Thai Smiles, Part 23: More Friends

The Christmas season can - in some cases - bring out the best in people here in the USA. Not always, but far more often than other times of year you'll encounter people in traffic giving you a break, folks holding a door open for you, that sort of thing. There are even more folks willing to let a smile cross their faces. These are admittedly small "Christmas miracles", but we gratefully accept what's offered, right?

I'm certainly not saying the good people of Thailand live life without a worry or care, but I continue to admire their ability to keep a better grip on their "mai pen rai" (nevermind, don't worry about it) attitude, and I am again (finally) beginning to count the days until I'm immersed in it once more.

Here today are more smiling examples of shared friendship and camaraderie I've observed. The school kids up top were also shown in a different pose in "Friends" back on September 26th, but I also liked this shot well enough to repeat the same subjects. I defy anyone to look at this photo and not smile to themselves.

The kids above were playing some version of "tag" when I was wandering around in the large city park in central Udonthani one afternoon, and after taking a picture of two of them the others ran over to get in on it, too.

The two guys below were leading a less-than-charmed life when I first met them but had bonded together for friendship and emotional support, as co-workers doing challenging or unpleasant work sometimes do. I've lost track of them now but they were most generous in sharing about their existence away from home, and I hope to run across them again some time for an update.

If anyone reading this knows of their whereabouts, please leave a comment for me. In the interest of their privacy I won't publish it, but I'd appreciate it.