ThailandStories.com - BKK DJ, Book III, Canto IV, On the Floor Again

Note: there are more Thai words and phrases in this Canto than usual because my teerak was hanging over my shoulder making suggestions as I wrote the first draft. Unfortunately, I am now back in farangland, and have forgotten some of the words. Some are explained by the context of the poem, others are glossed at the end - the question marks show the ones I have forgotten.

I

THAT night Jim dreamed he was in bed with two
Girls at once – as nude as they were nubile.
He did things that he never dreamed he’d do;
Things that, awake, would get him into trouble.
Opening his eyes, he found that it was true –
Unless his hangover made him see double!
Onto the floor he jumped, hoping the sight
Would make the girls think he’d been there all night.

II

But Jum woke too and laughed at this manoeuvre,
‘I not so mao – so dlunk – that I forget!’
‘Nor I,’ said Wan, ‘You were a keng-rang* lover!
It was a special night I not reglet.’
Jum said, ‘Mai mee krai pit *– but now it’s over.
If you do it again, I’ll be upset.
From now on, you are my teelak once more –
That means, tonight, you sleep upon the floor.’

III

‘It helped me, Jim, to have another man,’
Said Wan, ‘because when I go back Pattaya,
I have to work bar – same as I began.
I must make my own money now that liar,
Galy, that chao-chua*, that jai raai* man,
Jai mee laai hawng*…’ – here, lapsing into Thai, her
Eyes filling with tears just like before,
She lay there sobbing – she could say no more.

IV

‘We were just fourteen when we left Korat,’
Said Jum, explaining, ‘We went to Bangkok.
Got work in shop, then factory after that.
We worked hard sewing, mending, taking stock,
But each month pay only 5,000 baht –
Starting at eight, finishing six o’clock.
One day, a flend said, ‘Why not come Pattaya,
For there your earnings will be ten times higher!’’

V

‘At first we thought – gaan-ten-ram – only dancing,
But soon found that uan falang* expects
Much more than bot-son-ta-naa* and lomancing -
He wants, in Thai, peet, or in English – sex.
We had no choice – kun falang was financing -
Us, families and mooban* with his cheques.
But it was hard – we were both borisat* -
Virgins – I sold mine for 10,000 baht.’

VI

Jim’s eyes filled up with tears of sympathy
As he listened to Jum tell their sad stories.
He said, ‘I wish you’d saved yourself for me.’
But she continued, ‘About Wan, there more is.
Galy was the first falang that she
Had known, so unlike me, my flend no whore is.
‘Don’t use that word!’ sobbed Jim, ‘it is not true
No other girl could be as pure as you!’*

VII

And with those words they all three cried together,
Sitting in a heap upon the floor.
‘You are the only other man I’ve ever
Had sex with, Jim,’ Wan said. ‘It hurts me more
That Galy was chao-chua while I’ve never
Cheated on him once.’ ‘He is a boor,’
Said Jim, ‘Go home, take him to court and get him
To give your son back, then move on, forget him.’

*keng-rang - strong

*Mai mee krai pit - I have no regrets

*chao-chua - butterfly

*jai raai - ?

*Jai mee laai hawng - ?

*uan falang - fat westerner

*bot-son-ta-naa - ?

*mooban* - village

BKK DJ, Book III, Canto IV, On the Floor Again

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