freebies and fortunates

On the train:
2 cigarettes, a regular and a menthol, smoked one directly after the other
several firm, apple-like fruit wedges, dipped in pepper-sugar
a bottle of chilled water
three hand-shakes, two hugs and an hour of absolutely one-sided but enthralling Thai conversation with a drunken old man (the gifter of apples and water!)

Apparently, if you ride third class and really go among the people, forgoing a proper seat to cramp and squat in narrow hallways and pockets of squallid air, the Buddha rewards you with the kindness of strangers.

And later, when we arrived in Sukothai:
100 Baht off of our luxury resort suite
an evening of beers and tequila on the house (oh!)
a heaping plate of garlicky chicken bits on the house (oh?)
a couple of sparkling and dandy bicycles for a day of ruin-viewing

Apparently if the general manager of an upstart resort likes the look of the cat-fish mustachioed little boy and his bearded chaperone, he rewards them with his money and power.