Stickman Readers' Submissions October 25th, 2006

Rina Part 2

So I finished my trip to Israel and The United States after my Thailand and Laos sojourn and came back home to Australia, Thailand and its beautiful women in my mind. I was determined to go back as soon as possible and decided upon the Xmas break.

Rina and I set upon planning an exciting trip, taking in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. We were chatting on Microsoft Messenger on a regular basis and gradually the tone of conversation went from friendship to that of a relationship. Rina obviously
wanted more. She was ready to settle down and wanted to settle down with me. I wasn’t interested. I just wanted a beautiful woman to come with me on holiday and together we would have a great time. The last thing I wanted was a relationship
and raw emotions getting in the way of a great holiday.

He Clinic Bangkok

But Rina was becoming more and more insistent. Eventually she said that she had other men interested in her as well, men who were serious about her. I told her to pursue them in parallel with our holiday. I really enjoyed her company and
we had connected beautifully during our brief trip together, but I also just knew that being in a relationship with her wouldn’t work. Difficult to articulate why, and I didn’t even try, just telling her that I was not yet ready
to settle down, and that if there were genuine men out there wanting her then she should go for it.

We finalised the itinerary and it looked great. Meet at Bangkok airport, fly to Phnom Penh in Cambodia for 2 nights, then 3 nights in Siem Reap to see Angkor, 4 nights in Luang Prabang in Laos, a night in Chiang Mai and then the final night
in Bangkok. Everything was booked and ready. Two weeks before departure Rina told me she couldn’t go. She had been chatting to an Australian guy, Steve from Darwin, on and off for two years and now, at my urging, it was getting more serious.
He was coming over to Bangkok in late December for a couple of days to meet her before returning to Australia. He had told her he was looking for someone to marry and wanted to see if she was the one.

I told her that was wonderful. He sounded a nice man, just what she was looking for. But that needn’t spoil our holiday. I knew she really wanted to travel to Cambodia, a country she had never been to before, and also to magical Luang
Prabang, a town she had heard so much about but had never visited. So, I suggested, we could still travel and she could return early to Bangkok and then meet this guy. She was not convinced, especially as she liked this guy and was seriously considering
taking up his offer of marriage. Once she said yes, then she would only have eyes for him. She didn’t think going with me would be right, unless he knew and we went as “friends” (i.e. no sex).

CBD bangkok

Shit.

I told her that telling Steve would be a big mistake as he wouldn’t understand. Anyway, Steve was her future; I was and would be her present (pun intended). He needn’t know, she could have a holiday with me, and then she could
meet Steve, be faithful from then on and live happily ever after. And after all, what if Steve and she didn’t work out? It must have been what she wanted to hear, because she relented and decided to come with me after all. However she would
have to leave early, missing one night in Luang Prabang and the Chiang Mai portion of the trip. She got Steve to arrange an early flight back from Luang Prabang so she could meet him, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

And suddenly all the emotional pressure was off. It was just like old times again. Talking about what we would do and where we would go. I flew into Bangkok just before Xmas, arriving 11 pm at night. I hung around until 7 am the next morning
and then met her at the terminal. It was like we hadn’t been apart at all, the distance between us melted and we picked up where we had left off. We flew to Phnom Penh and checked into our hotel.

I was vaguely concerned that with Steve now in the picture getting her to have sex would be a challenge. I needn’t have worried. No sooner had we got to the room then we consummated our lust and affection for each other. Steve was
in her future and I was in the here and now and didn’t she let me know it.

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Phnom Penh was fascinating. So vibrant and alive, so cheap, and sipping sundowners while the sun set over the Mekong was an unforgettable experience. Then it was off to Siem Reap to experience the wonders of Angkor. As a keen photographer
and historian, I couldn’t get enough of the place.

Then the highlight of the trip, Luang Prabang, a city lost in time. As it was to be our last stop time together, I booked the suite in the Three Nagas boutique hotel. Beautiful, a perfect finale for a wonderful holiday romance. Rina left
after two nights and flew back to Bangkok to meet Steve and I returned to Bangkok via Chiang Mai 3 days later.

Steve and Rina really hit it off. He proposed and she accepted and when I got to Bangkok for my final night before flying out, she proudly showed me her engagement ring. Steve had already returned to Australia and now that Rina was engaged
we were to be just friends. I suggested that we have one final night together, our last night, a wonderful way to say goodbye, and then we would go our own separate ways.

And a wonderful night it was, some of the sweetest lovemaking I have ever experienced as we said our goodbyes in the best way possible.

Rina is now happily married in Australia and forging a new life for herself. In Steve she has won the jackpot and now is living the life she always dreamed of. Steve is one lucky man. And I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake in not marrying her myself.

And Thailand still calls me, a siren song of love, lust and exotic temptresses wrapped up in a dreamy rainbow of desire and expectation. I decided to return in August this year. Would it be the same without Rina? Would I be able to find anyone
quite like her again …

Stickman's thoughts:

Thai women do seem to go hunting for that last hurrah once they have an engagement ring, but before they are married officially. Don't know if this is exclusive to Thai women or not, but it sure does seem to be prevalent – the number of cases I have heard concerning this sort of thing is NOT small.


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