Pattaya for a Month--Part 3

On this trip I decided to make a conscous choice to try to meet some Thai men in Thailand. On both my previous trips I met innumerable ladies, but did not know a single man. First of all, the men, in general, do not speak as good English. When I attempt to talk with them in my bad Thai, they seem far more wary of me than the ladies do. The moto taxi drivers all hang out at certain spots in the city. They take you where it is you want to go and then come back to the same spot. Thus, there are good spots and bad spots if you drive a moto taxi. Over time I got to know a few of them that hang at a spot near my hotel. I bought 'em some Cokes on a particularly hot day. Then I busted out some cigars for them to smoke. (You ought to see these guys prance around like gangsters when they smoke cigars! Too funny!) And a few times, I've bought a few extra pieces of fruit and shared it with them. Nothing too expensive, So although I wouldn't call them friends, they are some pretty cool dudes who eke out a living while shuttling us falang around town.

If you've been here any length of time, you will hear from a bar or gogo girl that "Thai man no good. No want Thai man. Want falang." There are a million stories, stories that are for the most part true, about the girl who fell in love with a Thai man who got her pregnant and then split. He gambled too much, he drank too much, he hit. "Him not take care me." I've always wanted to know if that was true or not, from a Thai man's perspective.

Skin color plays a role, too. Very beautiful, even incredibly gorgeous Thai women who happen to have dark skin, have said to me hundreds of times "Thai man no want black skin. I no beautiful." You will also see Thai ladies go to extreme lengths to avoid exposing their skin to the sun, and hence stay a lighter shade. Do Thai men really think that? So when I have hung out with whatever Thai man I could get to talk to me, I tried to find these things out. Pretty much I spoke to just the taxi drivers, two restaurant owners, a gogo bar manager, and an internet shop owner. In each case, the burning of a cigar helped loosen the tongue. And a bottle of SamSong (rotgut booze) really warmed things up quite a bit.

As we talked, we watched the women who walked by and commented on them. And 100% thought the hottest women were the white chicks. White chicks I wouldn't give two cents for had enormous sex appeal for these guys. Many of them did indeed have a variety of Thai women, and they spoke of knowing a number of houses of ill repute, right here in Pattaya where they could go and get themselves serviced by "beautiful white Thai girls" for not too much money. But they said "No, you cannot go." One of them had a cousin who was a police officer who did the money collecting for the cops at massage parlors. Once a month he got to go around collecting and getting the fishbowl girls for free. I checked with my friend who works in a massage parlor and she said that that was true. The cops can come in once a month and get freebies. She said sometimes so many cops come at once there are not many girls left for the customers. And all the fishbowl girls hate doing the cops. No tips, and they get treated like shit.

I also asked if they had children they took care of. All of them had a woman they stayed with now, and said they took care of those children. They said it's really hard on 6k baht a month, but they did take care of their kids. I kept pressing, though, about other children that they DID NOT take care of. Only one would admit having two children from two different wives and that he had never seen his children. And when he was alone with me, he said all the other guys had children they did not want to talk to me about.

So my point is, the stories the girls tell appear to be very true. Poor, husband left, large family to support, children and old folks, came here to Pattaya to do it. They hate this life, but it does bring in more money than they could otherwise. And almost 100% of the ladies I've met say they want to find a falang to take care of them.

And incidentally, those taxi drivers have become very valuable to me. They know lots of things nobody else seems to know. For sure, they know the sex industry, but they also know where to buy odd little items, like a cigar cutter I wanted, and big expensive fuzzy slippers I wanted to buy as a gift for a girl. They've given me sevearal motorcycle rides for nothing, And they've shared lots and lots of food with me.

I am no expert on this subject for sure. But it has been pretty cool getting to know some dudes just a little. I am just a tourist, and all these guys are working class, and that certainly limits me who I meet, but the same applies to women. In Pattaya, I am generally meeting the bottom of the social ladder.

And I'm loving it here.

Stump, thanks for a very interesting perspective. When I travel I have always gotten a kick out of hanging with the locals, although I've not made an effort in Pattaya just yet. I've only made two trips thus far, but will be making my third soon. Thanks.

thanks for the insight. i do try to talk to the guys who work the hotels. you know after a late night of drinking or after your ST leaves i chill on the steps and talk to the door guys and guards but my Thai sucks! made friends with a band that plays on Walking Street and they let me up to sing once. that was cool. but to dig deep. never did that. interesting perspectives. there are dozens of books out there to read about these real experiences. ran across a couple in the book stores in BKK but never picked them up. have you read any?

Yes, in the entire Asia for the last 500 years. light skin with no blemishes is the preferred.
Even Latin America, dark skinned your considered an indian. As for Asia, your a farmer.

Well she has a point...I avoid dark skinned girls in Asia at all costs. (and Latin America)

CN