My Chaotic Bangkok - Hope is Eternal

We live in the era of the "new norm", or so I keep hearing and keep using as a basis for explaining away bizarre happenings and behaviors in our world.  Well, such an age is also chaotic or as this book I saw names it - we live in an age of disruption.

This helps me to understand my Bangkok but the fact is that my Bangkok is just like this by its very nature.  It is nothing new.

The latest happening that I am trying to get my head around is the present rapid decline of my American male neighbor.  I hope and pray his decline leads to a recovery but I  doubt it, or so experience tells me.

My US neighbor is only a little older then I am but his history is very different.  It includes a military tour of duty in Iraq which may explain his state as I think he is suffering ongoing PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  He is the nicest and most gentle guy.  That is why his present predicament is all so doubly tragic.

Basically, he came to Bangkok a lost soul, looking for drink and women and found both.  His nirvana?  No!  Both, as he has abused them, have served to cause his destruction.  All his money is gone on his Thai wife whom he met at a bar and left him when the bank account was empty.  That left drink which is literally killing him as, to save money, he gets his kicks on cheap, local whiskey which kills the brain cells.

Where he finds himself now is that, while drunk, he fell in his room and suffered a bad break to his left arm.  He badly needs an operation but is held back by being in denial and having no money.  I could go further but no need to and I truly want to respect my neighbor's dignity as he is a likable guy and a man with a good heart.

He got himself into this mess and I am called in as the "neighborhood padre" but what can I do?  My Bangkok is full of lost souls.  Some come with empty hearts in search of somewhere to fill them with love but they go about it all the wrong way or just know no better.  They end up in relationships where both parties seemingly use and abuse each other for their own needs.  Destruction is inevitable. Tragic.

This is not my whole Bangkok but definitely a part of it.  I stand back and at times I become entangled in it as I see ones I know destroying their souls and I reach out in bewilderment, not knowing what to do except just stand by their side in disbelief and keep up hope for their humanity, as despite all they are good people and we are all in this journey together.