Every couple of weeks my Krupkrua
takes a trip to Thai Walmart, called Tesco- it’s like American Walmart but
with a KFC inside. This is a stressful time for me. There’s brightly-colored
packaging, signs inThai, and delightfully tacky advertising. But I can’t
stop to look because my Thai family will notice my passing interest and ask if
they can buy whatever it is for me.
If I see a pink bag with a puppy on it and ask what it is, “Oh,
that’s fabric softener. Do you want some? Can we buy it?” If an interestingly-shaped
bottle catches my eye for a moment too long, “Oh, you like whiskey? Why didn’t
you tell us you like whiskey? What’s your favorite brand? Let’s buy it.”
In the car yesterday I wondered if the same ask (or see)-and-you-shall-receive
principals apply to bai-tiao, a Thai
mini-vacation. I’d heard there were monkeys in a neighboring province and decided
to plant some bai-tiao seeds. I asked
my host, Naam, is she had been to
Lopburi to see the monkeys. My Paw jumped
right in, “You like monkeys? Why didn’t you tell us you like monkeys? Naam
doesn’t like monkeys. Do you want to go to Lopburi?’
“Yes, at some point I would like to go to Lopburi.” The “at
some point” was completely lost, Paw
turned the car around and we were headed to Monkey Land.
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| Indian Architecture |
Lopburi was the least disappointing thing I have ever seen. It’s famous for 12th century Indian architecture and the monkeys that terrorize tourists. Monkeys run Lopburi. As I fed them beasts sunflower seeds, I felt like Charleton bravely confronting Planet of the Apes…or maybe like Angelina Jolie because I’m pretty sure the film, Tomb Raider was filmed there.
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| Might as well say, "Beware of Terrorists" |
All day, we took lots of pictures of my and the monkeys. Thai monkeys are far less friendly than their human compatriots, but they were generally patient as we posed for pictures together. At dusk all the monkeys went somewhere to sleep. I asked where but I didn’t understand the answer. I just said, “Good night monkeys. I miss you.” And we all laughed. I couldn’t stop smiling because I knew I had manipulated my family into having the best day ever.
