To make a little girl smile (Thailand)

I often meet fellow travelers who ask me how many countries I have travelled to. I tell them this once in Bangkok.

The Korean enclave at Sukhumvit is one of my favorite places. Whenever I’m in town, I end up here for a bowl of cold noodles. This time I was at a travel agent trying to find a way to Pyongyang. Air Koryo, the North Korean airline, has recently started flying to Bangkok. The travel agent searches an airport code list but can’t find the Pyongyang airport code. I offer, “Try FNJ.” The travel agent, now fully convinced that I am a spy or a nuclear weapons dealer, stops making small talk and starts searching for the flight.

Through the glass door, I see a little Korean kid with a water gun. It is the second day of the Thai water festival, and people all around Thailand are splashing water on each other. The little girl looks up expectantly at the people walking by - mostly serious-looking neighboring Korean shopkeepers. She is hoping to get their approval to soak them. They glare at her. She gives up and sits in a corner dejected.

I excuse myself, walk out to the kid, and call out, “Hey Chingu!!”, (chingu = friend). I raise my hands in surrender. She turns to look at me, stunned. But soon with a loud glee and fierceness of a North Korean secret agent, she empties the water gun at me.

You can travel half the world. But there is no point if you can’t make a little girl smile.