The Man Who Jumped to Earth

'Did you sleep well last night?' said Moo with the usual grin on her face.

'Not really,' I said going into my current moans about the mosquito swarms, about having to sleep with the fan on max all night, about waking up feeling like shit, blah, blah, blah.

'No, I mean didn't you hear anything?'

I stopped to think. 'Hear what?' I asked, puzzled.

So she told me about the odd middle-aged Austrian hippy who'd been here for the last week or so. He'd kept most of the guesthouse awake all night with mad ravings and monologues. Rustling plastic bags non-stop while chanting Om mantras. After repeated requests to stop and leave, Mama eventually called the police to force open the door and escort him out.

Upon seeing the police, he left of his own accord ...wearing only underpants and T-shirt, sawadee kapping reverently, repeatedly bowing his head with that big humble smile of his. The police chased after him, imploring him to put his trousers on.

The whole of his bedroom floor was covered in gravel-like stones, yet Mama let him go without asking for any of the rent he owed her.

I first saw him on Khao San road. He had long straggly blond hair, and just seemed like one of those overly-polite and friendly people. A bit like my mum, but to a distorted degree. Smiling and nodding at everybody in sight.

I was surprised to come home the other day to find him was staying here. He came down the stairs and greeted everybody individually. I was walking past, so only managed a fleeting hello. "Sawadee kap!" I heard him say eagerly. I turned to see him staring and waving at me. That's when I realised he was a little bit odd. That there was something definitely not right about the look in his eyes.

When I came home from work this evening, Moo’s boyfriend Olivier told me that he'd gone and killed himself. Jumped off the Balcon Bar, five-or-so floors above the corner of Khao San road.

One account, from Muy, was that he was naked and holding an umbrella when he leapt. Another was that he was naked, but had landed on one of the market seller's parasols – that sounds more credible, but the Mary Poppins way to end it all would've added a touch of class to such a dreadful death.

The general verdict was that he was doing a lot of yah-bah (meth). No proof, but he showed all the symptoms. A friend of his came around looking for him, not knowing he was dead. He was very apologetic and returned later to pay the rent owed to Mama. He said the Austrian guy in fact had five thousand dollars, but pleaded poverty in order not to pay. He also said the guy had problems, including drugs, then went on to talk about his own drug problems. All a bit sketchy.

Muy's friend who saw his body said people thought he was just another crazy farang, curled up, sleeping in the street. There wasn't much blood and he'd turned kind of green. Broke his neck, apparently. What's more surprising, is that he didn't break anybody else's considering it's such a busy spot.

By the time I went past in the evening, all was normal again. The multitude of drunken foreigners and locals out for the night. The wandering street vendours. The hoes. The ladyboys. The thousands of feet treading over the grubby spot where he’d landed. Not knowing he’d died. Not caring. Just another soul failing to escape from Samsara.

Turning, turning, the wheel goes on.

Om mani padme hum…

#khaosanroad #bangkok #thailand