At Asok BTS station this morning I bought my ticket and went through the barrier, on the other side of which the uniformed lady at a table asked to see my holdall. I was in a hurry and foolishly responded to this reasonable request by allowing a petulant frown to furrow my brow as I plonked down the bag. Perhaps it was something about the way I then unzipped it which caused her, not a woman to be outdone in the grumpy stakes, to forego the usual quick once-over and ask me to empty it. So out came the books, the i-Pad, the dirty laundry, the KY, the condoms, the frilly knickers. Unfazed, she gave me an almost imperceptible nod and I quietly repacked the bag, with dignity I thought, and continued on my way.
The moral of the tale is of course always to smile, however aggravating the circumstances, when dealing with people in Thailand with the power to complicate your life. Actually it's not a bad rule wherever you happen to be.