Chapter 61

May Day:

So here I am sitting at Nakhon Ratchasima station, waiting for the train to Bangkok, with May.

Two weeks ago this was a scene which I could not have imagined. So how did we get here? What strange vaguaries of human nature have ensured that we should have this weeks holiday together, visiting Ayuthaya, Korat and then Bangkok?

Two weeks ago I had decided to never speak to Khun May again.

The circumstances were as follows:
In England before leaving for an extra "brush up my Thai" six week trip to Phuket I received an email from May. It was uncharacteristically quite long but the gist of it was this.

"Khun M has offered me a job with his company in Phuket - and has said that I can stay with him- What should I do."

The pause as I reconstructed my thoughts from the tattered remnants of the explosion of anger, frustration, exasperation, fury and sheer naked aggression was nearly as long as the pause before writing this sentence.

For once in my life I did not compose and send my reply whilst still in a state of agitation.
A few days later I wrote a carefully constructed email pointing out that:
"As you are not my girl friend it is, of course, up to you what you do. However since you have asked me then I have to tell you that I think it is a crazy idea which cannot possibly work and that I don't like you doing stupid things that will hurt you."

Jealous? Yes of course, but at my age I have learned that, despite its strength, jealousy is really just a waste of effort. The important thing was that she was just going to upset herself and probably make herself very unhappy.

I guessed that she would go ahead with her plan, whatever I said, and that I would never hear from her again.

A week later in Phuket, through the local grapevine I heard that May had arrived at Khun M's.
As usual on the Sunday I went to watch the local cricket - always a good relaxing day surrounded by a wide ethnic diversity of people with a common interest.
I happened to overhear a mobile phone conversation - Khun M was coming to the cricket later that day.
I thought about it a bit and decided to leave.I suppose I could have stayed and been formally polite to both him and May but I know that my best intentions often fail under stress. I would probably have lost my cool and been very rude and embarrassing - So I left. Apparently, minutes before they arrived.

The Phuket grapevine is remarkable - everybody knows what everybody is doing. In the next few days I got to hear that Khun M was not very happy. Things were not going well. I just decided to do nothing.

Then I got another text message from Khun May. It was partly in Thai, which was encouraging.
It said ,"If you are interested in visiting Nan or anywhere else in Thailand I would be happy to be your guide."

This came as a surprise though perhaps I am a little naive since at least one friend had suggested to me that she would leave Khun M within a week and probably contact me.
I replied to her, quickly, perhaps too quickly, that that seemed to be a good idea.

And so here I am on a train heading back to Bangkok, with May asleep by my side, after five days or so touring Ayuthaya and Korat.

Even May admitted that I was right to try to dissuade her from her abortive Khun M venture.
Still desperate times call for desperate measures and she had lost her job in Chiang Mai some two months ago.
Well I suppose the same thing, desperation, could be said for her contacting me.

All I can say is that we've had a pretty good week - I've seen a lot of Thailand, learned a lot of history and, perhaps most important of all, both Khun May and I have learned a lot more about each other - and ourselves.

May has my respect.

Do I have her's? - Aah! -I guess that is not for me to answer.