Farang

Does our location create our values? Does a privileged outsider have an obligation to report local exploitation? In this work of philosophical short fiction, a “farang” (foreigner) woman living in Bangkok finds herself compulsively observing her attractive new neighbor across the alley. Her voyeuristic curiosity turns to disturbing concern when he brings a young Thai girl to his apartment, whose apparent youth and vulnerability suggest a transactional relationship common in the city. When the lights come up, the young woman isn’t moving and the narrator is caught between her own loneliness, the ambiguity of the situation, and the realization that her understanding of the events is clouded by her own biases and the complex realities of a foreign culture where ethical norms may differ.