Betong is a small town located south of Thailand in the yala district just across the border to penghkalan hulu, Malaysia. its strange that this place has never been written about but I guess its probably because of its small town personification that people seem to have overlooked this town over the bigger southern cities such as haadyai. frankly, this town doesn't really have the attractions and hype as the bigger Thailand towns but in no way is it quiet. every weekend hundreds of Malaysians flock to this town in search of a little fun & hell of a lot excitement.
~~~~~~ I stumbled to this town by accident during one of my casual sex trips. It was one of those long weekends where both of Singapore’s and Malaysia’s holidays collided on the same weekend. as you could imagine, the bigger attractive towns were packed with people. all hotels were booked and most of the prettier girls were taken up. hence, without so much as to stay for a massage or a even lunch we just headed back to KL thinking we'd have more fun spending the long weekend in some KTV or the many massage parlours that KL had to offer. while we were moving out of the traffic jam that had started to build up by the immigration dept. a young Malaysian chap suggested that we should head of to betong just 3 hours from where we were instead. according to him it was like haadyai but at a smaller scale. with nothing to loose but time, we decided to head there instead.

~~~~~~ the ride took us almost 2 hours and 30 minutes just along the country roads of the yala district. when we reached there were already many Malaysian tourist flocking the town which coincidently was no bigger than Kent’s shopping district. just a line of plain wooden shops mixed together with some concrete buildings. ~~ we checked into the Merlin hotel which was the most expensive and best hotel available there for 1000 baht a nite. it was a very decent hotel with a nice layout and your usual hotel facilities thrown in. for the price I would say that it was remarkably cheap compared to the other places. other hotels around this place are:

~~~~hotel sri betong - 600baht a nite; nice rooms but no hotel facilities such as swimming pools or cafeteria.
~~hotel cathay - 500 to 600 baht; nice but small rooms. an extra 200baht for rooms with bath tubs.
~~hotel krongka - 500baht/nite; rather dinghy rooms with less than perfect fittings. will do if you're going to stay there just for doing a little bit of how's yer father.
~~hotel grand view - 700baht/nite; the largest rooms available in the whole town. the rooms were big enough to actually perform all the stances from the kamasutra text. however, due to its location that was a bit far from the town district, you might end up having to fork out quite a bit just to get to town. one of the main things that this hotel has to offer is that its located right in the heart of the prostitute dens and go-go bars.

~~~~ eating and getting around is not a problem as they have eateries everywhere ranging from sea food to your daily luncheons. would recommend that you head down to hotel cathay's restaurant where they serve shark fin's soup for a very cheap price (1000baht for a large bowl meant for 4). you wouldn't even rip a hole in your pocket for a daily dose of this soup. there is a large number of 'tuk-tuk' (Thai’s version of tight crammed taxis) which will take you anywhere in betong for 10baht per head. just catch one outside your hotel as they are many available.~~ in betong, the strange thing is that every local knows that you're a sex tourist. hence, no point in hiding the fact. just pop down over to hotel grand view and take your pick of the abundant brothels over there. however, there are no short times if you want to taste the 'meat'- so to speak. its all meant to be all-nighters when you do pick a girl (prices range from 1800baht-2200baht). however, as you and every guy knows that since they are prostitutes its usually the case where you should be able to reject them when she's not really performing up to par, DON'T DO IT. not to say that you can't but if she was sent back to her pimp she would receive a real bad trashing from the pimp or her agent. and that to me is ,well, best avoided. keep her for the night and choose another when its time for her to leave which is usually early the next day. the 'bookings' usually start from 9am onwards.

~~~~~~ when you have made your choice of which girl you want to bestow your man-hood on, you can either take here there and then or choose to have her meet you at your place at a predetermined time at your hotel room. I choose the latter cause then you can head of to some of the massage parlours. the massage parlours over here are genuine massage parlours which is really good and relaxing. soften the muscles for some heavy action later, if you asked me. ~~ once the girl arrives at your room, be patient if she doesn't get too sexually active immediately. although they know what line of business they are in, being an Asian girl still holds certain reservations of shyness and politeness. being to raunchy should be kept till later when she gets to know you more personally.

~~ one of the things that you should try would be the go-go bars. as in the many go-go bars that I have been to, betong's bars are a tad mundane compared to the rest but most of the evenings are either spent copulating or at the bars. even if you didn't want to, your 'darling' as she is known to you and you to her, will definitely insist that you go with her. the thing is that these 'girls' aren't allowed into these premises unaccompanied by a man as this would generally ruin the business of any showgirl or prostitutes that work in those premises chances of getting a client. the shows are almost all the same. a bunch of scantily clad women which would be more than glad to take her knickers off if you offered her 200 baht, standing by the pole and gyrating her body like commuters in the train holding on to the restraints trying to gain balance. nothing much.

~~~~~~ a word of warning to those that want to pick some girls at these go-go bars. don't.....seriously don't. the ones that performs only wants to party and go out while the ones that work as 'standers'(termed so because they just stand there till some guy without 'darling' in his arm arrives thru' the door) are either mingers or underaged. the latter could get you into serious problems with the law and your conscience. if anytime that these girls approach you for promise of fun, just tell them that you already have a girl. they take it harder when you say that you're not interested in them. saying that you already have a girl in waiting softens the blow of rejection. ~~ staying in betong would generally cost between 6000bahts to 8000bahts for 3 days and 2 nites stay. that’s with a girl for every nite, lodging and food with a bit of partying thrown in. to change your money, go to any shop that sells groceries. funny...yep... I was too when I got there the first time looking for some people to change my money. these grocery shops are actually make shift money changers which offers the current market rate. how do they know what the market rate is? well, they have a TV next to them with Bloomberg switched on. rather impressive, eh?

~~~~~~ there are many things to be of weary in betong and one which I must really warn you of before you head over there is that the touts or runners for brothels are more aggressive than the ones found in bangkok or haadyai or anywhere I’ve been to. this, I think, is due to the close proximity in which the brothels are located. the competition within the brothels owners are high and hence, every customer that actually walks thru' those streets found across grand view hotel are rare commodities. and these touts are paid anywhere between 200-300baht depending on how much he gets to fleece off from your picking. always haggle. the average working girls go for 180 baht while the prettier ones go for 200-250baht. hence, make the right choice. if however, you find the girls here a bit not up to your taste and would prefer something more sophisticated. then proceed to a bar called CHINA BAR. just wave down a tuk-tuk and tell him that. he'll know how to take you there. in that bar you will find many china mainland girls. however, they will only entertain Chinese patrons. ~~ these china mainland girls are better presented in terms of dressing and in looks. they don't wear platform shoes as with the Thai girls and are more interested in getting to know you better. honestly, how many times can you actually do it in a day. hence, socialising with your girl would be an added incentive for companionship.

~~~~ anyway, try betong at least once and see how it fairs in your little sexual escapades. its nothing compared with the bigger southern border towns but a welcoming alternative from all the hustle and bustle that bigger towns are associated with. ~~

Betong sounds really interesting.. but being so far south I'm guessing now wouldn't be a very safe time for an American to visit because of the Muslim unrest, right?

Any up to date info on this place would be helpful? THanks.