Instant Karma

The wonderful Buddhist law of moral causation – or karma – played out on my third day in Thailand. Peasey and I were headed to a meeting and hailed a taxi from our hotel. It was a rare metered taxi and the meter runs very slow in Bangkok. The 20-minute ride cost the equivalent of $1.70. Having just been to the ATM to get some local cash, both Peasey and I discovered we didn’t have any small bills and the driver didn’t have change for our large bills. I figured we were in for an argument or I would have to run into a shop or bank and get some change while Peasey was held as collateral. Instead, he just waved us off and said not to worry, there would be no charge.

For this to be the position of any cabbie in any city in the world is remarkable and about as rare as a Bigfoot siting or a Kardashian saying anything of interest. I asked the driver for his card – Mr. Sayan – and said we would call him in the future and make up for the missing fare. It’s doubtful he believed us, but he smiled anyway.

After we left, Peasey and I talked about how pleasant the Mr. Sayan was, how he was happy to point things out and how well he spoke English. We called him the next day and he remembered me, but it was a Buddhist holiday and he said he would prefer to drive us the next day. We kept our word and called him to take us around town at some sort of fixed price. We left it in his hands on places to take us and where to meet as he dropped us off at each beautiful temple and made sure we knew where to meet him. The temples are a big tourist area in town and there are a lot of street hustlers who will try to sell you a hubcap or harvest your organs, it was difficult to tell which, so it was comforting to see Mr. Sayan waiting for us as planned.

Mr. Sayan called me Boss (I have that look about me) and talked about Thai history, the monarchy, some politics, corrupt police, places to eat, photos of his two “monkeys” (his 11 and 7-year-old kids), and, at every opportunity, taught us a few words in Thai that could come in handy. Peasey retained the words better than I did; I only remember the phrase: That’s too much….

For the day, we paid Mr. Sayan $34 and offered him a job for to be our driver for the remainder of the month for $500. He honestly blushed because I think I offered a bit higher amount than he had in mind. I tried to ask him how much would be fair for a month, but I could tell he didn’t want to negotiate against himself. At first I thought $300 would be about right, but decided on the higher amount because the extra $200 wouldn’t break our budget and I wanted to make sure that we could always count on him. And during the times Peasey will be in Bangkok alone, I wanted to make sure she had a familiar and safe person to drive her around.

So, for the sake of him waving off a $1.70 ride, he earned $500 and a place in our hearts. It wasn’t exactly instant karma, but it came around for him within 48 hours. I’m happy to be a part of that story. LJ, send money, we need to cover this expense plus Peasey keeps boozing it up and going through the meal budget.