In that few seconds, she placed a H&M plastic carrier before a man with deformed legs crawling on the street.
I didn't have a chance to have a good look at the lady who left the carrier, let alone the man who couldn't turn his head freely.
What could be inside the carrier? Are they clothes? Is it food? I've no idea how the man is going to carry it while crawling on the ground.
This is not the first time I see a Thai doing a good deed for beggars in Bangkok. During my last trip, I saw a lady giving biscuits to a beggar (click here). I've seen Thai youngsters dressed in shabby clothes but dig into their pockets for coins to give to beggars with babies.
Of course, there is a fair share of foreigners and tourists doing the same.
For me, there's always a struggle within me whether to give to beggars. I've read stories online about how these beggars are controlled by syndicates. Of how they will pass babies around for begging at different locations. Of how they will cripple and ill-treat young kids and send them begging so that people will take pity on them and collecting all the monies at the end of the day.
But what if it's a genuine case? A small amount of help could go a long way in helping them survive, isn't it?
There's a young mother with a kid and a baby begging along the Soi where my hotel is located. Every day, I would pass them by. One night when I was returning to my hotel, I decided to just give all my coins to her. If it's a genuine case, the very little amount could means enough money for her to buy milk for her baby.
On another day, there was a boy about 10 year old with one eye blinded. He was sitting on the connecting bridge from the BTS Station to a hypermarket. It was unbearably hot that day and the few hours I passed by him three times, I didn't see him taking a sip of water. And he has the desolate look on his face.
I wonder how I would feel if I were him?
People buying, eating and enjoying for themselves all the goodness in life while passing him by without dropping even a few bahts into his plastic cup. What and how he will grow up to view this world?
Should I buy him a drink and a meal? Or giving him money would be better for him? In the end, I did nothing.
I'm being cynical again and I regretted it.
We all want to do good but we're not sure if we are really doing good.
We all want to believe but we're not sure if we really believe.
We all want to trust but we're not sure if we really trust.
Sometimes, we don't trust others. Sometimes, we don't trust ourselves with others.
P.S. Of course, if I'm living there long enough and able to speak Thai to talk with these people, I would be in a better position to observe and judge if it's a genuine case.
P.P.S. I will go back find the boy in my next trip and get him a meal. There's hope in this world for him and for me..