Living in Bangkok: Two New Citizens of the World
Nong Ploy
Nong Ploy is the name of the new citizen in my soi. She is the daughter of my neighbours, Lek and his wife, and the younger sister of Nong Phrae. Nong Ploy was born in hospital by caesarean section. Still a real operation so mother and child had to stay in the hospital for a few days. And when they came home after about 5 days, the mother had to rest a lot because she was easily tired. Mother is now working half days again (the administration of a condo building nearby) and Lek can also pick up his old rhythm of moped taxi driver (nice word for Scrabble, by the way).
From the first day at home, Nong Ploy lay/slept next to her mother in the same bed. This is useful because mother is immediately at hand when she wakes up and is hungry. She only has to give a squeak or mother wakes up and picks her up, feeds her and puts her back - after a burp - again. We hear nong Ploy crying quite often. She lay next to her mother on the double bed all day long and was never really alone. Her mother reacted to every movement and was happy when Nong Ploy drifted off to sleep. My wife and I regularly give gifts that stimulate and engage nong Ploy's senses so that she learns to enjoy herself. She now has a few toys that make sounds (something that looks like a Dutch rattle), fluorescent stars, a sun and a moon on the ceiling (for 20 baht) and two (probably Chinese) butterflies that glow (20 baht each) .
It has happened a few times now that mother had to work and Lek was also busy. In addition to his moped taxi, he has a few jobs and rents himself out with the old pick-up for removals and transports. The question is whether we (especially my wife) can look after nong Ploy for a few hours, give her the bottle and change her if necessary. My wife likes nothing more. She puts Nong Ploy in a maxi-cosi and – when she sleeps – doesn't really pay much attention to her. As soon as she wakes up, music plays and she talks to her. She seems to be having a good time, looks around happily and never cries. It's different at home. For some reason she is not happy there.
Instead of listening to good advice (not only from us but also from other Thai mothers in the soi), Lek and his wife decided to let Nong Ploy grow up in Phuket, with her aunt. I understand very little of this, not to say nothing at all. Mother has a reasonably paid job and Lek also earns reasonably. They are not rich, but they are not poor either. And with the help of other residents in the soi, I think it can be arranged that Nong Ploy is taken care of during the hours when both parents have to work. I also don't understand how you can have your own child raised by your sister while you only see her once every three or four months. And then last week I heard that Lek also transfers money monthly to his sister-in-law in Phuket for the costs of Nong Ploy. Isn't it really cheaper to raise your child in Bangkok yourself? Doesnong Phrae not want contact with her sister? Is it laziness, laziness or perhaps stupidity on the part of Lek and his wife?
Nong Aom
Officially, Nong Aom is the daughter of Porn and her husband, the taxi driver Joe. Until about 1,5 years ago, Porn and Joe lived above us on the second (third for Thai) floor. Porn is a housewife and watches – I think – TV or movies all day long. Her husband Joe runs a one-man taxi business. Joe is a good-looking man, in his early 40s (I think), always wearing a well-ironed shirt, fashionable jeans and always smelling 'hom'. Porn is his third wife to whom he is married. I don't know where his two previous marriages ended, but I do have a dark brown suspicion. Joe does like women, especially if they are a bit larger on top than the average Thai woman who is not a client of a plastic surgeon.
Joe and Porn had to pack up when the owner of the condominium building found out that Joe occasionally made love to one of her Cambodian workers illegally residing in Thailand. Joe swore it was all lies and Porn believed her husband, despite his two previous failed relationships. They now live in a new condominium building a little further down the soi. Porn likes to gamble, legal and illegal. I didn't see her that often, but every two weeks she came by to hear from my wife which numbers she would play in the Thai state lottery. I hadn't seen her for several months and therefore suspected that she came on workdays in the morning or called my wife. But something else was going on, it turned out three weeks ago. Porn had given birth to a baby, nong Aom. And not only that.
Porn and Joe, as official parents, put the baby up for adoption because they couldn't care for her financially. A lie in my opinion if Porn stopped gambling. Porn was the mother, but Joe was not the father. Through a friend, Porn had come into contact with an organization that 'arranges' babies for foreigners. The organization would pay Porn 300.000 Baht to have a baby for an Australian man. Andrew (let's just call him that because I don't know his real name either) had paid the 'adoption organization' (including the fertilization clinic and mother and child care) 1 million Baht for a baby. However, the story is not finished yet. Andrew was gay. He wanted a baby, together with his Thai friend with whom he does not live. Because it would officially be an adoption of a 100% Thai baby, Andrew's sperm could not be used (the baby's skin color could raise questions with various authorities, including the Australian embassy) but that of his Thai friend could be used.
And so it came to pass, a quote from the Bible (well known in Australia, much less so in Thailand) might read. Porn became pregnant by Andrew's gay Thai boyfriend, and then Porn and Joe, as legal parents, put the new Thai-looking global citizen up for adoption to single Andrew. Last week the paperwork (including a passport for the baby) was arranged and Nong Aom now lives as an Australian citizen in her new homeland. Porn only has a picture of her daughter, which now appears as a profile picture on her cell phone. And a fat bank account, as long as it lasts.