To BE LOST

    Daendin, a twenty-seven-year old young artist, slowly pushed the front door of his post card shop open. The morning sunlight flooded into the shop, revealing the shop inside filled with the postcard racks of ever style in order. Not only postcards could be found in his shop, but other items like T-shirts featuring the kilometer post 0 and some with the words “Love Pai” on the back were also available in this well designed shop. Three years before, he moved into this tiny town, known as Pai, like some other Bangkokians, especially those who worked in the fields of advertisement and writing, due to the beauty of the town and, most importantly, the Tomyumkung disease* which caused Thai economy to collapse. Pai, a paradise in northern Thailand, has nowadays become well-known among backpackers for its relaxed atmosphere.

  He sat down on a narrow wooden bench; watching people doing things around him and raising a cup of coffee to his lips, sipped, and held it in his mouth, then put it back on the small table before him. He looked at Pa Nong, a fifty-year-old Shan woman*, busy doing her job in the noodle stall opposite his shop. For a moment, a big coach passed by and stopped diagonally across from Pa Nong’s stall. A group of tourists got off and walked straight into her stand.
   “One bowl of noodle, please”
   “Can I have Pad Thai?”
   “Two bowls of fried noodle, hurry up! I’m starving.”
The tourists quickly ordered what they liked and rushed Pa Nong to serve them. Daendin stared at them with annoyance. Only Pa Nong worked in the stall-how could she satisfy them? Since Pai became popular with the tourists, both Thais and foreigners have kept coming to Pai as if it is a utopia. Huge numbers of investors from Bangkok and other cities flocked to this small town. Hundreds of hotels, guest houses, and bungalows have been built. Pubs and bars can be found everywhere. As time passed by, Daendin realized that Pai had changed from a peaceful town to a crowded place-it was totally different from Pai in the last five years.
“I love Pai. I will come to live here in the future.” Daendin told his close friend, Maple, about his dream when they traveled to Pai five years ago.
“I love this place, too.” A twenty two girl gave him a lovely smile.
“You know, I want to have a small postcard shop here and live a self sufficient life.” They sat on the mountain top watching the sun setting. Far away, the town was just a red glow on the horizon.
“But I’m afraid.” Maple said with a soft voice.
“Afraid of what?”
“I’m afraid time will change Pai to a place like Pattaya, Koh Samui, Pangan* and other
tourist spots in Thailand.” Daendin looked into her eyes as if trying to tell her that he also had the same fear as her. He always heard people say that Pai was like a young girl whose beauty spread out all over the place. There is no doubt why a lot of people want to come to this tiny town.

The tourists had already left Pa Nong’s noodle stall. Before the coach went out, Daendin overheard one of them swear “It sucks!”  Many tourists expect more than that which ordinary reality can provide and consequently feel disappointed when they do not receive what they expect.

“Why is it this T-shirt features the kilometer post 0?”
Daendin turned in the direction he heard the low voice. A middle-aged man held the cream-colored T-shirt in his hand, carrying a SLR camera across the shoulder.

“Pai is at the kilometer post 0, sir.” Very often, Daendin had to answer this question. The tourists liked to ask him about the feature on the T-shirt when they first saw it. He himself designed all the T-shirts and postcards and many of his works very attracted the tourists. But no one knew exactly what each picture or word on the postcard and T-shirt really meant-except for Daendin himself. He never forgot the day when his close friend passed away.

  Maple had a white skin with narrow eyes and her smile really stunned every one. To Daendin, Pai was then like the beauty of Maple, which stuck in the mind of the beholder. They liked to travel together and their favorite place was Pai. One day during travel to Pai, the trip turned into a nightmare. It all quickly happened in front of his eyes when Maple got hit by the motorcycle. She stood in front of the noodle stall to pay the seller for the food while Daendin was busy talking on the phone. All of a sudden, The Honda NSR quickly came toward the stall and smashed into Maple. Everyone was completely dumbfounded to see that, especially Daendin. He later on came to know that the driver got drunk. Maple was rushed to the hospital but she could not endure the severe injuries and finally died. That incident still haunted Daendin. After graduating from the college, he decided to move into Pai and set up his postcard shop on the road where his intimate friend got hit- right at the kilometer post 0. The kilometer post 0 on the T-shirt reminded him of the accident.

“Daendin, all pieces of land in Pai would become the property of capitalists pretty soon.” Lung Sorn, the village headman who always dropped in to see Daendin, stepped into the shop and started the conversation with him.
“What do you mean?” He frowned at Lung Sorn.
“All the villagers in my village and those in the nearby villages are going to sell their land to people who will come to invest here.” Daendin was shocked to hear that. If the villagers decided to sell their land to those investors, Pai finally had nothing left. This paradise would be completely the same as other tourist spots in Thailand.
“Why didn’t you tell them the bad things that will come along?”
“I did. But they never listened to me.” Daendin realized that Lung Sorn felt discouraged and hopeless.
“Where are they going to live if they sell their land?”
“They will probably move to the other towns.”

Daendin always thought that development without good planning brings about disaster. Pai is going to lose its identity, from being a quiet place to a crowded spot. He looked through the door and saw many tourists walking on the roads, some drinking at the bars with much noise, and some driving the motorbikes along the roads as if Khao Sarn Road*. On top of the mountains, he saw some bungalows and resorts being built. He never saw the authorities take any action on this issue. People seemed to ignore what happened to Pai. Lung Sorn already left. He came out of the shop and looked up into the sky.

‘I don’t want to lose Pai like I lost my friend.’ He talked to himself with tear.

จากคุณ : Daendin - [ 20 พ.ย. 51 10:13:59 ]