When the court summoned the husband to give testimony, it was revealed that he had purchased Ee Hua on an installment plan—having paid one pig, owed roughly two chickens, and a small amount of silver coins from Burma. If they divorced, he would lose the pig. There had been negotiations to return the pig, but Ee Hua’s father was unwilling, unwilling to exchange his daughter for the pig.

Ordinary courts might have had the power to impose fines, but His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej instead graciously granted compensation to the defendant, Ee Hua’s husband, which was very unusual.

The peculiar story continued, though the author was unsure whether it was appropriate to tell. The magazine “Sawadee” of Thai Airways had already published it, albeit with inaccuracies, so the author took this opportunity to critique Thai Airways, especially since the true events were more interesting.

In truth, when the author later visited the hilltribe villages, people asked, “Did the King really take a hilltribe wife?” H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn confirmed recently that the story had spread as far as the hilltribes in Laos.

Therefore, the author had to report that regarding the purchase of Ee Hua, the royal command was, “I give her to you, Phisadej.”

Since then, whenever the author visited Ee Hua’s village, Khun Wang, he would lay out his sleeping bag at the village headman’s house, offer food to the hilltribes, and share meals together. Ee Hua, who lived in a separate house, would bring delicious food such as stewed muntjac, in her role as a dutiful wife. The story did not end sweetly like a tale for reading, because when the author did not go to Khun Wang for some time, Ee Hua went to “take a new husband” without returning the pig to the author, which was quite sad. Nevertheless, other events occurred that brought much warmth to the author’s heart.

One day at Doi Inthanon, the author carried a heavy backpack filled with food, pots, clothes, and a sleeping bag, walking from the Karen village at Tha Fang, across the mountains to Khun Mae’s middle house, and then climbing eastward to reach the destination—Mae Ya Noi hilltribe house at night. At the headman’s house, which the author had never known before, he offered food, laid out his sleeping bag, and, exhausted, fell asleep immediately using his clothes as a pillow, waking only when roused to eat.