Wat?

The first person we met on our 16-hour hard-seat overnight train ride
was a young Thai man in his mid-20s named Wat. He seemed to be as high
and out of touch with reality as anyone I've met. Wat incessantly
spoke the simple English words he knew and offered my friend and me all
of his goodies. Wat warmly welcomed my friend and me onto our 16-hour
overnight train ride where we quickly learned that he had no home
(since he's lived so many lives), no parents, and appeared to have
nothing to turn to except for his 5 bottles of beer and whiskey and the
bowl from which he smoked numerous substances. ("Wat" we later learned is
the Thai word for a Buddhist temple.)

When I looked into Wat, I saw what looked on the outside so much like
one of my friends from home, probably with the same desires, motivations, and fears. But I couldn't help but be saddened by the lies he believes that have penetrated his heart to bring him into the situation that he is in today. Alone, confused, disillusioned, and filling that void with all that he knew could: alcohol.

In the middle of the night I noticed Wat disappeared, along with the 5
bottles. And after a thorough search of the train in the morning, we
concluded he had been removed by train authorities from the car. The
question will always remain: What became of Wat?