Case For Aging Punters

I been viewing Readers Submissions for quite some time and felt I should send in some of my own commentary regarding either visiting Thailand or going there to live and escape the West.

Firstly, I’m an American in my middle fifties finishing up the last years of my career, stashing cash and waiting to qualify for a pension for life. I’ve traveled extensively in Thailand and know Bangkok, Phuket, Chang Mai and
Pattaya well. I also know quite a number of well off pensioners from the West who now comfortably live in LOS. During the years of many trips to LOS, I often felt like chucking my life in the West and living there permanently, but the reality
of the benefit a pension would provide me in my later years always brought me home. In a couple of years I just may buy a one-way trip back to LOS and never return to the USA. I’d certainly be financially well off enough to do so. So, why
am I writing this? Well, it’s to offer a vestige of defense to us middle age and older punters that seem to be the target of ridicule and expressed disgust from some younger contributors to Stick’s Readers Submissions. Some think
we’re no better than a plague to the human race taking sexual advantage of young, uneducated farmers’ daughters from the countryside. Others may think we’re old fools trying to re-capture our youth. Many of us have planned
well financially and retained a zest for life.

To all the young punters who go to Thailand for pleasure bear in mind that we older punters go there or live there for the same reason. You will be pushing 50 and middle aged before you know it. Trust me. I hit the big 50 and didn’t
have a clue how it happened! And, if you’re not careful, you’ll either buy into the whole rot of staying in Thailand during your green years getting by on B25,000 a month or you’ll wise up and get back to the West to make
a career for your future. Thailand isn’t going anywhere. It’ll always be there. But, time waits for no man.

Many of us “dirty old men with balding heads, a bit or even more of a gut, and an appetite for young women” are generally well off financially. We may not be rich but those I know living in Thailand have an annual pension income
of B2,000,000 or more. We’re generally conservative in our approach to life. We appreciate the Thai culture for what it is and do not try to mold it into what WE think it should be to suit our desires. We simply get along. We’re
not sexual deviants or even over-sexed maniacs. I know many contemporaries who rarely bar fine for sex. If they’re seen with a younger woman, it’s more for company or friendship.

I do admit that there are a lot of aging dirt balls living in Thailand eking out a living. I’ve seen my share of these dregs and they too disgust me. I stay well clear of these bums. They treat Thai women with a sexual lust that exceeds normal
boundaries of human decency. They’re not well off financially and they come from myriad countries. Many of them aren’t well kept hygienically or physically. But, to include ALL middle age and older punters in one batch is certainly
unfair and not realistic.

Okay. With that said, I admit that I enjoy the company of a young Thai woman. I’ve been through a nasty divorce in my country several years ago and the thought of dating or even making love to a woman my age or close to my age in farang-land
is not my idea of excitement. I’m simply not interested. Call me a male chauvinist if you wish but don’t call me a dirty old man with disgust. I may be getting older and I may show it, but I’m in no way dirty either in person
or mind. I look at it as enjoying the remaining years of my life to the fullest with a willing partner who is well compensated and treated well. I have no thoughts of marrying a younger woman. That would be ridiculous. But, I do enjoy spending
time with them and I know many Thai women who are good friends.

I figured out a long time ago that wondering or even considering what others think of me is a waste of my time. Wondering what others (Thai or farang) are thinking or saying about me while I go to the Emporium to shop or catch a movie, have
dinner at a nice restaurant, riding the Sky Train or going anywhere for that matter with a much younger woman matters absolutely nothing to me. Well, not always. I see the faces of older farang men in tow with their Western wife and I DO wonder
what THEY’RE thinking. Actually, I know what they’re thinking. Ha.

So, to all you young punters who think us aging old men are sick, demented sex fiends who should be hidden from the streets of LOS, keep in mind that you too are getting older. Be careful of the traps of LOS, keep your head on straight and
work in your career in the West until you can retire. Come visit often and plan for the future. They’ll come a time in your life when you’ll be free to stay in LOS as long as you want without the worry of money. And you too will
be escorting a young Thai lady for companionship, fun and recreation. And always remember the words of the sage of sages, my good friend, Bangkok Paul. Seeing an old farang walking down Soi 4 one afternoon with a good looking and much younger
Thai woman on his arm, I said to Paul, “In a few more years, that’ll be you.” Paul responded by saying, “Damn, I hope so.”

Stickman's thoughts:

2 million baht a year pension? That'd be nice!