Diamond In The Rough

I took my first trip to Thailand last year without really knowing what to expect. I am a married man of 27, married to a Thai girl. We have been married nearly 2 years and met in the UK. We went back to Thailand to see her parents (my first time meeting them) while we were there her uncle was in the hospital dieing of cancer so we had to go and see him every day which to me was a bit of a bummer because I was there for a holiday, not a funeral!

We did the usual things in our spare time and went to many temples and did some shopping. After a few days her uncle died and her family travelled from all round the country to pay their respects. I think in 1 day I actually met about 150 people, I felt very out of place as I was the only farang there. I heard people comment on it many times. I said to my wife that I wanted to go somewhere by myself for a few days to relax. I do not know to this day why she suggested Pattaya!

Well, that was it, I had decided to go to Pattaya for 2 days, 1 night alone. Her parents drove me there the very next day and left me there after checking me into a hotel. As soon as they left I went to a bar next door and grabbed a beer, straight away a girl asked me if I wanted to play a game. I said no thanks, I just wanted a beer and to relax. She was a cute girl, probably about 18 years old but I was there for the beach (I didn’t know it was a scrap beach I swear!) After my drink I decided to take a walk around and familiarise myself with the place, I popped into Mike’s Shopping Mall to cool down for a while.

I went back to my hotel and took a shower and watched some TV then decided to go and check out the nightlife. It was only about 7 PM but it was really busy. I was walking up Walking Street and popped into an open-aired bar for a game of pool and a beer. I started chatting to a couple of other guys from England and they were shocked that I was there alone on my first time in Thailand. They took me to a gogo bar and I was shocked. I hadn’t seen this kind of thing back home. Girls were coming over to us sitting with us, rubbing our legs talking to us (trying to!) I thought to myself “Damn! This must be what Heaven is like!”

We left there after a few drinks and I decided to go for a walk alone again. I walked into another bar and had another drink, then I saw her, the most beautiful girl I had ever seen! I was still sober and had always told myself that I would not sleep with a hooker. I had a few more drinks and played some pool, then she came over and started chatting to me. She spoke pretty good English and seemed nice so I bought her an over-priced Coke. She told me I had to give the bar 200 baht for her to leave with me. I said ok, (I’d been paying that for a Corona!) I don’t even remember discussing prices with her, but in the morning she asked me for 1,000 baht (about £14). I thought shit, is that all!

We went for breakfast and talked some more, the usual stuff, how long am I here for etc etc. I had left all my belongings back in BKK with my wife and only had come with a limited amount of cash (about 6,000 baht) which I had spent pretty much all of. I said to her that I would like to stay longer but all my money was in BKK. She said to me no problem, I can lend you money. I said no, that I would go back to BKK and then come back. She was so sure that I wouldn’t come back from BKK. I said that I would as there was much more I wanted to see there. After a lot of persuasion I took 5,000 baht off her (how many girls do you know would do that after knowing you for a few hours!) We went out for dinner that night and then stayed in a hotel again. In the morning I said to her that I was going back to BKK and would be back later that day. She was still unsure that I would come back, but this time I had 5,000 baht of her money! I gave her my word and got on the coach.

I got a taxi back to my wife and said that I wanted to go back for a few more days and took my ATM card and some more money. My wife was not happy with this at all! Her parents understood that it was hard for me to deal with everything that was going on around me because of the language barrier and because I was white! Everyone kept saying “farang khun deow” or something like that. By the time I had managed to smooth things over with my wife it was too late to go back to Pattaya so I went to the phone box and called “Nat” and explained that I would be there the next day to repay her money. She was a bit let down and angry with me, but I had been honest from the start that I had a wife, I said I just wanted some fun, when in Rome and all that…

I got to Pattaya about 2 PM the next day and found a bar for a beer and called Nat. She said she was sleeping and would meet me later. We met about 5 PM, and she had to go and work in the bar at 7 PM, she said if I gave the bar 200 baht she wouldn’t have to work and we could spend the evening together so I paid the bar and we stayed around for some drinks and played pool.

After a few hours she asked me if I had arranged a hotel yet. I said that I had meant to but had forgot. She said to me “no problem, you stay at my house tonight”. I thought nice, saving money on hotels as well! We got a taxi back to her house at about 12 and I was surprised to walk into a really nice house in the Sukhumvit area of Pattaya.

Her brothers and sisters were sitting around watching TV and I said my hellos to them and sat down with them. They were very warming to me and got me a beer from the fridge. In the morning her brothers took us on the back of their motorbikes down to Jomtien Beach and I went to the shop and bought them both drinks and food for the favour. We spent the day on the beach and then we got on to the subject of money. I had already paid her back the 5,000 baht with a 1,000 tip on top of that. She said to me that she didn’t want money from me, only to pay the bar 200 baht when we spent time together so she didn’t have to work. I had heard stories that the girls were only out there for 1 thing, to make money! Yet here I was, I had been loaned 5,000 baht from a girl, stayed in her house for free and now she was saying that she didn’t want any money from me.

We spent another few days together, got some photos taken and things like that and just enjoyed each other's company. It was sad when I had to go back to BKK but I knew it had to be done as I was flying back to London the next day. We exchanged email addresses and phone numbers.

I have been back now for 6 months and we still email and sometimes phone each other. She quit the bar after I left and has now moved to Italy, but she is now a really good friend. This just goes to show that every so often there is a diamond in the rough. Not all bargirls want more than they need, just enough to make ends meet.

Origin

Stickman's thoughts:

This story very clearly demonstrates why most Thai women will try to prevent their boyfriend / husband from holidaying in Pattaya without her!