Too Much of a Good Thing

Damnoen had been born into a family of eleven children in Thailand. He was the youngest and had four brothers and six sisters. His family was established into a pleasant routine of poppy farming and goldsmithing, and Damnoen enjoyed the carefree role of youngest child. Growing up with the poppy and living a happy rural life, Damnoen developed a natural Buddha smile, but he never laughed.

When it wasn't poppy time, Damnoen would fly his kite with the other children. Often he would have ice cream after flying his kite; he became quite fond of ice cream. The local ice cream vendor had a daughter named Bue and as Damnoen came of age, he and Bue spent much time together. Damnoen's Buddha smile did not change but now found new focus. After a time, Damnoen and Bue married, and Damnoen began to work for Bue's father in the family ice cream business.

So much peace, happiness, and prosperity brought Damnoen and Bue many children, and as the years passed, Damnoen and Bue had eight sons and seven daughters. He taught all of his children to fly kites, and everyone in their family shared Damnoen's passion for ice cream. Damnoen's house was as full of laughter as it was full of children and all of this gave yet another aspect to his Buddha smile, but still he did not laugh.

Damnoen's children grew and had children of their own, and in no time at all he had more than thirty grandchildren. It gave Damnoen great pleasure to smoke his pipe after work, have some ice cream with his grandchildren, and then see how many kites they could get into the air as the sun was setting. All of this seemed to make Damnoen's Buddha smile only more natural, but still Damnoen had never laughed.

One night after another perfect day, Bue heard Damnoen making a sound that she had never before heard him make - laughter - and she tried to wake him so that they could share it.


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Thai Man Dies While Laughing in Sleep
Friday, August 22, 2003; 9:05 AM


BANGKOK, Thailand - An ice-cream truck driver in Thailand died while laughing in his sleep, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Damnoen Saen-um, 52, laughed for about two minutes on Wednesday and then stopped breathing, The Nation said, quoting officials.

The newspaper said Damnoen's wife tried to wake him up but he kept laughing.
An autopsy suggested that he might have had a heart attack, The Nation quoted a doctor as saying.

"I have never seen a case like this. But it is possible that a person could have heart seizure while laughing or crying too hard in their sleep," said Dr. Somchai Chakrabhand, deputy director-general of the Mental Health Department, according to The Nation.

The incident occurred in Phrae province, 300 miles north of Bangkok.

2003 The Associated Press