Stickman Readers' Submissions June 8th, 2017

Adventures With Dick – Indian Princess

Renoir – no not the French impressionist artist, but rather the bar in Soi 33, off Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok … perhaps another incarnation of impressionism.

I had spent the evening exploring Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy with my crazy buddy Dick and his new chum James, who incongruously worked for a French Champagne company. We eventually decided on a nightcap at one of the hostess bars in the dead artists soi. It was late and we were tired, so we entered one of the first on the street – Renoir. As is the norm in these sort of bars, we were immediately surrounded by the ‘hostesses’. It came as no great surprise for me to realise that Dick was particularly well known here, and champagne James to a lesser extent as within minutes they both had a gorgeous Thai ‘Hostess’ on each arm!

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The girl that sat beside me had more of the look of Burma about her. However she did not immediately start the usual ask, “Where you from, what your name, you buy me drink?” routine. Neither did the usual exploratory hands find their way into my more private parts. Her facial features were unusual, whilst still being attractive, with broad cheekbones and light skin colour. Definitely not an Isaan special!

It was evident from her language skills that she was well-educated and spoke very good English, far better than most Thais and certainly better than most bar girls. Plus she was in my opinion, extremely beautiful with the most incredible hair and was smartly well-dressed. Needless to say, Dick had a comment at this stage, “now that’s a serious looker, you should pay her bar fine and go f**k her brains out” he said. Dick was always eloquent with words!

As she had still not yet asked for a drink, I offered her one anyway, and strangely she ordered water.

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Her name was Prin, and she made easy and good conversation. This was now at the end of a long, hard evening of doing the rounds of Nana and Soi Cowboy, where I had been trying to keep up with Dick and co. At this stage of the proceedings, I was tired and perhaps somewhat inured to the meat-market type interactions that inevitably these bars provide.

On arrival at the start of Soi 33, Dick had cautioned me that bar fines in this neck of the woods were somewhat more expensive than elsewhere … in fact they were some of the most expensive in all Bangkok. Evidently the bar owners considered their girls as ‘cream of the crop’. Remember that this was in a time prior to the now prolific escort / dial-a-girl agencies.

Stupidly and thinking through my little head once again, I asked the bar fine question anyway. In the event, the evening’s entertainment up to now had all but exhausted my available cash. I always set myself a budget for the evening and only take that much cash out with me – when it’s gone – it’s gone!

However, I said to her that I would very much like to see her the next day and suggested that she come to my hotel in the morning and we could spend the day together. I suggested that she show me Bangkok from her perspective, rather than for me as a tourist. I therefore gave her my hotel and room number. Told her that I would await her arrival until 10am … even as I was telling her this, I thought to myself, “you really are a stupid, deluded old fart, there’s not a chance in hell that she’ll turn up”.

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Shortly after this we all decided to call it a night, with James saying that if we were around the next day, we should all get together again. In the meantime Dick had secured the services of the one ‘hostess’ for the remainder of his night. I returned to my hotel, reflecting on the evening and the invitation to Prin, I surrendered myself to the warm and embracing arms of Morpheus.

Imagine then, my surprise when at a little after 9 the following morning the phone rang and a sleepy voice asked what time she should be there.

She arrived, looking lovelier, if that was possible than the night before, if a little darker and chubbier than I recalled. Also as well dressed as the night before, in an off-the-shoulder dress that showed off her beautiful smooth skin and her cascade of long black hair. She certainly did not look like a bar girl, who as most are aware, tend to continue to look like bar girls even when out of the bar. Her apparel made me feel totally under-dressed, as I was wearing a casual shirt, shorts and flops, hardly a picture of sartorial elegance! The off-the-shoulder dress also revealed a large surgical dressing on her upper right chest area, I asked what this was, to be told, that she had recently been involved in a car accident and that this was the last remaining physical visible wound. A red flag? Well maybe, but at this stage I was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt.

She greeted me like a old friend and asked where I would like to go, I replied that as I had placed myself in her hands. I was easy and would do whatever she felt like. There’s nothing like abdicating responsibility for a day to another to feel totally free … past experience has proven that if you surrender to the experience, it can be liberating in the extreme!

We spent the day together, going to the cinema in Siam Square. I had expected her to ‘get fresh’ in the darkness of the back row, so was pleased that whilst she was pleasantly familiar, was not overly so. Shopping followed, where I bought her a cheap dress and she had her nails done. These were the sorts of activities that one should pay for with your very own bar girl when out on the town. Another red flag ?… time will tell I thought. She said that she normally had to be at the bar by 6 PM, but tonight she had to report earlier – “something’s happening – it’s quite exciting” she said. She did however make me promise several times that I would come by the bar that evening.

As I had arranged to meet Dick, Champagne James and another UK-based friend at The Golden Bar in Soi 4 for drinks prior to a curry at The Londoner, I was in two minds as to whether I would actually bother with Renoir that evening. Dick in his usual manner couldn’t give a shit about ones prior engagements, dragged me kicking and screaming to Tilac in Soi Cowboy, telling me that this was the best go-go bar in the whole of Bangkok. On seeing what was on offer, I had to agree with him! The net result was that we all eventually found our way to the dead artist soi once again at around 11,30, to be greeted outside by a bevy of beautiful Indian Princesses in saris. I entered, looking for her, but couldn’t see her, so was surprised and somewhat embarrassed when the most beautiful of the princess’s came up to me and in a hurt voice said, “you walked straight past me – you didn’t recognise me “. God she was beautiful, exotic, sexy, charming and all woman, the sari, head-dress and Indian jewellery outfit really set off her natural exotic looks. Dick, for once was struck dumb – well at least for 30 seconds or so, eventually commenting to me, “Jeez, had I known that’s what she looked like I would have taken her myself, rather than the goddamned starfish of last night”.

She told me that she had not expected me to come that evening, but was pleased that I had. I did feel a tad embarrassed at my initial reluctance. Once again, she sat with me, was pleasantly familiar, but not pushy, nor did she continually nag for ‘lady drinks’, drinking only water. Red Flag again I thought.

My three companions of the evening were all old Bangkok hands, Dick in particular who was at that time was living in a nearby Soi. I think they were a little surprised and envious of the beautiful Indian Princess on my arm – must say that I did feel a little special and a bit like the cat that had just got the cream! Particularly as they were supposed to have been my ‘guides’ of this side of Bangkok life and yet had no hand in this introduction.

Dick and UK friend left after one or two drinks, leaving only my new found friend James, who at this stage had a girl on each arm, both of whom he left with. I then asked the Princess if she would like to come back to my hotel for the night, to which she eagerly agreed.

Working on the assumption that she would agree to my request, I had earlier raided an ATM near my hotel, drawing sufficient cash for the potential bar-fine and the evening’s drinking activities. The usual bar fines in those days was around BHT 500 – 600. Having been cautioned by Dick’s words the previous evening, I had anticipated that here in this supposedly more upmarket establishment they could potentially run to as high as BHT 2,000 … after all, these are supposedly high-class hookers! Imagine then my surprise, when she told me that we would have to wait until 2 AM, as that was when the bar closed … net result – no bar-fine!

We sat there for the next couple of hours or so, chatting and with the girls behind the bar. I bought a few ladies drinks for them – at the end of the evening the drinks bill was Baht 2,000, a hefty bin check I hear you say, but in fairness, I had been drinking double Jack & Cokes.

Whilst I am not usually into costume dress-up sex fetishes, I have to admit that I was really turned on by the Indian Princess outfit as this really rang my bell. I therefore asked if she could not perhaps arrange to keep it for the evening and return it on the morrow. Sadly it seemed that this was not possible, as when she came downstairs after changing she was wearing the dress I had bought her earlier in the day.

On returning to my hotel, there was fortuitously nobody on reception when we came in, so we did not have to do the walk of shame by leaving her ID at the front desk. Just as well, as it seems that she supposedly did not she was not have on her that evening. Whilst I’m not sure that I believed her, I suppose that should have rung warning bells in my head, but admit to being bowled over by this beauty! None-the-less, another red flag!

On slowly undressing her, I was somewhat taken aback at the sight of the large surgical dressing that she had on her right upper chest. She reiterated that she had been in a car accident and that I should be careful not to hurt her, which I obviously agreed to.

By now she was down to her bra and panties, lying on the bed and asked me to give her a back massage, which predictably led to the removal of her remaining clothing. She had a beautiful, well developed body, with full, if maybe not large breasts, with the most magnificent nipples and areole’s that I have ever seen. Also unlike most bargirls she had clearly never been pregnant, with a stomach as flat as a pancake and no telltale contour stretch marks. So many Thai women are disappointing when one sees them naked, their exterior beauty is rarely matched by the stretch marks on their stomachs. Also sadly when God was handing out boobs, many of them clearly didn’t know where to queue, as few have little or nothing to show off … padded bras are a big seller in Asia.

She made love, not like a bargirl, with whom you merely have sex, but like a mature, loving woman in excess of her years. I got the impression that she was not that experienced, with the lovemaking being fairly conventional. Whilst she was no certainly starfish, there was little exploration on her part. However having said that the experience was pleasant, unrushed with each of us savouring each moment. She was also extremely voluble, mewing like a small kitten – this is a big turn-on for me! One huge concern for me was that as the foreplay escalated, she said, “I need you inside of me – now”, a command which I was more than happy to comply with, however I was concerned that she had seemingly quite forgotten the need for a condom. I was taking no risks and quickly grabbed one from the bedside table. Another red flag and this time a most concerning one!

What followed was a night of passion, beauty, warmth and companionship. We fell asleep in one another’s arms, each waking briefly throughout the remainder of the night. only to slip back into a wonderful jigsaw of intertwined limbs.

We finally awoke a little after 11am and once again, we spent the day together, learning more about one another. For me, there became increasingly a number of unanswered questions and maybe, some concerns over a number of inconsistencies … more and more red flags started waving as the day wore on.

Comments that she had made during the day, such as “…I have five dogs ….”; “ ….I live in a house with my father, sister and an auntie …” (the auntie, I subsequently discovered was her father’s girl friend of the moment!) ; “ … I have a car …”; “ … I do not have a mobile phone …” That last one rang huge alarm bells for me – everybody in Thailand has a mobile phone! Another was, “ … when I was studying …” – don’t know a bargirl yet that has been to university! Her English too, was just a little too perfect.

Other physical things were also of concern, her skin was slightly ‘blemished’, very unusual for a Thai woman, who normally have the most beautiful smooth and clear tanned skin. It was certainly not unpleasant and certainly not noticeable, unless you had had the privilege and pleasure of seeing her naked.

She left me at around 5,30 to go to the bar, again making me promise to come past later that evening. Having arranged to meet Dick and my UK chum once again at Golden Bar, when I was cross-examined and interrogated by the pair of them as to my Indian Princess’s nocturnal prowess. After copious amounts of beer, we found our way to the small Bus Stop eatery, followed by a quick tour around Nana Plaza, where I bade them farewell as I was flying on to Sydney the next day. I left Dick practicing his charms on the recruitment of a potential new addition to his horizontal athletics team.

I arrived back at Renoir around midnight, where the balance of the evening was more or less a rerun of the previous one. Prin sat beside me drinking water waiting for 2 AM to arrive, … in fact she only drank water all the time that I was with her. Another Red Flag ?

On arriving back at my hotel, a little after 2, the night porter asked for her ID. She spoke sharply to him in Thai, whereupon he apologised profusely, saying “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t know”. I asked her what she had said to him, to which she replied, “I told him, I was staying here with you”. Now as this is a normal and usual procedure for any Thai hotel, so I thought the sharp rebuke was somewhat unnecessary. In retrospect yet another red flag!

She had told me earlier in the evening that she had to go to the Doctor early in the morning, to have “…something put inside …” through the dressing on her right upper chest and would have to leave very early. I therefore set the alarm, for 6am, before we both fell asleep, wrapped in one another’s arms. This would be our last night together as I was leaving for Australia later that afternoon.

As requested, I awoke her at 6,but she clearly didn’t want to get up – neither of us did, having had a mere 3+ hours sleep. She dressed hurriedly, saying that she would return once she had been to the Doctor.

As I had a 9:30 breakfast meeting with a work colleague, I took a slow walk down Sukhumvit to Starbucks, where I was due to meet. In the cold light of day, looked tawdry and tired after its usual nocturnal activities the night before.

I had told Prin that I would probably only return to the hotel at around 11:30, so if I wasn’t in my room she should wait for me in the reception area. I returned spot-on time and was disappointed not to see her waiting, so went upstairs to start packing for my early afternoon airport collection.

Noon came and went and still no Princess. It went through my mind that as I had slipped some USDs in her handbag that morning before she left; that on its discovery she had decided that it was not worth returning again, particularly as she knew I was leaving that day.

The money that I gave her was probably too much, well beyond the going bar girl rate, but as I had thoroughly enjoyed my couple of days with her, I figured that was more or less what I would have paid for a couple of tours, not to mention what I would probably have spent each evening on entertainment.

With these thoughts going through my mind, I was therefore delighted when she called me from reception to announce her arrival. She had changed and was wearing a pair of jeans and a tight top, looking drop-dead gorgeous! She sat on the bed and watched whilst I finished packing.

I took my bags downstairs to leave with the Porter whilst we went for a bite and was saddened to see that the Thai security women had obviously insisted that she leave her ID at reception. She obviously had it in her possession all along … yet another red flag!

Having retrieved it, we went to a small local restaurant further down the street. Having previously eaten, I selfishly assumed that we would only have a drink. But then realising that she had obviously gone straight to the doctor’s first thing that morning and then home to get changed she was probably starving. I apologised and said that she should order something, but that I would only have a nutritious beer.

I asked if it had all gone OK at the doctor and how long this process still had to continue. She told me that she had had the dressing on for 3 months already and would still have to go to the doctor 3 times a week for at least another 2 months. On probing further to establish the exact nature of the procedure that required such frequent medical visits, I quickly established that it was a haemodialysis kidney process, indicated when there has been a degree of kidney failure. At this stage, many of the inconsistencies and red flags fell into place, i.e. the skin blemishes, the tiredness and the non-drinking etc.

She then started really talking, telling me about her father, who at 51 was divorced and had many girlfriends; that would explain the ‘aunties’ that she had previously referred to, many of these ‘aunties were even younger than her. In retrospect a typical Thai male! Seems that he had been very successful in business over the years, so did not have to work, so had plenty of time for such activities. I asked he what she thought about her father’s ‘aunties’, to which she replied “I don’t like it”. I did not ask the obvious question, “why was it not OK for Dad, but OK for her, namely me, as I was clearly as old as her father”, as I wasn’t sure how that would have been taken. Her Mother was evidently a school teacher living and working in Ayutthaya.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that this was no ordinary bar girl, or again in retrospect one who lied well! Apart from her total lack of experience with men and apparently coming from a good family. I asked what at earth she was doing in a bar on the dead artist Soi – this was not the sort of behaviour I would have expected from such a girl of her background.

Her answer was as amazing as it was ‘spunky’. “I have had a very proper upbringing all my life, very dull and boring, with little or no excitement … I wanted to experience something out of the ordinary – exciting, so reckoned that I would try give bar life a go”. She did however go on to say that she was not sure that she would continue doing it for very long. I asked how she explained her late hours to her family; she told them that she was a cashier in a restaurant and that she had to stay until the last customer had gone so that she could cash up. When I then asked how she had explained her absence these past 2½ days, she said that she had told them that she was staying with a friend in the city centre. She also mentioned that her family, and in particular her sisters, one of whom was an HR Manager with a large international company and still lived at home with her would go crazy if they knew what she was up to.

My next question was the age old and male chauvinistic one, “have you done this before” and was naively pleased when she replied that she hadn’t. The next obvious question was, “so why me then”, to which she replied, “you seemed nice and didn’t paw me like some men do, so it seemed natural to go with you … and I wanted to know what it would be like with an older man”.

Whilst I appreciated the answer, I couldn’t but help feel a little like a laboratory experiment!

I was further shocked when she told me that she had been married, albeit for a very brief 2 months. Prin was clearly a girl that was either a very good and inventive liar, or one who made hard decisions, quickly and definitely. Needless to say, I was therefore not surprised when she told me she had a mobile phone. I asked why she had lied about it earlier and her reply was incredibly logical, “it complicates things – men phone you, which could put me in an embarrassing position with my family”.

I’m not sure of my feelings whilst these revelations were pouring out. It’s only since I have had time to reflect on the entire episode that I have come to be able to file them away in the “One of life’s little mysteries’ draw. Whatever her background was and irrespective of anything she said being true. She had decided to seek adventure and excitement on the darker side of Bangkok life, for a variety of self-driven motives that I could only begin to guess at. Who was I to judge ?

I suppose I showed my age and conservatism by pointing out in my old farts voice all the things that could go wrong with her little adventure. She could end up going with the ‘wrong man’, end up being hurt, humiliated … or worse, her lack of experience could so easily result in unprotected sex, (which so nearly happened with me) with all its many disastrous implications.

Like sand running through the hour glass, our time together was fast running out as my airport collection car would arrive soon. I was suddenly reminded of my own age, wishing that I was 25 years younger – maybe then things would have been different – not better, just different! In retrospect maybe age is no real bad thing, as it hopefully teaches us some wisdom. I was also reminded of the fact that this was, at least for her, a business transaction and gave her a further Baht 500 note for taxi fare, thanking her for the time that we had spent together.

She took the money with a “thanks” and went to put it in her handbag. However imagine my utter surprise when her hand came out of the bag holding both the Baht note and USDs that I previously slipped in there and handed the entire lot back to me, with the words, “I don’t want you money, I just want to thank you for our lovely time together”. Well, as can be imagined, you could have knocked me down with a feather!

I am perhaps by nature somewhat of a cynic. I therefore considered the very real possibility that she was just another bar girl whose approach to the truth was somewhat tenuous at best, aided by an over active imagination. Given that we all know what good actresses these girls are, her various revelations and the many red flags of the previous few days did get me to wondering just how much of everything she had said was actually true! However, I have to admit to being quite taken by her very obvious charms … and at the end of the day our few days together had been a most pleasant interlude. Based on the fact that it was extremely doubtful that I would ever see her again, I therefore perhaps naively decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Also there was the question of her having returned all the cash I had given her!

As if choreographed, at that moment my pick-up arrived. We parted like old friends would, a Thai sniff kiss to the cheek. As she walked away, I looked after her retreating back and wondered what was going through that lovely head of hers and what the future held for her.

As the car pulled away, I mused, “Will I ever know the truth about those delightful, but mysterious few days with my beautiful Indian Princess of Bangkok”?

The author can be contacted at : thetraveller635@gmail.com

nana plaza