Sitting on the veranda of my cheap hotel in Chiang Mai, reading a Ripley novel, I heard an angry throat clearing on the stairs behind me. It was my neighbor from a few rooms down, a tall, fit, 60-ish American wearing jeans and an awful orange t-shirt, topped off with one of those horrible leather cowboy hats, sunglasses and a mustache, no smile or greeting. Quietly following him was a Thai woman, 35 or so, full figured buy not unattractive. He reached his door, turned to her and said, “please hurry,” not in a polite way. She answered low, “I’m sorry,” without altering her pace. When she got to his side, he held out his hand and said, “key.”
There are Thais who think that this is typical American behavior. These guys should be keel-hauled.
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Wikipedia:
Keelhauling (Dutch kielhalen[1]; "to drag along the keel") was a severe form of corporal punishment meted out to sailors at sea. The sailor was tied to a rope that looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and dragged under the ship's keel to the other side. As the hull was often covered in barnacles and other marine growth, this could result in cuts and other injuries. This generally happened if the offender was pulled quickly. If pulled slowly, his weight might lower him sufficiently to miss the barnacles but might result in his drowning.
Keelhauling was legally permitted as a punishment in the Dutch Navy. The earliest official mention of keelhauling is a Dutch ordinance of 1560, and the practice was not formally abolished until 1853. While not an official punishment, it was reportedly used by some British Royal Navy and merchant marine captains, and has become strongly associated with pirate lore.
I concur.
Thanks for the research, Anon!
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