I Don’t Believe It

Before I start the final part of this story as its taken a couple of days, I've been reading the submissions by B.DOG and THAI TIES. We all make mistakes as you have so clearly pointed out ‘Stick’ and we had know idea what we were doing,
as this was only the first of many holidays in ‘the land of smiles’ and I might have found one of many possible ways to jettison the bargirl.

I did see Thai1, one last time on the last night only because we ended up back at the bar, (Morning/Nite) trying to get the memories saved in the mind. We had to leave for the airport at four in the morning, organized by the tour operator.
We checked out of the hotel and as you can probably gather and anyone who knows Bangkok there isn’t much to do at that time, it was horrible, we didn’t want to leave but if we wanted to come back we would have to leave, get the baht
vouchers and return post haste. My friend had got attached to Thai2 as I had with Thai1 to be honest, the wait in that lobby is a painful memory, our hearts were aching. I told Thai1 to leave and go home because she’d been sleeping on a
really ill fitting couch for two hours or so. I know they can sleep on a razor but even she didn’t look comfortable.

The rep from the tour company turned up and told us the taxi was waiting. I looked at my friend, we have to book the flight as soon as we get home. Thai2 came with us but I don’t think the rep was too impressed, who cares Thai2 happened was a good
girl not like the others, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was glad to see Thai1 go. She just seemed so domineering, Thai2 seemed happier as well. She seemed to order her around like she owned her. We arrived at the airport, it was quick journey.
We said our goodbyes to Thai2 “and it hurt man, it f—–g hurt” I can tell you, we held back the tears, but it was hard.
We arrived back in the UK, freezing cold the same as we had left it. “Isn’t the UK
a DUMP?” That’s my own perception. I don’t expect anyone to hold the same opinion, but after being in the land of smiles and seeing all those beautiful women, islands and even the smog of Bangkok, I stepped off the air bridge
and knew I was home, “GREY!”

We boarded the tube to go to St. Pancrass and ended up sitting next to these three birds, Yuppi’s from Chelsea, talking about what there going to get for Christmas and so forth. It just seemed so empty. I looked at my friend and I found could almost
read his mind “WE GOT TO GET BACK”. Panic was settling in.

It was two hours before we got home. Our friends picked us up from our local station, we went to the pub that evening, went to the bar, and what do you know, (it took like I said in my last submission), and I kid you not, twenty or so minutes to get a
drink, looked around the bar and thought, where’s the bargirls? They're not setting up the pool tables.

I slept well that night due to jetlag. I'm not going to drag this out, all I'm gonna say is it was the longest two and a half months of my life. Two weeks later the flight was booked and I spent the next two or so months phoning
Thai1, just to have the connection “it’s the addiction thing again” I tried convincing her to meet us at the airport when we got back to Bangkok but it’s the whole get up at 7am thing with Thai bargirl, “not
a hope”.

I started to read more of Stickman and the more I read about bar disasters, the more I didn’t want to see her. (I promise that this story does get interesting) The last two weeks before we went, I had convinced myself it was a bad idea to see Thai1,
because even though she sounded like she had left the bar, and no longer worked, how did she ‘finance’ herself (We all know, but as naïve as we were), I was never going to send money, but she still insisted on seeing me, I don’t
know why.

So a week before we went I rang and told her, I was not interested in seeing a GOGO girl. She hit the roof. “I not gogo girl, why you call me that.” The phone went dead, as you can probably understand, DON’T CALL bargirls GOGO GIRLS
they don’t like it. I spent the next few days with her phoning every hour, I don’t know why, well I do, but will explain later.

The night of the flight is close we’re excited as hell, didn’t get any sleep, got to Gatwick, we did a stop off in Doha again.

And into BKK airport. My friend was convinced that Thai2 wouldn’t be there. We collected our bags and that’s when we saw Thai2 waiting at the pick up point. Hugs were exchanged and we went outside to get a cab and I turned, just to look
around, and Thai1 was standing there, waiting behind me. She walked over, gave me a big hug, asked if I was ok, and then we went to the hotel, that they had conveniently arranged for us.

We sat and talked for a while, the deed was done and we spent the rest day wandering the bars of Soi 4. It's then that things started to go “the way of the pear!!” We sat in the Hillary and she started talking about money and mentioned
the “buy out of the bar thing”. To this day and for the rest of my life I will ask myself, why I did this, but I bought her out, I went to the ATM, drew 10,000 baht out of said ATM, and gave her the lot. “MAD”, I hear
you say. Well you don’t have to tell me, she walked up to who I think may have been her boss. They seemed to talk for a while, and kept glancing over at me. She then walked over to the mamasan, exchanged chat. I saw her put the money behind
the counter, then she came back over to me, gave me a lingering hug and didn’t say anything else. “WEIRD” is the word of the day.

(BUY HER OUT 10,000 BAHT + 5 DAYS = 2,000 BAHT A DAY “DID I REALLY DO THAT BAD!”)

We spent the next day or so together. We went bowling on a Friday night in the Central World Plaza, had a few games and they kept going off to smoke due to the facility being non-smoking. I'd been with her five days, by this point, and
I started to feel we were growing apart. As we walked out to this big open area outside the bowling alley, she hit me with, and totally out of the blue ”you give me 18,000 baht now!”

“Excuse me”, I retorted.

“You give me 18,000 baht if not, I go now”.

I'm sorry if this sounds a bit cold but I said “You can fuck off” and she just walked away. My reality chip kicked in, and I said to my friend “I'll see you back at the hotel.

I ran out of the complex in to a waiting tuktuk, handed him a 100 baht “take me to Soi4” and my hotel, as quick as please. I knew she could get the key because she had booked in with me. I didn’t want to take any chances with her
stealing out of the room. I sat, waited for about two hours.

A knock on the door, it was Thai1. She came in and packed her stuff and just left, didn’t say a word, not even goodbye. The next time I saw her, we were in the Morning/Nite. She popped in as she had a new job in the Hillary2. I will tell you something,
the night I handed her the 10,000 baht, she had been talking to another man, “you know as they do” and kept popping over and coming back over to me, (feeling guilty) she explained “he my friend, know him long time, he good
man”.

This is when my friend pointed out to me that she had overheard the man saying “Is she free yet”. My friend also pointed out that she might have planned the whole. “He might not pay” routine, and called her a ‘back up’
customer.

It casts a big shadow over the whole Bangkok experience, but as you have submitted yourself ‘Stick’ to my first submission “as long as you don’t lose to much money or heart”.
Well I'm trying, but it's
proving difficult, what with the farce that’s called the UK, Thailand is starting to look pretty SWEET right now. I will always be confused with the Thai way of doing things, but that will never change my opinion of them, I can say without
a shadow of a doubt, they know what they are doing, “slowly” but they know there stuff.

That’s the last installment of the first holiday, I could write about every moment, but that would be boring, I had to learn the hard way, and so will many others (probably worse)
Only a few parts of this story have been changed to
protect the innocent. “Who is the innocent though?”

‘ITS ALL ABOUT THE BAHT”

Stickman's thoughts:

A nice little series this. One has to admire the hardcore guys, guys like Dana, who do not fall in love. They come, have their fun, and go home. No attachments.