Online Dating In Thailand, Through The Eyes Of A Webmaster

FROM STICK'S INBOX (These are emails from readers and what is written here was not written by Stick.) Preference may be given to emails which refer to the previous week's column.

EMAIL OF THE WEEK – Local logic!

I went to a drug store in Bangkok yesterday to buy Cialis (not for me, of course, I carry it in case friends need it) and the girl displayed three boxes – one made in India, one made in Spain and I think one made in Cambodia or somewhere. That from India was about 1,000 baht for four, the made in Cambodia was about 1400 and the box made in Spain was 2,800. I said why the heck is the four Cialis made in Spain so damn expensive? She said, "Khao chana!" They won! OK, I have warned before about trying to understand Thai logic but just because some Spanish guys won some stupid game where half-men / half-children try to kick balls into nets, Cialis made in Spain is now a lot more expensive? Aargh! I swear some day I will go back to Connecticut where I grew up and just shovel snow and be happy; or at least less confused!

Shark fan #1.

Your interview with Shark was perhaps the best and most honest evaluation of the way of life in Pattaya, in my opinion. Everything is a lie, you can pay your way out of most things, the head games with the girls, and the weirdoes in Pattaya. All so very, very true. I can understand if you are a decent guy you really do not want to have friends in Pattaya as sooner or later one will do you in. That is the way it is there. You can almost always tell how long a person has been living in Thailand by their attitude toward the country. When I first went there I thought it was heaven. Time changed that.

Shark fan #2.

Great article this week on the Shark of Pattaya. The interview was a real insight into a man who many judge by his looks rather than who he is. I used to live in Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast, and Tim was a regular feature around town. At first glance, you see a muscled-up guy but after talking to him for a little bit you realise that his personality has many facets and that underneath the rough exterior is a gentle, loyal man. I've only ever had the chance to talk to him a few times. We used to get coffee at the same place, Gloria Jeans in Surfers, but he was thoroughly interesting and always extremely warm and friendly.

Shark fan #3.

Last week's interview with “Shark-man” was probably the best article I have read on these pages – thank you for a really great insight into the person. Here is a man who knows what life is all about – is independently financially comfortable, knows how life really works in Asia, yet is strong enough (physically and mentally) to stand up for the things that be believes and is not afraid to say so. It is no surprise that there are so many who wish to meet him. I think you should give yourself and "Sharky" green stars for that interview. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

No fan of the Shark!

Shark is one of the ugliest human specimens I have seen in quite some time. His physique and his tattoos are simply revolting, and any girl who would go with him is out of her mind. In 10 years his tattoos will have faded and they will look worse than they do, and as soon as he stops the heavy exercising and drugs all that muscle will turn to fat. He'll look worse than the fattest specimen you can find in Pattaya. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't suffer a stroke or heart attack within the next several years, what with the drugs he's taking. His attitude toward bargirls is equally revolting, and it is precisely guys like him who have made for the decline of the Girl Friend Experience. A girl with any sensibility will be rightly scared just looking at him, and just as well it's all short-time; who could imagine spending a night sleeping with someone like that. As for his nutty idea that girls hate you the more you give them: pure bullshit. In short, you could not have picked a better example to epitomise all that is sick and revolting about Pattaya. Too bad there isn't a way to find all the Sharks in the world and stuff them into Pattaya. There's more to be said about the sickness Shark represents, but why bother – it ought to be obvious to one and all. And why anyone would want to meet this guy – gotta be nuts. Hard to see a single redeeming quality in him.

Reality price check.

Walk into any real estate office here in Phuket, and the first two words that come blurting out of the sales staff's mouths are security and investment. And just who's security and investment are they referring to? Not yours of course but theirs! A Swedish guy locally was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and told he had only 3 months to live. He immediately put his property on the market, sold it and returned to Sweden. So how much do you think he got for his villa that he had previously paid 17 million baht for? 15? 12? Sorry, did I hear 10 at the back of the room? No, no, no, he let it go, more like wrote it off, for can you believe a miserable 7 million baht! The reality between what you paid for a villa here, the dream price that those put their properties on the market for, and the reality for what is actually achieved is truly staggering.

A new part of the naughty boy's travel kit?

I expect that you will have 100 people sending you a link about the new Home HIV Test Kit from the
New York Times. The article notes that the test has some weaknesses but it seems to be an improvement over the complicated and time consuming process of going to a clinic. It just takes a simple swab of the mouth and then wait 20 – 40 minutes.
That would be enough time to start the test and then go out for a drink. So should a visitor to Thailand pack a pile of these kits along with the condoms? How would a Thai female companion react to a positive result? Would the woman also request
that the foreigner test himself at the same time? Someone may want to test a random group of women at different locations. Pay them only for a quick mouth swab and send them on their way. Of course, one wouldn't want to associate the results
with any individual but group statistics might be valuable. I see some uncharted territory if many women at a particular bar proved to be HIV positive. If outsiders posted the HIV status of people that they met or worse, posted false information
about people there could be lawsuits or arrests of the poster in Thailand. For those searching for a long-term relationship or a wife, a test to determine negative HIV status may be seen as important in her ability to give birth to healthy children.

The top of soi 4 is changing with two beer bars closing last night. Stumble Inn has closed – and the girls can now be found just inside the plaza in Lucky Luke's. Strikers Sports Bar is also no longer in business, and should be relocating down to the Rajah Hotel car park.

The master lease for Nana Plaza expired yesterday and is no longer controlled by Nana Castle, which until yesterday had been the landlords for all these years. The question now being asked is just who is the new leaseholder. Stories are flying around about what's going on and what was supposedly a done deal is now shrouded in mystery. Things started to become unclear a few weeks back when a ground floor gogo bar owner did a deal with the new owner of the property, not the new leaseholder. With the rumour mill saying that this venue secured a deal with terms much more attractive than what had been on offer, word spread that other owners were keen to secure a similar deal. The latest is that the group which was said to be the master lease only has subleases for some of the plaza and not all of it. What sort of bearing this has on the mooted plans for the much-needed sprucing up the plaza remains to be seen.

Some of the properties that make up what was known as the Crown Group of bars, a group which was bought lock, stock and barrel by the Nana Group, have been doing miserable business. Fantasia and Carnival are as dead as the dodo. It would be great to see the bars in this group return to their former glory. Start with G Spot and resurrect the shower show. That used to pack the bar and there's no reason to think that formula couldn't be successful today.

Rumour has it that the spot where Stumble Inn was – now closed – and the tailor's store next store are going to be gutted and that Morning Night, the first beer bar you pass when entering soi 4, is going to be expanded from a 2-shophouse beer bar into a massive 4-shophouse operation. This would make it one of the biggest (perhaps *the* biggest?) beer bars in the country.

Big Dogs really has become an eye sore. I don't know any other way to put it and I cannot help but feel that the cosmetic changes made to the railings of the bar – see photo on the right – are nothing more than an attempt to do something different, an attempt to theme the bar in a way that I just cannot see having any real positive effect on the number of customers. And painting the railing bright yellow? Unless that is some sort of undercoat, it wouldn't have been my first choice! Time to go back to the basics of what makes a good bar methinks – well-mixed drinks at fair prices, good service and pretty, friendly maidens. Rocket science it isn't.

The exchange booth and the ATM machine that have long been fixtures at the mouth of Nana Plaza have been removed leaving something of a gap at the entranceway (see large photo above).

Building work is taking place on the top floor of the Hollywood Inn, the hotel within the confines of Nana Plaza. There is speculation that another beauty salon is being put together.

I did a run through some of the older freelancer venues along Sukhumvit this week and can report that pickings were slim. The Dragongarden – I mean the Biergarten – was rough, scary almost. Gulliver's had a ratio of about 4 guys to every girl. Thermae had heaps of pretty woman but few showed any interest in those not from North Asia. There were a good few white guys and many were repelled when approaching girls. Insomnia and Climax remain the top freelancer bars but neither really gets going until after midnight.

There's a new hotel in Sukhumvit soi 1 with a room no Thai will want to stay in and no chambermaid will want to service for fear of ghosts. A few days ago a foreigner and his Thai accomplice attempted to fly and realised too late that they didn't have wings, and hit the deck at high speed. Needless to say it was game over. Did they jump? Were they pushed? Who knows? You tend to hear more reports of jumping from Pattaya, but it happens in Bangkok too.

The English / Thai couple who operate MyThai-Visa.com which specialises in helping with visa applications for Thai nationals going to the UK are currently in Thailand. They would be happy to provide advice or assist anyone seeking UK visa advice and can be reached on 084-3551796.

You know business is bad when the number of Japanese customers in the Rainbow bars takes a big dip. There has been a noticeable drop off in customers going through Rainbows 1, 2 and 3. Rainbow 4 has a much wider appeal and attracts both Westerners and Asian men and still seems to be doing ok.

If any cider-drinking readers find themselves in Jomtien, you might like to visit Jules Sportarama. Mention "Stickman" and they will serve you a pint of Westons Traditional Scrumpy at a discounted 120 baht or a 300ml bottle of TNC cider at 60 baht. This special runs until the end of July. Jules Sportarama restaurant & bar features 10 TV screens, free pool, free bar billiards, free book loan and free wi-fi. There's also an extensive food menu. You can find it in View Talay 1A on Thappraya Road, Jomtien.

One of the most viewed images on Thailand websites is that of the model on the ThaiLoveLinks banner – and what a babe she is. Did you know that if you were to do a reverse image search you can find more revealing photos of her?

It can be interesting to hear what some of the locals think of us. A foreign friend was in a taxi recently on his way to Saphan Kwai – specifically to the bars of Saphan Kwai, gogo bars for Thai men where foreigners are welcome but where farangs make up but a small percentage of the customers. Anyway, the taxi driver was quite frank in his comments about Saphan Kwai. "You do not have to use a condom with the ladies there", he said. When asked why this was, he responded, "Very few foreigners go there so the girls are clean and therefore a condom isn't necessary." I thought this sort of thinking was a thing of the past, but it seems not.

If you're flying into Bangkok and have a connecting flight which might be tight time-wise, you might want to reconsider rescheduling to give yourself a bit more time. One runway at the airport has been worked on and there can be congestion at peak times which sees some flights put in a holding pattern which can delay landing time. Not a great deal for most people, but those who have tight connections might find it the difference between making their connecting flight or not.

Cashiers making mistakes with customers' change seems to occur more often in Thailand than elsewhere, and the cynics might wonder why 90% of the time when the change is wrong it's in the house's favour. This can become irritating and on the very odd occasion when the opposite happens – when the change is wrong but in your favour – one might be tempted to pocket the difference. Please think twice about it. In probably 98% of businesses in Thailand any shortfall at the till must be made up by the cashier personally. With this in mind, if you do notice an error, it really would be the right thing to point this out and return the money. If you take it, you're essentially taking money out of the cashier's pocket.

There's been some interesting comments in the readers' submissions section of this site the past week or two concerning HIV and how easily, or otherwise, it can be transmitted from female to male. One thing that has come out of this that I find perturbing – and I just know I will be pilloried by some for saying this – is the HIGH number of Western guys in Thailand who party without a party hat with hookers. It seems not to concern some guys where they meet girls, be it the flashest chrome pole palace or the darkest corner of Pattaya's Beach Road, many are doing the business without wrapping up. I always knew this was going on but I never quite knew the extent. Reckless is the first word that comes to mind, but it's more than that. It's a complete lack of respect. I note that in New Zealand where prostitution was decriminalised some years ago, the use of condoms is required in commercial sex. No condom and you could find yourself in trouble. Call me a prude, call me a spoil sport, call me what you will, but that just seems sensible to me.

Reader's story of the week comes from The Dancer, "Dead Farang Removal Service".

A 77-year old Brit is beaten to death by his Thai wife after
he changed his will to leave her a paltry £340,000.

A Thai biology teacher is sentenced to 78 months prison in the US for being in possession of
the worst kind of porn.

A cat fight breaks out in Pattaya, not between two Thai birds, but between
an American and a Brit.

A New Zealand man is stuck in a Thai hospital with a $16,000 hospital bill he cannot pay.

There is a media blackout in place in Phuket with police officers not allowed to release information to the media.

A drug dealer in Isaan goads the coppers to catch him…and they do!

The Thai police busted another boiler room this week, right in the farang heartland on Sukhumvit.

Ask Sunbelt Legal

Sunbelt Asia's legal department is here to answer your questions relating to legal issues and the law in Thailand. Send any legal questions you may have to me and I will pass them on to Sunbelt Legal and their response will run in a future column. You can contact Sunbelt's legal department
directly for all of your legal needs.

Question 1: A friend wants to go to Thailand for 90 days but has a criminal record. He did actual jail time – and for some reason thinks I'm the expert on Thailand and has made it my job to find out. My opinion is that under 30 days
is no problem however a 90-day visa would require him to have no criminal record. Am I correct here?

Sunbelt responds: Unless your friend was arrested and did jail time in Thailand then they normally do not do a criminal check for a 90-day visa. If your friend is applying for a retirement visa at a Thai embassy overseas then they will require a criminal records check, or if he plans on working as a teacher. However, if he was arrested and did jail time in Thailand then it may be that he is on the blacklist. He should check this before attempting to enter Thailand.

Question 2: If my Thai wife asks for a divorce, is she expected to return the sin sot I paid when I married her?

Sunbelt responds: Sin Sod is not marital property. It is property the man gives to the woman's parents so that he may marry her. Once marriage occurs the property is transferred to the parents and is not included in marital property.

Question 3: My missus and I were hitched in 1990. She got residency and she naturalized in about 1995 (Australian citizenship). She still has her original Thai passport, ID card and Tabien-Ban (all outdated). She has not used the Thai passport since 1992 and it expired in 1995. I will send her to the Thai consulate with copies of the paperwork but before I do this: Has she lost her Thai citizenship? If so, can she get it back? All the Thai government info suggests Thais who don't actually renounce their origin are still Thais. Is this so? Finally if she has lost her citizenship of Thailand, would she be able to reclaim it?

Sunbelt responds: She has not lost her citizenship. She needs to go to the Thai embassy to renew her passport. When she returns to Thailand she will need to leave Australia on her Australian passport and enter Thailand on her Thai passport. Once she is in Thailand she should go to a district office to renew her ID card and to see if she is still on the house registration book. If she is not, she will need to show her new ID card to register on a new house registration book.

June is traditionally one of the quietest months of the year for international tourist arrivals and is now behind us, much to the relief of bar, restaurant and hotel owners who for the past few weeks have been gloomy. A quiet June is the norm just as July being better than June is as certain as the sun rising tomorrow. August will also be ok. September will see a dip – it's one of the wettest months – and from October through until the new year tourist numbers will steadily increase month on month as they do almost every year. The tourism industry in Thailand is predictable and arrival numbers this year mirror previous years. The difference today is not the number of visitors, but their profile with the country marketed more as a family-friendly destination. Naughty boys make up a smaller percentage of visitors than they once did. With this in mind, those with business interests in Thailand might choose not to focus on the bar industry, but perhaps look at other services which might appeal to the new visitors. The tourists will be back. The big question is, however, do they want to buy what you're selling?!

Your Bangkok commentator,

Stick