Subject: Thailand THAI BY NIGHT C1993, 1998 So long as I dare to embrace the Buddha and have my hands and can spread my legs, I need never beg nor be a burden to anyone. Thailand has been my country of choice for the past eight years. I'm an old hippie with pussy fever and we all know it's impossible to get enough. Sex is, for me, the fountain of youth. With variety, a man of any age can enjoy many women every day. This really isn't possible in many places but Thailand. Youth, grace, petiteness, sweetness, friendliness, understanding, enthusiasm and pure fun are the norm. That just isn't true in our drab, grey, boring, cold Western countries where that Christian work ethic pervades our lives. Very few of the men I know patronize prostitutes in the West; we are usually not the clients of street hookers, escort services, massage parlours or even tele-sex lines. If you've ever used one of the above, you know that from the minute of contact the meter is running. While these women may be very good actresses, once you are paying them money they won't give you a chance at the real thing. Let's get one thing straight: sex is always an exchange for money. The cost of a dinner, a bottle of wine, gas for the car, perhaps a movie or a little smoke is what it takes to get there. As with all other amenities, the cost in Thailand is about half price. That does not make women commodities, however, in Thailand or anywhere else. Thai culture demands modesty and you will see bodies displayed by no one but children and those who are paid for it. Consequently, rudeness, crudeness, and lewdness just doesn't pay off, in Thailand as elsewhere, and I have certainly seen some really crass actors out there. Many men feel that once they leave their shores they are free to behave like complete animals. Let me tell you that Thai women of all segments of society enjoy being treated like ladies, with gentleness, dignity and respect. You might get that pussy if you pay for it but if you add respect to the equation you'll get a whole lot more. You might even end up with a caring, intelligent and beautiful friend who will save your ass and assets and bail you out of many difficult situations. Only girls from poor, rural families in the North and Northeast (Isaan) fuck for money. Rarely will you find a demimondaine from a middle-class family or from the South, where Muslim culture has influence. In the category of those girls who do are many strata of society. Chinese businessmen and their mama-sans travel the poor, rural villages every year. Particularly when there is a bad harvest due to drought or pests, families will be dirt-poor, often without enough to feed all their children. So a teenaged daughter, 12-16, really wants to help her family, to make merit for this life and the next. A small sum of money is loaned to the family, perhaps B10,000-20,000 ($400-800 USD) and the girl must pay it back twofold by working. Yes, in essence, this girl has been 'sold' to a brothel, even though neither the family nor the girl wants this direction to their lives and really can't imagine the kind of life she will be forced to lead. In other scenarios, many girls are tricked into leaving their families by a cunning lover or promises of a job in the city in a restaurant or hotel, often from neighbouring Burma, Cambodia or Laos. Some of these teenagers are more tractable than others. Some girls' virginity is sold, at a premium. If the buyer is a Taiwanese or other foreigner, many of whom believe in virginity as a talisman of virility or feel this is the best route to AIDS prevention so they don't have to wear a condom, the price will be high, perhaps B7500-10,000 ($300-500). Just as often, that price will fetch a bladder of chicken blood to stain the sheets. Others need to be persuaded by beatings and rapes. After all, once a girl is 'ruined', it really can't matter how many men she fucks. Every medium-sized town in Thailand has its share of brothels and I firmly believe every tourist with pussy on his mind should go and have a look at this side of things. In Bangkok, one can be taken to brothels that are often numbered hotels by taxi- or samlor-drivers. Most are short-time, though there are some true 'lady-houses' where women will go home with you. Bangkok brothels charge B500-700 ($20-30) for short-time, lady-houses run B1000-1200 ($40-50). There is no doubt that this class is miserable and abused, often by themselves--hard drugs, self-mutilation and suicide are not uncommon. Thai men prize Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai girls for their white skin, though in general, foreigners don't care. In Chiang Mai, famous for its many brothels, a visit to the brothels in the area of the Mai Ping Hotel is recommended as some English is spoken. These places charge B30-200 ($1.25-8) for short-time; in general, the girls are not allowed out and fuck 30-40 men per day. Brothels are often called tea-houses, coffee shops or barbers in Thailand. Brothel girls get to keep half of what they take in, but of course the management holds it for them. Most of the girls are poor, rural and unschooled, often illiterate and not knowing how to keep account books; most work months or even years beyond their buy-back time when they can choose to remain or to go back to their village. Some girls get sick or old, too, and return to their villages early. (HIV-positive women are often shunned in their home villages). Many more choose to stay and work when their contracts are upAs weird as this whole scene is (for the Thais as well as for us), the girls respond to gentleness and generosity with caring and real emotion. You'll certainly make merit if you treat these women right. Everybody wants a little bit of romance in their lives, bring them flowers or something nice to wear. I am not defending this life, which is not at all pretty or normal, but I don't see any way to relieve the situation either. Thai, Japanese, Taiwanese, German and Arab men usually refuse to wear condoms, but all upcountry brothels now insist on rubbers. The real danger, to my mind, is not dying of AIDS, though that certainly is a steep price for pussy, but infecting some or many others. All other viruses in nature can be caught from a single exposure, so why not HIV? Open wounds occur from nail-biting, bad sunburns on the nose (or dick!), biting one's cheek or tongue accidentally while eating, or abrasions from buck teeth--too much for a vivid imagination! While it seems common sense that one is more at risk where blood occurs (many girls don't take days off for their periods), don't forget that your dick is stuffed in any snatch a long time. It would seem that HIV is more easily passed to women from men because they are the receptacles for cum, but who can rule out the possibility of catching AIDS from a blowjob? I personally draw the line at raincoats for a round of head and dental dams for cunnilingus, but anybody who pays money for sex who doesn't use a rubber might deserve what they get but they don't deserve to pass it on. Use your common sense. Despite the massive AIDS education efforts of former Cabinet Minister Mechai Viridaiya whose name has become synonymous with condom in Thailand, this country is still going to be nuked by this disease. The pay-sex industry, the cultural acceptance of katoey or lady-boys, the boys doing it for pay in the bars who are not gay at all but come home to fuck bar-girls, will all take their toll. No cure yet for cancer or the common cold, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a vaccine. There is no way to be guaranteed that the girl you pick is HIV-free. Even with the most-sophisticated tests (still unavailable in Thailand), there is at least three-month window in which one may have been exposed to the virus but will not test positive. Even if you plan to live with a girl for some months or even marry her, you're playing three-month Russian roulette. The most conclusive study in Thailand, done on 21-year old Army recruits in Phrae province in the North showed an HIV-positive infection rate of 21%; all Thai men frequent brothels: this is higher than anywhere but Africa and certainly beats San Francisco. Remember it's in the interests of big government to keep us men at home, working, consuming, paying taxes instead of having the freedom and inspiration of many partners. Perhaps AIDS is a CIA experiment run amok but now we all have to live with it and make conscious choices not to hurt others. In any case, not to bring you down, you should eat at Khun Mechai's elegant but moderately-priced Thai restaurant, Cabbages & Condoms, on Sukhumvit Soi 12; the restaurant funds free vasectomies and the family-planning clinic adjacent. The next rung up on the ladder are massage-parlour girls. Often these women are recruited in the same way as brothel girls, but some come to the job on their own. One thing is certain: they sit behind a huge one-way plate mirror watching television, knitting, doing their nails or hair, or reading comic books, wearing numbers to be picked like fish from a tank, sushi by number. They cannot see the customers and do not have the option to refuse their services. Often one hundred or more women wait for their number to be called in the larger establishments which charge B2000 ($80) and up for their all-inclusive short-time services. Window shopping will give you an idea of the variety available. Any touts or taxi-drivers who bring you to a brothel or massage-parlour get an end, so if you use them you will be charged the top rate. Once you expect to pay that price, even if you bring yourself there, that's the rate. But, remember, bargain for everything in Thailand and, chances are, if you are firm and threaten to leave, the price will come down. There is some dispute about who is at the top of the list, but my money is on the savvy bar-girls, so next come the women of the constellation bars and coffee shops. The excellent study by the International Labour Office of Geneva, From peasant girls to Bangkok masseuses, states that 82% of all Thai women between 15 and 30 are getting some on the side for money or favours. (Mostly all Western women might fit that category, too!) I think that's a pretty high figure, but the women who work the constellations are only working for themselves, their children and families. In case your fantasies, hormones (and jeans!) are running amok, here might be a good place to mention that you should let your new friend know what's expected when you get her home. Most Thai girls are into plain vanilla fucking, providing nature's perfect receptacle with a minimum of effort, just like all women everywhere. Perhaps half will get down on that bone (though almost all like getting an enthusiastic round of head, again j.l.a.w.e.). Many will suggest that you bring their friend(s), too, and try them all. Believe me, this is easier said than accomplished. The girls will expect you to try them out serially and, as this is an economic, rather than sexual, proposition, they won't be into it too much. Some girls will go home with more than one man but expect to pay accordingly. Some girls will enjoy a little lesbian action themselves (more fun for us!), some won't mind getting it on with couples. If you're in a bar, often the mamasan can let you know which girls will do what and how much it should cost. A few will even get into anal sex. Just like all women everywhere. If you make your proposition and the girl giggles or looks confused, that's your answer. When you get her home, forcing her is rape, and there's not any nookie in Thai prisons. Constellations are after-hours or 24-hour meeting places. The coffee shops at the Grace and Nana Hotels on Sukhumvit Soi 4, for instance, cater to Arab tastes in women. The Thermae Coffee Shop, (often known as HQ among expats), was on the ground floor of the Thermae Massage Parlour (which opens in daytime only) on Sukhumvit Road adjacent to the Ambassador Hotel at Soi 13 since Vietnam War days. I have many fond memories of this place. Now that the old building there has been sold, Thermae's new digs are only a few doors to the east in the downstairs part of Ruamchitt Plaza at 199 Sukhumvit. HQ has had the best selection in town of free-lancers, party girls and bar-girls who missed getting chosen. Let's hope this punter's paradise will continue in the new location, open from about 11 pm till 6 am. If you choose a hotel nearby (not a big, five- or four-star one, please: they won't let you bring women up to your room after 7 pm or will want to charge you for the privilege!), and there are many to choose from, you can easily pull several women a night from this place. (Did I tell you about the twin sisters???) Rumour has it this place is owned by cops but so are a lot of the ultra-safe bars. (You'll never have a complaint in a police bar that isn't resolved in your favour!) In any case, police in uniform come in regularly to join the fun. (Did I tell you prostitution is illegal in Thailand?) There don't seem to be any big time kickbacks and the girls can hang out all night without ordering anything. Speaking of food, Thermae's is quite good and inexpensive. There's no surer way to any woman's heart (and into her pants, even though you're paying cash for that snatch) than to treat her like a lady and buy her something to eat and drink. Thai people love to eat and joke and it will really make both of you feel good, no matter where you've grabbed her. Two other constellations worth mentioning are King's Lounge and Peppermint, both on Patpong 1. Peppermint usually closes at 2 with the rest of the bars, but King's Lounge (upstairs at the corner above King's Castle Bar) rocks till dawn. Great dancing (and watching!) in both these places, a little more rap in King's Lounge. All these girls are freelancers and get the usual rate. All the hotel discos, dance palaces and Nasa Spacedrome (on Ratchadapisek Road) will have available women. Often these women are students, nurses or office girls. The culture is different--if they put out, you're obliged to pay them in the morning: these non-professionals should get B1000 before they leave. Remember that a highly-paid secretary only makes B10,000 a month. Pussy is not nearly so much fun (in fact, often you can't remember enough) when you've drunk too much. Nor is it any fun for the girls to go home with you. Remember that freelancers don't have a bar to go back and answer to, a job to keep, so if you invite them home, don't leave valuables out in plain sight. Most of these women aren't hardened pros, they're young girls not thieves, but it's huMAN natURE, so don't put temptation out in their way--you both could be sorry. You'll immediately notice how clean Thai people are. Most have two or three showers every day. All Thai women smell fresh, healthy and delicious due to a diet without dairy products and scant body hair. In contrast, we smell like barbarians to them. Working girls have mostly gotten used to farang smell, but every Thai girl you bring home will immediately go and have a shower and modestly return in your towel. It's 90-100 degrees in Bangkok every day of the year so even if you've already had your customary daily shower do her the same favour: join your honey in the shower--it'll pay off later. I believe it's impolite to discuss money when you invite a girl home, and Thais are a very polite people. It also lacks class, romance and mystery. The girl may or may not ask what you intend to give her in the bar, and you should by all means tell her if she asks. But the price is always the same, a purple, B500-1000 ($20-40). Any less and you really are cheating her out of that quim, even for short-time; any more and you're being taken for a ride. I never mention money, even back in my room, and always slip her B500-1000 in the morning. It somehow lets both of you keep your dignity and have a really good time, to really be 'lovers' for the night. If you find a really fine girl who treats you just right, give her some extra for a tip. In any case, treat her to breakfast if she'll stay and always pay her taxi-fare home. If you are a cheap Charlie, though, and fight with a girl about money, don't bother to stay in town long because the grapevine is fast here and a secret is harder to find than a pussy-hair; this is a sure-fire way to get ignored and turned down cold by the most fun girls. The high-class girls are the bar-girls of Patpong (off Silom Road), Nana Entertainment Plaza (on Soi 4 or Soi Nana off Sukhumvit Road) and Soi Cowboy (between Soi 21 or Soi Asoke and Soi 23 off Sukhumvit). These women are paid a small salary and the customer pays a bar-fine for loss of her services when he goes home with a girl, usually B200-400 ($8-16), plus the usual nightly fee directly to the girl. Although these girls are free agents, they often borrow money from the bar and become bonded to the owners. Remember that bar-fines are over usually an hour before closing time, so midnight or 1 am. Bar-fines get expensive, so you might want to arrive at closing time hoping for that perfect tightie. Be aware, though--often the best women have been pulled closer to opening time for some nookie, dinner, some nookie, some dancing or a movie, more nookie, a little sleep and some good-morning nookie to start the day off right. If you treat her right, you might even get some more after breakfast.Some popular bars with spectacular women (many of the Patpong bars of the [rather expensive! ] King's Group come to mind) will ask more; their girls may even ask for double the going rate. Whether or not they should get it depends on several factors. First and most important is chemistry: if the chemistry is right between you, are you really going to argue over $20? It's possible (though unlikely) for a bar-girl to make $1500 a month--does that sound like a lot of money to you? (Think about how short a bar-girl's working life is.) Secondly, are you there in high tourist season, is the place packed or is it the rainy season and almost closing time? Don't just be an asshole: use your leverage. I'd be happy to take my sainted grandmother to most any of the go-go bars in Bangkok. One-piece bathing suits are the norm. A few bars at Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza offer topless and even bottomless (with an eye out for the law). These bars are less regulated than the Patpong bars. There's also less noise and confusion and less traffic here than Patpong, less competition but also fewer choices. I've found many of the girls here to be gentler, less experienced. How to pick the perfect girl out of all this variety? My rule of thumb is to pick the best dancer even if she isn't necessarily the youngest or most beautiful girl in the place. She'll have that spark of fun you want and she'll dance on your dick till you think you've died and gone to heaven. Smile: it's the second best thing you can do with your lips -- Bangkok T shirt slogan. Most Thai women think it's weird to give head. They like to get it, for sure, and I've never heard a rational explanation for this. It's called 'smoke' as in cigarettes and most girls you take home from bars or constellations won't get down on that bone. In massage parlours, smoking is often offered as a girl's specialty. But in Patpong there's a solution--get that blowjob before you take a girl home! (Only in Thailand!) Two upstairs bars offer au go-go and a round of head by three girls of your choice, rubber or not. If you're shy, there's a private room overlooking the street which you share with some friends getting some--it's a pretty upfront amazing scene; in the back room the girls will take off their clothes, too. If you prefer, you can get off right in the bar while watching the dancers with three beauties under the table. B500-700 for one to three girls. I've always been hoping to get a girl with no teeth at all, but it hasn't happened yet! Remember that nowhere in Patpong do you need a tout to show you the ropes; usually they'll only show you to the places that overcharge anyway. Kangaroo Pub (upstairs) has all women from Udon Thani and Rose Bar from Khon Kaen, both in Isaan, so there must be great grapevine recruitment! Canadian author Christopher G. Moore calls these places 'skull bars' (from your perspective on the girls) and finds them degrading, demeaning and impersonal. And these women certainly swallow quarts of jism. But they all love having a toke in the back room with you and going out after closing for dancing or a bite. Gentlemen: this is unbelievable head. You certainly can't go wrong inviting one home and it's the same price in the morning. Supergirls (upstairs) in Patpong deserves special mention: these girls are especially young, delicious and nekkid. (This place also has a back room, but no aircon and full of mosquitoes!) The show here, too, is full of imagination. I usually don't have much jam for live sex shows but I keep going trying to recapture the magic of my first where a lovely pulled fresh orchids on a string out from between her petals, handing the string to the first row and passing it back for twenty feet! Quite spectacular! The women who can shoot darts, make baskets with pingpong balls, open bottles and smoke cigarettes have always been a little scary for me--want one to go home with you??? The owners of Supergirls are planning a new bar, so we can look forward to more of a good thing! In all bars the girls get half the profit from each cola you buy them (how much Coke can you drink?). I often give a girl the price of a drink as a tip; it's better for her. However, the girl is expected to bring in money for the bar, so she simply can't cuddle, kiss and fondle all night without a drink in front of her. Talk it over with her and work out her own needs with those of her boss. Also note, I said cuddle, kiss and fondle--this has wide latitude. But it definitely does not include grabbing and groping, pulling, squeezing and pinching the cuties--to my mind, that's just assault. While we're at it, some men want a bar-girl to have a real drink with them, beer, Mekhong, tequila. Imagine doing this every night for eight hours! You'll find that many of the sweetest girls with that real Thai nature don't drink or smoke and taste like heaven! In any case, the reason the bar-girls are at the top of the list is that they are all free agents and if they don't like you (or aren't that desperate for the money), they'll simply turn you down. Child prostitution and any sort of pornography are illegal here. The legal minimum age for sexual consent is 15, but if you are paying for playing, the minimum is 18. What constitutes a child may not be the same to Thai police as seems quite clear to you and your delicious "child"-woman. There are some wonderful 13-year olds on the game out there but stings and set-ups are not unknown. Sometimes this is just a shake-down for money but it will definitely be expensive for you. The sensational cases in the Thai news sound like set-up jobs from here, but Thailand is under a lot of pressure from Western governments under the direction of the customary thought police, the USA. Some reciprocal laws have been enacted to brand known "paedophiles", notably in Australia and Germany, and prosecute them on return to their own countries. I think I've offered you years of experience for free here. I've visited 63 of Thailand's 75 provinces with one thing in mind; I've lived in brothels in many provinces. Bernard Trink's 'Nite Owl' column in Saturday's Bangkok Post cannot, of course, afford to be as direct as this article, but you'll find great info on the local scene and where the ripoffs are--highly recommended. If you come to Thailand with an open mind, try to be as gentle and generous and understanding as all Thai people and show respect for Thai culture and customs (especially Buddhism and the King) you'll learn a lot and you'll certainly get laid. If you treat your visit with the proper attitude I guarantee you'll make lifelong friends and expand your consciousness. Personally, I would never even consider a white woman again. If you're not prepared to give this much, you should stay at home with Mama Fist and her five daughters--all poor countries have seen enough exploitation by the rich. Thailand is a wonderful place that does not deserve to be infected by colonialism and racism. In May of 1992, I saw hundreds of unarmed, ordinary people gunned down by soldiers whose orders came only from too much pride, too much ego, too much power. General Suchinda's first mandate as prime minister was to eliminate all AIDS education in Thailand. To me, this meant that he cared more for the tourist dollar than for Thai people. Don't fall into the same trap. My nom de plume is a noble from Thai mythology who has two wives. Enjoy, learn and respect! Khun Chang RECOMMENDED READING ON THAILAND To gain insight into a culture as complex as Thailand's, even the casual tourist should read a few books on the country. I don't mean guidebooks, either. As you can see from this list, there aren't too many available, but my personal favourites are often fiction giving an insight into Thai thinking and written by expatriates. On my first visit an expat told me that bringing your wife or girlfriend to Thailand is like bringing sand to the beach; this was prophecy for me: I have a very hard time looking at Western women as sex objects anymore. My favourite quote, however, sums it up: 'If you're on the train to heaven and it stops at Bangkok, GET OFF!' If you really fall in love with the place, you'll have to learn at least basic Thai. The first thing you'll notice is how little English people speak. Don't learn Thai in the bar--it will be all too obvious how you learned it. Pick a course or find an educated tutor (those university student uniforms sure look good to me!). Thai scene ---------- Jeremy Seabrook, Travels in the Skin Trade: Tourism and the Sex Industry, Pluto, London, 1996 Pasuk Phongpaichit, From peasant girls to Bangkok masseuses, International Labour Office, Geneva, 1982 Wanwadee Larsen, Confessions of a Mail Order Bride, Harper, New York, 1989 Dave Walker & Richard S. Ehrlich, "Hello My Big, Big Honey!", Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls, Dragon Dance, Bangkok, 1992 Sanitsuda Ekachai, Behind the Smile, Voices of Thailand, Post, Bangkok, 1990 Erik Cohen, Thai Tourism: Hill Tribes, Islands and Open-Ended Prostitution, White Lotus, Bangkok, 1996 Asia Watch Women's Rights Project, A Modern Form of Slavery, Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand, Human Rights Watch: 1522 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 Thanh-Dam Truong, Sex, Money and Morality, Prostitution and Tourism in South-East Asia, Zed Books, London & New Jersey, 1990 Expat writing ------------- Jorges Orgibet, From Siam to Thailand, Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, Bangkok, 1982 Jack Reynolds, A Woman of Bangkok, Duangkamol, Bangkok, 1992 Christopher G. Moore, A Killing Smile, White Lotus, Bangkok, 1991 A Bewitching Smile, ibid., 1992 A Haunting Smile, ibid., 1993 Spirit House, ibid., 1992 Asia Hand, ibid., 1992 Cut Out, ibid., 1994 Saint Anne, Asia Books, Bangkok, 1994 Comfort Zone, White Lotus, Bangkok, 1995 The Big Weird, BookSiam, Bangkok, 1996 Justin Wintle, Paradise for Hire, Seckler & Warburg, London 1982 Heat Treatment, Penguin, London, 1988 John Ralston Saul, The Paradise Eater, Grafton, London, 1988 Cleo Odzer, Patpong Sisters, Arcade, New York, 1994 Collin Pipprell, Bangkok Knights [1995 edition: Too Many Women], Duangkamol, Bangkok, 1989 Kicking Dogs, ibid., 1991 Dean Barrett, Noy of the Horny Toad and Other Stories, Hong Kong, 1983 Memoirs of a Bangkok Warrior, Hong Kong, 1983 John Hinds, Faces of the Night, Duangkamol, Bangkok, 1990 John Cadet, Occidental Adam, Oriental Eve, Charles Brown, Chiang Mai, 1981 Venusberg Revisited, ibid., 1987 Understanding Thai culture -------------------------- Denis Segaller, Thai Ways, Post, Bangkok, 1987 More Thai Ways, ibid., 1989 New Thoughts on Thai Ways, MKE, Bangkok, no date Tim Ward, What the Buddha Never Taught, Somerville, Toronto, 1990 K. Surangkhanang, The Prostitute [Ying khon chua], Oxford, Kuala Lumpur, 1994 Guidebooks ---------- Joe Cummings, Thailand, A Travel Survival Kit, Lonely Planet, Berkeley, 1992 Edward Sonner, Zen Buckaroo's Pattaya Wildlife Guide; Wildlife Guide to the Fantasy Fauna of Phnom Penn [sic]; Southeast Asian Wildlife Field Guide to Angeles City, Sherman Oaks, 1996 <zen@qnet.com> W.G. Hill, Sex Havens, or, Whore and Piece, Scope International, Forestside House, Rowlands Castle, Hants PO9 6EE England UK, e-mail: <scope@britnet.co.uk> 1993 Jacques Chessex, Nights in Bangkok and Pattaya, Orient X Press, no date Bangkok's Backstreets, Excogitations, Pasadena, now pirated In and Around Chiang Mai, ibid. Alan Dawson, Patpong, Bangkok's Big Little Street, Thai Watana Panich, Bangkok, 1988 John Sinclair, Bangkok By Night, CFW Guidebooks, Hong Kong, 1981 John Cadet, Monks, Mountains and Magic, Explorations of Thailand, ibid., 1991 [in Japanese]: Toshio Shoji, Solo Travel for Men, KK Bestsellers, Tokyo, 1993 Thailand Night-Zone Guidebook, Datahouse, Tokyo, 1994
Language -------- Joe Cummings, Thailand Phrasebook, Lonely Planet, Berkeley, 1984 Christopher G. Moore, Heart Talk, White Lotus, Bangkok, 1992 Bud Knackstedt & Oiy Ford, In the Bedroom, Out of Trouble: The "only" intimate phrase book for Thai, 1996, Dane Publishing [86 Pickford Pde, Warrnambool, VIC. 3280 Australia or 406 N. Hayden Bay Dr., Portland OR 97217 USA John Clewley, Making Out in Thai, Yenbooks, Tokyo, 1994 Newsletters ----------- The Erotic Traveller (formerly Farang XXX Sanuk [FXS] and Asia File ), Womanizing in SE Asia Fanzine, 5 issues per year, subscriptions $50, sample $10: POB 278537, Sacramento CA 95827 USA Zen Buckaroo News, 15445 Ventura Blvd #436, Sherman Oaks CA 91403 USA Third World International Traveller (TWIT), 6 issues per year, subscriptions $40, sample $5: Excogitations, POB 6260, Pasadena CA 77506 USA [ceased publication?] Travel and the Single Male, available on-line only, Compuserve: 71035,2272; America On-Line: aol(TSMTravel); Internet: tsmtravel@aol.com: TSM Publications, 3600 South Harbour Blvd., Suite 122, Channel Islands CA 93035 USA $10: Excogitations, POB 6260, Pasadena TX 77506 USA Bangkok Review, 6 issues per year, subscriptions $15, sample $5: POB 93, Patpong Post Office, Bangkok 10506 Thailand [ceased publication?] Vide! Asia Blue: Astral Ocean Cinema, Astral Plaza, POB 931753, Cherokee Avenue, Hollywood CA 90093 USA, catalogue $10.00 L.B.F.M. Productions: Box 8110-279, Blaine WA 98230 PVS Publications, 1223 Wilshire Blvd #651 Santa Monica CA 90403 USA, e-mail: <macgruder@earthlink.net> Zen Buckaroo, Edward Sonner, 15445 Ventura Blvd. #436, Sherman Oaks CA 91403 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Since I wrote the article above in 1993, not a great deal has changed but my attitude has softened somewhat and become more compassionate. And there are a few things I forgot to say on the first go round. Patience, sensitivity and sympathy go a long way toward building relationships in any country. This is even more true in Thailand than in the West because Thais themselves are such patient people. You should make your girl feel special by being sensitive to her moods (gold chains always seem to improve them!) and show sympathy for her needs, too. In all likelihood her biggest concern will be for her family's material wants, though certainly you will encounter greedy girls, too. Obviously, don't let yourself be conned, bilked or milked for money but it is not unreasonable for a girl to ask for money for her family if you develop a longer-term relationship. Most girls do this work out of poverty. 'Good' Thai girls don't ever allow touching, hugging or kissing in public, let alone more serious pawings. To do so immediately labels a girl as a prostitute. Although prostitution is by and large accepted and tolerated in Thailand, it is not admired, and any girl who walks with you will be so labelled anyway. So try to put yourself in her shoes and think about how difficult this must be. Treating your girl with public respect especially if you meet her family will make her much more loving to you. 'Good' girls will also expect appropriate dress in the city to walk with you; tank tops, beach shorts and thongs in town just show you have no manners. I can't stress strongly enough that you must pay attention to these details. All these give your girl great face in the Asian way and will lead to opportunities to give her a lot more face in your room, too. Most girls will put up with you anyway but she won't like you for it. In Thailand, you will alway lose any argument in which you show anger. Thai people prefer cool hearts and, really, it's not so pretty anywhere else in the world either. If temper tantrums are common to you, stay at home. Although prices have stayed much the same since I wrote this article (just after the introduction of the B1000 bill), many girls will no longer stay overnight. They want to maximise their earnings by being offed several times every night for short-time. If you behave yourself properly, you will improve your chances of satisfaction for your money. After all, we don't want Thailand to become like the West. Consumerism promoted by the West has already changed Thai values greatly. I don't see anything amiss in paying for sex but I do see trafficking in women as heinous and reprehensible. While fewer Thai girls are being duped by recruiters in upcountry villages and far fewer are sold as bonded or indentured sex-slaves, trafficking has moved to those with less education: hilltribe girls, Burmese and Yunnanese girls to Thailand Vietnamese peasant girls to Cambodia, Nepalese village girls to India. The incidence of foreigners marrying Thai girls only to turn them out for sex in their own cold, grey countries has also become very common. I hope these people die an ugly death. Don't support this heartless scene with your money--your karma couldn't stand the extra weight--and rescue someone if you ever see the chance. While there has not been the AIDS explosion among bar-girls that most expected, some of this is due to condoms and some to camouflage. When a bar-girl tests HIV-positive, she may well be forced to move on to freelance or brothel w! ork where there are fewer questions asked. The HIV+ numbers are dropping in Thailand, however, we have seen the rise of a new HIV subtype E which is supposed to be far more transmissible heterosexually. There has been some discussion surrounding its transmission by unprotected head but, personally, I think if we have to go to this extent, life would be far less worth living. 1998 meltdown addendum: The value of the baht is now half its previous. Prices in January have not yet gone up, though they will, particularly imported goodies. I live here because I don't like to sleep with imported girls, so in fact, the local price for domestic pussy has gone down if you're spending foreign currency. Some Patpong girls will ask and get B3000 (now USD$60) for all night, still cheap at the price. More freelance, moonlight students and office girls are available at the constellations, discos and after-hours venues, typically B1000-1500 ($20-30). It's a great time to be here! Amazing Thailand!
The above review is slightly outdated. If you would like recent up-to-date reviews from around the world, click here! World Sex Archives is the world's largest interactive database dedicated to the subject of prostitution and sex tourism. There are 1000's of recent reports from around the world and hundreds of photographs of real prostitutes. Come join the fun today by clicking here!