I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand a few nights ago, and seeing all the motorbikes reminded me of an incident that happened the last time I was here. I was the tour conductor for a large group on our way to Southeast Asia and we were in Bangkok for a one-day stopover . I wanted to go out for a run and didn’t feel comfortable leaving all the plane tickets in the hotel room, so I rented a safe deposit box. When the cheerful receptionist gave me the safe deposit box key, she warned me that it was one of a kind and, if I lost it, there would be a charge of $100 U.S. dollars to cover the cost of drilling open the box and replacing the lock. I smiled and assured her that there was no absolutely chance of me losing that key.
The whole point of getting a safe deposit box is to put your mind at ease. Unfortunately, although I was no longer worried about the security of the plane tickets, I was totally freaked out about losing that precious safe deposit key! There was a tiny pocket in my running shorts, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I put the key in a fanny pack, strapped the pack onto my waist, and finally ventured out into the Bangkok traffic for a 3-mile jog.
Within 5 minutes someone on a motorbike sidled up to me and beeped, presumably looking to give me a ride. Besides regular taxis in Bangkok, there are small 3-wheeled vehicles called tuk-tuks which offer cheaper rides, and there are also just normal guys on motorbikes who are even cheaper. I waved the guy off and continued on my run, but this individual was persistent. He came up beside me again and beeped, and again I waved him off.
I find that when dealing with these kind of people you have to be a bit stern or they never leave you alone. The roving souvenir sellers at Angkor Watt are like that. They are expert psychologists. They can read your eyes and body language, and if they see even a flicker of interest, they’ll pursue you relentlessly until you surrender!
Anyway, the annoying motorbike rider was still following me, but I refused to make eye contact. Then, when I stopped to turn around and run back to the hotel, he really became brazen. He pulled his bike in front of me and blocked the road! Before I could protest, he apologized and held up something in his hand, explaining, “I saw this fall out of your pack and I’ve been trying to give it back to you.” No it couldn’t be, but it was – he was holding my safe deposit key!
I felt absolutely horrible! I apologized profusely and thanked the fellow over and over again. I offered him a reward, but he adamantly refused. Somehow, with all the jiggling from running, the zipper on my pack had inched open and the key had bounced out. The fact that he had seen it was incredible. And, the fact that he stopped to pick the key up and pursued me for more than a mile despite my rudeness, was even more incredible. I was so grateful that the Thai gentleman’s huge heart had prevailed over my suspicious mind!
