They Killed Jeet

I had lived in England for twenty years with my Thai wife and at an end of a lifetime of work had retired to live the dream. Not to Pattaya, nor Issan, but to an average Thai backwater in Samut Songkram.

My wife and I had previously purchased land there and paid for a traditional Thai house to be built on it on the understanding that once we returned to Thailand the ugly sister whose name was on the chanote would sign the lot over
to her sister, my wife, who had paid for everything.

This meant that the ugly sister was the only person in that entire family to own anything!

This matter was complicated because the ugly sister was not the youngest sister and had two older sisters, one older brother and my wife being the baby of this group of thieves.

So we ended up living with these animals in a disgusting traditional Thai house with the old mother’s mind gone and her shitting wherever she sat. NOT FARANG STYLE OF LIVING!

We had thought to build a decent house next door to this slum as there was plenty of room.

But I would invest no more money here until the chanote was transferred into my wife’s name.

The ugly sister avoided this until one day my wife and I were visiting her eldest sister in Bangkok. This sister was in her fifties and lived in a rented terraced house that was a disgrace to her. Keeping a clean home was obviously not high
on her list of priorities. She did however tell my wife that the younger sister was due to get married shortly and had no intention of signing the chanote for the land over to my wife.

We returned to the disputed property where I got ugly sister alone and told her to transfer the chanote to my wife within seven days or that things would get decidedly ugly between her and a very wealthy farang who would use his
wealth to obtain justice and not only through the courts. Obviously she would then lose everything and end up homeless.

My wife and I had already agreed between ourselves to let her stay on a small area of land where the house stood and to keep that house as a wedding present.

One week later we visited the land registry and the chanote was transferred into my wife's name. However all the family now only spoke to my wife when necessary and the atmosphere was tense with the other sisters regularly visiting
and holding whispered conversations together. We were very unhappy there and from what I could see of the situation every sister was getting older and upon retirement would not be able afford to rent their homes anymore and would all return to
the land my wife now owned as a base to live. The only stumbling block in their plan being myself and my wife.

Things got decidedly tense and we thought it best that we purchased a licensed pistol each (and this was my wife’s idea). We did this and certainly felt safer as where we lived was very secluded and had they decided to kill us both
no one would have ever known and the bodies could have been easily disposed of. We made a great show of target practice and both became very proficient in the use of these tools.

A couple of weeks went by and unknown to the family my wife and I had decided to find a ready built house elsewhere and simply keep the old land and house in the wife’s name whilst allowing the family to do whatever they wanted to
until such time as the old mother died. Upon her demise we would review the situation but both felt that we would then burn down the old wooden house and either build our own home there or sell the land. But that in any eventuality these scum
would cease to benefit from our purchase the moment the mother died.

However mother had a sister named Jeet who was quite ill and had just been released from hospital and needed care. Would we mind if they brought her into the home until she got better again?

Of course not so Jeet then moved in. Jeet was in her early seventies, had worked in Bangkok as a machinist all her adult life and lived carefully and was reputed to be worth many millions of baht.

The family descended like vultures. It took the older sisters one week to get her hands on one of Jeet's bank books but they were shocked to find she only had a little over twenty four thousand baht in that account. This was promptly
withdrawn from the bank and held by the eldest sister “to pay for Jeet's keep!”

The old lady was a really nice refined woman and we spoke often. She was getting better until the sister could not find any trace of other monies and their questioning of Jeet was becoming more intense and less friendly every day. Jeet was
still unable to wash and dress and had to be helped to walk. This meant the sisters showering her daily and I heard lots of shouting and possibly slapping when she was taken to the shower room.

She began to acquire bruises and became very withdrawn and stopped eating.

When I asked about these I was told she had slipped in the bathroom! I started to disbelieve this.

Jeet’s health seemed to deteriorate rapidly and she grew visibly weaker.

The ugly sister screamed at her when she fed her and dragged her around the house like a demented fool. When she showered her I swear I could hear her body being thrown around on the concrete floor and several times I heard heavy slaps being
administered.

This was not care. It was a slow and deliberate torture!

It was the hot season and Jeet was often tied to the railings of the outside balcony and the old girl was obviously too hot. I plugged a fan in for her and within minutes the ugly sister stormed outside screaming like a lunatic at me and
unplugged the fan. At that time I spoke very little Thai and was struggling to understand what was going on. Misplaced family loyalties meant that my wife told me only a little of what was going on.

The older sister came from Bangkok and the cruel treatment seemed to get worse as the older sister visited all the local banks trying to find Jeet’s money. Thankfully to no avail.

Jeet was weaker every day now and all suggestions from me that we take her to hospital were ignored.

Then one night it was obvious that this gentle old lady was dying and they still had not found her money! Panic stations then and I was helped to load her in my pickup truck and take her about 5 miles to the local hospital where she was pronounced
dead. A death certificate issued later gave the cause of death as bronchial pneumonia.

The typical temple funeral was a farce with people eating, drinking and placing lottery bets throughout the three day period prior to Jeet being burned. In all my life I have never seen such hypocrisy with the people playing the part of mourners
but really not giving a shit. JUST FACE???

I was told that old Jeet’s twenty four thousand baht just about covered the costs of her cremation with the cheapest casket etc. What some people here will do for money is beyond belief and I eagerly await the death of my wife’s
mother which would be a blessing to her as her mind is gone and she has no quality of life.

I have told my wife that when her mother dies the family must all contribute equally to any ceremony and that we shall not be the ones arranging it. Let us await that day and see the shit fly, eh? I think then it would be fair to give the
ugly sister one month to vacate the property before we have our bonfire!!!!

Stickman's thoughts:

The ugly sister sounds like a female version of the devil. Sadly, I have heard many stories similar to this. When someone in a rural or poorer family looks like they are about to expire, all the relatives start lobbying and making power plays for the soon to be departed's cash and assets and it can get very, very ugly!