Fists Flying in Bangkok

Last word from Gerald, in the post below, was that he was about to make his way to Bangkok Airport. It's now been 24 hours and we've heard nothing more, so I'm now poring over on-line news stories about the angry-tourist punch-ups at the various Thai International Airports and scanning news photographs with a magnifying glass. Luckily Gerald is 6ft 4inches tall so I only have to look at people who tower over everyone else, and there are indeed a few in there although I can't make out their faces. It's a worry.

Gerald, let us know the moment you're out!

But, no, I refuse to worry. Gerald is always alright. It's a gift he has. Although, as Jim once said, "And that gift will last until the day he dies!" and that's not a pleasant thought!

However, on the grounds of refusing-to-worry, and because Gerald told the story of the man who prayed to Thailand's Black Buddha to make him rich and then went off and invented Red Bull, let me tell you of something most strange and creepy that happened to us several years ago.

You may recall my Bangkok story about meeting a lovely Thai gentleman and "dissing" the fountain we were both looking at ...

The "Thai-tacky" fountain.

... and it turns out he was the Thai billionaire who donated that very fountain to the public. Well, you'll also recall that he kindly and hospitably provided us with a car and driver to take us around a zillion wats (temples) only it all got too much and we ended up running away.

Well, I didn't tell you in that post that the very first wat the driver took us to was a little very poor one that was having its "auspicious day"; the day in the year when it was supposed to be its most powerful ...

At the end of this alley
is the "auspicious day" wat.

... and because we'd never been to a wat before and wanted to do the right thing but didn't know the etiquette, I bought and lit a joss stick to put in front of the statues ...

The statues.

The late monk who'd
recently been made a Thai saint
and in front of whom
I placed the joss stick.

That's when our driver, who'd been outside sneaking a smoke, returned and hissed "You will get a daughter!" "But I don't want a daughter!" I told him.

That's when the driver explained that every wat has a different function and this one was the one you visited to request a daughter (which explains why it's so small and poor), and by my actions I'd just asked Buddha to give me one! "But I don't want one." I panicked. "What should I do?"

"Take away the joss stick, break off the lit part and tell Buddha it was a mistake!"

So that's what I did!

However, the day after we arrived back in Hong Kong, I got a phone call from a woman I know who volunteers at a local orphanage. Seems that HK had a horrible incident happen in our absense, wherein a newly arrrived Mainland family had been unable to find work and the distraught mum, in a fit of desperation, cut her family's throats and then dived out a 15 storey window. Only she'd missed the two-year old who'd seen all and hidden.

"We can't find anyone to take the little girl!" our friend told me. "Chinese won't touch her because she's considered "an unlucky child"!, so we're after someone who isn't Chinese. But we also need someone who's tolerant and also educated enough to understand psychology because the little girl is severely traumatised. So I've put your name forward and they want to know if you'll do it."

Lordy, lordy, lordy, talk about cringe! And, recalling and cursing the big error I'd made in Thailand, I said "Sincerely and honestly, I'd prefer not to ... although, you know, if she has no one else who'll have her, then ..."

Luckily, the maternal grandmother stepped up to the plate and the child was returned to the Mainland or else I'd now be dealing with a severely traumatised little daughter! Aaahhhh! Nightmare!

So, scoff all you like but let me tell you, given the synchronicity involved in all this, the only explanation is that requests to those Thai statues are very powerful, so I now take them very, very seriously and so should you.