As I walked through the temple to the kitchen area where the women were gathered preparing the food for the evening offering and meal on the third and final day of my mother-in-laws funeral rites, I noticed uncle Nim sat on the floor of the kitchen with two other men. One in his usual farming garb was Daeng from the house opposite my mother-in-laws, with his easy smile. The other I didn’t know. He wore cleaner and more expensive clothes and had several baht of gold, which was hanging around his neck. His nails were clean and he was clean shaven. They were half way through three big bottles of Leo beer.

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