HONESTY
Wednesday I awoke quite early so went to Wawarot Market about 6:30 a.m. According to guidebooks it opens at 5 a.m. Well, not really. Most of the food vendors we open but many of the other stalls and stores were not.
Wawarot is where are the Thais shop.It is HUGE. Perhaps equal to 9 or 10 square city blocks or more. Many store owners in Pai and other small towns shop there for their goods.
I enjoyed wandering around, buying some fruit, two large colorful pillows for my living room and an iced cappuccino. Near the last establishment my small change purse (which is all I brought with me) must have dropped. About five minutes later I realized that it was missing. Retracing my steps proved fruitless.
I wound up back at the pillow vendor and an Indian merchant overheard me trying to explain my situation in very broken Thai. he jumped right in and translated.Then he offered me 20 baht (65 cents) for my ride home. I thanked him profusely but explained that my preference would be to return the two pillow and get mymoney refunded ($4). He was doubtful but graciously translated. To our surprise the merchant agreed and I was suddenly rich with 120 baht ($4) in my pocket.
So I headed back to the guesthouse where 1000 baht awaited me in my big purse, dismayed that I had lost the purse with nearly that much in it. At the entrance the owner greeted me with news that someone had found the purse and phoned. In it were my room key, a hotel business card and a photocopy of my passport.
Needless to say I was overjoyed. “Kwam Su, Kwam Su,” ( happy, happy) I exclaimed. After catching my breath I returned to Wawarot, tracked down the vendor-and retrieved my purse. Everything was still in it. I offered the kind woman 100 baht but she refused.
My first stop after that was back to the pillow vendor to re-purchase the two pillows. Then I visited a fabric stop that had been closed earlier. Going there was the main reason for my excursion. I bought two different cotton fabrics so my local dressmaker can make a cool, open neck blouse and a dress for me.
ELECTRICITY seems to go off every afternoon.Sometimes for a minute and other times for an hour. Sometimes I think it is due to thunder storms.
MATTRESS was delivered yesterday from Jake and Mink (owners of Ing Doi Guesthouse where I stayed for 7 weeks at beginning of trip). They ordered it from BKK. Very nice. Sure beats the three, three-inch by six-foot pads that comprised my previous mattress. The choice was between the padded bed or the super hard coconut husk mattress as I had in the school house.
———–As often happens, posting two blogs on the same day.
paulathai 
May 19, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Nice to know honest, helpful people are everywhere. Glad you got your photocopy of your passport back. That was more valuable than the money.
Luv, Judy and Allen
May 20, 2012 at 8:30 AM
Judy, so glad to know you are getting the blog now. Miss you!
May 20, 2012 at 12:18 AM
Thanks for sharing that lovely story. I’m glad things are going well despite the heat!
May 20, 2012 at 3:06 AM
How wonderful! Karma is a lovely thing and sometimes we receive back what we put out … glad that was working for you this time around!
May 20, 2012 at 8:08 AM
your comment is so appropriate.decades ago when I lived in Greenwich Village I found a small purse on the sidewalk near my apt. The next day I tracked down the owner because she had written something on her work memo pad with her name and company. she was so grateful.