Today is National Mother's Day. In recent years, every time the occasion has come around, I've been reminded of a popular Isan folk tale.
The story is about a young farmer named Thong and his mother, whose name is not mentioned.
One day, at the beginning of the rainy season, Thong goes out to work in the paddy fields. From early in the morning, he ploughs the land to prepare it for the rice saplings. Hours pass. The sun gets stronger and Thong becomes very hot and hungry. As he continues to toil the land, he keeps looking in the direction of the village for his mother, who is supposed to bring him lunch.
It turns out that, that day, the old lady is in so much of a hurry to bring him his lunch that she trips and falls in a paddy field. Her leg is injured, but she soldiers on, although it takes her much longer to arrive at the plot where her son is working.
When Thong finally sees his mother approach, he is furious.
"You are so late! I'm starving to death!" he shouts at her, ignoring the soil on her clothes and her obvious limp. Before the old lady can explain, Thong sees the small rice box in her hand and goes berserk.
"How can I fill my stomach with such a tiny portion!" he roars.
"It's very tightly packed. I'm sure it's more than enough," stutters the woman, who has prepared countless meals for her son.
But hunger and anger have got the better of Thong. With full force, he hits his mother with the yoke, knocking her to the ground.
Unconcerned, Thong grabs the lunch box and starts eating. But as he eats, his hunger dissipates, as does his fury. Soon he is so full he can't finish the rice. His mother was right.
Returning to his senses, Thong rushes to his mother, who is still lying on the ground. He cries and tries to shake her awake, but it does no good. She is dead.
The ending of the folk tale has two different versions. In one, Thong is arrested and executed, in the other, he joins the monkhood. Before each of these scenarios, in both versions, Thong builds a pagoda in memory of his mother, in repentance for his terrible sin and to remind later generations not to repeat his mistake.
The tale is known as Kong Khao Noi Kha Mae (the first three words mean "small rice box" and the last two mean "kills a mother"). There are two small pagodas in Muang district, Yasothon Province, called That Kong Khao Noi, each claiming to be the one from the tale. The two sites are just a few kilometres apart.
If you are curious as to why I think of this story on Mother's Day, it's because, in this digital age when people feel free to vent their anger on social media, so many Thais tend to blame everything on the motherland. Consider the popular Thai hashtag that reads "prathet hia"; the first word means country and the second I would rather not translate since it's so vulgar that if you said it to a stranger on the street you'd be in big trouble.
Like Thong's mum, our motherland is not perfect. Let's be patient and treat her well.
Pongpet Mekloy is the Bangkok Post travel editor.