Spiderman Too
Joined: 15 Aug 2004
Posts: 732
Location: Caught in my own web
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 Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:23 am Post subject: The Good Daughter |
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The Good Daughter
At only 8 years of age, Nong Lek could speak English better than many graduates from Thai universities.Nong Lek knew nothing about English grammar, or the so-called 12 tenses of English, but she instinctively spoke the correct verb inflection and somehow managed to get her articles and prepositions correct..
She also had an excellent aptitude for arithmetic. When a foreign tourist bought 3 single stem roses and handed her a 100 baht banknote, she didn�t need a calculator to determine the correct change would be 70 baht.
Not that she always gave the correct change. Sometimes she would return 60 baht, sometimes 50 baht. Sizing up the foreign tourist was part of the game. How drunk was he? How stupid was he? How taken was he with her cuteness? How much could she get away with?
When a foreign tourist challenged her about incorrect change she would apologize, smile and hesitate to see if he would utter those delightful words �Never mind�. If not, she would simply give him the correct amount.
Nong Lek was smart too. It didn�t take her long to �catch on�. For example, after selling flowers for a month or two she realized that she could sell more flowers at the second (inflated) price level of 20 baht each and receive more, and bigger, tips when she wore her pink floral dress. She didn�t understand why foreign tourists liked her better when she wore that dress and she didn�t waste a lot of time thinking about it. She knew that wearing the dress helped, and that was all that mattered.
Pee Dum (she refused to call him �dad� despite his repeated protestations) often said �Never underestimate the gullibility of foreign tourists.�, and he was right. She didn�t like her mother�s new boyfriend very much, he smoked cigarettes and was drunk on whisky almost everyday, but she had to admit that Pee Dum�s suggestion (decree would be a better word) that they relocate from Korat, in the poverty-stricken north-east region of Thailand to the infamous holiday resort town of Pattaya had turned out quite good.
Nong Lek understood that her mother, Fon, at 27 years old and with 2 children, was more of a beggar rather than a chooser when it came to finding a new boyfriend or husband.
Back in Korat, Pee Dum worked as a motorcycle taxi driver and his �station� was at the front of the shanty town where Nong Lek lived with her mother and her 3 year old brother. It had been some 3 years since Fon last had a man in her life � Nong Lek�s father, Neung. Neung moved in with another woman when Fon was 6 months pregnant with Nong Lek�s younger brother.
Life with Neung was never all that happy even during the best of times but, when he left, Nong Lek saw a deep sadness, a state of depression really, engulf her mother. Lack of money was the problem.
Even with the government�s 30 baht medical scheme, having a child was a very expensive exercise.
The 30 baht medical scheme allowed Thai citizens to visit any government-run hospital for a maximum cost of 30 baht, regardless of the nature and extent of medical treatment rendered. In theory, a Thai citizen could undergo a heart transplant for only 30 baht. Of course, they might have to wait for 10 years but, theoretically, low-cost health car was available to all Thai people.
However, the medical scheme didn�t pay for baby formula or disposal nappies. Nor did it compensate for the loss of income during the period that the new mother was unable to work which, in Fon�s case, dragged out to 3 months due to medical complications during birth.
Fon had no living relatives to call upon for assistance. Her entire family were killed in a traffic accident at Songkran 3 years earlier, sitting in the back of a pick-up which overturned when traveling at high speed.
Fon never fully recovered from her depression caused by Neung�s departure until she started going out with Pee Dum. Pee Dum made Nong Lek�s mum feel happy and so Nong Lek accepted him and tried her best not to make him angry, which was quite a challenge for the young girl.
Soon after arriving in Pattaya 6 months ago, Nong Lek�s mother got a job as a cashier in a beer bar. Her salary of 4,500 baht per month, plus tips ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 baht per month, was some 50% more than she had earned working at the restaurant in Korat.
Pee Dum �suggested� (another decree actually) that Nong Lek suspend her schooling until they �got on their feet�. He instructed Nong Lek on the art of selling flowers to farang. He drove her to the bar scene at 8:00 pm each night and she would find her own way home anytime between 2:00 am and 4:00 am.
The �official� closing time for the bar / nightclub / disco scene in Pattaya was 2:00 am but many of the establishments were able to stay open until 4:00 am as a result of giving Police �tea money� � a euphemism for bribes.
Nong Lek wasn�t actually sure what Pee Dum did for work. He always had money in his pocket so she was sure that he had some source of income. On more than one occasion Nong Lek saw motorcycle taxi drivers give money to Pee Dum following which he would kind of shake hands with them. She didn�t understand what they were doing, and she wasn�t really interested.
Nong Lek enjoyed selling flowers to farang. Most of the time farang were funny. They would say funny things to her and do funny things, like pretending they had found a 10 baht coin behind her ear. Even though Nong Lek has seen this �trick� at least 1,000 times, she still found it amusing.
Most of all, Nong Lek had a profound sense of purpose � she was helping her mother, although her mother did not yet realize just how much help Nong Lek was providing.
Each night, Pee Dum sent Nong Lek out with 24 flowers, to be sold at a minimum price of 10 baht each, a total return of 240 baht. But Pee Dum was not stupid. He knew that some farang were willing to pay 20 baht for a rose, and tips were fairly common. So, he expected Nong Lek to return with around 400 baht every day.
Since discovering the magic of her pink floral dress, Nong Lek was averaging 500 baht per night. She withheld 100 baht per night when handing over the funds to Pee Dum. She deposited the cash in the hollow of a tree trunk located near the apartment building where they lived. In four short months, Nong Lek has accumulated just over 10,000 baht.
Like most Thai women, of any age, more than anything else in the world Nong Lek wanted to be a good daughter. And in Thai society, the measure of being a good daughter was how much money the daughter gave to her family, especially her mother.
Nong Lek was absolutely certain that her mother�s relationship with Pee Dum would eventually end. She was absolutely determined that, when it happened, her mother would not suffer to the extent she did when Nong Lek�s father left.
When Pee Dum left, Nong Lek would present her mother with the savings. Her mother would be so proud of her. She would say �Nong Lek, you are a good daughter!�. A good daughter - just thinking about it gave Nong Lek a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. She could hardly wait for Pee Dum�s departure. |
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