The Cost of an ATM

We're back in Bangkok now, after eight days of family holiday: mostly at the country house, but two days at a beach resort and last night at a river resort. Today was spent swimming, riding ATVs and rafting, another typical weekend in Thailand. No wonder Jason starting crying when we left the resort and his mother told him, "you have to go school tomorrow."

Thun is now obsessed with ATVs, although he keeps referring to them as ATMs. It was his first experience driving a motorized vehicle. That's pretty exciting for a 9-year-old. On the way home, he asked, "how much does an ATM cost?"

That's a good question! Of course he meant, "how much does an ATV cost?"

"25,000 Baht," Poo informed him.

"OK, said Thun, "I will start saving." When we got home, he asked nicely, "Mommy, Daddy, do you have a job for me to do?" hoping to earn 10 Baht for running an errand or cleaning Daddy's shoes.

Thun also asked, "Daddy, can I drive an ATM in America?"

"Forget it!" I barked. "To drive anything in America, you must be 16 years old, and then you must pass a difficult test. And in America, they have lots of laws, and big cops with guns, who will throw you in jail for nothing. And you can't pay 200 baht to make it go away, like Thailand."

Uh-oh. Thun was reconsidering his rosy picture of America.

We were speeding along the highway. "See that!" I snapped, pointing at a 13-year-old driving a motorcycle the wrong way without a helmet, This is a common sight in Thailand.

"That kid would get pulled over and fined three times, 1000 dollars, and because he can't pay, he would go to jail." For emphasis, I added the sounds of a whooping police siren.

Thun was stunned into silence. Finally, he asked,

"Daddy, in America, can I ride a bike?"