In Memorial to Bernie We just My home town friend Bernie passed away while I was down in Pattaya about a week ago.  He was having some chest pain the week prior to his passing.  The before, he told his wife that he wanted to buy a ticket back to the UK, which is where he was from.  So, he knew something was not right and perhaps saw the end coming and in his heart was reaching out for home.  Bernie died in his sleep. Bernie was an cantankerous old buzzard with quite an attitude.   He had the loudest booming voice in the whole town and I would frequently try to calm him down a bit so as not to scare the locals.   He was very proud of his age of 75.  He claimed he was feeling good as recently as a few weeks ago when I saw him last.  But, Bernie indulged heavily in beer daily.  He only ate one meal a day and I quietly assumed he was an alcoholic.   In recent months he was very happy because he had finally satisfied all requirements for every member of his family and was free of further obligations to them.   He set up his wife's kids up in business, bought a couple of homes and doled out portions of moneys to relations as was deemed appropriate.   He was living good on his retirement of about 70,000 baht a month.   He had nothing but freedom to enjoy.  We was very able bodied and always walking from place to place.  He seemed very fit for his age. Bernie was a defender for me.  You couldn't talk bad about me in front of him because he would run you down in a heartbeat.   I was his one of his favorite local x-pats.  I believe we both admired each other's no-bullshit straight up "this is who I am" way of talking.    Bernie was quite a patriot of England.  He used to brag about the power of the Pound Sterling.  Many times I heard him recount his earlier days during WWII and how much he admired Winston Churchill.  Sadly, those firsthand moments from someone who was there and living in that era are gone. Bernie could be seen daily in his trademark shorts and tank top shirt and you could hear him speak from 100 meters away. He and his Thai wife of 25 some odd years retired here about 7 to 10 years ago. I'm going to miss Bernie.
		One of Bernie's favorite sayings was (and you have to imagine this being said like the roar of a lion - loudly and boisterously), "If you want to be happy in a marriage with a Thai woman -- keep your wallet open and your mouth shut!".....

Is The Rick Acceptable?

I'm going to write about a subject that is going to raise some eyebrows and encourage scorn from some of my fellow x-pats....    You'll either feel that I was ball-zy to take an honest stab at this topic or think that I'm a complete fool for doing so.   I pondered it for several days trying to come up with a clearly superior position on writing about this topic that felt really justifiable.    To no avail, I'm not completely convinced that one way or the other I'm doing the right thing.

I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't.   Ok, maybe not damned if I don't -- perhaps a wimp if I don't.  I have my own opinions.  This is a topic that doesn't get much attention - much honest attention.   If this site was full of ads from local businesses I would not be allowed to express my opinion on this topic.   So, I'm going to jump into the fire on this one and I'm going to write about condom usage at it pertains to sex in Thailand and bar girl sex trade.

I'm going to tell you what I see.  I'm going to write a little about what I have heard.   I'm going to detail some of my own experiences. 

You are free to glean bits and pieces from this article and ponder them.   I'm not going to be preaching to you about condom usage.   I'm also not here to mount any specific arguments about not using them.

Today I'm just going to lay some items on the table for your inspection and tell you what I think is true.

I was in Pattaya starting about 20 day ago.  I had planned a visit for work and pleasure that was going to last about 10 days.

On day one I was visiting with one of my guy friends there and we were talking about risky sex versus condom usage.   He had his thoughts on the issue and I had mine and he proceeded to tell me about a guy who he knows in Pattaya who declares that he never uses a condom with any girl in Pattaya.   I was told this guy was never refused sex when it came right down to the point where he was going to ask the girl to leave if she was not going to go along with his request.   I was quite skeptical that all girls would go along with this.  I would have to imagine that some girls would never consider sex without a condom.   Of course, there may be other factors weighing on for him.   He may be on the younger more attractive side - or he may be laying out some serious cash, or he may just be lying about his experiences.

So, I was inquisitive about the idea that this one man in Pattaya was able to have his way in having sex with the girls in Pattaya never using a condom at all.   Was this possible?  Was it an acceptable risk to both him and the girls?

So, I decided that I would take up with some girls during my stay in Pattaya and test the theory on just how many that I invited would actually sleep with me without being on the "safer side".

First, let me say up front that I have had sex without a condoms before with working girls.   In times past, this would typically happen after I had an encounter or two with the girls with condoms first.    I never really pushed the issue before.   But, clearly I have to say that once the girl and I were past the anxiety of STD transfer, then dropping the latex became an option.    And if I revisited that girl in the future, typically she didn't expect me to "suit up" again.   So, I did have some first hand knowledge on the subject prior to my most recent investigation.

On this trip though -- I would be pushing the limits just a little bit in a way that I had not really pushed them before.

My plan was to pick out girls who I liked and ask them back at the room if it was ok to skip the condom.  That was my plan.

Girl # 1 - Dolly

As fate would have it, I bumped into a girl who I had written about a number of weeks back.    I met Dolly as she was just coming back to work 3 months ago.   Turns out, she was just finishing out her month at Club Boesche and ending her work again at the end of July.   I enjoyed my time with her before and I feel that we are friends, so I bar fined her again on my second night in Pattaya.    Previously we had only sex with a condom.    So, the question would be, would she allow it without?

As I have written before, Dolly is a top earner.    In the month of July she had about 20 bar fines for the entire month.   She has a fantastic body.   I have never seen a more flat stomach and a more nicely shaped bust (by the way its a C-70mm).   Contrary to the average Thai girl, she has a nice curve behind her as well.   Her figure is outstanding and she loves to dance.   Her face is nice but with make up removed she has a fairly average look with a slight pimple completion problem.    Overall, she is a bright girl and she likes her sex.     She never uses any type of man made lubricants.  They irritate her skin she says.   With her, sex is possible only if she is up for enough to be self lubricating (hey, I'm just telling you what she tells me).   After a 2 or 3 month stint, she tires of sex, it burns her out and she takes a break for a month or two.

This night we enjoy a Sushi dinner (1,000 baht).   We went to Big C and purchased tickets to see the Harry Potter movie (360 baht) and during our wait -- we did a little shopping.   She buys herself a bra and panties on my dime (1,400 baht).    I even got to enter the changing room with her to watch her try them on for size prior to the purchase.   (seems like a lot of girls like to hit the lingerie stores)

Later we are back at my room and we're fooling around.   Dolly will allow me to go down on her.  She has allowed this before when I first met her.   She has also is willing reciprocate in this without any reservations.   However, when it comes to the main course, she does not allow sex without a condom.    We played around a little bit and I ask to move forward but she was firm in her position and I didn't press the issue.  I acknowledged to her that it was a fair decision on her part.    Dolly is funny sometimes.   She can be be quite course in her language and she said to me in a playful Thai accent, "Why you not want to fuck me?"   When she says the "F" word and squint my eyes and wipe my hands down over my face and mildly chastise her for talking dirty like that.   She is a very beautiful girl and so it doesn't look right coming out of her mouth.   She also says a few times, "I'm hony".    So, I take care of Dolly by adequately providing oral services.   (after all, I am an American trained partner and let's face it -- the girls in the US whip us guys into shape when it comes to eating at the "Y").   Again, Dolly asks again, "Why you not want to fuck me?".   And I laugh and shrug it off and I just let it go.   She slept next to me and went home the next day.

I think Dolly was getting a little sweet on me, as she called the next evening and I turned down meeting with her again.   That upset her a little bit.  She was off work and had a free schedule and I think she expected that I would take up with her, but I had some other plans.  (when the candy store is wide open, you never just gorge on just one item).   And the other thing is that I don't particularly care for a girl who calls on me to "fuck them".  I don't care for the harsh language and it's kind of a turn off for me.

In short, Dolly was not open dropping the condom even through I think she is very comfortable around me.   Part of this may stem from the fact she is never short on cash and is never short on customers.  Oh, by the way, during our bed time activities -- Dolly told me straight out that, "No man like condom".   That is what she said, so we can only guess about the kinds of things she has dealt with from her customers.

Girl # 2 - ?

I went back to another girl who I had seen previously a few months back.  She works at a beer bar.   She had changed the color and length of her hair.  She changed her make up.   She was sporting some new clothes and looking pretty damn good.     I was kind of surprised to see all these changes.   I looked with some surprise at her.   She was happy to see me.   I have posted some items about this girl before, so I will not name her.    I think she likes me in general.   She doesn't have any issues being seen with me, and she was willing to let it slide in the bedroom.   She allowed me to sleep with her without a condom.   I spent only one night with her.

This picture is an inferred photo and was taking in total darkness with the special feature in my camera.    She looked a couple of these photos and said she looked at these pictures and said she looked like a vampire.

Girl # 3 - Ray

Ray is a gogo girl from a club right on Walking Street.   She is about 25.   She had a nice curving figure and pleasant face.   Small bust but firm (has to be firm for my liking).   When I came into her club, she picked me from a distance and approached.   She is a cute girl.   When she moved in front of men I could detect very faint stretch marks on her tummy but we never discussed it.   So, I assume she has a child back home with her family.  Clearly, she is looking for a way out of the dancing business and was kind of speaking with me in those terms.   I hear this quite a bit.    I hear these girls say they want to find a nice guy and leave the business and go make a home for themselves.

Ray was very excited to go with me.   She was not overly excited about my request to drop the condom.  One of the phases that you will hear them say and this is common, "Condom is good for me and good for you".    I said "yes I know".  I agreed with her, but I told her that it doesn't feel very good.   With a some light discussion, she agreed to go forward without it.  

Ray is not a top earner.   She is a slightly above average girl but and does not make top dollars like Dolly (above) would.    My guess is that Ray is struggling a little bit financially and would be very happy to get out of the business and restart her life.

Girl # 4 - Ah

Ah is service girl at a well known gogo right on Walking Street.   I walked to this club.  And as I normally do, I strolled around looking at bodies and faces of the dancers seeing if there is anyone there that grabs my attention long enough to stick around for a drink.  And I was walking around the dance stage and looking right and then left back and forth at the girls when I nearly plowed right into this service worker.   And "bam" my eyes opened up and she had my attention.   I immediately had this "I want to bar fine you feeling".   She was all smiles.  I could not get a very good look at her body as the skirts and button down shirts tend to conceal much of their native features (I think this is one of the intents of the service worker's garb as some of those girls are not fit for the stage.  However, some are "sleepers" and have dynamite little figures and are just too shy to take off their clothes).    We talked a bit but not very long and I was handing over 600 baht for the bar fine to take her away for the evening.    When I bar fine, I normally don't lounge around and spend money on drinks.  I consider drinks a waste of good money (the bar owners are going to hate me for saying this). 

When she came out in her street clothes, I knew right away that I had made a very good choice.   She looked great.  I think she was quite tickled to leave with me.

I had to stop by my room first for a few minutes.  I took her with me.   I stayed at the Grand Hotel which is just off Walking Street.   A funny thing happened on the way out.   Ah and I come out of the hotel walked down a short soi to reach Walking Street turned right and we nearly run directly into another couple - believe it or not -- Girl # 2 was right in front of us with another guy.   I smiled and looked away, and so did Girl # 2.     Here we were faced up and each couple forced to step aside to avoid the collision.   Of course Ah and # 2's man did not notice a thing.   I even went back to see Girl # 2 at her beer bar a few days later to joke around with her about seeing her with another guy.   I was lucky, some girls don't like to see "their men" with other girls.   # 2 handled it correctly.   (and I do the same when approaching a bar.  If I see one of my regular girls with another guy I don't approach and say nothing of it).

Ok, after that collision,  Ah and I continued on in our quest for a little light entertainment and ended up at a small club called Climax.   This is a small club with a 5 or 6 piece band and they were playing older R&R and contemporary top 40 tunes.   This club is right on Walking Street just a few door East of the "Euro-trash" girl dancer in the window on the same side of the street.   It's set back off the main drag about 100 feet behind an open air restaurant.

We had a good time there.   I showed Ah a little Cha Cha and East Coast Swing.  She did fairly well considering she has never seen the steps before.   We spent about 90 minutes there.   At places like this, I'll buy drinks.   If my lady de'noir are in a grove and having fun, I'll buy a few rounds and go with the flow.   Afterwards, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and I checked my email and then it was back to the room.

Ah and I talked quite a bit about where she was from and how long she had been in Pattaya and a bit about what she wanted to do in the future.   At some point she said her plan was to be out of there and married and have children.

Ah was not shy around me and showering with her was a treat.   I very much like the "lets soap each other down" experience.   Its a nice prelude to being under the sheets.

Ah was a bit concerned about unprotected sex mostly because she didn't want to get pregnant.  She told me very clearly that it was important for her to have a good relationship with her boyfriend/husband before getting pregnant as she didn't want to have and raise a child alone.   She didn't talk about it in terms of money - it's seemed that she was talking about it in terms of the relationship aspects.  So, sex without a condom for her was more of a matter of controlling pregnancy.    I explain to her that I am cut and that I will be having children unless I go back to a doctor and have myself surgically corrected.   She didn't take that news very well.   Seems that a number of girls don't like to hear that you have had a vasectomy.   Insidentally, I have even had girls sour on me because of it.

So, we are under the covers and twisting and turning and really getting into it.   Ah has clearly been in the sack before enough to know the ropes which of course makes it a little nicer for me.   We are at the main course, and feel something unusual down below inside her during sex and I stop and ask her what is down there.   I try to ask the best way I know how, "Do you have a conceptive sponge inside?".   And she says no, and she takes a quick break and steppes into the bathroom for a couple of minutes.   My thoughts also jump to perhaps that was a condom inside her that was lost from sex some days earlier?   (I have an inquisitive mind and anomalies like this nag me until I understand what's going on).   Well, she steps back into the room and climbs back into bed we resume and that feeling inside has changed and she feels fine now.   So, I dismiss it as something she was unwilling to discuss -- which is quite the norm.

Ah was really quite excellent and enjoyed sex.   I really had no complaints.  She was completely accommodating.  This is a little surprising for a gogo service girl.

She went home the next morning.   I gave her 2k.

Ah gave me that girlfriend experience.... Oh yes she did.   I was starting to get that "loving feeling" but the next day I felt back to normal again.    Of course, I know that normally happens.   I seem to get over that euphoric feeling but in due time I manage an emotional "reset" and I'm back at the candy shop for another fresh experience.

Girl # 5 - 

I noticed a bouncy girl over an a nearby beer bar.   I swung by a few times to get chummy with her and on the next night I decided to bar fine her.    We talked up front about long/short time.  I normally like to take a girl long time and but she was more interested in short and I didn't have a problem with it on this occasion.   I was not overly interested in her and so I treated this girl a little more like an itch scratching session.   She had a healthy bust and I wanted to get acquainted with it for my personal gratification.   It was just about as simple as that.   Sometimes simple is best.

So, paid her bar fine of 300 baht and escorted her back to the room and again, she was agreeable to going without a condom.   Again, a minor expression of protest and she expressed some caution.   But, the bottom line is that without undo pressure on my part, negotiating my way around safe sex was easily done.   And she was fun.    It was short and sweet and several hours later I bumped into her on walking street waiting for her friends to show up outside of Lucifer's Disco.    She was in the mode to party and this was probably part of her reason for wanting short time only.  

That night I slept alone.   In fact I slept alone about 4 or 5 night out of a total of 10 in Pattaya.

Back to Girl # 4 - Ah...

The next night - that was night number 8, I decided to go back and see Ah again.  I was missing her just a bit and I thought it might be fun to take her again before I was schedule to return home.   To me Ah was a known quantity and she had a lot nice traits.

I went by her place of work and she was there.   She was excited to go off with me one more time.   I actually took her to see the new Harry Potter movie (for the second time this week) and this time I watched it in Thai.  

After that it was back to the room for more fun and frolicking.   Ah was very comfortable around me.   She is no stranger to the bedroom as some service girls can be.   She told me that she had been working in Pattaya about 3 months.

So, we are back to a natural birthday suit state.  Activities are ramping up and I decide to go down her.   This is a semi-favorite farang offering and being from the west most of us pride ourselves in having perfected the art of cunnilingus.   Right guys?   I mean... we have all had demanding western girlfriends who expected us to handle ourselves with some measure of accomplishment in area.     So, Ah is reaping some of the benefits of my "strict upbringing" and we are grooving right along.    A few minutes into it, I follow up with a finger and begin to work the g-spot -- this is part and parcel of the routine.     And that begins to go well and I'm pleased that she is having a good time of it and of course I'm contemplating my turn of sorts a few minutes down the line.   Everything up to this point is going as expected and uneventful......  and then I feel something strange inside her vaginal cavity. 

I am distracted a bit and my inquisitive mind start to probe this discovery.  I feel something not exactly normal on both the right and left side of her cavity outside the cervical area.   I don't touch it too hard.   I'm feeling it for surface qualities.   I tell her that I notice something strange and we kind of break out of our sex mode.

I put one of my fingers squarely on one of the areas and hold it there for a few seconds and then pull it out and smell it.   I know from other situations that problems can be detected by odor.   Well, my finger had an odor on it that I would describe as a foul rotten flesh smell.  I have never experienced an odor quite like this one before.  And I can you for sure that I have had my nose into many places over the years.   This was a new experience for me and immediately of course I know that there is trouble there.   I tried to explain this to her in reasonable terms.  I don't want her to panic but I also feel this is something that should be taken seriously.

We move to the bathroom and I try getting a look up in there but I can't see anything because the questionable tissue is too deep.  I had to be 4 or 5 inches inside and I didn't have any easy way to get a view of that.

She admits to me that she has been just starting to have pain during sex.   Hum.....   I tell her we should get her looked at.

So, it's about 1 am at this point.   We take a baht bus down to the local hospital.  We know at this point she can not be examined but we need some advise on who to take this to and where to go.   The smaller hospital nearby recommends we go the larger new BangkokPattaya hotel a few miles away.    It's Thursday night and they would be open the following Friday morning.  So, we go back to the hotel and turn in and make get ready for an early day of it.

At the Doctors Office:

We arrive early the front of BangkokPattaya hospital.   We step into the main lobby and by god the place looks like a 5 star hotel.   Gees, what are selling here?   Man, this is quite a different look than what I expected.   There are receptionists in the main entry that quickly plugged her name into a computer screen and from there we were escorted to the OGBYN offices.   We were in that waiting area before 8am.    She filled out basic paperwork and they took her blood pressure and weight.    About 8:15 I noticed what looked like an older more senior woman approximately age 45 to 50 come walking by and down the carpeted hallways.  She seemed to be in good sprits and bouncing in.  She was plain clothed.   I suspected she might be the doctor. 

A few minutes later a nurse came and ushered us down that same hallway to an office on the left and sure enough, we were escorted to 2 seats in front of this doctor.

The doctor was Thai but she also spoke perfect English.   We presented the basics of our concerns for Ah and in a few minutes time, the doctor and a nurse took Ah behind a curtain a few feet from me and they did a quick pelvic exam.   It didn't last very long.  I hear a little mumbling behind the curtain.  The doctor come out and sat down, shortly after Ah followed.  The doctor had a few words for her in Thai, then look over at me and told me that Ah had very significant genital warts inside her vaginal cavity.   On the right was one vary large one that would require cutting for removal and on the right small ones that could be easily burned away.    This didn't surprise me.

The doctor resumed some discussion in Thai with Ah.  I only caught bits and pieces of it.   And then in a fairly dramatic way, the doctor closed her eyes and swung her head around to me and then opened them up gain, and drilled me "Do you have any burning sensation?".  I told her "no".  Then she swung her head back again and continued on with Ah.   I assume that put me in the clear or at least reduced the chances that I would have been infected by my risky contact with Ah. 

Our conversations continued and the doctor came back to me and said that she really didn't want to do this procedure.  She said, "It's not that we can't do it.   We can do it, we are not afraid of it, and if you ask me to do it, I will but I'd rather not have this job because when its all over Ah is not going to be same inside."

She quoted the work at 40 to 50 thousand baht.   I was told normally girls can go directly home the same day and don't need to stay in the hospital over-night, but it was possible that if a procedure became tricky or had complications of some sort that a stay at the hospital might be required.

Well, this was not the best news.   Ah was just miserable.   She was frightened.   It was very unhappy news.

Me, I had decision to make.   What was I going to do?    Would I even think about taking Ah to a public hospital where she could get this procedure done for free?   Or do I go ahead and keep her at BangkokPattaya hospital?

The doctor was clearly American trained.  Not only did she speak in perfect commanding English - but her mannerisms like eye blinking and hand gesturing reminded me of American doctors.    There is no doubt in my mind, she either watched all the episodes of ER to learn those gestures or she went through medical school and residency in the US. 

This doctor looked like a feminist.   If she were gay (and I don't know that she was) but if she were, she would have been the "butchy" partner with short hair and slightly masculine qualities.   She was confident, sharp, and highly directive of the conversation, but still very professional.   She handled our meeting like a commanding office in a conference with troops; exuding supreme confidence and possessing superior authority.   Which of course made the meeting seem so odd because we were being given the choice.   The doctor had made up her mind - she didn't want to really take this case on, but we were being given the choice to over-ride her preference.

I gathered from her comments about not wanting to do this procedure that she was a perfectionist and didn't care to take on job that she suspected would end up less than perfect.    She was very likely a very good choice for a tough job and I didn't doubt that if anyone could handle it -- she could.  I never doubted it for a moment.

I also assumed that BangkokPattaya would not be placing a light-weight doctor of low experience in her position.   This hospital is a "for profit" enterprise and they would not be scrimping money on quality staff (but to be fair about it, many of these doctors do work at several hospital and rotate between them so if you have time to shop a procedure around, then you can save money at other hospitals which naturally do charge less).

We did not have a lot of time.   I did not feel very good about Ah being at risk.   I didn't feel going to public hospital would have been a good choice.  I wanted a successful result.   I felt like crying for this girl.   If this didn't come out in a reasonable way, Ah might not end up with a partner and marry and have the happy life that she wanted.    Certainly, she would have had a life, but I really didn't want anything tragic to happen to her.   (there is way too much tragedy here in Thailand).   So, not helping her was never an option for me.    Ah needed the help, I told her that I would take care of it.  

The nursing staff escorted me down the payment counter and I made arrangements to pay the office visit and put 50,000 baht on account for this procedure.  I was told that if the moneys turned out to be less that they would refund the difference back to me.   Somehow I wasn't very optimistic about seeing any money come back.  I also signed a document that would allow them to charge me for a hospital stay if Ah required it and they assured me that they would call before they billing my credit card if a stay was required.

So the procedure was scheduled 5 days in advance.  This time was required to get Ah onto a regiment of antibiotics.   Everything was arranged and there was nothing further to do about it but for Ah to take the antibiotics and count down the days and show up for the procedure. 

Ah was very very grateful and she thanked me many times over.  

After this appointment was over, Ah traveled back with me to the hotel room and I had to go back to work and I agreed to meet with her later that night.

That Evening:

I met up with Ah again that night.   She informed me that she quit work.  We talked quite a bit about what she wanted to do and how she was going to work again.   At that time she was thinking about either going home or getting a normal day job when this medical issue was fully resolved.

This was my last night in town.  We had sex again that night but it was a very safe version of it.  

I could tell that she felt the weight of a debt to me although I tried distract her from that. 

The Day of Surgery:

This just occurred within the past couple of days...

I received a call from the hospital.   It was the accounting office where I authorized my credit card payments.   I'm expected to hear bad news.   They get on the phone with me and inform me that I have a refund coming.   They are giving me back a figure over just 15,000 baht.   Wow, I thought.  This is excellent news.  The procedure must have gone much better than expected.   I made some arrangements with them to return the money and then they asked me if I wanted to talk with Ah.  She was right there at the counter.  I spoke with her briefly.   She was still drugged up and probably on pain killers from the minor surgery.    She seemed to be in good spirits though and relieved that the hardest part of her ordeal was behind her.

I may see her again.   I'm not sure at this point.   I think if Ah had her way she would come up here and take care of me for a year.   Yikes! ... (head scratch).

Proof is in the Pudding:

How many of you guys think that this story is total buffalo shit?    If I were you, I think I would tend to doubt it myself.   Here I am, working on writing a small commentary about risky sex and I run head on into the worse case of sexually transmitted disease that I personally have ever personally seen.  How uncanny is that?

All things being equal I would have rather not experienced coming into contact with this.  But, I also felt very good about being able to do something to help Ah resolve it.    This is what money is for.   Ah is a beautiful girl and she seems like a really nice person and it would have saddened me to think that if untreated this condition could jeopardize her having the life she wants in the future.

Anyhow, here is the proof.   Click on this image to see the receipts.   I burred out the personal information.  The receipt on the left are the fees for the office visit.  That was about 5,000 baht.   The one on the right was a deposit to cover the minor surgery.

Also, they took blood work from her to check for HIV another potential problems - and she tested ok.  If you click on her picture above you'll easily see the bandage on her arm where they drew the blood.   I just happened to take this picture on the day of the hospital visit.

I can assure you that this account is true although I'm sure I have missed recounting some of the smaller details.

Buy the way - Ah did not breath a word of any of this to her former co-workers.  Not one word.  And she told me clearly that she didn't want them or her boss at the gogo to know.   I don't see what the problem is in giving out general information that might be helpful to friends but Thais don't work like this.   They just don't tend to give up information about personal problems.

On more thing....   Bangkok Pattaya hospital was probably the most expensive choice that I could make for health care in Pattaya.  Had I more time, I would have done a little more research before making my selection.  And had I not been in front of a quality doctor I would have not accepted the health care there.    The extra costs in time will not be so important as having received the right health care in a timely manor.

Where Have I Been?

Prior to my trip to Pattaya I was preparing my first full scale commercial LED lighting system.  I just couldn't tear away to write an article during that time.   This was big sale and it required by full attention.   And of course about 20 days ago, I took this system down my customer for installation at Tony's Disco in Pattaya.

Tony's was a great choice for a first customer as a disco is completely dark inside and color lighting is very important for ambiance.   Tony had a very specific goal.   He wanted to flood the room with controlled color so that guys and gals could see each other in a very pleasing way.   Tony's a smart cookie.   He knows that he is doing.   I think he has been very successful with his clubs in Pattaya.

This current LED technology is certainly bright enough to totally illuminate a dark room.   And the pure and consistent colors are second to no other system.    Additionally, Tony has also been trying to reduce his power consumption and LEDs would not only cut down on lighting energy but it would produce less heat which in turn reduces his power consumption in air conditioning costs as well.

About 4 months back, I showed him a sample of a new LED array and he was sufficiently impressed with it that he agreed to purchase a 20 light fixture lighting system using that product.

So, in recent weeks I have been working very had to pull all the pieces together and take it down to Tony's and install it.   I was in Pattaya about 10 days working around the schedules of his guys and making sure all the pieces were connected properly and worked as expected.

To the right is a picture of what is considered the controller and driver engine.   This would be considered a "clustered" LED power unit.   All the power and control for all the light fixtures is in one place.  This unit receives raw 12 volt power and control signals from a DJ lighting console.   It outputs pulses of current to the LED light fixtures.   This is the first time that I'm aware of that anyone has unitized so many channels of power in one unit.   This unit is also unique in that it is compatible with ordinary PC power supplies, so replacing worn out power supplies is easy and cheap.  This unit is designed to fit right inside a PC case, so the customer can customize his system and lower cost with personal computer parts to make up his lighting system.   We don't have to ship all those other heavy parts around the world.   I think this is a smart approach, but the customer in the end is the one who speaks so at this point our design is just a calculated guess. 

To the left is a picture of this system under test back at our lab.

Tony's Disco:

Here is what we achieved in Tony's disco.    We can paint the whole room in color and get full control over it so it will compliment his entertainment.    This set of picture is his larger room.   The 12 light fixtures covers quite a bit of his table space.   We have not pointed any of these lights toward his dance floor.

The first shot is a before picture and the blue shot is an after picture.   You'll notice the first redish image is much more blurry because that required a 13 second exposure.  The blue shot required just a second or two.

The last photo on the right shows the LED fixtures at a reduced intensity on the far side of the room.

Below are are a couple of photos from the middle room that is between the entrance and the main disco.   We have only 4 light fixtures in that area.   The are all mounted on the 30 foot ceiling aim straight down with a 45 degree angled lens.

The first shot below is a before picture, the red and purple shots are after pictures.  The results are quite remarkable and I think we have only scratched the surface with the things that can be done with LED lighting.

When you go into Tony's and see all the color that shows from these new LED fixtures remember that everything you see from all 20 fixtures are being driven by 2 high quality 460 Watt PC power supplies.   That's all.  Nothing more.   All light fixtures are being driven from only those 2 power supplies.   If Tony plugged those power supplies into UPS units (uninterruptible power supplies), then he could add automatic power back up to his lighting system for cheap.   I think there is a big future in LED lighting.  

Cost on a system like this?    About $6,500 dollars (no installation or wire fees in this price).   $2,000 dollars of that figure was just the LEDs.    Price per lumen of light should drop about about 30% in the coming year.  So roughly this system will be 30% more powerful at a similar cost next year.

I have not seen another system like this one on the market yet.   I think we are the first to cluster all the drivers and controls together.  If anyone knows of an 80 channel (or larger) unit designed for high current LEDs I would sure like to know about it.  Please drop me a line and send me the web address.   Thanks.

Stickman the Oracle??

Just how does he do it?    Seems to have all the answers at his finger tips.....   A few articles back Stickman was saying that two of his friends were laid off a couple of weeks back and low and behold, Stickman seemed to know off the top of his head exactly what severance packages should be acording to Thai law ..... Hum......    How does he do that?

Well, he reads the Bangkok Post - that's how.   The post listed severance package law on-line a couple of weeks back just before Stickman reported on them.   I read the article myself.  It's a bogus requirement anyhow as businesses don't lay off worker typically and pay out the severance packages.

More often than not, employers burn out employees by not allowing them to take lunches, working them overtime without overtime payment and not giving them days off (or giving them 1 or 2 days off a month).

To my knowledge employers have been operating like this up-country since before these rules were established. 

If an employee gets fired for wrong doing -- I seriously doubt they are giving any severance packages out.   Or, if the company closes down, its because it's bankrupt (or close enough to bankruptcy to stop operation) - in this case the owner is going to claim they are destitute and not make any severance payouts.

Anyway, severance packages are extremely rare and probably not enforced at least here in up-country Thailand.  I would really be surprised if they are enforced anywhere at all for that matter.

No Risk of Transmission of Crab Lice in Pattaya....

What is going on in Pattaya in the gogo dancing business?   Does every girl completely shave all their pubic hair off?    I perhaps saw one girl with just a wisp of hair down there -- all the others were completely bare in their nether region.    I asked a couple of girls about this and they said they wanted it "clean".   Oh it's clean alright.    And with a few of the girls proudly sporting braces on their teeth, its not too much of a wonder that we see so much hoopla about pedophilia on the blogs of the Thailand Internet.   For the love of Pete, I like a little landscaping on my female.  I'm not exactly into the bushy 70's style, but a little variation to the contour can be a bit more interesting.   One thing is for sure, risk of crab lice transfer is extremely minimal in Pattaya.

Dental Recommendation

I've been looking for a long time for a dentist who knows about cleaning under the gum line (scaling).   I finally found one that sufficiently impressed me.

I would recommend this firm for cleaning and scaling.   First of all, a dentist did the work.    That was the first thing that I liked.   Secondly, he took extra time with me in helping to identify and clear a condition called "Jaw Lock".   Basically what he said was that over the years my teeth had worn together in a way that reduced their movement from side to side.   He recommended that he slightly grind down the highest points on my teeth and allow more side to side movement.  He claimed this would reduce stress while I was asleep.   At the same time, the grinding was also used to help me equalize the biting pressure on each side of my mouth.    He also showed me some exercise to stretch out my jaw muscles and joints so my jaw would move more freely.  After a week, I must say he was right and my jaw is feeling much better.

He spent way too much time with me.   I must have been in his chair for at least an hour to 90 minutes.   They charged only 1,050 baht for the full cleaning, ultra-sonic/manual scaling, and minor teeth grinding/polishing.

I didn't get the name of the dentist who worked on me.  I am told 3 work in the office.   This was a younger guy (late 20's early 30's) with glasses and his English was not perfect but good enough to fully communicate with me.

If you need a cleaning and scaling -- I would give these guys a try.  Looks like some of their other prices are fairly high (by Thailand standard) but my guess would be their services are better on the whole.

You can contact them at www.ArtOfSmile.co.th  They are located on Pattaya Second road not terribly far from the  Hard Rock Cafe Hotel if I remember this correctly.

Oh, by the way, those people have absolutely no idea that I published a recommendation for them.  I won't know what you're talking about if you say that you heard about them here.   So, the fact that I was treated very well has absolutely nothing to do with who I was or that I would refer customers to them (which is of course how it should be).

Pattaya Fountain / The Real Pictures....

A couple of weeks ago, Stickman featured a "Where's that Picture" contest showing a view of this statue from behind.  You'll also notice that his photo was very old.  Sometime in the past year or so this brass sculpture has been refinished and is now in like new condition (the water fountain at it's base still lies in a state of disrepair).

I think the sculpture is a very beautiful piece and it's well done.   It does reflect the truth behind the history of Thai culture from many years ago.    Upwards of 60 or 80 years ago, girls did go around topless during daily activities.    Here are up-to-date photos of this sculpture. 

This piece is located at the beginning of beach road and chances are you drive right by this on your way into the main drag which brings you toward walking street.

Palm Reader Fortune Teller Guy...

If you have been reading my articles for a while, then you know that I keep fit by running.  Well, when in Pattaya I like to run near the beach on the cement walkway.   I run the full length of the beach down to the end where this sculpture is.  Normally, my exercise is uneventful and I run to the end take a 5 minute break and then run back towards walking street and my hotel.

Well, this week I had something unusual happen.  I ran to the end and just as I stopped and broke into a walk an Indian man was standing three on the walkway.  I would have not really stopped to take notice of him except for he began to talk to me.

And he was a very pleasant person.  He was plainly dressed, tall and well feed and he had a beautiful smile and he seemed very pleasant.

He said to me "I see you have good luck".  I said, "What do you mean?".  (and we are both smiling at each other...).   He said, "I am and palmist and fortune teller".   He continued.   "I read your forehead.  I see very good luck in your future..... I see a big car in your future".  I said "You do?".

Then he whips out a piece of paper and scribbles something on it and folds it up and places it in my right hand.   I said "What is that?".   He said,  "It's numerology.... " then he said... "I also have some bad news for you"....   I said, "Really?"   He replied, "Yes, I want to tell you your mother name and other detail of your fortune".

I put the piece of paper back in his hand and I said to him, "I don't believe in numerology",  I continued, "Good Luck is easy to get".....

I started to counted off on my fingers and rattled this off:   "You take of yourself, eat right, work hard, do the right things by other people and you'll have all the good luck you need.  Isn't that right?".

I then take one large step away from him and swing around and give him a big wide eyed smile.    (kind of like a Tom Cruise smart assed smile).

The guy was caught off-guard.   He didn't say a thing, he just continued to smile at me.    I had just rattled off sound undeniable advice that probably sounded as polished and rehearsed as his own "let me read your fortune" buffalo shit routine.

I took another step and looked back again for another moment, and then a third step and looked back again.   I was still staring him down with the ownership of those thoughts that had just silenced him.    I was curious to see how long it would take for him to move on.

He was still just standing there speechless.  He didn't say a word.   He must of delayed 20 seconds.  Perhaps he was surprised to see someone who truly is lucky because I have a firm grip in guiding my own future.

Grifters in Pattaya and Bangkok like to try to use techniques to befriend you or say things to appeal to your greed or say things to make you afraid.

He stuck that paper in my hand as a technique to break through my personal space and get my trust.  He tried to lead me into wanting to believe in him because he "saw a big car in my future".    Then he tried to appeal to my fear by saying that "he had bad news for me".   

This was a rip-off artist and he was a very friendly looking person.   But you immediately need to know how to shoot these people down or they will distract you and lead you into doing something stupid like buying over-priced gems or buying an over-priced condo or some other rip off scheme.   A large part of the business culture in the farang tourist areas are harbors for shifty business dealers.    If you are a local living in those areas long enough, and you are of weak character, you too may start to thinking about ripping off the tourists.   Hey - some of those people might even open web sites!!

Shortly after I shut him down, he continued on with his walk back towards walking street along the beach sidewalk.   I was still at the end and resting for a few minutes.  

Later, when I ran by him on the way back, I of course I couldn't resist wishing him "good luck".

Bar Girl Economics Revisited

There was a small commentary at the TheBigMango.com (TheFarang Speaks Too Much) titled the The Dummy's Guide to Negotiating Price with TG Working Girls by BigBabyKenny,

He referred to my site at the end of his article writing: "for a pretty funny, illuminating, and entertaining account by a guy who thinks his behavior affects the price a girl is willing to accept to bang him. Who knows? Maybe in his case he is right?"

Thanks for the links to my articles, Kenny.

I want to add a couple of comments about this statement and the whole idea of "The Art of a Deal".   A deal isn't just about how much money you pay.  The deal is about getting more then you expect for the price that is paid.   It's an exchange.

I do believe some of the cost involved can be affected by how you present yourself.    After all, you must also consider that sometimes a girl will say No to you.   However, to a much greater degree, the value of the entertainment is most certainly effected by making the right approach and getting the "right energy" to flow between you and the girl.

What is the value of an extra 500 or 1,000 baht when you're having the great time and the night flies by because you're just having a ball? (sorry, pardon the partial pun).  

I distinctly remember one girl who stayed with me long time and we had fun both the night before and day after.  She was really into me and she got along just fabulously with me.  She was just very accommodating in almost every way.  The next morning I pulled out bills from my pouch and I had them folded in my hand.   Having them firmly in hand, I asked her her what she expected and she sheepishly responded 2,000 (she was a gogo girl and 2k is the going rate right now).  I said to her in Thai as I laid the bills on the table top in front of her, "That's a little be expensive isn't it?".  

She was a little bit saddened by what I had said until she picked up the bills and unfolded them and realized that 2,500 was in that short stack of bills.   She jumped up and was just so happy with me.  She exceeded my expectations and I was happy exceed hers.

I have long forgotten that extra 500 baht, but I will remember for quite a while my experience with her.

So, it's about finding value for that money, not just the money itself.    And if you're clever about it -- you can make the money virtually invisible and in my opinion, that is the really what the girls wants.   She doesn't want to be selling her body, she wants to be in a place of service, having fun with a guy who is taking care of her.

If you have a great time and make a friend, you'll quickly realize the money amounts to very little in the end.   That is really the essence of the art of a deal.

Internet for the Deaf Working Girl

I saw about 3 different deaf girls over two different nights at the Internet shops signing away using the internet and a camera for their phone call.   Quite obviously these girls were bar girls or freelancers.   Looks like the Internet is allowing the deaf sex worker to come out and yet still have some way to keep in contact with family and friends.

I took this girl's picture a few time from behind and I think she saw the red LED blink on the front of my camera (an image of her from her camera shows on her computer screen) and she turned around and looked right at me.  I slid the camera aside and hid it behind my computer monitor and gave her a big wide eyed "ok you busted me" smile because I knew that I had been caught taking her picture.   She didn't seem really upset about it -- she was just checking me out and probably wondering why I was so curious about her.

The couple of girls who I saw were fairly attractive.  I guess I would find myself curious to know what is it like to have sex with them.   I assume that their "utterances" during throws of passion would tend to be rather unique.   For those of you in the west,  you might consider picking up a few key sign phrases before your trip out here for that "oh so unique" experience.

Looking at the Numbers --

I have not released an article in about 5 weeks.   July 12 was my last article and those number were the strongest all year.

The following week I was down to 638 and down further on the 26th.   My traffic shot up around August 2nd when TheBigMango.com posted some links to my site in their article (that I mentioned above).

This week you see a lot of visitors.   People have been anxious to see what I had in store in this article so we naturally have a lot of traffic this week.

I even had a hand full of email from readers who were jones-ing for some serious "Galt publishing".

I am humbled to see these numbers. -- Amazed really.

The Wrap Up...

I've been in the Kingdom going on 6 years this November.  For the first year, I had a steady girl friend and I did not partake much of the naught night life.  This is true -- even on my published "fun" tour, I only sleep with two girls -- the second one being the girl who became my girlfriend when I came back to Thailand to live 4 months after my tour.

No, in fact, I was fairly slow to warm up to jumping into the naughty night life in many respects.    So, my sexual involvements for a couple of years were primarily up country and outside of places like Pattaya.

However, I have been in and around Pattaya with more activity in the past 3 years.   My guess would be that the general climate right now is a relaxed one when it comes to condoms and safe sex.   The word still circulates about condom usage.  It's on the tip of the tongue of the girls there, but I believe they have become less concerned about the risks and therefore are more willing at this point in time to engage you in with greater risk.

As far as the girls going down on your for oral sex, they have almost no mind of the risks involved with that behavior whatsoever.   They are open to it with little or no thought of possible consequences.

In the country, very few girls talk very much about condom usage and they are even more open to going without.    Not so many in the country may be comfortable with offering "advanced services", but for the most part, girls in the country will almost have unprotected sex with you first and then afterwards ask you if they are going to get pregnant.   Yes, this might seems a little shocking.   Consequently, a fair number of the girls here in the country get pregnant.  Or they are getting pregnant as a matter of subconscious desire that almost doesn't register in their thinking process while the girls are pealing off her clothes and slipping under the covers.

However, let me also point out that I'm seeing a "farangs view" of this behavior.   Here in the country, as a farang, I'm a prize to capture.   Or I'm looked at a celebrity of sorts.   Just how many western girls would get all wrapped up in protection issues if Brad Pitt was inviting them into the bedroom?

So, my view of this as a farang may not be altogether typical.   That fact aside let me also say that plenty of girls in the country are getting pregnant here at an early age.   A fair number of them at 16 through 18 years of age.   Much of this hidden away in secret and doesn't come to light until those girls are back in circulation at age 20 and you discover they have a 3 year old child.

Getting back to the subject....

Condom usage is obviously a good thing.   It doesn't have many down sides - except it doesn't feel natural to the guy.  And the other down side may be the idea that girls are feeling completely safe in all respects by using them.   This safe feeling may in fact be lulling the sex workers in a false sense of security in some cases. 

All this of course probably does not outweigh their benefits as a whole.

Going without is risky.   Some of you might say, well, I ride motor cycle and go sky diving -- those are risk oriented activities and you make a choose to take those risks.    I agree, risk is for us to personally manage and select to enhance our own lives as we would choose.   I'm risk taker myself.  However, in the case of sex, the risk is joint decision between two people.   And that risk may not be equally managed if one of those two parties is not as fully educated about all the possible dangers.

In the sex industry, we also have an issue about the girl being stressed for money.    They will take on greater amounts of risk for that monetary reward.

We also have an issue of lack of the girl's (and sometimes the guy's) willingness to face their fears about treatment.   A girl many notice something irregular about her period or an unusual discharge and not have it medically examined.  That increases the danger level for all parties involved.   Or a guy may be unwilling to go back and explain to a previous partner about an infection that he contracted and was treated for.

No one likes unusually bad risks.  If we can be happy without them, then of course would naturally avoid them.   Sex is a sensitive topic.  Not many of us would be willing to go without it for any great length of time.   Here in Thailand, sex is a fairly important commodity for those who wish to exchange it for economic benefits.    For those who are acquiring it on the open market, sex is a treat and a way to feel happy and content - perhaps even "charged up".

I am one of those who acquire it and I acquire it under many different terms.  If I didn't have this available to me, I can tell you personally that I would be less productive and physically less healthy than I am today.   Sex with the partner that I prefer is rejuvenating to me.   It's helps strengthen me and I feel to some extent that I can thrive because of it.  I'm inspired to greater achievement in my business.   Its an integral part of my well being.

The prevailing question -- and this question will predominately remain "prevailing" is at what risk am I (or you) willing to take to enjoy its most natural form?   And further, at what risk am I (or you) willing to lead a partner into taking and share in that experience?

Thanks for stopping by.

John Galt