Life is strange. A lot of my life in Thailand has been displayed on the blog. Maybe not so much in black and white but the essence of it all is here. However my own time line living in my head tends to have milestones tied to my girlfriends. Not sure why but it is how I tend to look at things.
GF#1 met whilst I lived in HK and traveled to Bkk often. Met at a bar. Stayed together for a bit and split up. She wanted to kill me but eventually got over it. Have not seen her around in over a year.
GF#2 met in HK. A Thai girl. My first shot at the “normal” Thai girl thing. Sex sucked, her family were a bunch of leeches and I was bored senseless. She called while I was in HK. Asked if we were an item anymore. I said no. Don’t call me again. She did not but a year later her friend called me to say she was in a HK jail and needed my help. I said. Oh shit. I am in Bangkok. Oh well.
GF#3 met in Bkk. Bargirl. Huge mistake. Horrid breakup. Actually had to move out of my own pad to get rid of her. I can write a book on this one.
GF#4 met in Bkk. A total newbie to the bar scene. Still friends. Enuff said.
Then some daliances - Bkk wannabe hi-so, g club, make-up counter, uni girl and so on.
Thailand kills me. However I am still on the quest. Normal girls bore me and I want a harem. Stay tuned.
Popped into the New Lucky - Lucky VII. I am on the fence. The potential is there. It could be amazing but there is not enough people going yet and I am not sure the setup is conducive to pulling given the multi level and stage type setup. I also wish they would not have done pool. The underground feel to the place is intoxicating though and it would be pretty insane if it gets the crowds. The music is killer and the sound system is very respectable. I will be back - some day to check it but late nights are not my thing right now.
pmmp and dw. I got schooled last night in zero tolerance but I sure could use a post masquerading as a handbook for reference. Thanks.
So the new G N R album sucks. It should come as no surprise given that Axel is an arrogant prick. Anyway this is cool though - I can hear the strip club DJs now(Bubba see if u can grab this for the Mango):
While “Chinese Democracy” has failed to catch on with radio stations, Mr. Rose’s record company is betting on a heavy rotation of another sort to boost sales. Two cuts from the album were included in “StripJoints,” a CD compilation packaged with Exotic Dancer magazine that went out to 2,500 sexually oriented clubs.
“It’s always nice to present music to people when they’re having a good time,” said Bob Chiappardi, chief executive of Concrete Marketing, which was hired for the strip-club promotion. “It’s all about association.”
I knew the Thai economy was going in the shitter in Oct. It was the first time since I have been involved in bars in Thailand that I saw an Oct trend lower than a Sept. That means people were not coming and the locals/expats were feeling the pinch but I think the worst is yet to come. The airport debacle is just the icing on the shit cake.
Exports are plummeting. This is the supposed bread and butter of Thailand.
The dollar is falling so that it makes the Thai baht look like it is not falling but the baht seems next up for some sort of fallout:
People are puzzled with the exchange rates. Some currencies are falling at light speed but… the THB is not moving a lot, particularly versus the USD (read here). Or more precisely : the THB is moving, but slowly, compared to other currencies.
So why is it important to study the reserves and to understand what the BOT is doing ?
The THB issue is linked to the foreign currency reserves. These reserves are a consequences of the BOT’s currency policy but also the tool to achieve or help to achieve (more or less) this policy. How come ? Simple. By selling and buying.
(Yes, it’s called “interventions”. Sorry, “currency management”.
The BOT did it. And continues to do so, despite pathetic denials.)
BP with some good links to the tourism fallout. It is real folks. No denying it.
The Poseidon caper is pretty funny. Good to see exploitation of women by women still in vogue.
Last little weird tidbit before I get back to sorting out my personal life.
Some Berliners are defying the law every night, bringing boars food out of affection for the beasts. Unemployed truck driver Michael Gericke opened the trunk of his white Mercedes and tossed corn onto a parking lot. A score of hogs scrimmaged over the spoils. One tried to climb into the trunk.
Mr. Gericke says he has been feeding boars here every night for 12 years, making him the doyen of Berlin’s boar-loving underground. Every two weeks he spends €15, or about $20, of his jobless benefits on a 110-pound sack of corn. “Feeding them corn diversifies their diet,” he says.
Only a handful of people have come out to feed the foragers on this December night. In summertime, says Mr. Gericke, hundreds of Berliners show up.
Berlin’s forestry officials say they’re filing charges against Mr. Gericke that could lead to a hefty fine. Mr. Gericke says that won’t stop him, because he can’t pay anyway. “Even if they send me to prison instead, I won’t stop.”
Germany needs some help. How can someone with a Mercedes be on jobless bennies that he uses to feed boars? Is that fucked up or not? If it is normal than Germany really needs some help. For the record how would he feed the boars from the back of his Mercedes if he was in prison? I think they should feed him to the boars just to liven things up.
Peace.
shit - I left out gf 2.5 - the indo housemaid. Small novella could be attached to this one.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
what’s a girlfriend ?
View all comments by jack dawson
jd - god, I love u for that.
It is a great question and clearly the definition of one in SE asia is quite different than the meaning for one in other parts of the world.
Maybe I am still sorting it out…
View all comments by sideshowBOB
It’s celebration time.. no matter what the $ value is.
We are going to email you a cheer up message!
Meantime Merry Xmas bloggers.
View all comments by 3amigos
No such thing as a normal girl in Thailand, too much drama, and not enough truth.
View all comments by The Man
ssB - life is a trade-off and the reality is no one girl can tick every box. how each guy deals with this dilema is up to them…
and hey, i’ll be in town from around the 27th for a week or so, and in addtion to the nye stuff etc Im keen to go for a g-club night if anyone’s interested (and has some liver cells to spare)? please let me know
View all comments by Mr Carpet
@The Man
@Dec 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
@No such thing as a normal girl in Thailand, too much drama, and not enough truth
Maybe it’s more a matter of there being no such thing as a normal western male in Thailand. Too much fucking around and not enough reality. At the very least, it seems to me that the accusation works equally well both ways.
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
SSB - well u just basically need to understand that Berlin is not Germany. Berlin is Berlin. A crazy place populated by crazy people. Love it! Not in winter though.
View all comments by mart
Thailand and girls: Two great tastes that taste great together (Notice I did not write girlFRIENDs). I will spare everyone my usual diatribe on Thailand currency manipulation.
View all comments by The Soi Lawyer
I’ve got a friend of about 5-6 yrs heir come aus Baden-Wurttemberg, (Stuttgart) He is a college grad with a Bachelors and some grad school in Architectural engineering and design. This fucker has worked ZERO days since I’ve known him, and has NO prospects for gaining employment! IDUNO how he do, but we travels to the US once every 18 to 20 months and keeps collecting his government unemployment checks! Even had some emergency dental work done a few years back and billed Germany (social medicine)???
View all comments by nurseRon
hiya dudde , am waiting for a detailed account on 1-2 -2.5 -3….. all of em come on , i see the making aof a great novel here
View all comments by maximus
I saw this on the local news in the bay area last weekend. Story on how people are cutting back - interviewing a woman in the mall who says she is cutting back on buying things. Daughter chimes in and says they aren’t. Mom says “Yes we are. I wanted to get the new Mercedes but we downsized to a new Lexus”. She was serious.
View all comments by mrpc12
in the past 30 years, i had 2 ‘girlfriends’. #1 was smart, had money, a good job, was good-looking and lots of fun.
too bad i was so young. i married # 2 cause she had big tits
what a fucking dope
View all comments by bobonzo
mr carpet = I hear u. One has to manage to find a girl where u can get most of your boxes checked then.
stop by when u get to town.
mart - I have no experience with it but I will take your word for it.
nr - strange. sounds like a socialist republic
maximus - not really the kiss and tell type but gf3 is probably the one most likely to get a novel centered around her.
mr - I think for some people downsizing does qualify as cutting back.
b - tough call…
View all comments by sideshowBOB
Your love life in Asia sounds like a messy mud slide. Keep up the good work and the dirt flowing.
View all comments by PissNMoan
pnm - hmmm. I would not say that. It has been quite the ride though.
View all comments by sideshowBOB
While I’m not denying that the economy must be slowing, how come I cannot find any hotels or bungalos under 3,000THB near the sea for the last week in december? Most are fully booked. The rest have jacked up the remaining rooms at 3 times their normal rate. Very frustrating. Maybe I’ll go in January and offer them 500THB/night. Peace out.
View all comments by Hard one
h1 - usually the last 2 weeks and early jan are always jammed pack. plus there are specials bringing people here trying to recover from the closure and many expats around the region who normally don’t book on time are now finding it possible to make a last minute trek to the beach.
u are also talking about the beach places.
I think u will find the cities much emptier. remember the thais also go the beach during the holidays as well and the expats living in thailand. so crunch time.
I am sure there a tons of places besides the normal busy ones. looked in koh lanta? Rayong and so on. people I know have just returned and say they are empty
View all comments by sideshowBOB
On the room rates, I think 2 other things are in play, as well.
1) This is such a horrible low season that the only time the Thais can reasoably expect to get any sort of trade will be between now now and Jan. 4 or, at latest, Jan. 11. They’re going to try to maximize revenue now cuz they know what we know: Late Jan and Feb are going to truly suck business wise.
2) I beleive if you are checking hotel rates on the Net or even by phone, you’ll be quoted much higher prices than you can get in person. Why? See reason #1.
One of my longtime customers ended up in the crappy Diamond Beach hotel this week because his usual place and his usual alternate were full and he was booking from abroad. But once he got here, he found lots of toher places are pretty empty and not only switched hotels, but got rates at half of the rate card.
View all comments by Pattaya Ghost
SSB - u can trust me!
NR - your friend is playing a trick on u, he’s probably rich and doesn’t want you to know.
U can’t possibly live on German unemployment checks! Could you live with less than 17.000 bahts a month (350 euros)? I could not, even in Bangkok or Berlin (quite possibly the cheapest place in Europe).
View all comments by mart