Once upon a time, there was a cat a

Once upon a time, there was a cat and a rat. They were good friends and lived together on a small island not very far from here. As happens from time to time, it had been a bad year. The fishing was not good and the rice harvest had failed. The people on the island had, slowly, drifted away in search of a better and more stable life. Pretty soon there was no one left on the island except the cat and the rat. Soon, they too, ran out of food and, like the people, decide to head for the mainland. But how to get there?
The cat and the rat puzzled over the problem for some time. Eventually, in true Thai style, they decided to form a committee to examine the viability of forming a sub-committee with a view to establishing the perameters within which the main committee, which was yet to be established, should operate. Several sub-committees were formed but unfortunately they neglected to circulate the minutes of their various and many meetings. The right paw didn’t know what the left paw was doing and organisational chaos ensued! Finally, common sense prevailed. All the committees were dissolved and replaced by a working party that unanimously voted to accept the Mission Statement penned by one of the earlier committees; it said, “Escape to the mainland is the first priority.” And, with these wise words ringing in their ears, the cat and the rat set to work.
After some searching they found a suitable log and chewed at it until it resembled a kind of boat-thing, which the cat and the rat had seen the humans using. They pushed it into the water and it floated! So, with spirits soaring, they waved a fond farewell to the island and set sail.
They made good time and soon the mainland was in sight. But the wind and the tide were not kind. After several days aimlessly drifting about, spirits sank and hunger began to set in. The rat became so ravenous, it began gnawing at the wood and, before the cat could step in, the boat sprang a leak and quickly sank. Fortunately, rats can swim very well and, although they don’t care for water, cats can swim too. After a while they crawled up the beach to safety. The cat raised an angry claw and snarled: “You are such a stupid rat, you nearly drowned us. I’ll get you ….!” His threat faded as the cat fell sound asleep, exhausted by the long swim. When he woke, the cat was alone; the dirty rat had slunk away. So, with vows of vengeance heaped upon his former friend, the cat set off to make a new life for himself.
And that, dear readers, is why, to this day, cats really hate rats.