John Galt Presents: Stickman in the Kissing Booth

Hurry Hurry Step Right up and put your 1000 baht on the counter for a kiss with Stickman. Are you an author? Do you own a restaurant?

Well, hell, just step right up here and Stickman will grant you an interview and his kiss of approval. Never mind that he hasn't eaten at your establishment, never mind that he hasn't read your book. That's not important. Stickman gets along with everybody and never disagrees with any of his special guests.

This here is a no-muss no-fuss stamp of approval. It's 100% guaranteed to get your product moving in the Thailand farang community.

What? You own a brothel? Oh, Ouch, that is going to cost you extra. Lay an extra 10,000 baht on the counter please. Want me to push your Lady Boy Bar -- no problem, we can do that. Kissy Kissy.

Bring a list of questions with you because Stickman (Paul Owen) doesn't have time for research, no sir-y Bob. Just step up organized, ready to go, money on the counter, and it will be tender kissy time with the Great Stickman.

(The following was lifted from StickmanBangkok.com and edited together for maximum humor. It is encouraged that you read this weekly article for yourself as this is not an exact translation)

Stick> "So the reason you will be known amongst my readers is because of your book. Do you want to tell me a bit about it? <ha, ha, because, like an idiot> I am embarrassed to say that I personally have not read it yet!"

Stick> "So, what’s your opinion on the whole hooker scene here in Thailand?"

Hicks > "Almost deliberately I avoid them, partly because I’m a little skeptical and also because I don’t want to be influenced by them. I have an active conscience..."

Stick > "<Let's get a little back scratching going here> Do you read the readers’ submissions on this site or much else online relating to Thailand"

Hicks > "...I now very much enjoy your Readers’ Submissions. It’s one of the best collections of writing about Thailand that I’ve come across."

Hurry hurry, step right up........ Line is forming on the right..... Pay your fee and get your kisses from Stickman right here....

Last week we published a link to a Marc Holt web page that showed him making a bold statement about me, Keith Summers (The Galt). Since last week, he turned tail and ran and pulled down that web page without any explanation, no apology, no retraction, etc. It was kind of like a web version of a hit and run.

His whole purpose in making that page was to try to hurt me. He wanted people to envision me an an ass-hole and I think we proved the point that it made him look like a guy who likes to screw people over.

Anyway, he took down that web page and forwarded that link to his main blog area. Seems that not only is he a coward and hiding his publishing but he also uses sneaky tactics to gain new readership to his little known forum. I admit that many have not liked my tactics in gaining readership but I don't hide.

For those of you who missed the excitement last week, this picture above is Marc Holt in "screwing over" position showing everyone just how proficient he is at taking advantage of people.

Farang business owners like Marc Holt are weasels and rats and when the lights are turned on go running for cover. What was posted at his site last week was very graphic and designed for destruction and when faced with the consequences of that action in public --- he ran off and hid. This is the same kind of action of a con man or a thief who doesn't have the courage and conviction to stand up and take credit for his actions.

If Marc Holt doesn't have the wherewithal to stand behind his claims on the net then just how well is he going to honor his agreements in business? Chances are when the going gets tough and there is a disagreement with a customer, he'll run behind closed doors and keep your money. Or, he bully you into giving up.

Weak laws in Thailand encourage this type of expat to come here and take up residence and set up companies like real estate, gem sales, time shares, TEFL school, Visa Services, and a host of others, because it is well known that guys like Marc can get always with screwing people around and not get in trouble for it.

And if that wasn't enough.... We also have issues about Child Labor Issues surrounding Tanzanite Mining.

I knew nothing about this until a reader pointed this out to me. If you look on the web at

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=61004 This web site claims that there are a lot of child laborers in the Tanzanite mining industry. They complain that children are not getting an education and are suffering illness because the poor children are mining rather than going to school.

I'm sure that Marc Hold must know about this. I know he is not single handedly responsible, but his decision to support this type of activities is questionable.

So, how does he justify contributing to a social crises Tanzania? Does he consider it. Does he care less? My guess is that he doesn't care -- just like who he treats his wife (if you read the column last week).

Here is a very interesting short Video story of the child labor in the Tanzanite mines.

Marc Holt must a washed up worn out old man scurrying around sucking the marrow from any business opportunity that comes his way. That is the only reasonably decent reason that he can't make a living off one business based on his formal training and experiences from the west.

And Marc is tight with Stickman, cozying up to the one of the largest on-line Thailand farang publications so he can work his way into "affiliating himself" with a the Stickman Bangkok team.

Stick probably won't let him advertise those businesses on the Stickman site probably because they are highly questionable. But Stickman likes the readers submissions he gets these from Marc Holt.

This leads me back to my main gripe about Stickman. He's in bed with shaky businesses that defraud stupid farangs of their money and Stickman was right in the middle of it last year when he went wild advertising his private investigation services. Today, of course, he renounces that service with no explanation.

Word to the wise -- avoid guys like Marc Holt. They are disguised as friends but they really want to reach into your pockets.

The guys who runs sex tours are more honest than this. At least on a sex tour your expectations are matched by the experience you encounter. It's no phony baloney "invest in gems and make huge returns on your dollar" type promises.

The truth is, with Marc Holt, he is the only investor in the Tanzanite business -- you would be the end consumer with no resale market underneath you -- so don't be buffaloed.

Based on some previous anonymous and unverifiable postings on the web it was suggested that Mr and Mrs Stickman might be divorced.

We made some tentative guesses that in fact they may have been divorced. We were also lead to believe this because of a new "Miss Udon" who is working with Stickman in the "new" weekly column.

However, based on some newer evidence, I am more likely to lean in another direction.

I am more likely to believe they are still married and that Miss Udon is in fact still Mrs Stick.

In my opinion, it was very likely that the weekly column went down last year not so much because of Paul, but because Mrs Stickman was really was freaked out. I think she was very afraid of the consequences of this web site ruckus causing trouble at her job too.

Because I firmly believe Paul has first hand knowledge of my communication with Mrs Stick, I think it's ok to talk about some of it here. There is also nothing seriously personal with any of the email below. Mrst Stick was on her guard and that is a good thing, because that gives me some latitude in putting it up on-line.

Mrs Stickman first contacted me in email. And right off, she made an effort to deceive me and wrote to me like she was a bar girl. I think it is king of funny, but why the ruse? This was part of her email:

O.K I undrestand you and maybe you not a guy that I thought you were. I used to dream about meeting a falang guy like my friends did too. We used to compare the guys we fucked and laugh about a thing they said but we not beleive in them But still we got a lot of a jelousy feelings when we see a girl go away. We cant do this job forever and the younger girls get more and more..I know some really frighten guys in pattaya district that have killed farangs for some money but the police dont investigate because they well you know about it I cannot say. I am so frigtened to talk everyday just want to be a happy girl . all the guys touch me all the time, but never hold me in a not sex way. There is some talk of something going to happen to you soon but I dont know if its a bad thing they want to do. i not involved but when my friend showed me his photo I got scared so scared. my friend showed me all the story you wrote and want to ask me about paul. I try to understand the nice funny thing you wriet and I say hes a good guy maybe but like to fight now and thai girl see too much fighting. My friend went awy with a Frech man but he made her have sex with all his friends and now she like a friend of his more than him and he beat her many times. She write to me about it and she fright too of him. Now she has visa problems alway problems for thai girl. W>hen you take us to eat nice food and fuck us you pay us. Sometimes a girl just wants a good time; one day there was a falang who licked me for 2 hours i came many times. he never fucked me only talked to me. i stayed with him in his bed for a week. we ordered food it was so nice for us. He told me he loved me but he went away and never came back; My mother keeps asking me what i do when i givern her some money. i say I develop photos in a shop but it is not tru because they closed it but I cant tell her
please I think there is chance to can stop a bad thing happen to you but you not listen to me. I dont undertand why you come here to fight as well as fuck. The Thai like a falang because he has a nice skin and big cock not like a thia man but when you sit in the day you always try to fighjt each other. Paul used to love thailand but now he says all the time complain about things all day and I think we argu about when you start notstickman and he said you were like a starker man but I dont know what that is now All my life in try to speak a good english to find a good man but now i am unhappy with my life try to listen me and stop fighting but try to be a calm man like the falang we like to fuck us. yes, we sometimes come and get very wet but sometimes it wont get wet because the guy is like frighten us. you better write a nice thing about something soon as all afternoon i find out about this story. I think this time it will be a very bad thing because you argu with the wrong guy and he has a lot a bad friends not paul but someone I dont know. they try to find everything about you life and make a bad thing for you
sometimes a bar girl no many mafia guy that you see a bad thing they do in newspaper everyday. last nite there was someone outside where i live looking at my window; i shone a light out and was frightened. I dont say it is so i dont talk about paul he would not do a bad thing. i have a friend that is a bar girl and she sleeps with me sometimes at first cos we were to much beer then now we like it. I never thout i coulld fuck a girl but now I like it she not a friten girl do you see
maybe one day we can be friends many guys photos of me may be i ring you but you got to stop asking about paul as ther is guy who very dangerous for you not paul but he likes to make fighht in thailand with any guy when he can My friend say he clever man like a writerman too but like knife and drink and has a lot of money and wants to fight you
shit i have bad day. why cant i fuck a guy who want be my frind and not on fuxck computer all time in the nite. I hate computer so much I want to sell mine as I need money I am still young and have a slim body and falang say i a beautiful body because I a tall girl. not a time for a big fight for you as the cns are watching everybody and waht you rite all the days. thats how they find out what you do then a problem rite now in Thailand. I cant tell you the thing about paul i can prove who i am have not any reason to play joke on you that not a funny thing. I lay on my bed today with ther curtains shut. They are red and my body was a nice color so I took my clothes off and I fell a sleep. I had a dream about
walking on some w<ales backs in the sea that were dying. there was too boats like in old style. I tried to wake up the wales that were dying; then suddenly one rushed in the front way and woke up all the other then the ship was sinking and the water had fog and I was going to die with everybody going to the bed of the sea.
well i go to sleep now

During several emails she wrote the word "ring" in the context of "I'm going ring you". Then I knew she was not a bar girl because bar girls would not use the word "ring". Normal Thais don't use that word. LOL.

I challenged Mrs Stick about her being a school teacher, and her English brightened up immediately. She is quite proficient in English. She also types very quickly because it appeares she hammered out quite a bit in a relatively short period of time.

Her next response was quite a bit more aggressive and angry - then she chilled out. You can clearly see her higher education here. Notice the improvement in grammar now that she is being herself. (Wow, capitalizes her "I" and knows about starting new paragraphs)

Paul told her I was banned from Pattaya. How would a Thai not know if this were possible? This is is her country.

Otherwise, this is touching email. I asked her on the phone if Paul was legal with the web site. Her response was "how do you know that he is not"? Well, that was at least honest. She could have said yes, but evidently he is still not legal.

Previously I wasn't going to post this email, but it became clear to me last week that Paul is certainly aware of her contact with me, so there is no reason to hide the fact that we had been emailed each other and we also spoke once on the phone.

She mentions the Amari Hotel. This is one of Stickman's newest advertisers. Evidently she is proud of Paul for snagging this sponsor.

It was her phone call that really gave credibility to the fact I was indeed speaking with the real Mrs. Stickman. She is very educated and speaks very very proficient English. She was schooled in England and she has a fairly strong English accent.

After speaking with her, is it easy accept that she does in fact write the real responses to the Mrs Stickman/Miss Udon questions. She must be in the highest percentile for English proficiency in Thailand -- she is impressively accomplished and no doubt extremely valuable as an English teacher.

I told her no thank you. I said investors must come from a trusted source and that some "investors" look around for ideas to steal.

Why on earth would she put any trust in working with me? That's just a goofy thought. I wouldn't trust them just a much as they wouldn't trust me.

They are probably going to think that I was low for publishing this email and making this offer from them public knowledge, but I would argue -- what's the need for the secret?

For the record, I have one small investor right now who is helping to power my current product line development. So, I"m probably in the right place for capital. Too much capital would only be a burden rather than an asset because capital has to make money and in some stages of development you must build the infrastructure first.

I don't hate the Stickmans. I would have not gone over the top last year if Stickman hadn't released my personal details to MangoSauce.com in November. And we all know what MangoSauce did with that information. Stickman thought he could squash me like a bug early in the going -- unfortunately, he was mistaken and made an imprudent choice. A choice I'm sure now that given the bigger picture, he regrets.

There is no becoming friends with Stickman because he is Zealander trash. He's a crowd and he has no real desire to do the right things by people. I would never cozy up with anyone like that. He doesn't even have the gumption to honestly tell his reader really why he was off the air last year. The real reason. He just let them think that he was swamped with work, the lying sack of shit. People may not like my tactics in tying Stickman to the whipping post but at least I don't feather their ears in hopes they will spend a few nights at the Amari hotel under a grand scheme that I'll put money in my pockets for it.

But she said in this last email "All you are doing is giving paul more support that he ever had before." It's touching that she is still so concerned about him. I'm concerned about him too. Ok, well then, let's continue on with the grilling because I want to help Paul get as much "support" as I can.

Here is an LED light fixture that is nearly ready. It has yet be wrapped on three side with acrylic plastic. The fixture is upside down in this photo.

This is a new LED light fixture built with the new Lamina Ceramics Titan LED array (under the main lens). This particular fixture also has two 3 Watt UV LEDs mounted on posts on either side of the main lens. These LEDs will provide black light in a wide radiation pattern.

This light fixture is one of a handful that will be in Tony's Disco off Walking Street later this year not too long from now.

This light fixture emits Red, Green, and Blue with about the same brightness as a normal color 120 watt flood light, but does so with very little energy or heat. Each RGB color radiates at about 10 watts in pure color.

The entire fixture that you see here is made from Stainless Steel and Aluminum. The entire base unit is made by us or contracted out to local shops.

We build all the electronics for temperature monitoring and feedback control. This fixture also contains a fan for forced cooling that runs only when required.

This fixture is designed to last a minimum of 5 years with normal maintenance and cleaning. With the periodic replacement of the fan this fixture should last almost a lifetime.

The LEDs are designed to last 50,000 hours which is about 17 years (8 hours a day), so we build the fixture with the goal of reaching the same life span as the LEDs.

The normal price of a unit like this would be about $230 to $290. The LEDs in this unit are by themselves are $110. This unit must be accompanied with driver and controller electronics. We'll show you more of these pieces in a future column.

I had a printed circuit board made at a printed circuit board manufacturer in Chonburi about 2 years ago. About 8 months ago, I called them back to inquire about doing another project. They told me at that time that their parent company had decided to reject orders from smaller companies. They were going to focus instead on very very large customers and not entertain local smaller orders. They explained to me that by focusing on the larger out of country customers like car manufacturers -- they could optimize on those larger scale orders and make more money for themselves.

Well, I called them back this week just for fun and inquired with them again. They sheepishly said that they rolled back that previous policy and would be very happy to invite a new order from me. The current management (who I had not talked to before), claimed the company had made a mistake.

I would have to guess that the increasing value of the baht may have had an impact on their out of country sales. On this call then didn't even specify any minimum size on the order.

Another company I called this week for a fiberglass product (see the yellow boards in the light fixture picture above). They informed me they are no longer BOI (board of investment) company. BOI companies are setup primarily for export and local sales are penalized with taxes heavily. So, this discourages local companies from buying from BOI companies. Evidently, we are seeing another company affected by the change in the market place. I'm happy this company converted to a normal local enterprise because I liked their product and now I can buy it for less.

They were also very eager that I complete the order quickly.... What gives? Are they hurting for money? I don't know but it seemed odd.

Remember, as I have written here on the web before (and as is written elsewhere on the web), a collapsing of exports was the first major stress on Thailand leading to the financial crises in the late nineties. It will be interesting to see if Thailand can continue to stabilize despite the the somewhat uncertain political climate.

The BangkokPost almost continuously has positive articles in it about growth and positive economic indicators but I don't see this in my normal contact with the companies that deal with. So far, all I have heard have been negative comments. I almost suspect that the BangkokPost is publishing false news. I could be wrong.

I don't give out many recommendations. But, I must admit, I was paid for this one. I was

given a free loaf western style sour dough bread.

This was given to me by someone who stumbled across my web site and is a on-looker to "huppla" of the Stickman/NotStickman saga.

He warned me up front that the loaf was a full 3 days old and that perhaps it wouldn't be up to its full flavor. I popped into the refrigerator immediately to help preserve it and I've been eating slices of it for 4 or 5 days now. It's terrific. It's a good as any sour dough bread that I have had in the US. It has all the right ingredients and seeds in it. What a wonderful aroma. It's an excellent loaf. Click on this picture for a closer look. It doesn't get any better than this.

Richard said that he imported the cultures required to ferment and bake this type of loaf.

If I were close to Wrong Way Home Cafe, not doubt I would be a regular customer there. If you happen to be in the area of Ubon Ratchathani, you might consider stopping in there for a bit to eat. They are also situated right in front of a hotel/guest house of sorts and if you are passing through, you might find that accommodation to your liking. Just click the link above for more information on how to find them if you are heading that way. Tell em..... tell em.... Stickman sent you --- yea... that it. Tell them Stickman sent you.

Once upon a time, Jill, Sabrina and Kelly were police officers whose skills were being wasted

in menial duties such as answering phones and filing. A mysterious web columnist named Paul Owen took them away from all that by opening his own private investigation agency and hiring these gorgeous ladies as his operatives.

"...an attractive team of ladyboys, some of whom can pass as real girls, even to old hands!.."

What? You mean when guys slip their hands down there they don't notice any appendage? Wow, that is a quite a trick. What do they do -- roll it up somehow and tuck it away? OR did these operatives have their full Monty removed with surgery?

LOL, I'm rolling on the floor. Like you say Stick, this is certainly something a little different....

What did they pay you for this expose? I hear protracted sucking sounds of the Stickman Kissy Kissy.... Those lips must be red and sore by now.

People, notice that Stickman is ramping up the activity that would normally get him in trouble with school authorities. But, stickman's old school web site is off line right now....hum. Maybe he moved to a new school? -- who knows.

I took some interesting pictures this year of a seasonal event. During the warmer weather, we see these white moth type bugs come out. They must be mating and evidently the males die and drop to the ground. These bugs don't appear to have the ability to bite and they seem harmless and are just a nuisance. They mysteriously appear on a few specific days around 9 pm and swarm for about 2 hours. Then, later that night, a large amount are dead on the ground and rest vanish. This continues on for a few days if the weather is correct. The area may see several flurries of these just prior to the rainy season each year.

These bugs are also a favorite for birds because the next morning large numbers of birds will come a pick clean most of the surrounding area.

A number of the locals go nuts running around collecting these. Seems they are good dinner for their pond fish. Some locals farming fish and these are a free meal. This is good business and collection is not hard.

One technique that is often used in collecting the bugs is setting out a plastic tarp and allowing the bugs to be drawn down to the headlights in a car. These bugs just seem to die out and fall to the ground. It's kind of odd. Several hours later that night, the sky is clear. (notice the hand built broom in the middle pictures. That broom costs about 60 cents - 20 baht. The girls are also reusing a plastic bag that previously had another type of fish food in it. The people are efficient here)

These numbers are essentially the same a last week. We had a stronger peak on Thursday but numbers were more spread our last week over a two day period.

Last week in the wrap up, I missed something really important. It occurred to me that I didn't really hit the nail on center with a hammer about spending money. I wrote about how silly I was for pissing away so much money earlier in my life, part of which was on my 1980 Corvette, but the point that I didn't make... the item that has significance is the fact that I spent money frivolously because deep down inside I was unhappy. I didn't feel bad about who I was, I just didn't feel that sense of satisfaction that I wanted. I felt compelled to look for greater happiness in making money and purchasing goods. But, moments of satisfaction were fairly small and hard to maintain.

This part of the reason that I feel Thailand has so much value for me. I really feel good about just simple living. I really don't crave a fancy car or expensive clothes. Have I changed? I don't think so. I think that I would still enjoy a nice sports car. But I seem to get more excited about thing about what new equipment I can purchase for the company and what new products I can make.

It wouldn't be this way back home. I think I would feel more lonely and craving a community connection through goods. For instance, I love boating. Back home, I owned a couple of boats. Those were expensive hobbies but they open up a community to me which I enjoyed.

Here, I'm connected to the community very well already. I can just walk down the main street and do the "meet and greet". I have kids that run out to see me sometimes and they hang on me and ask me to pick them up. It's wonderful. I have girls who bat their eyes at me in the local 7/11. Perhaps I walk past an older gentleman who I have purchased from in his store - I bow my head or do a short wai - there it is again, there is connection. Based on stories that I have been told, I sense that I'm feeling what my parents did back in their hometown back in the 50's inside the US.

Here, I don't have to put on a show, I'm just myself. And with my company always in the black, I'm free. It feels like being rich and having freedom to do what I want.

I think this is the power of Thailand and other countries like this one where the cost of living is low and the communities are rural and very family oriented. They take you in and make your their own. The invite you into their lives.

I think we are very lucky here to also have a stable country with some viable economics in place.

Overall, I think with the global community becoming better connected, places like Thailand will represent an increasing opportunity to foreigners who want to break loose of the rat race or the "keeping up with the Jones". You can come here and tinker with smaller business projects and make a go of it. You can come here and live for cheap and meet the people of the land and relax and exercise, and sleep...... and of course, criticize the local Internet Commentators. It is this heaven or what?