Beggar Family

Beggar Family, originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.

I'm seeing lots more beggars this trip. Some of them are clearly blind, or missing limbs and such. But I've also run across a number of folks with a child on their lap.
The first time I saw this I coughed up the dough, feeling my heart wrenched with empathy. But somewhere I read about people training their kids to lie comatose. The night I took this shot I saw four coma kid beggars in short succession. It was clearly a scam.
But later I ran into this family and it all felt different. The woman wasn't exaggerating a pathetic hand to mouth gesture. She merely gave me a wai and sawadee kaaa.
I fished 20 baht out of my pocket and gave it to the little boy. They were delighted, as you can see.
For a Thai, 20 baht goes a long way, I think. I hope.