There were so many times out of mind; no one left who might appreciate the story; a silent and extreme action. They were on the edge of the painted cliffs in the far north of Thailand, looking across the river to Laos. There were family everywhere. Where else in the world could you pick up a young man off the street, negotiate a price and then be dragged home to meet his family in the provinces the next day. A local businessman, curious, showing off his English, dropped by their picnic table and asked him where he was from. Australia, he said, and there was all the usual rigmarole about a country so far away. Then: which one is your boyfriend, girlfriend? he asked, gesturing at the enormous family, men, women, lots of children. None of your business, he snapped back, jovial but definite. No offense was taken. The man moved on; through the trees he could see the winding valley and the river below, the cliffs on the other side. He went because there was nothing else happening in his life and it was one of those random events, not so much as a change of clothes; from one end of Bangkok to another, from one side of things, born on the other side. I am very sorry not go with you tonight, the best looking boy in the village said in good, school learnt English. Earlier he had explained: I like girl, I like lady boy, now I want papa. The evening had worn on like the day itself, there in that messy, diisorganised compound. crowded during the day with an astonishing number of children. They had lived like this for thousands of years; entirely communal. My family happy, I happy, you happy seemed to be the story. Many a farang - foreigner - told stories of enormous Thai families they were suddenly expected to pay for, whatever the activity.
A negotiated price; an asking price. I don't like. You want we go. There was a time and a place for everything; everything in season; heart soul and body. There was company and long nights and added expenses, false starts, swishy go go boys who left him feeling soiled in the soul, women with dimpled faces and astonishing, well dressed bodies. Drop dead gorgeous was more or less the way he put it, as they strutted their stuff outside the Biergarten in Soi 7; and yet it was the boys he couldn't get past. And now? Now were days in a daze. But he wasn't in an empty warehouse. Up to you, I like you, he said, when the persistent boy, realising the foreigner was going to be loyal to his original choice, finally proposed a threesome. The whiskey flowed.
They climbed out of the bus and into the Thai countryside at about 4am. It really was the middle of nowhere. A million miles from anywhere; from time out of mind in a failed life; from the horrors of old age; these incidents, these glorious moments which could only happen here, with no other Westerners anywhere in the vicinity. When they sat around in the early hours wired on yabba there was, finally, after it became obvious that these guys were up for anything, including getting off with a foreigner and with Eeach other, came that clear piece of English in the midst of the avalanche of Thai: now you see our true nature. The original gender benders. These pearls on the funeral path, coated, glistening, alive, powerful, that's all they were. Peak Experiences Anonymous. Calling, calling out to accept your offer. Except for the body upstairs. In such wild terrain. Calling, calling, because he couldn't keep his eyes off him. The cattle moved in their pen. An early rooster crowed. They clearly had no desire to go anywhere. Another boy kept playing with the hairs on the back of his hands; making it clear he could go with him too if he wanted. There was so much desire in the saturated heat. The children everywhere testament to idle afternoons lounging around. It was pre-television, the way everybody stopped by to say hello; the way they all knew each other; almost everything the subject of one great joke or other, including Baw bringing back a foreigner. He told them all how they had met and that he now had a new pair of Converse sand shoes which had cost the astonishing sum of 1500 baht.
Everything had gone, everything he had meant to be, and now, on walkabout in this hot, saturated, simple place; these were the stories, these were the days, taking time out from the daily chores, dreading the return to a pain filled landscape, shot duck, the single eccentric, there in that vivid curdled light on the road to Wollongong and to the place of hell in the human heart, the empty space, the boring lives, the crimes against decency, the utter and complete boredom. that had sunk into the place and into their souls, the few that he met. Like a flashgun gone off in a sickening light, it was these horrors that discouraged him from ever going back; to that desperately lonely place. You can sleep with me too the host declared, embracing him affectionately. And then later, drunk: You are safe. No danger. I am policeman. Beating his chest. I am soldier. Jungle. Thai boxing. An endless parade of excellent food came out of the humble kitchen. A duck was killed in their honour. A long way away in a distant time, he never slept alone. Almost never. Except perhaps in Penang where the old men sat around smoking their dampened, heroin laced cigarettes and the streets were full of the constant cry: Hey Johnny, you want something. Asia as it was, before it turned into the giant modern powerhouse that it is today; with a flourishing professional class. Hold my hand for a while. You stay with me? Everyday.
THE BIGGER STORY:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124421§ionid=351020406
Thailand's prime minister and army chief have addressed the nation as opposition protesters continue to occupy parts of the capital, Bangkok.
The two officials have outlined how they will handle the crisis in the country after rejecting the red-shirted opposition's offer of a compromise.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said security forces will retake the business neighborhood, which has been occupied by the red-shirts for weeks.
Abhisit earlier ruled out the opposition leaders' demand that parliament be dissolved within 30 days.
Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters still remain at a fortified camp in Bangkok's shopping district. They claim the army is preparing another crackdown.
Army Chief General Anupong Paojinda, however, has dismissed the claims, saying the use of force would not solve the crisis.
Red-shirts are largely made up of supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and later sentenced to two years in jail for alleged corruption.
Thaksin now lives in exile to avoid prison. Nevertheless, the former prime minister remains popular among the rural poor.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8641644.stm
Thailand's PM Abhisit Vejjajiva has rejected a new, conditional offer by anti-government red-shirts to end weeks of protests in return for early polls.
The red-shirts said on Friday they wanted parliament dissolved within a month, a change from previous calls for immediate dissolution.
They also called for an investigation into recent violence. Clashes two weeks ago with police left 25 people dead.
The red-shirts have been occupying parts of Bangkok for six weeks.
"Because they use violence and intimidation I cannot accept this," said Mr Abhisit.
Leaders of the red-shirt movement said they now feared a government crackdown to forcibly disperse them from their Bangkok encampment.
An army spokesman had earlier said that what he called terrorists infiltrating the crowds would be suppressed, but the conditions were not yet right for such an operation because of the presence of so many innocent protestors, including women and children.
Hopes of a possible peaceful way out of the crisis appear to have been short-lived, says the BBC's Bangkok correspondent Rachel Harvey, and tensions in the city are rising once more.
Failed crackdown
The red-shirt protesters had previously demanded the government step down immediately and hold elections.
"The 30-day ultimatum is not an issue," said Mr Abhisit. "The dissolution [of parliament] must be done for the benefit of the entire country, not just for the red-shirts, and it must be done at the right time."
RED-SHIRT PROTEST
14 Mar: Red-shirts converge on Bangkok, hold first big rally, occupy government district
16 Mar: Protesters splash their own blood at Government House
30 Mar: A round of talks with the government ends in deadlock
3 Apr: Red-shirts occupy Bangkok shopping district
7 Apr: PM Abhisit orders state of emergency
10 Apr: Troops try to clear protesters; 25 people are killed and hundreds injured
22 Apr: Grenade blasts kill one and injure 85 near protest hub; each side blames the other
24 Apr: Red-shirts offer talks if elections held in one month
23 Apr: Prime minister rejects offer
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