Smiles And Deceit

The Beginning

In August 2002, I went to Pattaya for the 5th time. I have resident friends there and have been frequenting the place for about 3 years. I had long ago gotten over the bulging eyed fascination of the place and had come to be “sort of” a regular visitor.

I usually am quite selective when coming to find a partner and I was looking for one for my 9 day stay. I was at Jimmy Bar on Pattaya Rd 2, opposite Soi 6, there were 3 girls there from Chiang Rai. 2 of them looked dubiously young (and later were confirmed to be 15) the third was 22, her name was Pim (fictional name). Someone out there might remember the girls at that time.

I immediately struck it off well with Pim. She was of unusual beauty, high cheekbones, lovely smile and the most amazing eyes. Her English was average and we communicated well. On the third visit, I bar-fined her and took her out.

She was very open-minded and intelligent. She would not let me shop, rather asking me what I wanted and then she would buy it and save me a heap. She was generally really good to me.

Our first night together, I was blown away. She had the most incredible breasts I had ever seen. In fact, her body was a perfect 10. Her performance showed me that although she was willing and tried hard, she was not as experienced as many of the girls were. She got better and better each time though.

After the 9 days, she had unwittingly chipped through my armour and I felt some real affection for her. She told me she was returning home as she was unhappy with the bar scene. She told me she had worked there for 3 months and saved some money. I asked her how many customers and she admitted about 3 per week and 2 long time (1/2 week) customers. She asked me to visit Chiang Rai and I agreed that I would try. In my head I made a firm decision to take this further. At this time I made no promises. You should know that we used condoms during sex at all times.

Falling in Love

In November, I went to Chiang Rai for 3 weeks. Pim met me at the bus station and she had a rather new motorcycle (Hmmm). She took me to her family's house. The usual wooden type on stilts. Underneath was her room. It was tiled out with large pink tiles, had an on-suite bathroom with water heater, TV and a nice bed.

Obviously I asked about these things. She admitted that she had been with an Aussie for about a year but they had separated 2 months before I met her. I accepted this at face value.

She said we could stay there but I wanted to see the Golden Triangle for the first time. Me riding, her on the back, we spent 2 weeks exploring the Triangle, spending each night in a new town. Pim was so much fun, daring and outgoing, loving and catering to all my whims and wants. Generally, I rode the bike, whilst sipping from a bag of Laos whisky and by mid-day was already shit faced. But being a biker for many years, we cruised safely around the mountains, making a spectacle of ourselves wherever we went.

One night in Doi Mai Salong (The most amazing mountain village) we had a heart to heart chat. I told her that I might be willing to make a serious relationship. She told me she was deeply in love. I could feel that she really liked me. I am generally quite fit and attractive and have had a few Asian girls from very upper class backgrounds fall for me, including Singaporeans with their own money.

She never mentioned money at any time since I met her. I gave her money in Pattaya at the very last minute and I knew I could have left without paying her, but that would have been nasty.

I won’t bore you with all the things we did, like making love on Phu Chi Pha mountain at sunrise and in the waterfalls and rivers. Discoing in Mai Sai and having picnics on the isolated mountains in the Northwest region. She slowly became my angel and her eyes would light up when she looked at me. There were some deep feelings developing. She began to ask me questions about my intentions and I said that I really liked her a lot and was not looking for short time fun. As the time for my departure grew nearer, she became very sad and I could see she was insecure. At this time, I assured her that I would be back.

One night her phone rang and I heard her talking in English. I looked at her and she indicated it was her ex-boyfriend from Aussie. She was very abrupt with him and hung up. He called several times that night. (He had taken her to Sydney previously and she said that he had made her baby-sit his 4 children from an ex-Thai wife while he was out most nights. He was also in his 50’s and she didn’t find him attractive and interesting. She said that with him it had been all about money. That’s normal isn't it?)

I left for work and she cried at the bus terminal, her body was shaking and she would not look me in the eye. Instead of money I had bought her a basic computer which she could use to open an internet service in the village instead of selling fruit juice and milk for 60 baht a day. The computer had cost me 13000 Baht. I left her with some pocket money to tide her over for a month too (3000 baht).

The Bomb

Upon returning to work, I was in touch with her via email. One day I received an email from some unknown person. The email turned my blood to ice: “If you know someone in Chiang Rai named Pim, please be aware that she is HIV positive, and has been for 2 years, I have the proof.”

I should say right now, that during our night in Doi Mai Salong, we had talked about this and she told me that she had done an HIV test in Feb. that year. She had always insisted on using condoms with all customers. I remembered her asking me to buy condoms the night I met her. I knew I was negative, I had had a test before coming to Thailand and had had no sex since August.

That night, the whisky and atmosphere in the mountain peaks consumed me and we made unprotected love. From then on for the last 4 days we did not use protection!! (What an ass, huh!)

I thought this might be the work of a jealous boyfriend and replied the mail asking for details. It turned out to be her Aussie ex. He got my email from her e-mail address which he had set up for her and knew the password. He was very friendly and sympathetic and told me that the same thing had happened to him the year before. He gave me good advice and I felt some genuine concern from him.

He further told me that she would produce an HIV negative result from a Bangkok hospital. He sent me a scan and told me it was fake. He then sent me a scan of another one from a Chiang Rai hospital which confirmed she was positive. Her real name, ID Number and date of birth were on it.

I did not confront her. I went home and took tests. I was negative, but I was well inside the 3 month window. I had to wait for 3 months more for the proper test. Let me tell you that those were the 3 most difficult months in my life.

I had a 2 year old daughter from my ex, and my plan was to watch her grow up into a young woman. She was the only real reason for my existence. I was furious and cursed myself for my stupidity! In the end, I tested negative….I was lucky….very lucky. I remember holding my child and thinking….I will be around to look out for you.

Eventually, I confronted Pim on email and gave her so many details. Her ex-Thai Boyfriend had died of AIDS 2 years previously. She told me she had a certificate saying she was negative. I told HER the certificate number and that I knew it was fake. This Aussie knew her family and most of the people in the village. He turned out to be a really nice guy. He was still in love with her and had told me that he arranged an Aussie visa for her and wanted to enrol her in the HIV programs in Sydney. She was not interested and would not go.

When finally confronted, she admitted it all to me. I could see she was distraught, she begged for forgiveness. I gave it….but told her to get help for her condition and to never make love without protection.

That was August 2003. I have not heard from her since. I know that you guys reading this will be able to fill in the details of our perfect relationship from your own experiences. All I can say is that I was fortunate. I feel terribly sorry for her. I cannot take a woman with HIV. The fact that she lied to me hurts but how could she tell me? The part that hurts the most is that she was willing to have sex without a condom.

Make what you will of this but be careful guys….having done some research I have found that Thailand has an epidemic. Northern Cities like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai have extremely high infection rates (some places are 70%). A whole bunch of these girls come down to work in Bangkok and Pattaya. I recognized 2 girls in a disco in Mai Sai from Pattaya!! And I recognized a girl from Jomtien KR Bar there too.

All I can say is…take the time to go for a test if you really like the girl! I wouldn’t wish my experience on anyone out there. Have fun…but have safe fun.

Stickman's thoughts:

A friend went through a similar thing. Girl from the same part of the country and similar story. I swear he aged years in the few months it took to have the HIV tests.