Tales From Thailand But Written In England (Part 2)

Day 5

We checked out of the hotel and made our way to Bangkok airport. When we were outside the hotel I had a quick look around to see if T had come to see me off. I knew she wouldn’t and I’m glad she didn’t. My head was already
too far up my arse to handle it, but a tiny little part of me wished she was there.

We got to Bangkok airport, checked in for our flight and went to the departure lounge. We were both very tired as neither of us had any sleep at all and with the previous nights emotional drain, we were both pretty spaced out.

It was time to board and we made our way to the plane. As this was the first flight out of Bangkok on Bangkok Airway’s, there were only about 15 people on the flight. I have to say the flight crew were very nice, one of the girls asked
why I had lipstick on my collar, I told her I didn’t know why and in all honesty I didn’t.

We landed after an hour; we got our bags and met the driver outside the airport. It was a very hot day. It took about 30 minutes to get to Patong and it felt great to be back. We both noticed that the sea was very far into the shore this
year. We got to the hotel, checked in and made our way to our room. It was time for sleep. It had been nearly 24 hours since we had last slept and we felt it. We went to bed and slept all day.

We got up around 7pm, L had sent me a message asking how we were and I sent her one back saying we were fine, we were in Patong and we would see her later. We decided to get something to eat, Mc’ Donald’s being the order of
the day.

We walked past the massage shops leading from our hotel and we noticed that the girl we got to know the previous years wasn’t there so I asked one of the girls where she was and they said she had moved on and they didn’t know
where, I felt a little sad.

We got to Mc’ Donald’s and the inside was being done up so we had to sit outside to eat. After our food we went back to the hotel to get ready for the night ahead.

After a shower and shave we got ready and left just after 9pm. Our first port of call was the Margarita bar. Walking down Bangla road we noticed how busy it seemed this year. Walking past all the bars and sois was great, it just seemed like
we were there only yesterday. We got to the Margarita bar and went inside and sat down. One of the girls in there remembered us and asked us how we were. We had a look around and the bar itself had been done up and looked a lot bigger. Anyone
who’s never been in this bar should really check it out, it’s a great place and very relaxing, the staff are also great. We looked out of the street and everything seemed to have changed, building work seemed to be going on everywhere.
We saw that Rock Hard a Go Go had moved to the second floor and the first floor seemed to be a new bar.

We had a couple of drinks in Margarita and then we went in Rock Hard to see what it was like now. It was more or less the same as the previous year except the girls seemed a lot more bored this year. We just had one drink and then moved onto
Tiger. We found a bar and had a drink. We didn’t see anything new in this soi except the music was a lot louder so conversation was more or less out of the question unless you wanted to shout at each other. After a quick drink we left for
Soi Easy. We wanted to see if anyone from L’s old bar were still there.

As we walked in Soi Easy we noticed a new bar called Dragon had opened up above the Soi, we made a mental note to check it out. We saw L’s old bar but before we got to it, we were grabbed by some girls and as we turned round it was
the girls from L’s old bar. They had moved to another bar. Hugs and kisses and how are you followed and we sat down and had a drink with them all. There were a lot more girls there this year and to me, a lot of them seemed like freelancers,
they didn’t seem to belong to the bar but they were still there. We all caught up with what we had been doing and I got up and went for a wander around. I met some people on the way, said lots of hellos and made my way back to the bar.
We stayed for another couple of drinks and one girl in L’s old bar caught my eye. We both looked at each other, both smiled at each other and that was that.

We left Soi Easy and went to see L who now worked in Soi Gonzo. We walked down the soi and found her bar. She smiled and gave us both hugs and introduced us to all the people who worked there. We caught up with all our news and had a game
of hitting the nail in the wood which seemed to be the “in” thing this year. L asked me if I had any mixes with me and I said I’d left then in the hotel, she told me to go and get them. So I went back to the hotel to get them.

I got back about 10 minutes later and she stuck one on. It didn’t last long as a guy behind the bar wanted some rock music on. I didn’t mind really. We finished our drinks and moved on, telling L we wanted to have a look around.
We said we would see her later.

We left Gonzo and decided on the lady boy soi. As usual it was packed with people. This soi is always busy, no matter what time of year it is. We found a bar and had a drink, took some pictures and got some camera footage. We left after one
drink and found a bar just near the top of Bangla road. The drink was taking its toll on both of us so I decided water was the answer. We met a couple from Newcastle in this bar. The guy was ok but his wife was a silly bitch who we couldn’t
stand. One of the girls behind the bar put on a mix of mine and everyone was drinking shots and having a laugh. It got to 2am and the girl behind the bar asked Neil and I if we wanted to go to Tiger disco. We said yes and off we went.

This was also a new place and after paying the 100 baht cover charge and got our free drink voucher, we went inside. The music was pretty crap but it seemed ok. Neil and this girl went for a dance and I soaked up the atmosphere. After five
minutes Neil came back saying he felt sick from all the shots and wanted to go. We left and made our way back to the hotel.

Neil’s girlfriend rang and L sent me a text asking if we wanted something to eat, I asked Neil and he said yes so we said we would meet her at the bottom of Bangla road. We left a few minutes later.

We found L and we went to a small and quiet place across the road from Bangla road. There was a group of guys in the corner and a French guy from that group came over, knowing we were from England and started raising his voice about the football
and how much of an asshole the manager was. We knew then that we didn’t like this guy, eventually he sat down, it turns out he was part owner of the place we were in.

We had some food, drank some water and left with L at about 4.30am and made our way to the hotel. We said our goodbyes to L and said we’d see her the next day. We got back to the hotel room and had a quick chat about the night and
went to sleep.

It felt great to be back but something wasn’t right, something didn’t feel right. It wasn’t the place itself, but there was something in the air.

Day 6

We got up for breakfast at 9.30am, god knows why. As soon as we finished, we saw our rep and went back to our room to sleep.

Woke up at 1pm by the phone ringing, it was Niki. After a quick conversation we both went back to sleep.

I woke up a couple of hours later and sat in the sun, Neil had the mother of all hangovers so he decided to stay in bed. L also rang me and asked if we wanted to eat with her at her boss’s house. Neil was too ill so I thanked her for
the offer but declined.

At 4pm he joined me for an hour and we went out to eat at a beach bar, god bless fried rice.

We chilled out for a few hours and went out around 9pm. An internet café was first and I emailed my girlfriend and also a girl I knew in Phuket town, telling her I was now in Phuket and talked about a possible meeting. Neil checked his
and sent some e-mail’s to a few work mates.

We went into the Margarita bar and had a couple of drinks in there. There was a band playing, a great guitar player but he was a rubbish singer.

We moved on and went to soi easy and said hello to our friends in there and had a few drinks. The girl I saw in L’s old bar the previous night looked over at me, we both smiled at each other again and then turned away from each other.
After a few more drinks in there were went to Soi Eric and got ripped off in the bar we went to. We were well over charged for two drinks and I tried a little to argue the case but it was useless. We just put it down to experience and never went
there again. We then went to Soi Ladyboy and went to the bar we were in the previous night. The people there recognised us and we had a quick chat before moving on to L’s bar. There was a Justin Timberlake look-alike there. This guy really
did think he was him and Neil and I had such a laugh over it, so did the other girls in the bar. Some of the girl’s from soi easy also turned up and we had a drink and a laugh with them. I noticed Neil had gone pretty quiet, almost liked
he’d gone into a shell.

We stayed there till 2am and we then went out for something to eat with L, her boss and another girl from the bar. We went in the boss’s car which was a very nice car. We ended up at the same place where we met the French guy. We had
something to eat, had a chat and a laugh and Neil just didn’t seem to want to join in the fun. He kept on saying he wanted to go and ring his girlfriend.

We finished our food and Neil wanted to go. We paid our share and I told L we were going. She asked us where and I said Neil wanted to call his girlfriend. We said goodbye to everyone and left. I was a little pissed off really, the night
was still young and Neil just wanted to call his girlfriend. I guess I could have stayed out but because Neil and I had come on holiday together, I felt that it was only right that we did things together, rather than splitting up.

We got back to the hotel and Neil spoke to Niki. I sent a text to L asking what she was doing and she told me she was going to a club and asked us if we wanted to go. I asked Neil if he fancied it but he said no. That pissed me off even more.
Here we were on holiday, we weren’t here for long, why waste it sitting in our room, why not be spontaneous? Neil could sense I wasn’t happy and he told Niki he was going. That was when the fun began.

Basically Neil and I had a big heart to heart about how we were feeling, what was happening, why he was being so down a lot and we both felt that it did clear the air, it seemed to make things easier. There was a cloud hanging over us, it
had been brewing for a few days and finally it was clearing. The chat itself got quite emotional at certain points but these things happen and I’m glad we were both big enough to have the chat we had and to open ourselves up enough for
us to be able to settle our differences.

By the time we finished our chat (although we still had a lot of talking to do) it was 7.30am and we decided before we went to sleep, we might as well have breakfast.

The day itself was quite an eye opener and it gave Neil and I a chance to really talk and sort through some things. We knew then that it was now time to really enjoy ourselves and get the most out of Phuket( sleeping, eating and going out
all night)

Day 7

We slept till about 2pm. After getting into bed around 8.30am, we still felt pretty tired.

The cleaners had now got use to our sleeping patterns and knew that by 4pm, the room would be free for them to clean. Our cleaning ladies were great, very friendly and always had a smile for us.

We had a party to go to tonight. It’s was L’s bosses birthday and L wanted us there. We had no complaints about that.

After getting something to eat, we went back to the hotel and sat in the sun for a couple of hours. It became to hot and we were sweating like, well, like it was hot. We went back in our room and Neil decided to go for a massage in the hotel.
It would take a couple of hours so I just chilled out and hap a nap while he was gone.

When he came back he told me all about it. He said it hurt a little but he felt great after it and very refreshed. It cost him 900 baht which is expensive and he could have got one for as low as 200 baht, but as it was the hotel, he knew
the prices would be higher. We then got ready to go out.

We left about 9pm and went to an internet café. I emailed my girlfriend and also J, the girl I knew in Phuket town. I said I would call her and we would arrange to meet.

We then when in Margarita bar and had a few drinks in there. We checked out Tai Pan and laughed at the way the girls would clap when someone came in for a drink. They would clap for them to sit down at a table. We saw an idiot in there who
was dancing around out of tune and touching up one of the girls, she didn’t seem happy at all and because it was her section, she couldn’t really get out of his way. It seemed she just had to smile and put up with it.

We left Tai Pan and went to soi seadragon and found a quiet bar at the end of the soi. We talked to a couple of the girls. This girl told me that a girl in the bar just behind liked me, I told her to tell her to join the queue.

Suzi Wong’s was just opposite us and we decided to head in there for a drink. I’m not sure what the Bangkok version is like but this one was a right dive. The girls seemed very old, the place was very small and I felt sorry
for the girls really. They were dancing around on stage and there was only us two and two other guys in there. The girls themselves looked very rough. Then, the fun began. Neil nudged me and told me to look at the stage. Well, I won’t go
into details but you know those guys who carry around those cards with names for some of the actions these girls do at certain Go Go bars? Well this was going on. My mouth hung open; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. That rainbow coloured
ribbon was never ending and as for the ping pong balls, Jesus.

It was the first time I’ve seen anything like that. I’d heard about it but never seen it and I have to say it was the least erotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life. What made us both laugh was when the girls had finished
their “act” they would take a bow. After it had finished, a girl came round with a glass bowl asking for money. Neil stuck some in. We then paid up and left.

We went to Soi easy and had a drink with the girls we knew. Neil had his eye on someone in that bar but I wasn’t sure who it was. The girl in L’s old bar looked over and smiled, I smiled back. I went for a walk around and said
hello to some of the girls and then went back to Neil. We drank up and decided to go to Seadragon Bar which was new and above Soi easy. Walking up the stairs to get into it, all the girls and guys Wai and say hello. We got inside and sat at the
bar. It was a pretty impressive place. Pool tables were set out and there was a club at the back of the place. At first the music was pretty crap, but then the DJ put on some great music and we sat there listening and talking and enjoying the
relaxing atmosphere. They had free internet in there so Neil used it while I sat at the bar. After a couple of drinks in there, we paid up and left and went for something to eat. Deciding on a pizza which was very nice indeed.

We then went to L’s bar and at 12am they put on the birthday song and wished the boss happy birthday. There was a guy at the bar who seemed to know everyone and he was in an England shirt, he was about 25. We got talking to him and
he said he came twice a year, he had a regular girl at this bar who he saw when he came to Thailand but he saw it as just a bit of fun, nothing serious. He said when he goes back home she will work the bar and go with other guys but when he’s
there, she’s always with him. I think he had his head screwed on; he seemed like a nice guy.

When the bar closed we all went to a party at Crocodile disco. The boss got bottles of whisky for everyone and we all had a great laugh. Playing pool and meeting some really nice people. Neil and I got chatting to one of the girls who worked
in there. She was a great girl, very funny and a very good pool player. I also got talking to a girl from Malaysia, she knew L and the rest of the people in our party and she took my number, who I gave it to her I don’t know.

We got lots of pictures and camcorder footage and at about 4.30am, we left and went for something to eat with L. We went to a café bar just across from the one we had been too the two previous nights. There were a lot of people in here
and the music was very loud. I had my mixes on me so I gave them to the DJ/owner who copied them and played a little of one of them. The place itself was pretty good. They had a picture of Jean Claude Van Damne on the wall; he had his arm around
the owner. It looked like he’d paid this particular place a visit.

We all ate and had a couple of drinks. There were lots of girls in here, some with guys but most of them weren’t. All the girls seemed to be an equal mix of bar girls, Go Go girls and freelancers. We liked the place.

After our meal and after finishing our drinks it was around 5.30am and we all left. Walking up Bangla road I got talking to a group of girls who were sat with a woman selling drinks on the street. We had a bit of a laugh and we then moved
on.

We said goodbye to L and thanked her for the night and went back to the hotel. We stayed up for about 10 minutes talking and then went to sleep.

Both of us really enjoyed the night, we kept moving all the time so we didn’t get bored, and we met some great people.

Day 8

We woke up in the afternoon around 2pm. We went for something to eat at a beach bar and then went to do a little shopping in a sports store just near Bangla Road. I bought a couple of hats and Neil bought a couple of tops. We then went back to the hotel and sat in the sun for a while.

Around 6pm I rang J and we arranged to meet that night at 9pm at Starbucks, she was going there with some of her friends. It would be the first time we would meet.

Around 8pm we both got ready and by 8.50pm we were leaving to meet J.

We got to Satrbucks and saw her and her friends. There were about 6 of them. One of them was a half Thai half English guy. We said hello to everyone and had a coffee with them. J introduced us to her friends and I couldn’t remember their names so I said I would call them A,B,C,D and E. It was quite a weird situation to be in really. I was nervous, Neil was nervous, J was nervous. I kept on talking and talking and I knew that if I stopped, the conversation would run dry and it would be one of those awkward silences. J didn’t really speak (maybe I didn’t give her a chance to) but the guy who was there told us she was shy and had trouble with her English sometimes. Some of her friends asked a few questions of how I knew J. I told them she read my travel stories on the Stickman site; she loved them and wanted to get to know the author. That was also how I got to know A in Bangkok.

After we finished our coffees I knew it was time to leave. Neil felt the same. We felt a little out of place really, neither of us felt relaxed nor at ease with the situation and we felt it best that we didn’t overstay our welcome. It was a shame really because J did seem nice; the half Thai half English guy seemed like a nice guy as well. I didn’t really speak to any of her friends, neither did Neil. I would have liked to have gotten to know her a little better and to have a chat with her, but it just wasn’t happening, there seemed to be nothing there between us, but perhaps that was because of the situation and because there was so many of us, it was hard to fit in and the idea of talking to J one on one was more or less out of the question. It would have been nice to have made a new friend, but the opportunity was fading fast, if not gone completely. Oh well, some you win and some you loose.

We said our goodbyes, told them it was nice to meet them all and then we left. That was the first and last time I saw J.

We went for something to eat before moving onto the bars. We went to one of the big open air restaurants on the main beach road. The food was ok but expensive. We then moved on to the Margarita bar and saw the singer from Tai Pan the previous year, she has an amazing voice and we enjoyed listening to her. We then went to the internet café and sent out some emails. We then moved on to Soi Easy and to see the girls we knew in there.

I finally spoke to the girl in L’s old bar and her name was T. She gave me a bracelet she had on her wrist and tied it for me. We seemed to get on pretty well and we would take it in turns going backwards and forwards to the bars we were at to have little chats.

I went round the soi with the camcorder and I saw him, and her. The male and female DJ from last year. The female DJ looked gorgeous, she recognised me straight away and we gave each other a hug. The male DJ had been in Malaysia for the past 6 months and was now back in Thailand. He told me he was DJ’ing at a club near Simon Cabaret and asked me to go; he said he wanted me to DJ there. I gave him a couple of my mixes for him to copy and told him we would try and get there to see him, he also said he’d put on a bit of my mix in around 30 minutes. I said goodbye to them both and went back to the bar.

As I got there, there seemed to be an argument going on between two of the girls and one of them stormed off and didn’t come back. I asked Neil what was going on and it had something to do with him. He said something about the girls arguing over him and they got a little jealous of each other when one of them seemed to be getting more attention than the other. I told Neil about the two DJ’s and about the club the male DJ mentioned.

We stayed until my mix was played and after 20 minutes the male DJ came over and said again about the club he worked at and wanted me to DJ at. I said we’d get there at some point. We drank up and I went over to T and told her I had a bracelet to give her and I would bring it to her the next day. We said our goodbyes and I grabbed Neil and we left.

We moved on to L’s bar and stayed there till about 3am. Most of the girls we knew at soi easy from the bar we sit at came as well and we all had a drink and a laugh together. After that, L, me and Neil went to Crocodile disco again.

L had a VIP card that only Thai’s seem to be able to use and every single drink we ordered was only 50 baht each, no matter what drink it was. We played some pool and the girl who worked there that we met the previous night came over to see us and play pool with me. As I said before, she was a great pool player and if I was a betting man, she would have took quite a lot of money off me. Out of 10 games she won 7. She said if she beat me tomorrow she would take my shirt, I said the same thing to her. She found out I was a DJ and took me up to the DJ booth to meet the DJ. We shook hands and he asked me if I fancied doing a mix. There weren’t any complaints from me. I looked through his music collection and wasn’t too impressed but there were a couple of tunes that were pretty good. I picked them out and preceded to cue up a couple of tracks only for it to dawn on me that I’d had one too many vodka redbulls and DJ’ing wouldn’t be the wisest move I could make. He introduced me to the people in the club on his microphone, there was a little cheer. I told the DJ about my state of mind and thanked him for giving me the chance to do it and told him I’d be back in a more sober state and I’d DJ for him.

It was about 5am and we went to leave. It was at this point that we thought the camcorder had been lost. Neil thought he’d left it behind the bar and when he went over to get it, they said they didn’t have it. L then went over to the bar and asked for it back, but again the people behind the bar said they didn’t have it. At this point I was pissed off because I thought they had stolen it, I was pissed off with Neil for giving it them steal and I was pissed off because we’d loose all of our film that we’d shot so far. The manager then got involved and I was about to get up and say something when it dawned on Neil he hadn’t left it behind the bar at all, he’d left it by the side of the firkin chair we were all sat on. Muppet. We then left and went to get something to eat. L decided she didn’t want to walk so we went on her bike. It was quite interesting, she was all over the road and I shit myself.

We ate at the same place as the previous night. It was packed yet again and we saw some very fine women in there, some were gorgeous. We ate, had some drinks and a few laughs and left around 6am. L gave us a lift back to the hotel on her bike.

We told L we would see her later and we went to our room and had a little talk on the camcorder about the night and went to bed.

Before sleep took its early morning hold, I thought of T and the female DJ.

Day 9

We woke up in the early afternoon again. I was starting to think I was a bar girl. I think Neil actually looked like one when he woke up.

We got a phone call at about 3pm, it was the cleaner asking if she could do our room, we told her it was fine and to come when she wanted.

We went out for something to eat. We settled on a little Irish pub on the main beach road. Nice food, but very expensive. After eating we decided to get ourselves a bottle of vodka and some redbulls. We were drinking them like fish in the bars and it was costing a small fortune. We thought this way would be much cheaper. We’d have a couple in our room to set us up for the night ahead.

When we got back we sat in the sun for a couple of hours, we watched the gorgeous sunset and sat on the balcony just chilling out and chatting. We did the balcony chats every evening. It was great doing it. We had some music playing in the background and just enjoyed the moment.

We left about 9.30pm, I had the bracelet on that I was giving to T. We did the internet café and Margarita bar first. We both loved it in there. I’ve said before how good this bar is but it’s just the perfect place to set you up for the night ahead. The staff are great and it’s very relaxed.

We left Margarita and went to another quiet bar just at the top of Bangla road. We had a few games of connect four with the girls and after we finished our drinks, we went to Soi Easy. We sat at our regular bar and got some drinks and hat a chat with the girls. I saw T and went over to see her and gave her the bracelet. She thanked me and I had a quick drink in her bar and had a chat with her. She was very nice. She always had a smile on her face and was very easy to chat to and have a laugh with.

I went back to the other bar and sat with Neil and the other girls. He told me about a girl he’d seen in this bar for the first couple of nights, he thought she was really nice and she hadn’t been in since. I couldn’t remember who he was talking about.

After about an hour in soi easy, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, I turned round just in time to see the female DJ walking down the soi, she turned round and smiled. I saw this as an opportunity to get her on camera. I told Neil to get the camcorder and to follow me. We then went in search of her and at first we couldn’t see her anywhere but she jumped out and grabbed me. Neil got her on camcorder and then went back to the bar. I asked her where she was going after hear and she said she would go in Tai pan. I asked her if she was going to be in soi easy the next day and she said yes and she would maybe see me after 10pm. We said our goodbyes and I told her I would see her tomorrow.

I went back to the bar with Neil and the girls. We stayed a bit longer, I chatted a little more to T and we then left and decided to go in Dragon bar upstairs for a drink or two.

We got in there and sat at the bar. There were a few people playing pool, a few people dancing in the club. It was nice. We had a couple of drinks, had a chat and soaked up the atmosphere. For some reason though, it didn’t seem to have the same appeal as it did the first time we were in here. I couldn’t put my finger on why.

We left about 1.00am and went to Rock hard again for a quick drink. We sat outside and watched Bangla road from the balcony. The view was great and a couple of girls came over to us and asked why we were sitting outside and not watching the girls inside. I tried to think of something witty to say but couldn’t come up with anything. So we just said we were chilling outside for a change.

We left about 1.30am and went to L’s bar. There was a tiny little dog on one of the bars and we got some pictures of it, it was very cute. I shouted to L that her Swedish boy friend had come to see her and pointed at the dog.

When L’s bar closed we went to Crocodile disco again and had a few games of pool and a few drinks. I played the girl who worked there again and yep, she beat me more times than I beat her.

We left around 3.30pm because L wanted to see some of her friends in a little bar called Happy Days. There were a few people in there watching the match, old and young alike, some had girls with them and some didn’t. The friends L went to meet were all lesbians apart from one. This one girl actually recognised me from my first trip to Thailand. She had a great memory; I didn’t have a clue who she was. L’s friends were really nice, they were very butch lesbians but they made Neil and I feel welcome. One of them took a shine to my hat and had it off me while she played pool.

There were some very attractive girls in there. Two of them were with two guys but they kept on looking over at Neil and me and smiling. Eventually these two guys left without them so I think these girls thought Neil and I would be there back up plan. Sadly, there dreams of a night of passion with us two were shattered.

Both Neil and I didn’t rate happy days very much. There was just something about the place we didn’t like. It didn’t seem to have any soul and we didn’t feel comfortable there.

We got ready to leave about 4.30am, I got my hat back and we said goodbye to the girls and left and went to get something to eat. We chose the same place as on the previous nights and we went there on L’s bike. After she let us off outside the café, she went to park the bike but it tipped over and she damaged it a little. I just called her a muppet.

We ordered our food, had a few drinks and some laughs. The place was packed yet again. It’s always surprising how busy these places are at such a late time, or early time; however you want to look at it.

We left about 5.30am and made our way back to the hotel. We said goodbye to L at the top of Bangla road and went to our room. Once we were back inside we had a bit of a chat. I also got a text message off someone wishing me sweet dreams, it was a Thai number. I didn’t recognise the number so I sent a text back asking who it was. I didn’t get a reply.

It was another great night in Phuket( we don’t really see the days to make any kind of judgement) but just before sleep took me, I thought of the sender of the text message and wondered if I would ever find out who it was. As it turned out, I wouldn’t have to wait very long at all.

To be continued……

Stickman's thoughts:

Man, you need to look up the word verbose in the dictionary!

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