Wan di, wan mai di (new series: part 3) Ann

Chris regularly describes his experiences in his Soi in Bangkok, sometimes well, sometimes less well. All this under the title Wan Di Wan Mai Di (WDWMD), or Good Times, Bad Times (his mother's favorite series in Eindhoven). 

I think you sometimes have this feeling too. You bump into someone on the street or in a mall and they nod at you as a token of recognition. You kindly nod back because the face looks familiar to you but you wouldn't know from what to God. That happened to me a few months ago when I was cycling home from work on a Thursday.

On the side of the street, not far from my soi, was a Thai man, about 65 I guess, who nodded at me kindly. I had seen him before. I racked my brain but couldn't place the face. That Sunday my wife and I, as almost always, went to the market at Wat Geaw in the afternoon. A nice market not only for food but also because of the small flea market. Often at the end of our visit we buy our dinner at a stall that sells chicken with saffron rice: 40 baht per portion. Delicious.

And yes. That market stall is run by the Thai man who kindly nodded to me on the Thursday before. He had been alone for a few weeks, now came to mind. I hadn't seen his wife in a while. While enjoying the chicken, a beer and Thai football on TV, I told my wife the story. He is perhaps the main reason that Ann is back in the neighborhood supermarket (see photo above), she told me. Of course I had to know more about that. It's like this. Ann is a (may I say from my wife) attractive Thai woman in her late thirties. She is not a model, not a beauty, but she undeniably has something (and I think two things) that appeals to men (Thai but also foreigners). Since she doesn't speak a word of English it never came to a romance with a foreigner, I think. But there is no lack of interest from Thai (especially married) men. She was married once and has a daughter.

The Thai market vendor and Ann have been 'sensual friends' for several years. That was also the case when Ann ran the shop last time, according to my wife, and that was already 2 years ago. His wife knew nothing about it. She passed away a few months ago and the Thai man gave Ann quite a bit of money (from the life insurance payout; according to Ann a measly 250.000 Baht) so that she could come back to the store and live near him. Always easy and energy-friendly when you just have love within walking distance.

I had already noticed that Ann had given the shop a major overhaul: painted, a new air conditioner, new satellite dish (see photo), perhaps a new flat screen for the living area, new street furniture (so that customers can sit outside in front of the shop and being able to drink and/or consume the purchased items) and a complete stock of beer, whiskey, fabric softener, etc. In addition to the acquisition costs (a standard goodwill of 40.000 Baht), there must have been some money involved. The MAKRO also gives it for a reason. But her current boyfriend, a (married) police officer, has helped her with the whole decoration of the store, and with the painting.

Didn't he know anything about it, I asked my wife. Of course not, my wife replied. Ann told him that she won a nice prize in the state lottery, and he believed it. Incidentally, that police officer is no longer her gig because his wife found out about the affair. So end of the fun. Again 'breaking news' for me on Sunday evening. But the last 2 weeks I see another man in and in front of the store. And when there's nothing to do in the store, they're just messing around, I told my wife. That's her new gig, my wife said. I suspect he thinks that besides being attractive, Ann is also quite well-to-do: a good-looking shop, full of merchandise, everything new, a car (paid for in large part by the policeman and the market vendor). In short: who wouldn't want a Thai girlfriend or wife like that?

Well, not me to tell you the truth, I told my wife. She got up, turned off the TV and escorted me into the bedroom. It was a late night that Sunday evening........

To be continued