Our friend Stephen requested some assistance acquiring and planting bananas, but seemed reluctant to hire my wife or I, so we found a villager also in need of employment.

💰 11 Bags Of Topsoil

     We've helped our foreign friend Stephen acquire 20 banana trees for planting, but after acquiring the trees he seemed reluctant to take on the planting project by himself due to a lack of farming experience. We informed him that bananas are very hearty and will thrive despite being planted in what is basically pure clay.

     Our friend seems more than willing to overpay for just about anything, but when it comes to paying us for anything other than rent money, it seems there is hesitation. We offered to acquire the bananas for him, plant them and/or teach him how to plant them, and even when he said he'd like topsoil, I offered to wade across the river and collect it for him.

Giving Work Away 💸

     I came to the realization that our friend thinks most people in our village are poor despite the fact most people here have sold land for $20,000 to $50,000 USD multiple times and lost it all at the Thai border casino. The locals, particularly soldiers, can illegally clearcut a patch forest and own the land within a few years, and so this process is often repeated multiple times. My wife and I's life savings of $10,000 USD wasn't enough to do anything here, so we had to borrow a lot and are heavily in debt.

     There are Toyota Tundra trucks, Camrys, and even a Hilux here in the village, and most people laugh at us for having a tuk-tuk an old Honda SuperCub 90 for our family transport, but for us it's more than enough, plus they are efficient and cheap to maintain compared to a car or modern motorcycles. My wife and I have come to a realization that our friend thinks we're wealthy like him, and so hiring us for any kind of work is not an option in his mind.

I'm An Indiana Farm Boy 👨‍🌾 No Problem

     When we realized all we had to do was connect our friend with anyone other than ourselves, we thought of one kind working class gentleman that wouldn't waste the money on cigs, alcohol, or casino trips. When our friend requested some topsoil from the forest, Taa Noap (the man in this post that's not me) wasn't sure how much to charge, so I reminded him not sell himself short because our friend likes to spend, just not on us.

     In the end Taa Noap decided $2.50 USD per half-full rice sack was a fair price, but I insisted he tell my friend $3.00 USD. This put a smile on his face, and I could see he was far more eager to hike and haul for this price. I even told him if he could place the sacks near the highway that I'd help carry and transport them in my tuk-tuk. In the end I translated for an hour, and did about 40 minutes of manual labor. Taa Noap made $33 USD and I earned a "thank you very much," not ideal, but Taa Noap knows I helped him earn the money, so I'm sure he'll be glad to give me a helping hand in the future when I need it.

Dad@JustinParke	Mom@SreyPov	🙏 GIVE THANKS 🙏	Srey-Yuu@Srey-Yuu	Monkey B@Sakana