Stickman Readers' Submissions December 19th, 2006

A Thailand Story Part 10

A Thailand Story 2006 Part 10

It is now July 2005 and I have been living and working in Thailand for one year. It has been a very different life for me here then in the United States. Hard because I am still not very good with the Thai language, so getting what I want is a problem,
but I have gotten a lot better since my Thai girlfriend Faa has helped me to improve. Living here is also hard on the body with it hot everyday, there is not much relief from the heat and I walk in it everyday rain or shine. I feel better then
I have ever felt because my weight is down and I find myself exercising every other day. My girlfriend Faa has turned out to be a very good cook and companion for me. She goes about her day cleaning, cooking and taking care of me seems to be her
main concern, which is all right with me because I have never felt better. We have known each other since November 2004 and have become very good friends, so much so that I really do not bother drinking and running around, like I started out doing
my first couple of months here.

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At my company we have planned a beach seminar, the workers get to have a weekend at the beach resort Cha Am, Hua Hin area of Thailand. On the bus my friend Nok sits next to me drinking and playing cards, when one of my company's workers
walks by us, his name being Rick. Nok looks at me and says…

Nok: You know Bill, Rick he seeing Poon. I think maybe they live together.

I do not reply to him, instead I keep looking out the window, beautiful, the Thailand countryside is very beautiful. As we get closer to the beach, I dream of maybe building a house out this way. Who knows, it may be a dream come true, I
know one thing Bangkok is out because of the heat. But the beach, now that's another story.

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Nok: You hear what I say Bill? she marry your friend Brad, but she have other man.

I look at Nok, then in the direction of Rick, I do see him talking with her a lot lately, but I really do not want to get involved. Besides Thai people love to gossip, Poon has been flashing her engagement ring around the company for some
time now, making all the Thai ladies very jealous of her and I think some of the Thai men. Brad is coming soon to Thailand, so I will let this pass as a rumor around the company. To be honest even if it were true it was not going to be my problem.

The day goes on, and what fun it was hanging out by the beach. I think for sure this is the area for me. As the day ends we get ready for the big party. Plenty of food, everyone has a bottle of Johnnie Walker on their table. The Thai people
love to drink and party, dance, sing, it was really getting crazy and loud. I really was getting a headache from all the noise, so I decided to go downstairs to a quiet bar for a drink. There was Roy, having a drink, so I joined him. It seemed
like only a few minutes of peace and quiet, because everyone decided to come downstairs and the noise followed. Roy and I talked and smiled back at everyone smiling at us. They would come over to drink a toast with us every five or ten minutes
but it was all good fun. As it got later, the crowd starting thinning out so it was quiet again for a few minutes. Nok came over to talk with us, at the same time we noticed two people arguing, Poon and one of the Thai men of our company Ton.
Nok looks at me and says.

Nok: She see him too. He want marry her but he upset she with Rick.

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Roy: She is seeing Rick also?

Nok: Yes she live with Rick at apartment, but see Ton sometime.

Roy: Bill isn't that Brad's fiancée? I seem to remember him saying something to me about her in his last e-mail to me. That is the young lady he wants to marry isn't it?

Bill: I don't think so Roy.

Nok: Yes that her. She want marry, but I think she like Rick.

Roy: You should call Brad about this Bill. I mean he plans to marry this girl.

Bill: None of my business Roy, besides how do you know this isn't all bullshit.

Nok: It true. Really

Bill: Nok please. I think it is something Brad will work out once he marries her. She might turn out to be a really good wife, or maybe not, but who are we to interfere.

Roy: I think if I was his friend, I think I would want to know if it were me.

Bill: Then tell him, don't lay this on me. You just said you talk to him by e-mail, so drop him a line. But I do not want to get involved with this soap opera. It's up to you I am going to bed.

No sooner do I start to relax in my room, when my cell phone rings. It's Brad.

Brad: Hey have you seen Poon? She was supposed to call me back, I talked to her earlier, but she was busy with this seminar thing you're at. Are you at the seminar?

Bill: Yea, I am here.

Brad: Listen Bill I need you to be honest with me.

Bill: No. The answer is no.

Brad: What do you mean?

Bill: You know what I am talking about. I am not going to spy on your girl. I do not know anything about her and you are not going to blame me for anything you do find out about her.

Brad: I won't blame you. Listen I am sorry about getting mad about Mai. You did the right thing, she would have taken me to the bank. I need your help, every time I call Poon, she can't talk because she is working or she is busy
with a customer and working late hours. Is that true? Is she always working late hours?

Bill: I do not know. I do not work with her. Some of the girls do late hours.

Brad: She always whispers like there is someone with her and I hear other people talking like she is out for the night or something, you know like a date.

Bill: Brad you are barking up the wrong tree, I do not know anything. But if you really do not trust her, then do not marry her. Sometimes your gut feeling is enough, you are not ready for marriage. So pass on this one and move on. Stop worrying
about these women here, you can not have a long distance relationship, no-one can. Move here and hook up with a lady if you want a permanent relationship. But you can not do this every time you come here you want to marry a lady, and expect them
to be good when you leave them alone for a few months. I am sorry but it is not going to happen, they will see other men, will you just slow down and think.

Brad: So you're saying she is cheating on me, you would not tell me to move on if she was not cheating on me. I can not believe this lady. I gave her a ring. I asked her to marry me, I am coming next week to Thailand and I plan on ending
this engagement. Do you think I should end this or not?

Bill: Listen, I am going to bed now. I did not say she was cheating on you. But you might be doing her a big favor by breaking this engagement off. I think she is the one that needs to move on, she could do a lot better.

When work comes that Monday, Poon throws her ring at me crying saying why did I tell Brad she was cheating with Rick. Of course I was busy with a customer, and it was embarrassing. Brad must have talked to Roy and got the truth from him,
but of course I get the blame. Roy said he was sorry to me that I got the blame and Brad gave me an e-mail saying he never mentioned my or Roy's name and Poon must have thought it was me. Makes siense but it bothered me a lot because we were
friends Poon and I, and I had no intension of telling Brad anything about her. Brad who I really do not believe is any kind of friend to me. After telling my girlfriend Faa, she asked that I do not see or go out with Brad anymore. She says he
has a black heart and feels it better I stay away. No problem so our friendship is over, if you want to call it a friendship.

When Brad does come he meets with Poon and tells her the truth. Poon comes to me to apologize, she tells me she did not love Brad and felt Rick to be a better man for her, even though she knows Rick will never take her back to America, she
still loves him and wants to be with him for as long as he stays with the company. She tells me Brad was always ordering her around like a Thai man. She said he was more of a Thai man then an American which turned her off him and made her worry
about living with him because he yelled at her a lot and was rough with her. She also tells me Ton has never slept with her and wants to marry her, but she dislikes his Thai ways and wishes he was more like an American man like Rick. We have become
friends and I wish her the best, she really is a very good woman. But who knows what will happen to her.

This was the last of the drama for me, I have ended my stay in Thailand after two years and two months. I have married a wonderful Thai woman Faa, and she joins me in America in December 2006. I have checked her out and she has passed with
high grades. No side boyfriend, no husband hiding, she has been everything you would want in a Thai lady. She is the kind of woman you dream about, that most men wish they could find out here. A great cook, an artist, and hair stylist. She makes
me her main priority and I make her mine. What happened to Brad, last I heard he quit his job because of stress. He had a nervous breakdown and took some time off before he found work again. Matt brought his wife and baby back to the States only
to have made her an illegal alien. Turns out he never married her but got a sweetheart visa for her to leave Thailand. Only he did not marry her in America so she is looking for a way out. Matt has become an alcoholic and never works and with
his money all most gone, he is desperate for a job. His wife or girlfriend Piak, I hear is thinking of turning herself in to the Immigration Services. She would have a better chance of making it without him, I guess I had a reason for fearing
the worst for her. Is this the end of A Thailand Story, I think not, I mean my wife could change, but you know what I think I will ride with it, and not bore anyone with the details. We all take a chance in life and some of us make it work…and
some of us don't.

Stickman's thoughts:

You can't end this series here! You've got to continue…hehehe! Seriously though, very interesting indeed. I am not surprised at the outcome in that little love triangle.


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