What I did on my Trip to Bangkok

I recently returned from a stay of a few weeks in Bangkok – mostly on business, but with some time for a holiday. This was my first trip to the city so I did considerable research before my trip. I was fortunate to stumble across your weekly articles, which I found most informative. I just finished reading your article, Looking Back at 2012, which motivated me to share my impressions and experiences with you – and your readers should you choose to run it. Before I begin I should mention that I have traveled extensively, mostly on business, and have spent considerable time in Asian countries, though never before Thailand.

I arrived at BKK about midnight on a Thursday. It struck me as a decent enough airport. Signage was good and I found it very easy to navigate. Within minutes I encountered an amusing sight. The first currency exchange booth was overwhelmed with a score or more of people waiting in line to exchange their currency for baht. Had they walked a few more meters and looked to their right they would have seen a second exchange booth on an intersecting corridor with a lone attendant and no customers. Similarly as I walked by the first area to get a visa I noticed long lines of people waiting. I walked less than fifty meters past this to the third sign directing people needing a visa. In this area the number of staffed booths outnumbered the number of people seeking a visa.

Finding a taxi to my hotel was simple and the driver used the meter without my asking. Contrary to what I had read, I found taxi drivers automatically used the meter, with two exceptions: one afternoon I was in Chinatown walking on Yaowarat Road when I was caught in a downpour and could not find a taxi that did not insist on a flat rate; the other occasion was on a Friday night on Sukhumvit in the vicinity of Soi 5. I believe my success with taxis was attributable to always greeting the driver with sa-wat-dii khrap, and assertively stating my destination and how to get there.

I found most prices in Bangkok to be very reasonable. I can appreciate long time visitors and residents find today’s prices painfully higher than in the past; however, they are low compared to other major world cities. Please! This is the 21st century and the world’s economic divide is narrowing. Thailand’s economy is doing very well, effecting prices.

I paid US$120 (taxes included) a night for a fantastic room in a five star hotel. This is a fraction of the cost of a comparable room in any major city in North America or Europe. Transportation – taxis, river taxis, BTS and MRT – is downright cheap; and I found the latter two clean and efficient. I used these extensively, even during rush hours; and though they were very crowded at that time, they were no worse than New York City subways during rush hours. As for food, I expected the street food to be excellent and very inexpensive – and it was! I also had excellent meals in more modest restaurants for a few hundred baht (a fraction of the cost of an equivalent meal in a major city in North America or Europe); and I ate at a few of Bangkok’s pricier restaurants – Long Table, Zuma and Breeze. I have eaten at Zumas in London and Miami. Bangkok’s has the same great food, service and ambiance, and I spent 3,000 baht on dinner for two (not long ago I ate at Zuma in Miami and paid over US$300 for dinner for two. Dinner for two at Breeze set me back 14,000 baht, but we each had the prix fixe dinner with wine pairings, sat adjacent to the parapet with an unobstructed 52nd floor rooftop view of the city, and the wait-staff treated us like royalty. A comparable evening in a North American or European restaurant would have cost well over US$1000.

I did not find Bangkok terribly dirty or congested compared to other cities of 8 million. Traffic was terrible, but frankly it was not as bad as Los Angeles. Yes, the air pollution is bad, but so is the air in many other major cities. It was disappointing to see so much litter, but I find many large cities in the U.S.A. to be as bad. Now the sidewalks are another matter. They are terrible. I found myself looking down as I walked to avoid turning my ankles. However doing this caused me to narrowly miss walking into an eye-height horizontal poll sticking out at an angle towards the sidewalk. Be forewarned it’s near the southwest corner of Langsuan and Ploenchit.

I found the Thai people to be a delight. I took the time to learn a few basic phrases and made generous use of the wai. These and a big smile were all I needed. A warm greeting, a proper wai and lots of direct eye contact elicited very favorable reactions. Now I realize this was all very superficial, but I also took time to have some lengthy conversations with several Thai people who spoke English well. I made an effort to use my best social skills and be warm and genuine. I found the people I interacted with were at first friendly, but cautious and formal; however, after a while they opened up and seemed to genuinely appreciate my efforts to try to carry on a more genuine conversation with them. One thing I did notice is that Thai people are extremely sensitive. Based on my readings, I was expecting this. Yet I still underestimated the degree of their sensitivity. However, I found by taking this hyper-sensitivity into consideration I could broach serious topics and exchange frank opinions without offending. I think my travels, contact with a variety of cultures and extensive experience conducting business negotiations with people in a variety of countries helped. My approach was to be cognizant that I was in their country and it was up to me to assimilate to them and not expect them to make too many accommodations for me.

Now I’ll treat you and your readers to a little titillation.

Naturally, as I was a single man in Bangkok with some spare time, I experienced more than a little bit of the “naughty boy life.” Before my trip I spent some time reading up on the gogo bars, massage parlors, freelancers and escorts. I sampled some of each. My goals were to experience a bit of everything and compare my impressions to what I learned from my readings.

My massage parlor experiences were a bit disappointing. One day I tried one of the parlors near the Emporium. The young lady was moderately attractive; the sex was mediocre. On another occasion I tried one of the huge complexes on Rachadapisek. There I engaged two ladies. Both were nice looking. Again the sex was mediocre. I picked one lady and asked that lady and the Papasan to pick the other (I read in a couple of articles this would ensure a compatible pair). I think they deliberately selected a young (not much older than 20) and less experienced lady to work with the more experienced lady I picked. The more experienced lady certainly made an effort; her co-worker did not. As I’m sure your readers would guess, this venue caters primarily to Asian men and I think the younger lady was uncomfortable being with a Farang. Also, I’m 185cm tall, a former athlete and proportionally built, so to speak. I noticed the more experienced lady commenting and gesturing to the younger lady about my anatomy.

I had mixed experiences in the gogo bars. First, Baccara is an impressive venue, but too crowded for me. Generally I found Nana Plaza more to my liking than Soi Cowboy. I walked inside about half the venues in Nana and spent some time in a couple of the Rainbows, Spanky’s, Billboard and Las Vegas. I observed extensive full nudity in all of these venues. In general I found many attractive ladies in all the bars I visited; and a few ladies that I would consider very attractive. The dancing for the most part was terrible. Other than the coyotes very few ladies put forth any effort. I laughed when I noticed, just as I had read, that some of the ladies continuously primped in the mirrors while onstage. What a turn off.

One of the ladies at Spanky’s caught my eye, she was fairly attractive, an enthusiastic dancer and a real character on stage. I’ve tended to think good dancers are good in bed. Well this lady perfectly fit the stereotype of an experienced bar girl. She was efficient and all business. Mechanically, she knew what she was doing, but she was too robotic in bed to be much fun. She was exactly what I should have expected.

On another night, at another venue, which I will not name for reasons that will become obvious, early in the evening I was sitting quietly nursing my drink when a young lady approached me and very sweetly asked if she could join me. She was short, dark and cute, with a curvy, compact figure – nice hips, derrière and great natural breasts, as I would discover later. She was obviously pure Khmer, which would turn some men off, but not me. There was something I liked about her. So with a bit of exaggeration I told her I would love to have her sit with me. Through the sa-wat-dii khrap, sa -baay-dii mai, khun naa-rak maak and a couple of drinks I noticed she was a very happy young lady who seemed to really enjoy sitting with me. Now I’m late middle age, not handsome, but not bad looking, and I have been around the block more than a few times. I know women – both professionals and non-professionals. I thought, “There’s no way this could be an act;” I asked her if she would like to go short time with me. Her reaction was so sweet, “You want to go with me!?!” She asked for 2000 baht, the same as the lady at Spanky’s. I said yes and she hurried off to change out of the bikini she was wearing. Of course I realized 2000 is an opening offer and I probably could have negotiated both ladies down to 1500, but decided not to, knowing 500 baht meant a lot more to them than to me.

When she came back she was wearing a torn and tattered ridiculous looking short skirt and a black pullover, badly faded with holes in it. She looked pitiful. While the lady at Spanky’s didn’t leave the bar dressed like a hot lady from West L.A., her clothes looked fantastic compared to this one’s. But I could only smile watching this young lady beam as she walked out with me; she virtually skipped down the walkway on the way to the short time hotel. By this time I had decided I was going to treat her like a girlfriend and show her a very good time, which I did. I was very affectionate with her. We went at it for a little less than an hour. I climaxed once; she climaxed twice; which she really enjoyed.

You may wonder how I know she wasn’t faking it. Well, a woman can fake the vocalizations and clutching but the involuntary spasms of the vaginal muscles during and after an orgasm cannot be faked. One of my biggest surprises was that almost all of the ladies I had sex with in Bangkok wanted to, allowed themselves to, and certainly enjoyed having orgasms. In my experience this is unusual among pros.

After the sex she was in no hurry to leave. We spent about half an hour in bed cuddling and talking. (I was surprised as I understood we had the room for an hour.) Some of the things she said in a very matter of fact tone were:

“I’m from Cambodian border; have no family in Thailand; live in room down hall; bar manager is _________ guy (I think it best not to disclose the nationality); he makes my friend do anal with him; he makes lot of girls do that; he tries to make me do anal with him; I won’t; he’s mad at me; I do anal when guy pays; I do anything when guys pay; whatever, I do; If I’m too sore next day I don’t go with guy.”

For over 25 years I’ve made a very good living in part by being able to read people and tell when their being truthful and when they’re not. And I believe everything she told me is true. At this point I suggested we get out of Nana Plaza and have some fun (it was only about 10 PM). I said we could find some nice clothes for her (I expected some of the stands along Sukhumvit selling clothing would still be open for business). I told her we could get some good food; go to a disco and have fun dancing. Then we could go back to my hotel, a very nice hotel, and she could spend the night with me. I told her to just tell me how much she wanted and I’d pay. Her response was, “No, can’t leave.” I told her I’d pay the bar another bar fine so they would be okay. Again she said, “Can’t leave.” This confirmed a suspicion I had when she told me about being from the border and the absence of a family in Thailand. I believe she is an undocumented Cambodian fearful of venturing beyond her little world in Nana Plaza. So we showered and dressed; I gave her a good tip; and we walked out with her holding my hand. Before we said goodbye she happily remarked she was going to go see a friend and not go back to the bar. We parted when she saw her friend outside one of the other bars.

I have since wondered how unusual this young lady was. I have read that the girls who are very new to the business can still be rather sweet – but I doubt if this lady was that new to the business. She had too much sexual experience – and her English was too good.

A big chunk of my research for the trip was on escorts and escort agencies. After considerable deliberation I decided to book two ladies from an escort agency. I had thought about Viagra Girls, based on the article in Stickman Weekly, but in the end decided on an agency. Now I realize many of your readers are probably aghast that I would pay an exorbitant amount to book an escort, and to make it even worse, selected one of the most if not the most expensive agency in town. Let me explain my thinking. As the readers can probably gather, I make a good living. Now I work hard for my money, which leaves me very little time to spend it. I’m single and travel so much that an expensive residence makes no sense, and I’m not into expensive cars. This leaves me with a lot of disposable income. A holiday for me is rare. So when I take one I don’t worry about the cost. Bangkok is famous for its sex scene; I’m old enough to really appreciate sex with a pretty young lady; and I was going to have plenty of it on this trip!

From my experiences in other cities I have learned that if you’re looking for great sex, with a lovely lady who knows how to dress and behave at a nice venue your best bet is a high-quality, high-priced escort. You get what you pay for. Generally, I think an independent escort is the way to go, if you know what you’re getting; however, if don’t have confidence in the reviews of the independent escorts, your best bet is a high-quality agency.

So I booked two ladies for separate evenings (two evenings with each lady). Well, they were expensive, but in my opinion they were a better deal than the gogo bars or the massage parlors. For 12,000 baht I got eight hours with each of these beautiful young ladies. They were charming, wore lovely clothes, spoke excellent English and carried themselves with style. Together we drew the best attention from every venue we visited. On the first date each lady provided an excellent GFE. In fact one of the ladies was such a great GFE that on the second date I lead her down the same path. After the first date with the other lady I had a hunch she would be very good at being very naughty, so on the second date I directed her towards a PSE. She jumped on the opportunity, quickly grabbed her bag and pulled out quite an assortment of toys. She also does duo and drove me crazy talking about what she would let me and her favorite girlfriend do to her – and then what they would do to me – on my next trip to Bangkok.

Both of these ladies were smart and had an interesting background. The lady with the toys was half Chinese and very ambitious. During the day she works in real estate; she lives with her parents. Needless to say, she claimed neither her family nor the people she worked with knew about her night job; however, she did tell me she once gave two of the guys at the office a treat by doing a DP with them. Now how much of this is true, other than the half Chinese and being ambitious, I can’t say. The other lady was from Isaan (not surprising, but she was taller and fairer than I expected for a girl from that region). On the first date, after making love she began singing to me in Thai, as she caressed me in a very tender, loving way. I asked her what she was singing; she replied songs that she used to teach her students to sing when she was a school teacher. On the second date I asked her about being a teacher and why she left Isaan for Bangkok. She explained how poor people are in Isaan, including her family, and that she made very little money as a school teacher. One day one of the ladies from her city (I believe she said it was Udon Thani) told her how much money she made working as an escort in Bangkok. My escort said working in an gogo bar never appealed to her, but when she heard how much this other lady made and what the men who could afford her were like it was off to Bangkok. She explained she is happy when she’s with a nice man, but it’s all about the money. I knew from the website she did duos with some of the other ladies. I asked her who she prefers, men, women or both. She emphatically answered, “Men! I only do duos because it pays more.” So far she has made enough money to buy a new car for herself, a new car for her father, and is saving money to build a house for her family. She has two younger siblings. She sends money to the family and pays for her siblings to continue their education. When the family’s house is built, she’s out of Bangkok and back to her city. Later that night she suggested during the day we could take her car, drive outside of Bangkok and see some of the surroundings. I replied maybe next time.

When I’m with a high-class escort I always make sure I am well-groomed, well dressed and a perfect gentleman – in public. When I’m looking for a GFE I treat the lady as though she really was my girlfriend. Escorts appreciate this and make a real effort to give you their best.

I would compare my escort experience in Bangkok with my fine dining experiences. The two ladies I was with were comparable to high-class escorts in North American and European countries. The difference was the cost. Each date cost me about US$400, plus dinner, clubbing, etc. Each lady gave me 8 hours of fantastic sensual pleasure. In North America or Europe it would have cost at least five times as much for a comparable experience. As I wrote above, you get what you pay for, but in Bangkok you get just as much for a lot less.

My last little adventure was with a freelancer. I had spent an evening at Climax Club and another at Spasso. I didn’t find anyone to my liking. On my third to the last evening in Bangkok I walked into Gulliver’s. It was a Friday about 7 PM. I had read one could find some nice looking freelancers there, but it was primarily good hunting for the younger men – which I am not. When I walked in it seemed nice enough, but was mostly empty. I looked around and saw a very pretty, very well dressed lady. This lady just oozed class, the way she sat, her perfect hair and makeup. She was wearing a very tasteful, but sexy dress, with shoes that perfectly complimented the dress. A very stylish handbag sat on the long narrow curving table, more like a counter, that extends away from the bar towards the center of the venue. I noticed a couple of men sitting on either side a few stools away from her, obviously trying to work up the nerve to approach her. I swooped in and sat on a stool one over and across from her (so we were on a diagonal). I looked at her and gave her a warm friendly smile, with a lot of eye contact. Soon a server placed a menu in front of me and took my drink order. I looked at the menu and then asked the lady if she was familiar with the menu. In excellent English she said she was, so I asked for recommendations. She suggested one of the soups, and it was good. We continued our conversation. I told her I had been in Bangkok a few weeks on business and pleasure, and both were going very well. She remarked that she just walked in a few minutes before I arrived and hadn’t been in Gulliver’s for some time. Clearly, I thought, she wants me to think she knows she is a real catch and I was lucky to have caught her when I did.

As I studied her I noticed that her dress was perfectly fitted, too much so to be off the rack. It was obviously made from high quality silk and the quality of the tailoring was excellent. I asked her what she did. She replied she was a dress designer; she also designed handbags, but not shoes. The dress was one of her designs, as was the handbag, which was a one of a kind. I am not in the fashion industry, but I know a great deal about it; so I engaged her in a conversation about the industry and was satisfied she knew what she was talking about. She knew too much terminology, too much about fabrics, production cycles, trade shows, markups from the manufacturer to the label to the retailer, etc. to be making it up. She added she spoke some Japanese, and because of this and the fact that her English was better than anyone else in her company, she spent quite a bit of time in Japan and Singapore where the company had clients.

So now I’m confused. In this setting, she seemed like a freelancer, but she was dressed to the nines, her English grammar was better than many people in the U.S.A. There was no doubt in my mind she really was a fashion designer and did travel to Japan and Singapore on business – fashion business. By this time I had moved to the side of the table she sat at and had bought her a second drink. She was drinking Long Islands. Well, she quickly ended my confusion. Abruptly she looked at me and said, “I don’t do long time, only short time; and I want 2000; where’s your hotel?” I told her the name and location. She said she was not familiar with it but knew the location, it was not that far from her offices. I paid the bill and we left.

Outside, she took on the task of finding a taxi. She got in arguments with several drivers who refused to use the meter. We walked to Sukhumvit where she flagged down yet another taxi. She was about to send it away when I stopped her. I told her I know the fare should be about 60, this guy wants 100, which, considering the gridlocked traffic, is not that unreasonable. She was not happy, but we got in the cab. Next she complained that the driver had no idea where the hotel was located and we should get out. I said I would direct him. She looked at me skeptically and off we went. Traffic was terrible, but we arrived without making any wrong turns. As we entered the hotel, she was impressed. The hotel is less than a year old and done in a fusion of circa 1900 European and Thai. It’s rather small and the staff by then knew me by name. She was even more impressed. Once in my room she wasted no time. In a jiffy she was striped and telling me to take off my clothes and get in the shower with her. This lady liked to take charge. However, in bed I’m the sort of guy who likes to be in control. To my pleasant surprise, as she concluded I knew what I was doing, she was more than happy to let me take charge, but injected an occasional suggestion of what she liked. She was one hard working business lady who was horny, eager to get laid and more than happy to get paid for it. After we finished she spent a polite amount of time in bed with me, then got up and dressed. I paid her, gave her a tip and something extra for the cab. Before leaving she asked me what I was doing that weekend. I told her I had an engagement on Saturday (I didn’t tell her it was with one of the escorts). I said I had a business meeting Sunday morning as it was my last day in Bangkok. She gave me her number and said to call her if I wished to see her again. Saturday afternoon I found out my Sunday meeting had moved to the evening. I called to tell her this. She replied, “If you like I can come over in the afternoon.” I said, “Sure, we can have lunch first.” She said she would be at my hotel at 1pm. Now I’ve read Thai ladies are notorious for being late for dates. This lady called at about 12:45pm and said she was in the lobby. At the end of a great afternoon she gave me a piece of paper with her email address. She told me, “I like you; if you come back to Bangkok call me if you like. I don’t want your email. I won’t bother you. Just let me know if you’re coming to town and we can get together. That’s all I want”

In general, I wasn’t surprised by my experiences. The mediocre experiences at the massage parlors and mechanical sex with the bar girl were expected. I also expected the escorts would be first rate. The second bar girl and the clothing designer were real surprises. I’ve read it’s possible to meet a lady who is not a pro at a freelance hangout, but was surprised when it happened. However, I have an advanced degree in mathematics, understand probability theory very well and know that even with very small samples on rare occasions surprising things will happen.

As for the second bar girl, she keeps coming too mind. I guess you would have had to meet her. I believe the sweetness and happiness were genuine. The sex was almost as good as with the escorts, but frankly a fantastic real life girlfriend would have trouble competing with them. I have no doubt that she did do anything the guys want when they pay her. And I noted that she shifted from singular “guy” to plural “guys” when she made the statement about doing anything. Not surprising that she would be sore the next day. But how could she have remained so sweet and happy? Life is still very cheap in Cambodia. I guess she thought her life in Nana Plaza was much better than life in a refuge camp or a brothel catering to local men in a seedy neighborhood in Phnom Penh.

And, with a little luck I’ll back in Bangkok this Spring! Can’t wait. I could really get to liking the place.

Stickman’s thoughts:

Sounds like you had a nice time.