During the very first night of my last holiday I was strolling around the soi's of Sunee Plaza and heard a familiar voice call my name. Assuming it was one of the boys from the past, I turned to great him. I recognized him immediately as someone I knew very well, but for that first mega second I couldn't place him.
The minute he started speaking again I remembered who he was and the hand shakes and hugs were on. I guess one reason it took me a minute to place him is that I knew him from Bangkok and never saw him in Pattaya before. His name is Nu and he was a very dear friend and sometimes live-in companion of my old friend Jon from England. Jon had first introduced me to Nu about 1 year prior to his moving to Thailand and openly adored this boy as one of his closest companions.
I remembered Nu as being vibrant and full of life, who spoke with a refined British accent making him sound more like a very young Paul McCartney - than a 19 Y/O boy from the streets of Bangkok. His manners were also refined which also reflected Jon's influence on him over the years.
This time, something was different.
His smile, which used to stretch from ear-to-ear and could light up a soi on a dark night, was now wilted. His voice sounded lower than I remembered and his speech was staggered. Even the strong British accent I remembered so well seemed dampened and somewhat flat. We sat down at the beer bar he was working at and I was soon to learn why.
My very first question to NU was...how's Jon doing? I hadn't spoke with Jon since he accepted the full time position at a university in Bangkok earlier that year and was anxious to hear how he was doing. Jon was also instrumental in motivating me to explore rural Thailand in April 04' and provided me with a tremendous amount of good advice drawing from his expansive knowledge of Thailand and Thai culture. Nu's response to my question left me both stunned and depressed, as he informed me that Jon, who some of you may remember as ZZZ on our old PG Forum, had passed away 3 weeks earlier. Jon (ZZZ) also posted on Sawatdee, but for the life of me I can't remember the name he used.
I sat with Nu for over an hour and heard about the final days preceding Jons death and the funeral which was arranged by his family members in England. As a result of the families acknowledgment of Nu, and their understanding of the bond that existed between Jon and Nu, the family allowed Nu to bury Jons ashes at sea, which was Jons request. The tears flowed down Nu's cheeks as he described the boat ride from Jomtien Beach and the final words he spoke to Jon as he released his ashes to the sea.
I altered my plans for that night which included seeing Boy Special who had just been released from the hospital following a motor bike accident. Instead, I phoned Boy Special and told him that I would see him later in the evening, and I explained why.
I payed Nu's off fee at the bar and took him to JJ Karaoke which I knew would be empty at that early hour. We drank and ate, and drank some more, until people started flowing in and we decided to leave.
The heart-wrenching story I heard from Nu was not all that uncommon in the world of the Thai working boys, 95% of which never get an opportunity to meet and share their life with someone as special and genuine as Jon. Jon provided Nu with a place to sleep, food to eat, and more importantly, a caring and trustworthy friendship that was never compromised in the 3 years they were together. Nu is now torn in half and left with no other choice but to hit the streets in an effort to survive by selling himself.
I'm telling this story with the assumption that the announcement of Jon's passing was made to our forum members back in October.
When I returned home from my October holiday I had 2 messages from Jon in my in-box. One was asking me to call him so we could meet for dinner during my short stay in BKK, and in the other went on to describe how he was feeling under the weather lately. I said my final farewells to Jon in the long e:mail message I returned to him - knowing that it would remain unread in this life time.
Jon will be missed dearly by all those who knew him...and by one dazed looking Thai boy who truly loved him.Similar Threads:
