Taken from Thai life: Playing with money and luck

There is a small laundromat in the condo building in Bangkok where I live. The shop is run by Kob, a Thai who is estimated to be 35 years old. Not a Thai supermodel, but not one of the ugliest women I've ever seen either. Kob can do the complete laundry for you, just ironing and she can also button your shirts if needed.

Kob hails from Sisaket, in Isan. She came to Bangkok about 15 years ago to try her luck here. In Sisaket there was little work for a Thai who had not received any education after primary school because there was no money in the family. She started working as a housekeeper for a reasonably well-to-do Thai family. The lady of the house had an administrative job and the man earned his living, no his rice, by renting out condomiums (which he owns).

Working in Bangkok

In the first two years of her job with the family, nothing really happened. Kob had her own quarters on the outside of the house, earning not much but enough to send money to Sisaket every month. To father and mother that is, because she had neither a husband nor children in Sisaket. Gradually something grew and blossomed between Kob and the man of the house. And after two years, Kob was his mistress, of course without the wife's knowledge. He occasionally gave Kob some extra money (if she asked) but Kob didn't send all those extras to Sisaket. She kept something for herself. She didn't actually buy anything special for herself, no gold, no expensive watch, no expensive clothes or bags, just a second-hand telephone. She had discovered gambling and especially illegal casinos and lotteries.

Wrong lot

On a good day it went wrong. The lady of the house came home early unannounced and found hubby in bed with Kob. The house was too small. The wife presented her husband with a choice: either Kob out, or me. The man chose his wife (the condominium building was jointly owned) and that meant the end of the job for Kob. She was fired. Through a friend she came into contact with the owner of the building where I live. The owner bought three washing machines and Kob opened a business.

However, she kept in touch (secretly) with her lover. He came by two or three times a month, and not for coffee. I don't know if it's true love. Probably not. Otherwise he would have said goodbye to his wife and run off with Kob. But over the years he'd developed a soft spot for Kob and didn't want to leave her out in the cold. He took care of her. Paid her monthly rent for her condo and laundromat and occasionally lent her some extra money. He urged Kob to save some money for her future.

Kob, however, had become addicted to gambling. In the beginning she went to an illegal casino once every two weeks, but that soon became more frequent. She also began to run into debt. Her laundromat didn't bring in much money, but luckily she could always fall back on her lover. Because he collected the rent himself, he had a reasonable amount of money. And more importantly, his wife didn't know exactly how much. She received a monthly allowance for household costs and sometimes some extras and she was satisfied with that. She asked no questions.

Gambling addict?

When Kob asked her lover questions, it was always about money. At first a few thousand Baht per month, but in 10 years this amount had risen to approximately 100.000 Baht per month. Kob buys lottery tickets for about 25.000 Baht at the biweekly Thai State Lottery (the legal and the illegal version) and the other 50.000 Baht goes monthly to the illegal casinos. Sometimes the mobile casino comes to her, the laundromat shutters close early, and gambling takes place. When the money is gone, Kob borrows in the neighborhood (from friends and acquaintances) and pays it back with the money that the lover still obediently transfers. She has sworn to him that she will stop gambling (he knows she gambles a lot of money) but the addiction takes its toll.

Two days ago

Last Sunday Kob was once again without money. The creditors were on the sidewalk. Don't worry: called the lover. However, he had an annoying announcement for her. He stops paying. He told Kob that he can no longer bear the fact that she gambles away all the money he gave and gives her (10 years; an estimated 60.000 Baht per month, so a total of 10 * 12 * 60.000 Baht = approximately 7 million Baht). In all those 10 years she could have done a lot nicer (and better) things with that money. Kob has the same possessions as 10 years ago: no luxuries whatsoever. The man said that he gives his daughter 30.000 Baht per month to his student and that this is no longer in proportion to the 100.000 Baht he pays Kob every month. Kob called him because she currently has 200.000 baht in debt that she needs to pay back quickly. She borrowed 100.000 Baht from a neighbor with the promise to pay it back in 1 week. The neighbor knows about the lover. That money does not even belong to the neighbor, but is the savings of her family and husband, who know nothing.

On a last plea from Kob to help her, the man stroked his heart one more time. He transferred 1 baht yesterday and that was it. Finito. When Kob called him again because that amount was not enough, he did not answer the phone anymore. Kob divided the 100.000 baht among her creditors (those who charge the most interest first, of course) and gave the neighbor 100.000 baht instead of 10.000 baht. That's all she had.

The neighbor is in all states and now has to tell hubby that 90.000 Baht savings are 'gone'. And the question is whether that money will ever come back. It could be that one of these days Kob disappears with the northern sun (or the bus) in the direction of Sisaket without leaving his address behind but with a new SIM card. The result is that I then have to do the laundry myself and also have to iron my shirts myself. But that's peanuts.

Now if you think I'm making up this story, you're wrong. It's reality, and I'm afraid, not just Kob's reality.