Let me paint a picture of last night in Bangkok: the Thai military soldier’s compound at dusk, soldiers marching with assault rifles, the sound of thousands of men chanting coming from a stadium nearby, barbed wire fences lining the perimeter where soldiers in Humvees guard the entrance, and me, accidentally playing soccer with soldiers from the Thai military. I had meant to play with some co-workers from the Human Rights Commission, but after a miscommunication, I went to the wrong place and ended up being invited to play by what I thought was just a group of guys playing soccer. I quickly realized they were all military personnel based on a few things that happened. 1. A dude kicked the ball incredibly hard and it hit a guy straight in the face and the guy didn’t even react. I mean, he didn’t even pause for a moment; he just kept playing like nothing happened. It’s ALMOST AS IF he’s used to enduring random pain without reaction. 2. One of the older soldiers, a man without a shirt and a stomach like a small boulder, was guarding me during a corner kick. I had thought we were playing just a friendly game of soccer, so when this monstrous man was holding on to my shirt, I kind of laughed. I thought “who takes a pick-up game that seriously?” My rhetorical question was soon answered when the man looked down at me with the most serious face I’ve ever seen. I stopped laughing and decided to play defender instead.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 02:46:02 +0000
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