There had been quite a lot of civil unrest in Bangkok for months and several students had died, mainly from gunshot wounds, in the riots over the previous week, so in an attempt to defuse the situation and prevent any further deaths, the universities and other seats of higher education in Bangkok had decided to close down for a month, which meant that all those students in halls of residence had to find other accommodation. Most of them just went home to their parents and so did Soom, although she wanted to travel part of the way with a fellow female student who had her own car.
She asked her mother whether it would be all right to stay with her friend’s family for a few days in Phichit before continuing her journey by train. Lek had agreed, very proud of the way that Soom was making frie
