It was now 6:00 PM, and we had tickets for the "Sexy Show" at the Catwalk Club at 8:00 PM. We had purchased them earlier at 707 Travel for 250B, a 150B discount off the price at the door. As we were walking back to the hotel, we passed a hair stylist, where a very cute girl stuck her head out the door and yelled at us to come get a shampoo. I had been curious about what was really available at the hair salons since arriving in Hat Yai. Every one that we passed seemed to be staffed exclusively by attractive young women, and several of them had waved or smiled at us through the windows. I asked Tony what was up, but he had never really noticed. Evidently, it had not occurred to him that there might be something more than a haircut available here. Score one for the new guy with no preconceived notions and a dirty mind. Anyway, I stopped to talk to the girl, and we allowed her and her friend to convince us to enter and get shampooed, manicured, and massaged for about 400B apiece. I needed my hair washed and my fingernails cut anyway, and she was the best looking girl I had seen since arriving in Hat Yai. A different girl performed each task, and it was enjoyable with only a hint of sexual undertones. They did not speak much English, but I knew that more was available when I told the cutest girl (whose name I can't believe I have forgotten) that I was staying at the Sakura Hotel and she asked if I was in the new one or the old one. As I have mentioned before, that question proved to be an excellent litmus test to determine if a girl was "available" or not. I asked her to come to my room and she agreed. The beauty shop was closing, and we needed to go shower before the show, so I asked her to come to my hotel at 11:00 PM and bring her girlfriend along for Tony. She replied that she could not do that unless I gave her the money right then, or "the boy" would be very angry, and made a throat slashing gesture. I have no idea who she was talking about, as there was no other guy around - the girls were locking the shop up themselves, but I believe she was sincere. Because I was not certain exactly what was up, I declined, and she zoomed off on her scooter with no hard feelings. I really wish my camera had not been sitting back at my hotel with batteries that had inexplicably gone dead again, as the image of her grinning at me from her scooter is one of the memories that I most enjoy from Hat Yai.

After showering and changing, we took a tuk tuk to the show. I was kind of excited, having heard a lot about the sex shows in Thailand, including a report that morning from our new acquaintance Tan. We were shown into a room where there were about thirty men already seated, and about the same number of girls. When the waitress brought our one drink that had been included in the ticket price, she asked if we would like to be joined by any of the young ladies sitting on the couch behind us. I turned to look at them, and was reasonably happy with what I saw. I chose the one whom I found the most attractive, and she sat next to me. I discovered that up close, she was even better than I had thought. Her name was Bebe. She is 26, from the Bangkok area, weighs about 110 pounds and stands around 5' 3". Based on her features and complexion, I suspect she is half Russian. She was the Thai equivalent of a ficharia (for you TJ folks), but she only ordered two drinks throughout the 2 hour show. They were 165B each, and I think she got a whopping 15B of that. Much to my disgust, she was the only good thing about the show. Damn the new Interior Minister! The show consisted of some boring dance numbers, and a somewhat more entertaining snake charmer who even put two cobras down his pants. Talk about a trouser snake! Bebe cuddled up to me, and her hand brushed my package a couple of times, but that was the extent of it. At the end of the show, I asked Bebe to my room. She said she could not come until the next show ended, and was very surreptitious about writing down my hotel information. I guess the management actually was trying to prevent the girls there from prostituting themselves, but I would be amazed if there were any girls there, in the show or otherwise, who were not available. After agreeing to meet her at 1:00, we left with the intention of heading to Hollywood Disco. Bebe hinted that she expected a tip for her time, but did not push it when I pointed out that I would be paying her later.

Once outside, Tony wanted to check out a nearby karaoke, Venus. He found a girl he liked, and paid the mamasan 1500B with the intention of having her sent to his room at 1:00. This was not to be, as neither his girl, Kiki, nor the mamasan spoke much English. She said she was 20 years old, so we decided to take her to the disco with us. We had to go back to the hotel for some reason, and this resulted in the first of two consecutive bad experiences with taxi drivers. When we arrived, he insisted that we owed him 60B for the three of us, instead of 30B, because it was after midnight. Tony said that he had sometimes been charged 15B per person after midnight, but never 20. In the end, I paid him his asking price because it was not worth further arguing over such a small amount. As I was walking up the stairs, I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 11:23. Great. I had been doubly ripped off. We stopped only briefly at the hotel, then were off for the disco. Unfortunately, we were informed that the nearby Hollywood Disco was closed, and the new hotspot was Manhattan Disco. That meant another tuk tuk ride and our second consecutive attempted rip-off. This time the driver insisted on 75B. It was still only 11:55 and I was in no mood for this. I finally threw 40B at him and we walked off. Time for rude surprise number three; Kiki was only 19, and could not get in. I stood there, looking inside at the many attractive ladies, and silently (more or less) cursed her lying soul. Kiki offered to wait outside, but as angry as I was, I was still not that rude. In disgust, I suggested we just go back to the hotel and I would wait for Bebe. Tony and I agreed that if she did not show up by 1:15, he would leave Kiki in the room and we would go back to the disco and see if I could hook up with someone before it closed at 2:00.

At 1:05, there was a knock on my door. Thank God, something was actually going right. I opened the door, and there was Bebe looking hot as hell. She had also brought along a friend hoping Tony would want her, but I told them he was already occupied and she left. Bebe seemed a little shy, so I put my arms around her and we started making out. Her body felt great, with excellent muscle tone and no boniness, even though she was very slender. S things started getting hot and heavy, she broke away and to take a shower. She was not gone long, but it was enough time for me to strip and get in bed. When she reemerged, I was very pleased with what I saw. There are very few girls who look even better naked than when wearing a sexy outfit, but she is one of them. As I had felt, she possesses a very tight body, with perky A cups that belie her age. She slid into bed and we resumed kissing and fondling each other. I realized that she was rather drunk, and suspect that she has not done this too many times before. She had not even brought condoms with her, and had I not had some of my own (of course), she would have had no problem with proceeding without one. The only negative of her performance was that she would not give head. I did not push the matter too much, as what she was willing to do felt really good. She had told me that she had no children, and I believe it based upon how tight she was. We went through several positions, finishing in missionary if I remember correctly. Surprisingly, she did not take a shower afterward as did most of the girls I was with in Asia. Instead, she fell quickly asleep.

When I came back from showering, she woke up, and seemed disoriented at first. She then sat up and said that she had to go home because she had school the next morning. I was completely dumbfounded, as I had been under the impression that she was going to spend the night, and I am reasonably certain that had been her original intention, as well. The school was just an excuse, I am pretty sure. I am not quite sure what was really going on, but her behavior just reinforced my opinion that she had not previously been with many men for money. As she was getting dressed, I was faced with a quandary. I knew that the going rate for short time was only 500B - 600B. The only bills I had on me were a 1000B note and two or three 100B notes. Exhaustion and sleepiness were taking there toll, as it was 2:30 AM and I had only had one good night's sleep in what felt like forever. I REALLY did not want to get dressed and go down to the lobby and get change. When I asked her how much she wanted, she was no help. She just said, "Whatever you want to pay. It is up to you." If she had said 500B, I would have asked her to go down and get me change, but did not feel comfortable doing it as it was. Finally, I broke down and just gave her the thousand, which made her happy. Before she left, I asked to take her picture. I had borrowed some batteries from Tony for just this reason. She was not real comfortable with the idea, but she agreed. I took the first photo, and went to show her what it looked like. As I did so, the batteries died AGAIN. I was unbelievably disgusted, and was beginning to realize that there was something wrong with my camera. To make matters worse, when I got new batteries the next day, I found that the Bebe's picture was corrupted.

Bebe
Looks: 9
Attitude: 7
Performance: 7.5 (would have been an 8.5 if BJ available)
Allowed photo
Would repeat, if I did not have to sit through the show first

The next day, I woke up too late for the breakfast buffet, so Tony and I went looking for breakfast. We first tried a little place on a street corner that reminded me of some of the dingier taco restaurants in Tijuana. The food looked good, but it was cold. We did not think it was wise to expose our western stomachs to pork that had been sitting out, so we went on. We finally settled on a very upscale restaurant that specialized in shark fin soup and other "delicacies". I had some fried rice that was pretty good, and some duck legs that cost 400B and were without a doubt the most disgusting thing I have attempted to eat in a long time. The car to take us to the airport arrived on time, and we departed. The Hat Yai airport was a surprise. It was the antithesis of the town itself; small, clean, and neat. There was a sign reserving a section of seating in the waiting area that I found amusing. It read "For Buddhist Monk and Novice Only." I was definitely not in Kansas.