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Lao Family Justice


Coss

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I just witnessed a family fracas.

 

The young boy who lives across the way, starts howling at the top of his lungs.

 

Dad (I assume it's his Dad) appears and boy takes off for the hills.

 

Mother, older Sister, another two women and Dad give chase.

 

I can hear the pursuit, as it tracks around the neighborhood, by listening to the boy's howling and various shouts from the rest of the family.

 

This goes on for about fifteen minutes.

 

The boy returns, led by Mother who has a firm grip on his collar.

 

The rest of the hunting party convene.

 

First the mother gives the howling lad, a couple of slaps.

 

He is being berated by Mum and Sister and the other two women.

 

Sister gets a slap in.

 

Then Dad, who's being standing back, steps up.

 

Mother, who is no doubt aware of the power of the father's blows, stands between them and rather unsuccessfully shields the boy. Dad gets a few slaps and a couple of kicks in. Shouting as he does so.

 

All of this is quite loud.

 

I start to open my door to go and intervene, but as I do so, they stop. They've meted their beating. And I close my door, unnoticed.

 

I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I'm not comfortable with a beating of a kid. On the other, the boy is quite a big fellow, 12 or 14 and well built, and none of the blows was much more than a good slap or glancing kick, no closed fists.

 

i don't know what he'd done, it must have been something serious for the whole family to gang up on him.

 

I bet he doesn't do it again.

 

 

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I certainly wouldn't become involved in anything likely to attract the attention of the Lao police.

Their pay scale makes their Thai counterparts look positively wealthy.

 

I've had taxi drivers complain to me that the Thai police are well paid and don't need to hustle them on the streets every month for money. What they mean is low ranking police have an income about the same as taxi drivers, but with free housing and medical care. Family benefits too. Wealth is completely relative. Rich means "anyone who makes more than I do". :hmmm:

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When Cabramatta became the heroin capital of Australia in the 80s, most of the dealers were Vietnamese kids who had rejected their parents discipline - as one said, 'Back in Vietnam, if you talk back, they beat the shit out of you ! We soon realised they couldnt do that in Australia'. A Korean TKD instructor liked to tell the story of how he shouted at his father as a would-be rebel and was forced to stand out in the snow for an entire night while the rest of the family slept in their nice warm home. We mightnt like it, but that fear seems to be part of the bond that holds Asian families together.

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I've had taxi drivers complain to me that the Thai police are well paid and don't need to hustle them on the streets every month for money. What they mean is low ranking police have an income about the same as taxi drivers, but with free housing and medical care. Family benefits too. Wealth is completely relative. Rich means "anyone who makes more than I do". :hmmm:

A few years I was coming into town from DM airport and noted the taxi driver's license showed him in uniform.

I asked if he had been in the army and he told me it was his police graduation photo.

Assured me he had given up police work for the big bucks of cab driving.

 

Local village copper... constable... told me he makes about 10K a month.

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