I live in Thailand (although I am an American) and my home is not in a touristy area. A couple months ago I drove by a gas station to see a homeless foreigner sitting hunched over, clearly starving and alone. Well, I’ve seen this foreigner sitting in the exact same spot for well over a month and a half.It’s odd to see a homeless foreigner like that because normally the Thai authorities would remove him or have him move elsewhere, get help or support in some way. It’s quite common to see poverty in Thailand among the thais, burmese or locals, but I’ve never seen a foreigner like that.

I decided to pull over and talk to him. I approached the man and asked him if he needed any help, if he was ok, or if I could do anything. He said nothing. He stared at the ants, not moving a muscle. His hair was long and dirty, he had a long beard, looked like he was in his mid-30s and stunk pretty badly. His legs looked like they had some type of rash or scarring, it was black in color and ants were crawling all over him. He still did not move. I tried to get his attention and kneeled a little lower to try to catch eye contact but it did nothing.

So lastly, I attempted to give him 200 baht (about $6.00 dollars US, which is a lot for Thailand) and he still did not move a muscle. I put it in his shirt pocket. He was wearing a dirty old blue jumpsuit that had a big hole in the crotch, exposing his not-so-private parts! So, the guy was in a rough spot obviously. I thought it could have been quite serious; every possible scenario ran through my strangely concerned mind! I thought maybe he had a stroke, a car accident, brain damage or maybe was just in a deep depression. I thought he was dissociating himself, closing inward and looked as though he was in a near-vegetative state. It was so strange. He seemed to have a peaceful demeanor, and even Josh mentioned that he looked like Jesus. In Josh’s words: “That is God.”

So the next day I returned to the gas station. I saw the day prior that so many concerned people left him food, drinks, bread and fruit. The stuff sat in the exact same position, untouched by him (but covered in ants). His health seemed to be deteriorating as the days past and I drove by him. I felt horrible, as though no one cared and no one would assert enough effort to get him some help (it seemed that he could not get it himself). So after a few days of worrying, I decided to call someone. I attempted to contact the Thai Red Cross by email, but it was returned as an erroneous message. Then I spoke with a couple of Christian friends and I thought they may help. They seemed too busy and so I contacted my mom’s Christian Church that she attended in Chiang Mai. I spoke with a lady who said that someone had just contacted them about the same man. As I was on the phone, they decided to send out a man named Dan. He offers help to people in need around Chiang Mai and I was glad to know that they were going to try to help the homeless foreigner. The Pastor from the Church took my name down and I hung up. I decided to go over there to introduce myself to Dan and to offer some help. I spent hours and hours with Dan and the homeless man.

It became apparent to me that he had a level of awareness; I saw him make eye contact several times, look up at people as they passed by and look at his surroundings. I just wanted him to snap out of this trans-like state he was in. I was honestly afraid that I’d drive by one morning and he’d be lying there dead. I wanted to get him help if he wanted it or could not get it for himself - because he probably has some loved ones somewhere wondering where he is at and if he is ok. So I spent hour after hour with this homeless man, trying to talk to him, trying to communicate and get a response, reaction, get him to drink some water. I was alone with him so many times as Dan and several others hunted around the premises looking for a passport or any ID from this man. When I was alone with him I put my arm around him, I put my hand on his, I told him he could trust me and that I would help him if he could just blink his eyes to tell me ok. Or if he could nod his head to tell me he needed or wanted our help. But he did nothing.

Minutes later, another foreigner pulled up on a bicycle. His name was Matthew and he was a 37-year-old from the UK. Then an hour or two after that, another foreigner (from Italy) and his Thai wife pulled up. They were deeply concerned for this man and said that they stopped by every single day trying to help him. The Italian man was so concerned he said that he spoke with the homeless man so many times, and the last time even became angry and yelled at him, but still not a word was spoken. It was such a long day and just got stranger as the hours past. I spent a lot of time with Matthew, digging through rubble, garbage, dead fish and crap behind where the homeless man was sitting. There was an old shack that used to be a bathroom, so we rummaged through there looking for a passport or any document to show where the man was from. Matthew was very good with the homeless guy, trying to get him to open up to him (or us), joking around with him, pretty much begging him to give us a sign so we can stop worrying about him. We were so adamant about helping him because a Thai woman and another Thai man pulled up and they called the police. So this homeless foreigner was a soon-to-be jail mate in the local prison if he didn’t move his butt off of that gas station premises. We told him that if he wanted to be alone or meditate or live off the land somewhere, that we could take him. We told him we’d take him right away before any police showed up. The guys tried to get him to stand, but he would not. We pleaded with him so many times.

This thai woman was hilarious, she named the guy “John” and kept asking him if he wanted marshmallows or chocolate. She went into the gas station and came out with a little marshmallow snack and tried shoving it in his mouth. She was very rough with that thing. I was getting uneasy watching the whole thing. She pointed out to us and to him that in the Thai culture this just isn’t going to work out for him being there. It’s bad for him, bad for others and the gas station has repeatedly reported him. The cops were coming for him!

I decided to take a couple of pictures of him in case they were needed or to post them online to report this man as “found” or search for missing foreigners in Thailand. For some odd reason when I took his picture the camera gave me an error that said, “Card Error,” and the photos would NOT save.

Then as I sat there with the homeless man and Matthew, we looked up to see yet another man show up. This man was nicely dressed, well-spoken and extremely kind. It turns out that he is the Honorary Consul for Germany (in Chiang Mai). He personally came out to offer help, evaluate the situation and find a solution finally. The homeless man was German, according to some police who had seen him earlier and taken down his details. I spent more time with Matthew and the Consul and he had arranged for the police to pickup the homeless man and transport him to the Mental Institute down the road. There he could get evaluated, treated and a good nights sleep for a few days before taking further measures.

After spending my entire day there, I left to go pickup Josh. I wreaked of this guy, which was not a big deal but I felt so exhausted mentally and physically. Very hungry as well - which is why I can’t imagine being that man, sitting there not eating for so many hours in the scorchingly hot sunlight. After picking up my little man Josh, I was on my way home when I was the lights from the ambulance, police motorcycles, and a big scene with lots of people outside of the gas station. I swung my car around and parked behind the ambulance. I saw that there was a stretcher on the ground placed in front of the homeless man. Immediately the Consul and Matthew approached my car, fuming and shocked with their recent discovery.

Turns out, right as the police were starting to physically remove the homeless man from the curb to the stretcher, he stood up and started speaking fluently and coherently!!! Not only that, but his kind, soft and meek demeanor quickly altered into a snotty, cocky, rude attitude towards the police, the Consul (which is shocking), to Matthew and myself. We were there to help him and gave him every opportunity to tell us to get the heck out of there and leave him alone. He wanted to attention. The German Consul seemed upset and felt bad that we all wasted so much effort and time with this man. I saw him approach the homeless man (with cops surrounding them) to tell him, “Why don’t you say a hello to Holly over there.” It was horrifying and crazy to see him in any other position other than hunched over like a stroke victim on the curb! To see him standing and look right at me while I was holding Josh was really weird. When the Consul told him to say hello to me, the homeless man (his name is Stephen) looked at me holding Josh in arm and waved an evil wave, with one finger at a time and a smug look on his face. I said nothing. I felt angry and tired. Then Matthew approached Stephen and told him to give the 200 baht back to me. As soon as Matthew turned around to walk back to where I was standing, Stephen hit his chest, spread his arounds out and then pointed at his pocket while looking at me. He was basically telling me if I want my money back then I should walk up to him with my son in my arms and grab it out of his pocket. That got me more upset but I just looked at him and did nothing. Matthew told him off a little, advising him that if he’s on some path to being holy that this is not the way to do it. If you are so spiritual you would not be hurting so many people to achieve your own spirituality. I agree with all of that.

So, I felt the need to take his picture because the camera wouldn’t work earlier. I wanted some proof of the crazy day or this manHomeless Man who caused such concern and chaos for the month. So I walked right up to where he was standing, in close proximity I took his picture. My camera once again said, “Card Error.” And the picture did not work or was not saved. So I was really frustrated and to test my camera out I took pictures of other people around there - and every one worked. Every picture worked except for his. So I tried to make a short video and that worked - so I made an image from it.

I just wanted to say that I do not regret offering a helping hand. I know the man was a fraud and taking advantage of the love and care of surrounding citizens. I know he was selfish and rude and deranged in some ways, but what an experience we all had. The Consul said in his 8 years of working in Chiang Mai, he’s NEVER seen anything like this before. I’m happy to have met the Consul, Matthew, the Italian Man and his wife and several other extremely kind and caring people.

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