Daily Report: Sick Son Syndrome

Pot was much worse today with his tonsillitis. He was running a fever of 101.5º and as miserable as miserable could be.

Mothers in Thailand, when their children get sick, are certain of two things: One is that doctors don't know a damn thing if they speak Thai in an accent different from yours, and two is that if a sickness hasn't gone away in 2 or 3 days, ghosts are to blame.

Therefore, in Pui's mind, the only thing to do with a 5-year-old boy with infectious tonsillitis is to pack him up and take him on a 10-hour bus ride to Petchabuhn to see a doctor that speaks Isaan, and get him as far away from the ghosts that are causing his illness.

I finally put my foot down. I yelled at Pui, told her to stop ignoring me and my treatment suggestions, told her that there was no way in hell she was taking Pot to Petchabuhn, and that was the end of it.

Then, I went out and bought Tylenol, vitamin C juice mix, amoxicillin, throat spray, vapor rub, and ice cream. I gave Pot half a pill of Tylenol and half a pill of amoxicillin, spread on some vapor rub, sprayed his throat, and gave him some juice to drink, and ice cream to eat.

Within 20 minutes, he was up running around and laughing.

Unfortunately he still had a temperature of 101.5º. So I took him out to the pool and we swam around for a little while. (Pot, of course, had a blast.) Unfortunately his temperature, even in the cold water, didn't budge. I gave up on the temperature after that... since he seemed otherwise fine.

This evening, I got a whole group of people together to go out to Sizzlers steak house at the Royal Garden Plaza. There was Mem and Stan, Pui and I, Mike and Riza, Glen, Rick, Jerry, and Jerry's brother Neil, and a date Neil brought along.

I hate to admit it, but for once, the 400 Russian tourists eating around us were absolutely right: Get the 150-baht all-you-can-eat salad bar, the 35-baht bottomless soda, and forget about eating any of the 300-baht steak dishes. The entreeés aren't bad overall, but they pale in comparison to Thailand's best salad bar (with soup, pasta, and dessert table included).

After dinner, we went over to Rick's bar for a couple of beers. Then it was home.

Go has two of her cousins visiting her tonight, and Pui has an acquaintance visiting... a girl who came down from Udon to be a bargirl, but after one day on the job decided that the country life is the only thing for her. She's waiting for tomorrow's bus to take her home.