My joyous return to the excitement and indulgence of Bangkok was severely tempered this week when I learned of the brutal murder of a very nice boy I’ve known for about 5 years called Cent.
Cent apparently went missing just before Sonkran (13th April) and calls to his mobile were unanswered. His room was locked from the outside and it was thought he’d gone away. It was only the sickly smell coming from his room 4 days later that brought the police who broke down the door to find his decomposing body wrapped in blankets with 6 or 7 stab wounds, and his throat cut. The motive was apparently robbery as having graduated last year he got a well paid job working for a car rental company at BKK airport which had allowed him to indulge in some Thai gold and a good watch, all of which were taken. A Thai boy was arrested in Pattaya and I heard has now been charged with 4 similar murders.
I am so sad for Cent. He was always a loner who whilst not a bar boy was something of a fixture on level 2 at DJ while he slept his way through college. He looked Eurasian and told me his father was American and his mother dead and he lived alone in a room nr the Malaysia hotel. I never went there but he did take me to the karaoke bar on the ground floor that would roll down the shutters to close at 2 am, then open the back door and he’d drink Thai whisky and sing til 4 am or whenever the whisky got the better of him. But after he got his job with Hertz his whole self esteem improved, he only went to DJs on Sunday for fun and he looked confident and happy.
I cried for Cent today and went to a buddist temple to light some candles for him and send my love to him. If you knew Cent, you may want to say a few words to your god or his, as no-one deserves such a brutal end, just as life was turning good for him. R.I.P Cent.
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