyes that looked too big for her face and a cheeky grin that could melt a heart. When I first saw her she didn’t even have a tray to sell the cigarettes from. She just had a few packets laid out on a mat on the ground. I always assumed that her parents were watching her from somewhere, because a wretched child selling on their own always seemed to get the sympathy vote. Well, she got mine anyway and I always bought a packet of cigarettes off her and gave her a tip.

  “Thank you, Miss-ture,” she would sing out.

  I had been buying cigarettes from her each evening for over a year and we had never chatted. She just grinned at me and then thanked me as I walked away. Then one evening as I was buying the cigarettes she just asked;

  “What’s your name Miss-ture?”

  “Tom. What’s your name?”

  “My name Som.”

  “Nice to meet you Som.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Tom.”

  It made me smile all night. I had always just known her as the ‘cigarette girl’ and she had always just known me as ‘Miss-ture’.

  Her little business had grown over the last twelve months. She now had a cigarette tray to sell from which meant that she could move around the city to sell her cigarettes and she had also started selling lighters, matches, mints and chewing gum. I didn’t like mints or chewing gum, but I always bought a few packets and gave them away to the girls working in the bars. Sometimes, later in the night, I would see her walking along the sois or the Beach Road and she would see me and give me a great big grin and a little wave. I sometimes got the feeling that she was looking for me because, once she had learned the times and the bars I would be in, I saw her more and more. She would pitch up and sell her cigarettes and I would keep an eye on her or, maybe, she was keeping an eye on me! I only did this because, after we started chatting, I had asked her where her parents were.

  “Not have. Just me,” she said.

  It was shocking really that a child so young should be out on her own, but she wasn’t the only street kid in Pattaya. So I didn’t mind keeping an eye on her when I could, before I got too drunk or too involved with one of the bar girls. I had never asked Som where she lived, or who looked after her. It was none of my business really and I had my own life to be getting on with. Like I said, I was no saint. I can’t even remember giving any money to charity even once in my life. I think that pretty much sums me up. I wasn’t a great person!

  I was living the life that I had chosen, getting drunk, smoking too much and sleeping with as many bar girls as I could. I didn’t plan to do anything else other than what I was already doing. I didn’t plan to, but my life was going to change.

  It happened one night when I was sitting in Ning’s bar. It was sometime after 11:00pm, but I couldn’t tell you the exact time. I was drunk! I had already had a skin full of Chang and now I was on the Sangsom. I had seen Som loitering around the various bars that I had been drinking in as usual. When I went to Ning’s bar I had seen Som set up under a palm tree on the beach just across the road from Ning’s.

  I had started going in Ning’s a lot over the previous two weeks. There was a new girl from Roi Et who had started working in the bar and she was cute. Her name was Tuk.

  She was as nervous as a kitten on the first night she started in the bar and I was her very first customer. I liked Tuk a lot and so I kept going back, but on most nights she had already been taken. She always smiled and waved to me even if she was ‘busy’ with somebody else. On several nights she was still available and I paid her bar fine and took her home.

  The night it happened Tuk had already left with another customer. She waved to me as she skipped out of the bar with some Aussie man. I hadn’t heard him speak, but he was wearing the Australian national costume of a sleeveless football shirt, baggy Billabong shorts and flip flops, that every Australian who I had ever seen in Thailand seemed to wear!

  I had another drink and looked over the road towards the beach, but Som wasn’t sitting there. It was more than just unusual for her to leave before I did. It just never happened. I knew instinctively that something was wrong. I added up the bills in my ‘Bin Cup’ and left enough notes to pay the bill and leave a tip. I crossed the road, dodging the tuk-tuks and motorbikes. Som was nowhere to be seen. I shouted out her name, but there was no reply. I looked up and down the beach. There were the usual free lancers scouting for business, a few farangs walking up and down looking for the free lancers and sunbeds piled up and chained together. I decided to look along the beach for her and I didn’t have to look for very long. She was lying behind the first pile of sunbeds. She lay in the sand and she had been so badly beaten that I hardly recognised her. At first I thought she must have been stabbed because there was so much blood, but the blood was just pouring from her many wounds received from the kicking she had been subjected to. I knelt down and as gently as I could I gathered her up in my arms. Her empty cigarette tray lay in the sand, the strap snapped and everything in the tray was gone. Som was whimpering like a puppy.

  “Som. It’s Tom. What happened?”

  “The ladyboys take everything, Mr. Tom,” she said and closed her eyes again.

  I had been in Thailand long enough to know that it would be useless to ring the police at that time. It would mean that Som would have to wait, lying in the sand and bleeding, while they visited the scene and took our names and addresses. They wouldn’t do very much else. I had to get Som to hospital and quickly. I could ring the police from there. I carried Som back up to the road and flagged a taxi down.

  “Bangkok Hospital, quick!” I said to the driver, who didn’t seem the least bit concerned that I was carrying a young girl in my arms, who looked like she was bleeding to death. The driver took us to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, on the Sukhumvit Road. I carried Som inside and explained what had happened. The nurse on reception asked if I could pay and I gave her my credit card before they took Som away on a trolley bed to be seen by a doctor. I wanted to go with her, but they wouldn’t let me. I had to wait in the reception area and the nurse asked me a lot of questions about Som, but I couldn’t answer any of them. I only knew her name and that she was the cigarette girl. The nurse seemed to understand and smiled and nodded. I asked her to call the police, tell them what had happened and ask them to come to the hospital. I waited for two hours before I could see Som. They had put her in a private room and I guessed that was because I was paying. They had already run my card through their machine and asked me to type in my pin. Som was awake, but very poorly and feeling sorry for herself. Her head and one side of her face were bandaged and the doctor told me that she had two fractured ribs. She didn’t have a concussion, but she had needed stitches to cuts over her left eye, her left cheek and her left ear. The poor kid! I asked the doctor if she was going to be okay and he said;

  “She is only 14 years old. Children heal quickly. Can you pay for her to stay here for two weeks for observations?”

  I didn’t even know how old she was until the doctor had told me and I had already known her for two years!

  “Pay! How much is it?”

  “2,500 baht each night.”

  I tried to work out ho
w much that was going to be for a two week stay, but I was still a bit drunk. I think I was in shock and I just couldn’t get my brain to do the maths. The doctor saw me struggling to work it out.

  “We are talking about 29,000 baht and the cost of the treatment tonight will be another 4,000 baht.”

  The figures sank in and I had to tell him that I couldn’t afford to pay that much money. I could afford the 4,000 baht for tonight, but the rest of it was simply out of the question.

  “Has she got somewhere to stay?” he asked with professional detachment.

  “No. I think she is homeless.”

  “Can you take care of her for a few weeks? She needs rest and a safe place to sleep.”

  “Well, I guess she could stay in my apartment. Do we need to speak to the child protection people first?”

  The doctor shook his head.

  “Give your details to the nurse on reception and give her this for the medicines that Som is going to need.” He scribbled out some notes on a prescription pad and stuffed it in my hand. Som was still lying on the hospital bed drifting in and out of sleep.

  “Is Som staying here tonight?”

  “If you cannot pay then she has to leave. We’ll take her down to reception for you.”

  That was it! I went back down to the reception, handed the nurse the note that the doctor had scribbled out and I gave her my name and address. I asked if the police had arrived yet and she just smiled and shook her head.

  “Maybe later,” she said.

  I told her to give the police my name and address and phone number so that they could contact me when they eventually turned up. I couldn’t just wait there for them, Som needed to be in bed and resting. After a few more minutes a man in a blue uniform wheeled Som out to me in a wheelchair and, at my direction, he pushed her to the line of taxis that were waiting outside.

  We got back to my apartment and I suddenly realised that I had never looked after anyone before. Maybe I wouldn’t be capable! I was just a drunk and an old man. I didn’t want responsibility. What the hell had I gotten myself into!

  I looked at her sleeping face after I had put her on the bed. It was battered and bruised and half of it was covered in bandage. Even in her sleep she looked frightened. Maybe she felt scared or sad or alone; maybe all these things. My head was telling me to get rid of her, but my heart was telling me that she was going to be staying awhile. I didn’t know if I should undress her or just leave her to sleep in the rags that she called clothes. I decided it was better to leave her sleeping on the bed just as she was. I put the fan on low and left her to sleep. I slept, or at least tried to sleep, on the little wooden two-seater sofa that came with the apartment. It wasn’t all that comfortable to sit on and it was impossible to sleep on. I left the door open, so I could hear Som in case she called out during what was left of the night, but she didn’t. She just snored gently and I spent the night listening to her snoring and wishing that I could.

  The next morning I left Som sleeping and I went out into the soi and went to the paper shop next door. I went in everyday to buy the Bangkok Post and a bottle of milk. I liked the old lady who owned the shop. Her name was Gung and she was well into her seventies. Out of respect for her age and because I liked the old girl, I always called her Khun Gung. We were friends. I told Gung about what had happened the night before and asked her to ring the police. She did and, while she was still talking to them on the phone, she told me that they had attended at the hospital the previous night, but I had already left. They were going to send someone to see me that morning. I asked Gung if she would come up to the apartment with them when they arrived, I just thought it might help to have a Thai person who could speak good English present.

  I didn’t have to worry. The police Inspector who came to see me was a very nice man and he spoke perfect English. He already knew Som and he told me that she had been taken to Father Ray’s care home for children on many occasions, but had always run away again. The three of us stood over the bed looking at a very poorly and tired looking little girl.

  “So what happens now?” I asked, breaking the silence.

  “I can take her back to Father Ray’s, but she will only run away again and be back out on the street tonight!”

  “And is that it?”

  “Or you could keep her here until she is well enough to take care of herself again.”

  “And what about the attack on her last night?”

  “I have already made some notes, but there are no witnesses.”

  I thanked the Inspector for his time and trouble and that was more or less that! I told Gung that I needed to buy Som some clothes, but I had no idea what a 14 year old girl would want to wear. Gung agreed to come with me and help me buy some things for her. Maybe taking Gung along on the shopping trip was a bad idea. She had less idea than I did about what Som would want to wear. She picked out two bras and a couple of pairs of pants, two white tee shirts and two pairs of outrageously coloured shorts with a big loopy pattern that gave me a headache. I wasn’t very impressed and I knew that Som wouldn’t be either, but at least she would have some clothes to wear. As it turned out she didn’t need any. Well, not for a few days anyway. She stayed in bed and slept most of the time. I kept giving her the medication that I had from the hospital and I changed her bandages every day. I went out to buy her Thai food each day too. She liked ‘som tam’, a very spicy salad made with green papaya and she liked a spicy Thai soup called ‘tom yam’. Each day I could see that she was getting better and the smile that had stolen my heart just over two years ago was back. Som had stopped calling me Mr. Tom and started calling me Papa. I didn’t even know what was going to happen in the future. I hadn’t decided, but it seemed as if Som had already decided. So Papa I was! Som started getting out of bed more and more and she would sit in her new clothes and watch TV in the main room. I asked her if she felt well enough to go out for a walk, maybe get something to eat. I didn’t want her to just stay in the apartment all the time. I was still going out and enjoying the bars, although not as much, because I had to look after Som!

  Som looked at me.

  “Yes Papa. I feel good, better to go out, but………” She looked down at the horrendous baggy shorts and I knew what she was thinking.

  “Okay. I have an idea. Wait here Som; I’ll be back very soon.”

  I went to Ning’s bar and found Tuk. I had already told her all about Som and what had happened to her. I went to see her now, because I wanted her to take Som shopping for clothes and I thought that it would be a good idea if Som had another friend besides me. Tuk was probably only about six or seven years older than Som, so they would have a lot more in common too. Tuk was very happy with the idea, as long as I paid her bar fine and gave her some money to spend on herself as well.

  We went back to the apartment and I introduced the girls. The three of us went out for some food to give the girls a chance to get to know each other. They spoke a lot to each other in Thai and I could tell that they were swapping their life stories. They were laughing and giggling and seemed to be getting on like a house on fire. I gave Tuk 1000 baht for her time and gave Som 2000 baht to spend on clothes and shoes. They walked off hand in hand and jumped on a baht bus to take them to Soi Bakou market. I went off and had a few drinks and I felt sort of relieved that someone else was taking care of Som. I still wasn’t sure that I was cut out for the responsibility. I arrived back at the apartment and was surprised that they hadn’t returned yet. It was another two hours before they did. Wow! They were excited and they were both loaded down with shopping. They insisted on trying on everything to show me. I don’t think that I have ever seen two girls so happy! Som had bought some lovely clothes, although I didn’t think that all of them were really suitable for a 14 year old. I guessed that might have been Tuk’s influence.

  “Papa. I have something for you,” So
m smiled, through a still bruised and swollen face. She made me hold my hand out and she gave me a little white bag. Inside was a red plastic heart on a key ring. It had the words ‘I Love You’ on the heart. I’m not an emotional man, but it just choked me. I was really touched. I know it wouldn’t have cost very much but, somehow, it meant the world to me. I still have it.

  “Papa, why you cry? You not like?”

  “I’m not crying.” Maybe I should have said more and told her how much I loved it, but I just couldn’t find the words.

  Som and Tuk became good friends and Tuk started coming to see Som a lot to take her out. It was obvious that Som would be staying for a while and so I had to make some changes that would suit both of us, if we were going to be living together.

  The first thing was going to be me getting my bed back! Som went with me and we bought her a very comfortable bed/settee and a nice little wardrobe for her to put her clothes in and she moved into the main room. The next big issue was her schooling. She had never been to school and she didn’t want to start now, but I told her it was important. Besides which, I didn’t want her staying in the apartment all day. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t a lazy girl at all. In fact she kept the apartment cleaner than it had ever been, but I just wanted her to have at least some formal education. Very reluctantly she agreed and I managed to enroll her in a local school where the fee was very reasonable. A week after she started the school rang me to ask why she hadn’t been attending. I wasn’t angry with Som, but I waited at home for her to turn up in the afternoon. I had already decided that I wasn’t going to embarrass her, or make her look like a liar by asking her how school was today. When she turned up in her school uniform I just told her that the school had rung me and told me that she hadn’t been attending and I asked her why. She burst into tears and then she told me that she was scared to go because she didn’t think she was smart enough to go to school and that all the other kids would laugh at her. I gave her a big hug and told her that I thought she was the smartest kid who I had ever met. I pointed out to her that she was probably smarter than most of the children in the school, because she was street wise and had survived on her own. Not just survived, but had run a successful little business selling cigarettes, lighters and chewing gum, which she had built up from scratch. I pointed out that she could already speak, read and write in Thai and English and I doubted that most of the other children of her age could do that. I told her that she was already good at maths. She could add up the price of a packet of cigarettes, a lighter and a pack of chewing gum, then work out the change from 200 baht, know exactly how much profit she had made on the sale and that she could do all that very quickly in her head. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and started to smile.