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depression in the taxi’s roof. Even as the others continued to cry out “ Djai yen yen, djai yen yen ” , the diminutive taxi driver scrambled over the top of his damaged cab roof and introduced his small foot to the giant’s chin. The little Thai was squatting on the roof even before his adversary hit the sidewalk unconscious. There the unconscious man remained until the MPs showed up a few minutes later from the US military Chavalit Hotel next door and hauled him off to the 5th Field Army Hospital.
    The cab driver waited much longer until the Bangkok police showed up to investigate the event. The entire time, as he waited, the driver’s compatriots admonished him saying, “We told you to djai yen yen.” And, unbelievably, he was apologizing to them!
    Although only a single incident, this is perhaps an extreme example of a special quality of forbearance most of these people seemed to have concerning a guest to their country. That lout of a soldier had been tolerated in spite of his provocation – but only up to a point. I am pretty sure that the giant GI had not been listening during the first sergeant’s orientation speech at the airport upon his arrival.

Young And Foolishly Wild
    Pattaya Beach was the most popular seaside retreat for the farangs living in Thailand. Many of the kids from ISB took every opportunity to visit either with or without their family. The town had only a few hotels and other amenities at that time. The largest compound, beautifully situated at water’s edge complete with bar and snack shop and numerous bungalows, was operated by the US military for the use of its higher echelon. The beaches were pristine.
    Enter Mike S, a fellow Bahn Pee Lek habitué and the definition of “hell on wheels”. He was the youngest of the IFAT boys, but perhaps the wildest because he always seemed to have something to prove, even when it was unnecessary to prove anything. On a particular evening in Pattaya, a number of kids from ISB were imbibing at Barbos, one of the few beachfront bars in those days. It was a popular watering hole for many of the locals as well. At an adjoining table, a group of young Thai hoods were trying their best to impress the farang girls.
    Mike and alcohol were never a good mix. When the opportunity to stir the shit up with the Thai boys presented itself, he was already primed for confrontation. Fortunately for me, I had only moments before left to escort my new girlfriend Bobbie back up the beach to her family’s bungalow and was engaged in that pleasant endeavor when the action heated up.
    Back at Barbos, the shit had hit the fan when Mike’s mouth had finally overloaded his ass and offended the Thai boys beyond acceptable norms. As the farang boys and girls beat a hasty retreat from the premises, Mike remained behind as if he was mounting some sort of rearguard action. A short time later, he was spending the rest of the night in an emergency room.
    Broken ribs or worse is almost always the result when pushing some of your Thai hosts past their breaking point. The fate of the local boys involved in the altercation was no doubt much harsher, since they were arrested and given a Thai-style correction by their own people. The Thai police are not noted for their tender treatment of those in custody.
    Mike turned up at Barbos the next night with his ribs wrapped up and full of life as ever. The staff at Barbos was happy to see us. Assholes that we were, everyone took turns at trying to make Mike laugh because it hurt him to do so. He nonetheless seemed to enjoy it. That was Mike.
    In general, the American kids could go anywhere, anytime and do pretty much as they wanted with impunity and without fear. On the rare occasion that a minor infraction was committed and a Bangkok cop became involved, the incident was typically resolved by paying a “fine” on the spot to make the infraction go away.
    For instance, I was stopped once at a traffic check roadblock while riding a rented