I clocked a really old woman, perhaps in her late 60's or early 70's sitting on the floor with a young child in her arms. Nothing out of the ordinary on first glance I thought, that was until we got right next to them. The child was quite badly disfigured from head to toe and with one hand missing. Quite a sad and a somewhat shocking sight if I am being honest and I wasn't fully prepared for it. I discreetly drew Suzi's attention to it and mentioned how very sad it was. To my horror, a little later, Suzi explained to me that some families actually hurt their children in such a manner for the purposes of begging and this was almost certainly one of those cases!
Although I had my camera with me I did not take a picture; being a civilized and polite ferang I thought it would have been too intrusive and rude to take a picture, on reflection I wish I had now just to show you,
It did highlight an aspect of Thailand that I am caught in two minds about though. In the UK there are government benefits available for the unemployed and disabled etc. In Thailand every man, woman and child has to make their own way, regardless of their circumstances. I accept it is a system that does not encourage 'shirkers' as many ferang get labelled back home when not working but to actually drive desperate people to such lengths, to me, is fundamentally wrong. Two days in the country and my eyes were being made wide open to the political and social welfare side of the country and the realization that the authorities simply do not care about the poor masses that inhabit the country. However, to be able to live here you need to see such sights, understand why they happen and accept that it is just how life in Thailand is. You don't have to like it but it is best to keep negative thoughts to yourself and get on with your own life.
An uncaring society? Up to a point yes, people are busy scratching around to make enough money to live their life that many do not take any notice of what is going on around them, or choose to ignore it as it is not their problem.