My step-father's farm lies about 200 kilometers north of Bangkok. Den annually harvests one rice crop. The rest of the year he tends to his roaming cattle.
They have long conversations and Den couldn't be more happy in this peaceful setting.
He rarely comes home to the main house.
No one listens to him after too much lao khao, but the ghosts have no choice.
They are his prisoners.
Even Preta, the hungry ghost.
Not much meat on Den.
Lao khao is the old man's main source of nutrition and hungry ghosts are not heavy drinkers.
A happy man indeed.
The serenity of the Chao Phyra river is an illusion.
Thailand as a nation is not so fortunate according to the World Peace Index.
Insurgency, corrupt police, and a political military are never a good recipe for peace.
See this URL; http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/rankings/compare/
Back in 2008 the Land of Smiles stood 118 out of 140 countries bracketed by Kenya and the Congo, 140th unsurprisingly being Iraq. This low ranking was the result of the government's failed suppression of the restive South.
I actually spent a month there in 1994.
It was very peaceful.
Not anymore.
Siam's 2016 standing has dropped to 125 and Thailand's status will not improve until a wise Thai asks his country end the power elite, "What about a little peace?"
Not that the Muslim separatists are interested in peace.
They want a land of their own, but Thailand is not interested in that solution.
So Siam should be in triple digits for the years to come.
In 2008 the USA was 97th.
Present ranking 103.
It feels more like 1003.
I guess the World Peace Index doesn't count when you export violence.
And import your dead.
Is a little peace too much to ask?
Really?
Steve McQueen thought it was cool and no one was cooler than Steve for a while.
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