Dancing with the Devil. (Koh Phan gnan > Suritthani, Thailand)
Unwittingly dancing with the devil may have spared us from an unluckier fate.
When Chrissie and I mounted the night boat last night on our way across to mainland Surrithani, we couldn’t have picked two more strategically positioned beds. In hindsight, when there’s a giant, shining space of an opportunity, be weary of regarding it as ‘good luck’.
Last night I slept only a couple of inches away from a campy trio of ladyboys – and until the lights went out, we (I!) considered them to be great entertainment. They chased away praying mantises that wandered through the window, puckered up to passing ‘farangs’ (foreigners), and joined in on our card game; the leader, ‘Bee’, proving to be quick to pick up on rules in spite of her broken, lispy English.
(Script: Bee points to a Queen and asks the name of it. Snarkily taking advantage of the communication gap, I announced “It’s a Queen – you should know that!)
Well, midway through the night I woke up to find them all barechested and whispering. Something in the air felt a bit strange, so I kept my eyes peeled for a moment before relaxing back into sleep – and a good thing I did, only to catch them walking up and down the aisles, plucking bags from unsuspecting sleepers.
What does one do when you’re the token person with that knowledge? Absolutely nothing. American movies might incinuate that busting the thief would be a heroic act – but after living in Asia, I’ve grown to understand that Asians work in packs – where there’s one, there’s many. Who’s to say that the driver and boat staff aren’t all part of it. And so after elbowing Chrissie in the ribs to tell her to keep her feet on our bags, we were left to spend the rest of the night in anxious paranoia and watch our other fellow travelers being separated from their money.
Morning couldn’t have come more slowly and we got off the boat wearily and sleepily – you can bet that I’ll be one eye on my loot, one eye on the road for the next month.
Heavy heartedly, Laura.
Tags: General Travels, SE Asia Travels
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