One More Cup Of Coffee

*

The call came and he did not return it; that one he had dared to love so much and forgave so much; for no other reason perhaps than that he too once roamed the streets and put up with the mauling of men two or three times of his age; I can do, I can do, he would say bravely; this time by a boy who didn't smoke, drink or take drugs and who, instead of being entirely nocturnal, as the other boys he had known had been, but just as no Thai ever comes alone; nor did this one. It's a classic Thailand thing; being dragged home to meet the family by rent boys and working girls; and many a western male has found themselves shaking hands with mother and father. Oh by the way I'm screwing your son/daughter for money. It never seems to come up, so to speak; they are embraced whole heartedly; as if they are relieved you don't have two heads and they can share in your money. The Buddha shines upon them in so many original ways.

This time it was a tiny house on the edge of a river 115 kilometres from the heart of Bangkok, where what seemed like half the village but was in reality only the extended family, brothers, sisters, cousins, mother, father, came to stare at the falang. They all relaxed when he took a bite to eat and declared everything "arroy", delicious. They had all been expressing concern at their boy working in the bar; he is too young, they said, although he was 22, or said he was 22, and obviously, here where he had grown up, a cute little kid no doubt running running along the river bank, so dearly loved, so dearly loved, and he looked up at the little sea of moon faces watching him and laughed at one of the shy kids; and soon enough everybody decided they liked each other and all was well and he was being invited back for a big family celebration the following month when another son was leaving the monastery after having had his head shaved and been at the wat for his internship, or whatever it is called.

The last of the sunset glimmered across the river and his companions, another very camp bar boy who was declared a brother but did not seem to have any relationship to this family, a softly spoken cousin drafted to take care of their beloved son; and a lady boy who remained quietly cheerful in the packed taxi as they made their escape from Bangkok late in the afternoon. Come back early next time, we will show you everything, the mother, a wiry, almost grandmotherly figure, Aek was clearly one of the youngest sons, watched him closely with those big eyes that showed she remembered everything about her beloved son. He tried, as they departed in the city taxi none of them could have afforded without him, to say: dee mak mak your son is very good, study hard, you should be proud; but God only knows what she thought he was saying: your son is very handsome and I love to f... him and you should be proud to have produced such a charming offspring, prey for foreigners, bait for money. Too young to work in the bar, they said, when talk came up of drafting another of the families handsome boys into the service. Only 15.

There were times when he still puzzled over what had happened, why he had done such a total job on himself; why it was taking so long to recover; why love had disintegrated every notion of common sense and the Baw wave, when he woke up with two Baws in his hotel room, were shaking apart any notion he might have had of being sane, sensible, a grown person; on the roam, as one might be, but careful, your heart, mysterious and dark, as Dylan had put it, one more cup of coffee, before the road, one more cup of coffee, before I go, to the valley below; it had been, for whatever reason, their theme song; as if every relationship had to have a theme song; and this one, which had been cemented so beautifully with four shots of vodka before breakfast on the following morning; collapsed, aching, the best and the worst, the most ridiculous things, ignominy, joy, savage recollection; now it was all being washed away in a different life, in a different place, in an upmarket condo he could not afford which marked forever the difference between the past and the future, which told him that even if he died tomorrow; he had given it a damn good shot. One happy year in Bangkok, that's all I ask, he told himself. I haven't had that happy a life and this is the last shot; and so as they travelled the river later in the night, watching the fire flies blinking in the trees along the river's edge rather than the bar flies blinking in the dark along the edge of the bar, that was where the difference lay. They sent him up: all day, morning to night, anything I do he just says: good, good. Anything that happens, he just says: good, good. And so they all laughed; as the taxi took them back to Bangkok, back into the heart of things. Back to where he was eternally happy to be.

THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/27/2938009.htm?section=justin

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is breaking free from one of her predecessor's main policy stances by announcing she is not interested in a "big Australia".

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd was in favour of population growth, with his government predicting it to hit around 36 million by 2050, largely through immigration.

But Ms Gillard has indicated she will be putting the brakes on immigration in order to develop a more sustainable nation.

"Australia should not hurtle down the track towards a big population," she told Fairfax.

"I don't support the idea of a big Australia with arbitrary targets of, say, a 40 million-strong Australia or a 36 million-strong Australia. We need to stop, take a breath and develop policies for a sustainable Australia.

"I support a population that our environment, our water, our soil, our roads and freeways, our busses, our trains and our services can sustain."

But Ms Gillard says that does not mean putting a stop to immigration all together.

"I don't want business to be held back because they couldn't find the right workers," she said.

"That's why skilled migration is so important. But also I don't want areas of Australia with 25 per cent youth unemployment because there are no jobs," she said.

Mr Rudd installed Tony Burke as the Minister for Population, but in one of her first moves as Prime Minister, Ms Gillard has changed his job description to Minister for Sustainable Population.

Mr Burke will continue to develop a national population strategy which is due to be released next year.

Ms Gillard says the change sends a clear message about the new direction the Government is taking.

Families Minister Jenny Macklin told Channel Ten that Australia's population growth has to reflect the country's economic needs.

"When we have areas in Australia with 25 per cent youth unemployment we should be getting in there doing everything possible to get those young people skilled up and into the jobs that are available," she said.

"Making sure that where we have serious congestion in our cities that we do something about it."

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has told ABC1's Insiders that Ms Gillard cannot be believed.

"When the Coalition said a few months ago that the population had to be sustainable we were pilloried up hill and down dale by Julia Gillard," he said.

"I think what we're also going to see from Julia Gillard is an attempt on all the controversial issues where the Opposition is making the running, to adopt a kind of 'me too' strategy."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gxeAVUun6rjQdqvd9GwawhwCxwOQ

BANGKOK — Thailand is set to lift emergency rule, imposed during mass opposition protests in the capital, in many provinces next month, but extend the strict laws in Bangkok, officials said Thursday.

The emergency decree, in place across about a third of the country, is due to expire on July 7. The cabinet will decide whether to extend it based on the advice of security officials.

"I believe that the state of emergency is likely to be lifted in many areas," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters.

The government unit set up to oversee security during the unrest has decided to ask the cabinet to keep the emergency laws in the capital but revoke them in some other provinces, said spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd.

The opposition has called for the law to be revoked for a parliamentary by-election in Bangkok on July 25.

"For Bangkok the state of emergency will remain despite the by-election," Sunsern said.

Two months of mass anti-government protests by the "Red Shirt" movement, pushing for immediate elections, sparked outbreaks of violence that left 90 people dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.

"There are still some elements involved in the movement and we don't want that (new violence) to happen," Abhisit said.

Abhisit invoked emergency rule in Bangkok on April 7, banning public gatherings of more than five people and giving broad powers to the police and military.

Enraged protesters went on a rampage of arson after a deadly army crackdown ended their rally on May 19. The unrest also spread outside the capital, particularly in the Reds' stronghold in the impoverished northeast.

A Red Shirt leader who faces charges of terrorism is being fielded by the opposition Puea Thai Party to stand in the Bangkok by-election.

A Thai court agreed Thursday to temporarily free Korkaew Pikulthong from detention early next week so he could file his candidacy.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Bangkok_sunset_burning_sky.jpg