Bangkok: The True Tales Of Happiness…

Okay I am sitting in a small room in Tokyo and I just decided I could not read another submission and not send one in myself. What has caused me to be bored, lonely, hungry and desperate to go back to Thailand? They teach in Buddhism that the cause of
suffering is desire, when you eliminate desire, you eliminate suffering.

Okay lets go back 6 months ago.

I am a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My father is American (yikes!) and my mother is from Taiwan. I have been actively following this website for about 1 year now. Needless to say I am very impressed with the quality of the
content here. Reading the various submissions and the valuable information about travelling in Thailand, living in Bangkok, so on and so forth. I read about the bargirls, nightlife, travel, readers submissions, yada yada yada.

Lucky for me as an Economics student, my department had an exchange agreement with Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. Oh yeah, and Tokyo, Japan. (My dad really pushed me to go to Japan, they have such a powerful economy, bla bla.)
I talked it over with my parents, my advisors, the department and finally it was mutually agreed that I would go to Bangkok for the summer program and Tokyo for the academic year.

I have grown up around the world, travelled and lived in a multitude of countries. Even by the tender age of 20 I have travelled extensively around Asia, Europe, North America, and who knows where else. Going to the University in Hawaii,
its amazing to see and interact with people from such a variety of backgrounds, and from all walks of life. In particular is the amount of Asian people that you get to meet. I can look at somebody and from the way they speak, the way they interact
with others and from their physical appearances, tell where they are from. I knew a lot about Japanese people (I had my experiences with Japanese women and let me tell you NEVER again!), but I knew a little bit less about Thai people.

Anyway, before I departed to Bangkok, I secretly made a promise to myself. I would have all the fun in the world, travel, do this and that, but under NO circumstances would I become involved with a bargirl. Not in a relationship at least.
I had read too many horror stories about farang men getting ripped off, this and that.

So I land at Don Muang, with Lonely Planet Thailand in hand and my Time Out guide to Bangkok. I would have to say the 4 months in Thailand were the best of my life. I was studying at a top-notch university, I was taking a business class on
studying how to open a business, in particular with regards to E-commerce. (For a short amount of time I was the CEO of thaidecors.com, but that is a whole different story.)

That flight to Tokyo was coming up very quickly and in no time at all I would be leaving my wonderful life in Thailand to pursue the terrible existence that I am currently living now.

Okay, this is where my Thai girlfriend comes into place. About half way through the course of my stay in Thailand, I met the most wonderful girl. Met her on Khao San Road (not far from my University and apartment). She was from Udon Thani,
Isaan. I knew that a lot of bargirls were from Isaan but lucky for me she was from a good Christian family. Her father is the preacher of the Church of Thailand in Chaiyapum. Before she came to Bangkok, she had never been in a bar, not drank a
drop of alcohol, smoked a cigarette in her life.

Let me tell you, Khao San Road is not the place for a girl coming from an unmaterialistic, religious background. There are way too many farang hanging around with pockets full of cash, crazy Thai women that could smell fresh farang blood a mile away.
Quite a few number of backpackers with REAL travel experience, Thai university students, farang students studying at Thai Universities, yada yada yada.

Unfortunately, she had been hanging around with the wrong Thai women (once again that could smell fresh farang money and blood a mile away).

Before I met her, I had learnt about past relationships with various farang men: the Swiss guy, the English dude, the crazy Australian with a wife back in Oz.

Okay whatever, she was with me now. I could care less about her past relationships with farang men. Frankly, I'm sure she wasn't interested in my past relationships with Asian women either. The divorced Japanese girl that could
smell HAOLE (in Hawaii that means white guy) blood from a mile away. The mixed Japanese and Phillipino girl that was cracked out, yada yada yada.

I met her at Gulliver's Tavern. I am also from a Christian background, I like the same music as her, I had the same zest of life as her. I was happier than a child with truckload of candy.

And than came the bad news. She was divorced from a Thai man, she had a son, she had never had a real job in her life. She had gone to a school somewhere in Thailand, but she had never finished with a marketable degree.

She moved in with me at my comfortable apartment very close to the Chao Praya river. Over the course of the next 2 months was something of a love-hate relationship with her. She was sweet, polite, came from a good background, cooked and took
care of me like I have never experienced before (except for the Japanese girl, but once again that is another story all together). But knowing what I know about divorced women, what they want is COMMITMENT.

~I still remember the time on Khao San Road that my female classmate from school called me up, and while honing in on our conversion, we argued the entire way back to our apartment, where she promptly tore up our photo and packed her bags
to leave and go back to her hometown.~

Anyway, as time progressed I went to her home in Isaan and slept with her and her family on the floor of their modest concrete apartment. Went to church with her family, went to a national park and had overall a wonderful time meeting all
of her relatives, family and friends.

But somewhere in between this I had I learnt of a "good Christian" French guy that was sending her money every month. He was planning on coming to Thailand in December to get married with her. He had bought her a plot of land and
was in the process of building a house in her hometown.

Something else I learnt while reading some of her text messages on her cell phone, learning about various men that sent her text messages.

From what it seemed she had various sugardaddies, all around the world sending her money every month. Where did she meet all of these men? Remember my little trip to Gulliver's Tavern on Khao San Road?!

Anyway, as time came to step foot on that plane to Tokyo drew nearer and nearer, I became all the more desperate. I wanted nothing more to make her mine, separate me and her from the various farang guys, and stay in Thailand.

Needless to say, I did step foot on that plane to Tokyo, and am having a terrible time in the world's most expensive city. I am starved, lonely and hungry, don't have many friends here and am not having any fun. I am going back
to Thammasat in Bangkok next month, and going back to church. I am willing to give my girlfriend one more try and try to recapture the "magic" that we once had.

The moral of this story is: 1) do what ultimately makes you happy, not what someone else tells you to do 2) cherish and hold whatever is valuable in your life; be it religion, family, friends and (in whatever order you so deem suitable) and
3) have fun but don't go overboard keep it all relative and within boundaries.

Peace.

Stickman’s thoughts:

Mmmm, this girl wants commitment and I would say that Frenchie has got the front running. When Frenchie comes back, you'll be history….hate to say it, but that's how I see it.