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not understand and I did not; at least, not at that time.
    He continued trying to explain, which confused me even more. With my limited knowledge of the language, I did not yet know that the Thai word for “free” is “ thai ”. So what came out in my mistranslation was “Only your heart/mind and The King can make me a Thai.” In his opium-induced stupor, Pee Lek had actually said, “Only your heart/mind and The King can make you free.”
    Lek divulged that he had been released under a Royal General Amnesty which was granted in celebration of The Kings 36 th birthday in 1963 and effectively reduced the sentences of most prisoners by up to one half.
    On subsequent visits to Bahn Pee Lek, the conversations had often included a huge variety of anecdotal prison stories which invariably concluded with a spaced-out silence. He would have the same look, called “the thousand-yard stare” that we often saw on the faces of the young GIs on R&R from Vietnam who we met at Lek’s whenever they got very high and began to speak of the war. It was an extremely eerie facial expression that could best be described as a haunting gaze. Even when directed at you, there was no actual eye-to-eye contact and the focus of the stare was as if on something far beyond just over the top of your head. It seemed like they were not even aware of either your existence or theirs.
    On many occasions, we met those soldiers who had learned of Lek from other GIs stationed in Bangkok. They would usually just drop in to buy some Falling Rain and then split. But some would sit around for a while and shoot the bull. Usually they spoke of their life back in the “World” as they used to refer to the United States. I always felt sorry for them because they were close to our own age and involved in a war on the other side of the world without really knowing why. While we would leave Lek’s place to go to the safety of our family home and then to school the next day, they would leave and go back to a hotel across town and in the next few days return to the war.
    The resilient people of Thailand seemed to take the whole American military presence during the Vietnam War era in stride, catering to their requirements from billeting to feeding to entertaining. Keep in mind that a lot of American money was flowing into Thai coffers. Petchburi Road was lined with more or less a mile of innumerable bars, discos, restaurants and massage parlors with Western names that provided thousands of young American boys who had only a few days before been on a battlefield with the opportunity to let loose. Their letting loose was often to the chagrin of their hosts.
    The average Thai citizen seemed to be almost always amiable, but perhaps like most people, could only take so much. This was demonstrated one night outside Thermaes bar/massage parlor/ coffee shop located between Soi 13 and Soi 15 Sukumvit Road where some of the ISB kids hung out. A few of us on the way to Thermaes coffee shop after an afternoon of water pipes at Lek’s witnessed a prime example of a GI pushing a Thai too far.
    When we piled out of a tuk tuk in front of the coffee shop, we noticed an incredibly huge American GI who was as drunk as he was huge. What followed was like a comic David versus Goliath scene. From what I could gather, the giant thought a tiny taxi driver had shortchanged him some small amount for his cab fare. The over-sized soldier, standing on the passenger side, was livid and bellowing at the cab driver who, sitting behind the wheel of his taxi smiling nervously, appeared to be offering money, perhaps the amount in dispute. But it had now become a matter of principle to the monstrous drunk.
    A few other Thais, including our tuk tuk driver, gathered on the driver’s side of the cab and were telling the cab driver to “ Djai yen yen ” (“make cool heart”). It was moments later that the roaring GI raised his giant arm and brought his fist down like a hammer creating a deep