Stickman Readers' Submissions January 31st, 2008

He Dies on the Vine

Paradise is something to aspire to; it is not something to be lost. As with many Farang, this loss went deep.

He Clinic Bangkok

In my last update, my good friend was dying on the Vine. He was an expatriate, on big bucks, living it up and having the absolute time of his life. His conquests were boundless. Including me, I couldn't hope to count the number of women
he had had. In a month it would be a challenge to keep up. One might think this was an allegory of Fanta (or Fanta1) but it's a real person. This is what makes this so sad.

As I'll mention later "All things come to an end" meant that his contract was terminated when a new manager was brought in to run the section he was involved with. Being a difficult type of personality, he may have stayed in
longer, but instead he went out Japanese style, Kamikaze! This was going to be a theme for him. But now he was doing it with his multiple comebacks, each weaker than the last… Now to the present…

His business was now in ruins. His mediation was pointless and a further 500,000 baht had been sunk into the void. He ran around burning friendships faster than Dana's personality does. Good friends that had held him in good stead for
many years were tossed aside. He disappears. His revenge knew no bounds. He started websites defaming the creator of his woes. He had banners made and displayed prominently around the creator's premises. He rang everyone that could be called
to see what remedies he could possibly hope to get to the creator all to no avail, nothing was achieved. The boundless energy was turned from a happy go lucky cock demon, to a bitter inward looking shell.

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Here, in the LOS, there is no remedy for a Farang ripped off by another Farang. Courts, Police or the many organizations designed to prevent this sort of thing? Oh dear… "Sir, why did you give him so much money without really checking?"
One might actually ask that! It's not as if he didn't get the right advice, albeit unwanted. One’s desperation to stay long term in LOS sometimes turns them to stupidity. This goes beyond that!

The money was gone, the revenge money was gone, and the harassment money was gone. Efforts to start other business failed but oddly, he still kept many in his entourage. Although the money tree had dried up, some of them felt tied to his
karma. Not Pim, Pim was gone!! No money, no honey!! Oddly, I am still drawn to him like a bee to pollen, like a mosquito to the light. It's inexplicable, but the tragedy of his meteoric downfall engulfs me with morbid curiosity. There is
no feeling any more. I have learned to get past that part of a relationship quickly.

At times I still wonder out loud at the irresponsibility of maintaining an entourage while ceremoniously burning your future in a matter of months. The endless nights at the bars, the three phones and six SIM cards, the myriad of lies, lies
to everyone. The fact that we were always called darling as this would mean our names were not forgotten. There were the excuses, the lies, and the treachery to us who are but simple folk, wanting to make our way in the world, to be paid and to
be loved, to be accepted by our families and to have a man that will be a man.

Reality should strike once you're past 50 if you have a challenged personality (tough one to spot in yourself), no money, English as a second language and having been on the end of much racism. One would think that humility might kick
in. Ah, of course, logic never enters into it. Mix this in with a six year stretch in the LOS and the grip on reality is firmly lost. I have often sat alone at night pondering whether there was actually reality to begin with. Sometimes the fantasy
that is the LOS becomes engrained to a point where you may have actually become Asian in part. This might explain why so many of you Farangs go this way. Reading Phet’s interesting missive today on women from Blighty goes a long way to
having some understanding of the syndrome.

wonderland clinic

Back to the story . . .

I enquired as to the whereabouts of the poor victim. He was in Italy….. didn't last. Australia… Nope, didn't last… Now he's back in the LOS, a lost soul, directionless and without a life raft. What's a girl to do?
It's clear that his fiscal status is not discouraging the pretties from hanging around. Luckily for Farangs, most non hi-so Thais think you are rich just because you are white skinned or Japanese. I write this thinking about Dave. This is
a Dave story. It's a 400km/h bullet train through the end of the tracks and careering along not knowing where it will end up and what collateral it will cause. It's a story of trust and trust broken. It's a tale of someone who believed
the press he was given while in the LOS. It's a tale of a loss of the natural balance of things.

There is a moral to the story. "All things come to an end". This is rarely learned by the mongers that become desperate to stay in the LOS for us girls. We are the bitter pill, if taken in quantities above recommended doses. A long
term monger is like a long term prostitute, they merge into sameness. Sad, angry and wondering what life was about and where did it all go? For the monger it's sitting at a bar, looking for the cheapest fix. For the prostitute, it's
cleaning another toilet, bar, wondering where the looks went, as well as the money and the popularity. Whey do my kids hate me? Who will look after me? They both ask themselves, in the husks of their former selves. Eyes staring out, unknowing…

Tears fill my eyes as I write this… It is like a prophecy. Will this be me? No.. no… I can beat it. Just one more farang… he will be the one. I am young…

Thanks to a good friend for translating this.

Pim

Stickman's thoughts:

Great story. I bet many can see someone we know in it!

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