A tribute
Muay Thai Farang
As I was having my morning coffee I noticed thumping sounds coming from around the corner. I investigated. I saw a foreigner, shirtless, punching and kneeing pads held by a Thai man. The foreigner was sweating profusely, his hair slicked back, muscles taught and eyes narrowed. A European family passed by, father and mother and two young teenage girls. The girls looked intently at the foreigner.
The cow and a Chinese lover
It was January 2023 and, having spend the past three years unable to leave mainland China, I was finally back in Thailand. Cannabis now being readily available, I started to smoke it daily. To avoid my holiday becoming just me sitting in a room, stoned, staring at a wall, I decided to only smoke after sunset. Each evening I would sit on the balcony, facing Doi Suthep, and tentatively smoke a tiny joint. Below me there was a small paddock, in which lived a cow. Whilst watching the sunset one evening I looked down at the cow.
Why can’t I be like the cow? The cow does not know anxiety or stress, only the present.
Later that same evening I arranged to meet a Chinese girl from Bumble. We met at a restaurant in the old city and after eating and a short stroll, I invited her to my AirBnb. I introduced her to the joys of cannabis and slept with her.
“The cow is right”, I thought afterwards.
Mental illness smoothie
I was sitting outside Healthy Junk in the Nimman area of Chiang Mai. Earlier in the day I had eaten an edible and was now resizing this was a mistake. The dosage had clearly been too high and I was experiencing depersonalisation and felt the grip of a panic attack. Thankfully I had my laptop and a smoothie. I put my headphones on and watched China’s bleak house, a powerful documentary about the plight of disenfranchised workers. After an hour or so I felt better and returned to my Airbnb.
