In 2010 the Somali government was hard-pressed by warlords. Troops chewed qat. Their afternoons were spent in a euphoric stupor. Few wanted to man roadblocks, so children were drafted into the army. AK-47s replaced their battered toys. They were happy with A few dollars a week for food. Lucky in a country where there was no work.
Everyone loved the lucky. The lottery players on our soi in Jomtien had my son Fenway pick their tickets. They won three times. Not big money. Not little each. Fenway was considered lucky and lucky in Thailand was good. Good other countries too.
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” – Seneca.
I feel lucky for my life. I have a good family, a beautiful wife, Mam, a job (and that’s not a small thing these days) and my health, but some people wanted more and hard work was not the answer for their desire. They knew hard work didn’t pay away problems. They needed a break and that year Thai police arrested a former nurse selling post-abortion foetuses as “child ghosts” or ‘luk krok’. The officers found 14 pickled foetuses in her inventory. She told investigators that the ‘child ghosts’ were good at picking lotteries.
Most Thais would preferred to have a luk krok amulet than the real thing.
Of course the power of the luk krok was stronger in Ban-nok.
Most farangs don’t buy into these beliefs. They were too smart to believe. But not all farangs were so smart as to be that stupid.
“I can believe anything provided it is incredible.” – Oscar Wilde