The 13th Tablet

All in all, Mina found the museum’s collection fascinating but the descriptions, when there were any, amounted to no more than one-line legends. The city was utterly turned towards tourism. It was colourful and noisy, with gift shops, travel agencies and hotels. At every street corner, touts invited visitors and tourists to enter their establishments right off the street, whether to massage parlours or restaurants. In comparison, the national museum, at least in its presentation, felt almost like a cultural understatement. They sat at a table in the museum’s inner courtyard and ordered a cool drink. Mina was finding it difficult to adapt to the weather, and felt more at ease indoors. It wasn’t so much the temperature that bothered her but the tropical climate, humidity mingled with heat and the lack of any breeze. Her clothes stuck to her body and she wasn’t used to sweating this much. One person’s discomfort, however, is another’s pleasure as it obviously appealed to Jack from the way he was checking out her glistening cleavage.

‘It’s a strange place, Jack. I know I haven’t been here for more than a few hours, and call me callous, but I don’t feel that people here are in touch with their past.’

‘I’m not sure anyone really is, but it’s funny you should say that. Most of Thailand has embraced capitalism and Western culture to such an extent that I’ve often had the same feeling. Someone once said to me that “the gods have left Thailand.”’

‘I know they’re Buddhist, but what does it represent here?’ asked Mina.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Jack in turn.

‘As far as I understand it, Buddhism came from India, and was a monastic order. In India, lay people weren’t Buddhists. How does it work in Thailand?

‘You must have seen the beads and necklaces some men wear around their necks.’

‘Yes, I noticed that the pendant was often the same, sort of triangular in shape.’

‘It’s a small image of a monk or a saintly man,’ said Jack, ‘while Buddhism is still monastic in its general form, it has little to do with what went on in India centuries before. A large section of the population is made up of monks. Many young men go to a monastery for a few years and eventually leave to get jobs.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Mina.

‘Well, it’s the best way for young people who can’t afford to attend proper schools to get an education, free of charge. Some enter the orders for a year or two mainly to learn English.’

‘So what’s the main religion?’

‘Well, apart from those who are Christian and Muslim, especially in the South of the country, you could say they worship their ancestors and I think that Buddhist monks sometimes officiate at weddings, but that’s a recent change. You often find them at funerals.’

‘You seem to know a lot about Thailand.’

‘I had a good friend here. He taught me a lot about the country.’

‘Had?’ Mina asked, not believing her luck as Jack unveiled another layer of his mysterious past.

‘Hon died five years ago.’

‘I’m very sorry Jack.’

‘It’s OK. It’s been a long time.’

‘How did he die?’ she asked.

‘Quite tragic really. He was a doctor in Chiang-Mai. He went to a remote village to train local nurses and was bitten by a very poisonous snake.’

‘I hope you don’t mind me asking you about this?’

‘Of course not Mina,’ he said, kissing her tenderly. ‘So, have you seen enough of the museum?’

‘Yes, sir,’ she replied, jokingly.

‘Hungry?’

‘Famished.’

‘Good,’ he replied, ‘I know just the place to go.’

Jack and Mina were sipping their double espressos after a sophisticated meal at the Oriental Hotel. The exquisite outdoor terrace restaurant overlooked the Chao Phraya River. They both gazed for a while at the boats sailing past and tried not to laugh too much at the wealthy wives of western expats sitting at nearby tables, pouting disdainfully at everyone. They walked through the older parts of the Hotel, admiring the sepia photographs of the Hotel’s rich and famous guests since Queen Victoria’s time, and then into the foyer where they left the hotel and hailed a taxi.

‘So where are we going next, Monsieur Jack?’

‘My favourite,’ he glanced at her mischievously, ‘a massage.’

‘I thought massages were kind of seedy in these parts?’ she said, somewhat taken aback.

Jack laughed, ‘They can be… but not where I’m taking you.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Surprise,’ he said, and stopped any further questions with a kiss.