Marly, a Thai who also works at the bar and has spent a lot of time in Phuket, sees things differently: ”You know, I bet most of the Thais down there who died were from Isaan, especially the women,” she says. Isaan, in the northeast, is the most impoverished part of Thailand; the Isaan women work in Phuket and send their earnings back home to families living on farms too poor to provide a living. ”They were subsidizing agriculture. In the West the taxpayers subsidize farming, here it’s the prostitutes. Sure, they’ll rebuild Phuket in a year, but a lot of farmers will be broke by then.”
We are joined by Sonja, who orders a coffee. ”So, maybe the young men from Isaan can work on the rebuilding, give the girls a break,” she says.
”As long as they can take the ghosts,” Pui says with a laugh. She looks at me. ”Thai men are as timid as women when it comes to ghosts.”
”But they’ll do it if they have to,” Marly says. Pui agrees. Ghosts or no ghosts, life goes on.

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