Travel Diary — 15 June — Phuket, Thailand

We’d noticed that the women across the street weren’t open for coffee for a few days. We weren’t planning on stopping in any way, as we were going to head to a little spot I’d found on Instagram.

The women, I think they are mother and daughter, were hopping on their scooter so we waved as we left and continued on our way. We headed down the road and out on to the main street.

Then the strangest thing happened.

They followed us and caught up with us. The mother was trying to tell us something but we had no idea what. She doesn’t speak any English at all but always looks at us with these earnest eyes, like she wants to connect with us somehow.

We tried Google translate, but it wasn’t working to pick-up audio. I don’t have a Thai keyboard on my phone so she couldn't type in what she wanted to say. Eventually, her daughter on the back of the bike began searching through her phone.

She found what she was looking for and showed us an image of what was clearly the funeral of the father/grandfather of these women.

We’d seen him struggling for breath, or using an oxygen tank at times. We’d heard him coughing and struggling for breath.

It was so sad to hear of his passing but also so sweet that these women wanted to share their news with us.