Nick came to the temple one month ago. He is in the final stages of AIDS and is residing in a bed (near Gob) in the hospice. Over the past two weeks, Nick's health has become dangerously critical. This is compounded by his refusal to eat. Nick is 24.
''I come from Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. I worked for Lotus, which is a supermarket chain here. They sent me to Saraburi (40 km from Lopburi) to work in the new branch there. Four months ago I started getting a pain in my stomach. I got a blood test and found out I was HIV positive.
''My company was good to me. They sent me to the doctors and paid for everything. When my condition got worse, they sent me here.
''I've been here two months now. You know what? In that time, nobody has come to visit me. My family, my relatives, my friends. They know I'm here. But nobody comes to visit.
''Since then I've lost so much weight. The problem started in my lungs -- it hurt so much. Then it went back to my stomach. Now, I can't eat anything. I know that some people (like Gob) are angry at me for not eating. But what can I do? I can't keep anything in my stomach. Everything I eat comes straight back up. Or, if it stays down, I get diarroeah. So don't blame me too much for being in a foul mood.
''I like sweet foods, like fried pumpkin. I can eat that. But they keep on making me take this medicine and it's so difficult for me to eat anything.
''I spend my days lying on this bed staring at the walls. Sometimes I get a magazine to read. I like to read. There's nothing else to do. There's no TV here, and I'm too weak to talk for long.
''I know I won't be here in a month. I know it'll all be over soon. At least I won't be in this pain all the time.''
[Wee] [Mai] [Gob] [Joe] [Oo-an] [Nick] [Dtee] [Gern]