The Thai words are hing hoi (หิ่งห้อย) and the first time I ever heard them was about two years ago. I was working in an English school, and I saw a group of more than a dozen students early one Saturday morning at around 7 a.m. Curious what they were doing together at such an early hour, they explained to me that they were about to catch a van to go out of town for the day. They planned to go see the hing hoi.
They then asked me a most perplexing question: “What” they wanted to know “is the English word for ‘hing hoi’?”
Hmmmm…… let me see.
I first established that I wasn’t mis-hearing, because the phrase “gin hoi” (with a hard-g sound) is slang for eating a girl’s pussy.
Laughter all around — no, not ‘gin hoi’ … ‘hing hoi’.
The quotes below are taken from a Bangkok Post newspaper story:
There have been rumours of a new coup since the leaders of the armed forces, led by Army Commander Gen Anupong Paojinda, appeared on a television programme on Thursday and called on Mr Somchai to take responsibility for the Oct 7 clashes between police and protesters. The military’s move was perceived as a threat to stage a coup.
….
Prime Minister Somchai has reportedly exercised extreme caution to avoid being captured to make way for a coup.
He took a chartered flight, instead of the usual military jet, to Ubon Ratchathani yesterday to visit soldiers wounded in border clashes with Cambodian troops.
Mr Somchai originally planned to travel to a hospital in Sapprasitthiprasong camp in the province with Gen Anupong and take an army helicopter to visit Thai troops near the Preah Vihear temple on the Thailand-Cambodia border.
He cancelled his visit to Pha Mor E Daeng for a situation briefing.
A military source close to Mr Somchai said the prime minister was urged to be cautious following Gen Anupong’s televised comments.
This is an anecdote, not an essay. It’s a true story; a parable if you will, which, while specific in its content, in my opinion, points to a greater general truth.
Today is Wednesday.
I haven’t been on the internet for two full days, which is unusual for me. The reason is because I’ve been both busy and sick.
I’ve always been a “night person”. It probably started when I was in high school, working in a seafood restaurant until 11 p.m. five nights per week to earn my spending money. By the time I got home, showered and relaxed enough to get to sleep it was usually around 1 a.m., even on a school night.
When I graduated from university, my first few years working as a manager were spent in restaurants. I worked in places that were open from morning till night — usually about 12 hours a day — and in the places I worked the managers all worked rotating shifts. This meant some pretty odd schedules and I learned to wake up when I had to and t sleep when I could.
The Bangkok Post now reports that the former Deputy Pime Minister, K. Chavalit, who resigned just days ago, is calling for a military coup d’etat to resolve the ongoing political crisis.
The latest coup d’etat (#18?) in 2006 set the country back a decade or more politically and economically. It’s difficult to imagine the mindset of a person — a former government minister — who can openly discuss the idea of a political coup in the newspaper as though it’s a reasonable solution. This goes a long way towards explaining why Thailand cannot grasp and hold onto democracy as a form of government.
