John Galt Presents: The Tom Cruse Effect

Back in 1986, I lived in Orlando, Florida. I had just gone through a terrible financial upset. My personal life was a disaster. I was burned out from working long hours and having little social fun to show for it. I jumped ship on "the responsible life" concept and started parting. I was way behind the national average for getting laid and I had some serious life-adjustments to master before I could rectify that condition. It was a move towards balance for me. Granted, my fabulous job was gone. But, that was not foremost on my mind. I was unhappy and money doesn't mean very much when you're unhappy.

I quickly did a 180 degree turn around in my life became centered around night clubbing and parting. I joined a small but faithful circle of friends whose haunt was a hotel night club in Maitland plaza in the center of Orlando. (The club isn't there anymore but it was called Isaac's Lounge at the Sheraton Maitland Hotel)

As was our custom, we periodically hi-tailed it out to Daytona Beach. We made these party/beach-runs about once or twice a month. We would all jam into cars and pool our moneys for 1 or 2 cheap hotels rooms. We would party all night and then crash back at the hotel room in large groups. People would be everywhere -- on the floor, chairs, just everywhere, all sleeping (mostly drunk) in our clothes.

Here we are at Penrod's Palace on Daytona Beach. To my knowledge this is the last surviving picture of our wild days 20 years ago.

We all had just come through a Burger King for food and being the goofy bunch we were, we grabbed a bunch of BK hats on the way out the door.

The guy in the center is Mark Hild. Mark was our anchor man. Mark and I are still very close friends today. He was the DJ at Isaac's (now a millionaire in real state - who would have guessed?). Next to him is Cindy she was bar tender at Isaac's. Keith (lower guy in blue hat) was a bar back. Dave is also barely in there on the left. I have forgotten all the other names. (bottles of corona beer were very popular at the time)

And The Galt? Yes, I'm in the picture.

(I put this information in here so the search engines might pick it up and these old friends might find Mark and I)

Sometimes on the morning-after we would hit the beach. It just so happened on one fateful day, early afternoon, we saw one of our idols. We were almost stunned. Was it really him? Could it be? Yes, without a doubt, there he was, there was John Bon Jovi. He was standing in light surf in shorts and no top, just standing there looking back at the beach, hands in pockets with some of his entourage. It made sense, it was spring break and thousands of girls were in town. This was a big year for Bon Jovi. He had just previously released the "Slippery When Wet" album. He was a R&R God and we partied to his music nightly.

I didn't go up to him. I just didn't think that would be respectful. But, I stood there pondering the moment; the beach, the people, I didn't hear that din. I just saw Bon Jovi. What it must be like to be him. All the doors that opened for him. Everyone wanting to meet him. All the girls that probably made themselves available for his every desire. Being invited to parties, and events and drowning in attention everywhere you go. To me, this was an intoxicating offering. This was the stuff that dreams were made out of. Who wouldn't want to bathe in that kind of star power. It was a mystical concept.

I never forgot that day. He was the first real star that I ever saw in person. And he wasn't just a star - his music was a part of our lives. It was how we lived.

Well, those days have passed, but I never forgot them. I learned to dance. I learned what I didn't like about drugs. I did the alcohol thing, got laid, got laid, oh, yes lest I forget, I got laid. My life experience scale was defiantly on the plus side that year.

Fast forward 20 years. The party ran out, I went back to college, later started working "the grind"..... 10 years on the professional scene.

I spent my last 2 years in the US at San Diego California. Career wise I was successful. Personally, it seemed as through I was in a draught. Once again, I needed to balance the scales.

I don't listen to Bon Jovi regularly anymore and I'm not in that mindset. Today I relate more closely to Tom Cruise.

When I tell my friends back home about how the girls gravitate towards me or when I have shadow like "Pavarotti" experiences here in Thailand, I compare myself to Tom Cruise.

What Tom does in America, I can just about do here in Thailand. It's not exactly the same but it feels like the same to me. That is what's important. When I walk around here I feel some "star power", I call it the "Tom Cruise Effect".

If you move to Thailand and take up residency in an average town and mix and mingle with the people, you are going to feel like a minor celebrity.

They are going to always ask you, what's your name, where are you from. They want to know who you came with, what you are eating.... Do you have a lover? Because if you're not seeing someone, the Thais will certainly recommended to you someone they know.

You would not believe the number of times each week and every week I am asked the same things. I'm almost temped to write it down on a card and pull it out of my pocket and show them the answers just save my breath. You have to be patient during these moments. You have to remember the scope of the Thai people. To them, we live an exciting life. To them, we are all wealthy.

I have seen the space shuttle lift off from it's pad and burn skyward. I have swam in both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I've been to Disney World, Universal Studios, Epcot, etc. I've seen Las Vegas. I played in the snow. I attended one of the better private universities in the world. I've had the freedom to travel. I have lived in the land where much of history happens first. Others around the world hear it second hand.

To give you some perspective, when I was a boy, my mother and father hauled me out of bed and sat me down in front of a black and white TV to watch the first man walk on the moon. The Thais didn't see that in my area of the Thailand. You know how I know? They didn't have electricity at that time! No electricity = No TV.

The Thais look at us with interest and a yearning to know. They want to know about all things farang. And that compels them to engage us just as we would a celebrity back in our home country. I can't imagine it being that much different.

This is core reason why any decent looking white skinned male foreigner here will never go through a mid-life crises in Thailand. Any normal Joe from the west is served up with special treatment on a regular basis.

I personally feel like I operate similarly to my mid-twenties again, at least when it come to girls. Some of the ground rules are different but the net results are very much the same. I have female company almost anytime I really want it. I would have to say, it's almost better for me in this department than when I was really in my 20's because today I also have more financial power.

There are a few other farangs in town with me here. One is retired major from the air force. He is a gentlemen in the age range of 60. He speaks Thai fluently from his years of service inside Thailand. Every time I see him he says to me "<John>, it's another day in paradise". He has a half dozen or so ladies in the area that he "beds down" with on occasion. I think he actually has more going on than I do. That's star power. (well, there is a little money power in there too).

When I shop, people want to know what I purchased. When I walk through a market, I see whispering ahead of me and others who turn around to look. Little kids call out to me, "Hello" or they tug on their mother dress, hide behind her and say "farang farang".

I get invited into impromptu parties. I'm out jogging and I'm covered head to toe in sweat and I pass small gathering in public resting area sitting on the ground, they raise up a class for me and make the offer to join them.

I can walk through the Disco on a weekend night and again, I'm invited to tables. However, let me also point out this is a very common part of the culture. When someone is seen alone, typically groups will invite that sole person to join in.

I sometimes receive special "ahead of the line" treatment at the bank or the post office, but I feel unconformable about taking it. I tend to discourage it.

The local governor of this province will even squeeze me into his schedule and see me without an appointment!

Thais tend to think of things in terms of being deposable. I should probably write a entire piece on this. Let me give you one quick example.

They tend to judge everything in terms of upfront cost. It's rare that they calculate the full life time value of an investment. They tend to be very short sighted. I believe much of this is based on the idea that quality is not readily available OR truth in quality can not be easily found. Just think about it. If you could not judge the true quality of an item, would you buy it? How much would you pay? Would you only pay the most extreme minimum for it? Would you

take care of the item you purchased? Must of what is purchased here is not taken care of very well. I think most items are looked at as disposable.

Take a look at this umbrella. During the rainy season you definitely need a good umbrella. I paid 160 baht for this item. That is about $4.25 USD. Others (Thai) laughed at me because I paid too much!

As for myself, I don't really know if I paid too much. My focus was to buy the biggest umbrella I could find at the time and this one just happens to have a nice reflective silver coating on it. From a basic functional perspective, it was the only one I could find that did the work that I required of it.

I've taken care of this one and its going on a 4th year of service. 160 bath over 4 years seems pretty cheap to me. ($1 dollar a year)

Thais don't think about toilet paper in the same way that we do. Toilet paper is expensive in this country. I don't believe Thailand has a very good source of fast growing soft wooded trees. They have excellent hardw

ood trees in abundance. But, I don't believe basic renewable paper is on their list of top domestic products.

They do like to use toilet paper but I believe you find in most typical areas of the country they will use toilet paper on their face more than on the opposite end.

It's true. They even produce specialty holders for toilet paper. Here is one made out of simple plastic. You may also see these woven out of bamboo.

Your first push out the center cardboard tube of the toilet paper roll, and then grab the inner end and feed it out the top. And there you go, Kleenex on a roll.

Some of the mom and pop style restaurants will use this method to offer you something to wipe your hands with. Most of the newer more modern restaurants will use very small flat napkins that are pulled out of a square dispenser.

The article a wrote a few weeks ago, talked about how girls are always scheming on their man. A reader shared his story with us.

Galt,

Enjoyed your "That Damn Farang" column this week, and your comment about Thai women always being on the lookout for options elicited a good chuckle from me. But you're absolutely right about this -- I was chatting with my Thai g/f, whom I've been with for 5 years (we share an apartment in BKK), I forget the exact topic of the conversation. But I was teasing her about something we'd talked about the previous day, then she brought up some details about it I didn't know, and said to me, proudly and with total confidence, "You see? I win again!"

I was stunned to hear this, as I had never heard her say this in 5 years, and was so taken off guard by what she said and the way she said it, that I started laughing and couldn't stop. She was wondering what was so funny, and I thought, there's no way I can explain it to her. Here's a lady that's been by my side for years, sweet as the day is long, but the wheels in her pretty head are always, always turning. And she naturally assumes she always has the upper hand. Especially on her home turf. And most especially about matters of hearth and home, which she assumes is her rightful domain.

This brought to mind another experience I had with a Thai lady (gik) whom I still see occasionally. We were laying in bed, having just enjoyed a little tryst, when she told me the story of a Swedish gentleman she was in love with and in the process of trying to part from his wife (who is from Singapore). I followed this tale for several months, getting an update everytime we met for a little R and R. Finally, it appeared that the wife was going to get the upper hand, she was, after all, born and raised in Singapore, knew the ways of Asian women, and was damned if she was going to let a little hussy from BKK steal her husband of many years (compare that to a Western woman who would have divorced him instantly). In the end, the wife prevailed, and my friend/gik admitted defeat to me one night. She lay there, buck-naked and beautiful, eyes staring off into the night, telling how she was heart broken her plan had failed, the love of her life (or at least the love of her life this year) had slipped through her fingers Then, in defiance, raised her little fist into the air, and said about her competition, "She want to win, she want to win!" And indeed, the wife had won in this battle of wits, looks, and intrigue.

But getting back to my own Thai gf's comment: She did get the last laugh, and it reminded me once again to take nothing for granted in Thailand, because when you least expect it, and when you've let your guard down, you'll lose. And you'll hear those fateful words ringing in your head, "You see? I win again!"

I really enjoy your website, its spot on.

- Lost and Found in Thailand

Ok, I know you don't give a rat's ass about what happened to me 20 years ago. I presented that information to give you my perspective. I wanted you as a reader to know that I've been on both sides of the fence when it comes to the ladies. I've been full circle almost twice from "homely sheltered kid", to "take me home, I'm cute", to "OMG no one wants me in California", and finally back to "I'm in Thailand living a pseudo rock-star life".

And my point is, if you have never experienced the feeling of being a "babe magnet", you do have an opportunity to experience the shadow of that feeling here in Thailand. It doesn't take much.

You may not feel the full scope of this in the predominately tourist areas, but you would most certainly get a good taste of it in smaller communities away from tourist destinations. You can even go to areas of Bangkok near universities where farangs don't normally go and you'll begin to sense it..

BUT -- don't believe me just because I say its true. There is nothing better in the world than proving to yourself.