So You Think You Are Invisible?
So you think you are invisible? This is some advice for mainly expats that live here in the Big Mango and frequent the nightlife areas. If you have been here for any length of time you begin to lose the feeling of being a stranger in a distant land. You may speak some Thai and feel comfortable in the bars and forget you are a farang.
It all came clear to me one night on Patpong when I went into a bar how wrong that feeling really is. I normally go to two or three bars frequently but about once a month I go to other bars to check for new talent. I went into this bar and was almost through with my beer intending to head back to my HQ when the mamasan sent over one of the BGs. I told her that she was wasting her time as when I finished my beer I was gone. As it happens a month later I went back to this same bar and had my beer and bought one of the BGs a lady drink and left.
Now it's 3 MONTHS and I go back again and this BG came up to me and said "How are you tonight Mr. Policeman?" I was knocked for a loop as I don't let many people know that I was a police officer. So I had to find out how she knew. I bought her a lady drink and asked her how she knew. She related the following information to me. She said "three months ago you came in wearing tan shorts and a grey T-shirt, you smoked one cigarette, had one Kloster and told me to go away and left". She continued "you came back two months ago had one Kloster, bought that lady one lady drink, smoked one cigarette, and you were wearing green shorts and a white team Suzuki t-shirt".
I was floored and said "how did you know I way a police officer?" She replied when you were paying your bill I saw your wallet had a Thai police badge on it. I couldn't believe my ears. She WAS CORRECT ON ALL COUNTS down to what I was wearing. All this from an Isaan girl with a 3rd grade education that I had told politely to go away, never flirted with and didn't remember seeing again. I had to ask why she remembered all this trivial information about a total stranger. She said "it's my JOB to remember things about people because one day this information may come in handy".
I left the bar in a shaken state vowing to check into this. I started asking all my friends in the "trade" about this and guess what, they all talk to each other. If you are a regular or BF one of the girls THEY TELL EACH OTHER ALL ABOUT YOU. They know where you live, how much you are willing to pay, what you are like, and most importantly WHO YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS!! All the touts, doormen, and people that hang around outside the bars roam around the areas talking to each other and gossiping about who was where doing what with who. YOU ARE THEIR BUSINESS. They make their money from you and they collect information in the hopes of separating you from your money in the most efficient way they can. They have an intelligence net that would put governmental intelligence agencies to shame.
When I first started living in Bangkok I had a girlfriend working at a bar on the Silom end of The Pong 2 and made the mistake of stopping in a bar at the opposite end of the street. I had one beer with my friend that was in town and it was only like 20 minutes later when I entered my girlfriend's bar and the first words out of her mouth were "what the hell were you doing in that other bar". The only good news is that MOST of the people that work in the bars have some sort of code that they won't squeal on wandering husbands or boyfriends but they also won't tell you about your wandering girlfriend either, UNLESS you piss them off for some reason then you are fair game and they may hold off for awhile and then just when you think you pulled it off they will rat you out. So the next time your are in a rotten mood and decide to take it out on the staff, make sure that if you are going to do some fooling around that you do it in another area. But remember BGs move from bar to bar and remember you are not as invisible as you thought.
Stickman says:
I couldn't agree more. Same thing has happened to me a few times – and we are talking about periods of time way in excess of three months.
