Hidden under an oversized purple flannel shirt and cowboy hat strides a tiny Thai woman, wellies up to her knees and long black plait swinging from shoulder to shoulder as she makes her way through rich green fields. Suddenly she stops dead in her tracks and disappears from view altogether. "Watch this," comes a voice from the grass, her eyes sparkling above her incredible cheekbones with a mischievous smile. A heavy second passes and the wavelength is tapped. Trunks and tails scrape the clouds as sturdy feet silently carry round, grey bodies towards the intensely relaxed, cross legged figure in front of me, racing forwards with absolutely no indication of slowing down.
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| Small but mighty |
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| Nope not slowing at all |
I first learnt about Lek Chailert through National Geographic when my thumb struck a glossy photo of a woman coiled up inside an elephant trunk. "Ooh, nice photos... Hm, that's sad," goes the thought process, "that's a needle in a haystack job" - and on went my day. Refugee crises, famines, despot dictators running countries into the ground, and I had a clarinet lesson in 15 minutes and I still couldn't find my best reeds. Up I jumped and down the mag fell, taking with it the weight of the world's problems and all thoughts of the other side of the mountain.
