Token Flowers

Nancy Andrews

Washington Post

'Even if I had to give them (the flowers) back, that's OK, it's just a token to show they care and that they're not so disgusted by me that they come close,' said Saong Khamlueng, 38, covered with a light dusting of powder as he lights in an AIDS hospice in Loburi, Thailand. The hospice raises money by selling these plastic flowers to visitors to give to the patients. However, once the visitors leave, the flowers are collected from the patients and resold to the next year to visitors. Since the Asian economic crisis, government funding for AIDS has been cut, and AIDS-related drugs and treatments are only available to the extremely wealthy. Khamlueng receives no drug therapy to fight the disease.

Nancy Andrews , " Token Flowers," in POYi Archive, Item #29060, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/29060 (accessed May 14, 2025).