3 weeks to go ...

Well ... This is it, the second one! It is only about 3 weeks to go before I leave for Thailand. I am notorious for not keeping people I know advised of what I am doing so I hope this blog will fill in what I fail to do individually. I will post as often as I can and include as many pictures as I can. Please bear with me as there will be some sizeable gaps between posts. It is a steep learning curve for me so please be gentle in the comments but please feel free to comment!

The photo is one my friend Noom sent me. He loves temples and visits regularly. As Noom sometimes acts as my guide in Thailand I get to visit temples too. Despite having seen many, they are all different and incredibly beautiful. More to follow....

This is it! My first time at this.....

As a prelude to my upcoming travel to Thailand 

BOY AND MICHAEL

I am going to share this actual story from 2013. The extraordinary story of Boy and Michael leaves me thinking that humanity and compassion is alive and well. Michael is a long term on and off tourist of Thailand. He is English by birth and a tour bus driver by occupation. A man of modest means he takes his 65 year old self to Thailand two or three times each year. In the past he worked for Thai Railways and can operate a steam locomotive as well as diesel. He drove a locomotive across the bridge over the river Kwai - but that is another story.

Boy (his own chosen name) is a 21 year old from the north of Thailand. He worked on the beach at one of the myriad chair concessions on Jomtien Beach in Pattaya. Boy has little education and a probable learning deficit which in Thailand means a life of manual work. What Boy lacks in education he makes up for by demonstrating an eagerness and enthusiasm for his work.

In late December, Boy suffered a motorcycle accident which left him with a broken front tooth. In true form Boy missed a couple of days of work but returned to his job albeit in severe pain. What Boy did not know then was the tooth was badly infected and would become life-threatening. Boy also did not know he had someone there on the beach that would save his life.

Michael was that someone on the beach. He had some previous medical training and his keen eye noticed the obvious pain Boy was suffering through. He had a look at the tooth and made am instant decision that would save Boy's life.

Michael immediately decided to take Boy to one of Pattaya's leading dental hospitals. Luckily for the pair, the dental root man was there. They worked on Boy for 2 1/2 hours. Later he would get a crown on the tooth and repair other cavities. The dentist told Michael it would have been a matter of days and the infection would have spread to his brain and probable death. Michael paid for all of Boy's dental bills as well as a foot problem (tendon facetious). A sum of over 120,000 Thai baht ($4000) was paid.

In Thailand, if you do not have the means to pay for medical attention or have relatives or friends to help, you suffer the consequences.

What did Michael get out of this? He told me it was the satisfaction that he was there to help and intervene in time. He gave no thought to the eventual cost but wanted to put it all right for Boy. Michael's only payment was the beaming smile and thank you Boy gave him afterwards.

I think a story such as this one deserves to be told. There is humanity out there in our self-centred world. Thank you Michael.