Chooay Dooay!

            I had a pretty frightening experience in Phayao the other day.  I was going for a jog down by the lake which is where I work out often.  The lake is the busiest part of town because on one side of the street is the lake and the other side is jam packed with restaurants, bars and shops.  People and families are always hanging out in crowds and groups down there so it has a very safe feel to it.  I had not yet felt unsafe in Thailand, especially in Phayao, until the other night.

            I was jogging on the sidewalk among other joggers when I noticed that a man was riding his motorbike extremely close to me on the sidewalk.  Now I have seen Thais drive on the sidewalk during heavy traffic hours so I assumed he was trying to get around me.  So I moved to the side in order to let him through, but he didn’t move forward.  He continued to drive slowly right behind me.  I was very confused what he was doing at first.  I questioned it in my mind.  Is he picking someone up over here?  Is he just curious about this “farang” he sees and wants to have a conversation as many people in town do?  Does he know the other joggers that are next to me?  Soon enough I realized that he was in fact following me and not in a “just trying to be friendly” kind of way.  When I started running fast, he sped up.  When I slowed down, he slowed down.  This went on for a few minutes but it felt like eternity.  I had my headphones on so I was not able to hear if he was attempting to talk to me and at that point, I didn’t care to hear a word from him. 

            My heart started to beat rapidly as I realized that I didn’t have my cell phone with me so I wasn’t able to call any of my Thai or foreign friends in town and I was a good distance from home.  I began to boil with anger that not only was he following me but he wasn’t even trying to be discreet about it.  I then quickly ducked into a local bar which I happen to know the owners of.  I ran to the bathroom and waited a few minutes hoping he would be gone when I left.  I didn’t see the owner of the bar and I knew that no one else probably knew English so I decided to leave the bar. 

I thought for a moment that maybe he was gone, but unfortunately I saw the old creepy man leaning against a tree across the street staring at me.  As I continued running, now on the opposite side of the street from him, I really began to question how I was going to get out of this situation.  He continued to ride along and look over while maintaining my pace.  I felt extremely violated and angry.  I could not believe the nerve of this man!  I finally began yelling and motioning at him “Go away!  Leave me alone!”  I decided that even if he didn’t understand me, he would notice my tone and be embarrassed at his behavior.  Not the case at all!  He continued to stay at my pace although he was now on the opposite side of the street.  I questioned bee-lining it up to a bar close by where I know a lot of the regulars and the majority speak English.  But I wasn’t sure what would happen on the way there as I obviously could not outrun him.  

It was a very lonely experience knowing that most of the people on the street wouldn’t understand me even if I attempted to explain the situation.  I felt very alone like I couldn’t even ask for help.  But as he continued to follow and basically stalk me, I felt that I should take my chances of miscommunication and try to let someone know what was going on.  At this point, it had been almost ten minutes of this. 

I ran by a couple and something told me that I could trust them.  Sure enough they were very friendly and when I looked closely while talking to them, I realized that the man was wearing a Phayao Police department jacket and he happened to be one of the chiefs of Phayao police.  I attempted to explain what was going on with the man.  Luckily my Thai friends had taught me how to say “help me!” in Thai recently (chooay dooay!) so I was able to use that to let them know that I was in danger.  They didn’t speak English but I was able to use charades and a few Thai words I know to show them that I was feeling unsafe.  At first I think they thought I had hit my head while running as they continued to motion a movement that indicated an injury but after a few minutes and when the other man was still lurking at me from across the street (even while talking to them!) they understood what was going on.  The woman was very loving and nurturing and immediately took my hand and put me behind her in a protective way as if to say “You’re safe now, I won’t let anything happen to you”.  It was such a sigh of relief as the policeman then went across the street to talk to the man.  I’m not sure what conversation occurred between the two men but the creeper rode off shortly.  The policeman and his wife then drove me home to my apartment which made me feel a lot better as the idea of walking the rest of the way home did not sound too appealing at that point. 

When pulling up to the apartment, the couple spoke to my English speaking neighbor who then told me to be very careful and to always have my phone with me and to be careful going anywhere alone.  I profusely thanked the couple and despite the fact that hugging isn’t a very Thai thing to do, I squeezed the woman tight as I was so incredibly grateful for not only their assistance but also for the protective motherly energy the woman gave me. 

It was a very surreal and strange experience.  Maybe I have been naive to have felt so safe in Thailand or even in my little town, but my bubble definitely violently burst as I realized that I should err on the side of caution whether I like it or not.  I’m grateful for the kindness of strangers but being stalked in public is something I will not soon forget.