Bangkok Nightlife Stories
Bangkok Nightlife Stories
Back in 2016, I decided to go to Bangkok where I know a few girls in different bars that I had been to previously. But this time, instead of two weeks out, I decided to jump over to Siem Reap in Cambodia. I booked a local return flight with Bangkok Airways for less than 180 US dollars. I really wanted to see the Angkor Wat temple ruins and the dancers. I booked my hotel for six days and off I went.
I did a bit of due diligence and I looked for other attractions during this time. I found James Angkor Tours, so I booked with him.
Meeting James the Tuk Tuk Driver
James is a really nice guy and runs an English Language School in his home village just outside of Siem Reap. He raises money to educate the children by working as a tuk tuk driver and guide. They range from about seven years old up to early teens. After they finish their village work, they come to his school for a few hours several days per week. He has had several children go to university and become successful in their fields.
One day I accompanied him to the school where I got to teach the kids about Australia a brilliant few hours teaching the kids about Australia and answering questions. At James’s suggestion, I brought some pens, pencils, crayons, and paper for gifts for the kids. I also grabbed a few bags of lollies to share around. The kids loved the lollies, but the new stationery really, really went down a treat.
A Painful Monk’s Massage
James wanted to take me to a retired monk who did therapeutic massage. I had to buy the monk a care pack from one of the shops for him on the way. It contained a couple of beers, cigarettes, rice, soap, incense, stock powder, cans of dehydrated milk, candles, dried fish, and a t shirt.
As soon as the old fella ran his hands over me, he identified my broken bones, torn muscles, and other sundry injuries from a previous motorcycle accident back in Australia. The next hour was probably the most painful massage I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. All the time, James was translating what the old fella was saying and how they massage with essential oils. The stretching, kneading, and twisting was helping me release my inner pain.
I told James that this was the worst pain I’d ever experienced. James translated this to the monk, who laughed it off and told me that the inner fire from old injuries would have a response. I couldn’t help but believe him due to his laughing during the session. It took two days to actually feel the injuries he had massaged feel better.
The Dancer’s Grace and Poise
The next day I got a ticket to see the dancers at the Koulen 2 Restaurant. They had a huge all you can eat buffet for 12 US dollars. The local beer had been either Anchor red or green the 750 milliliter bottle was just one US dollar.
The dancers were magnificent. The way that the girls can bend their fingers back and dance with so much grace and poise, the dancers telling the century old story of the Khmer people and gods. After the performance, the girls are swamped with people trying to get photos with them.
Angkor Wat at Sunrise
The next morning at 5 a.m., James picks me up to see Angkor Wat at dawn. A magnificent sight at that time with the rising sun coming up behind the main structure. The cost was 20 US dollars for a three day pass and they put your photo on the pass. This is to make sure that no one else uses your pass. It really can take three days to explore Angkor Wat, but after five hours I had heaps of photos and called James to come and pick me up.
We went to the Red Piano Restaurant and Pub on Pub Street. Really good food and reasonably priced drinks. For those who don’t already know, Pub Street is the Bangla Road of Thailand in Siem Reap heaps of bars, restaurants, food carts, and a little place to chill out in.
I should have mentioned that most of the ATMs in Siem Reap cash out in US dollars. As a side note, when buying anything in Siem Reap or surrounds, they always ask for US dollars, but they give you the change in the local currency not worth that much and hard to get rid of when you leave.
Kindness on a Rainy Countryside Day
On the second to last day, I hired a motorcycle early one morning to ride through the countryside, see the local farmers work in the field, the river, and through villages just doing their day to day things. I was thinking of going up to the last border, but about three hours into my ride the weather changed. It started to rain really hard. I was getting drenched, and then this farmer saw me from his hut. I was driving at about 20 kilometers an hour because of the stinging rain.
the farmer beckoned me inside his little hut out of the driving rain. Inside the hut was his wife, a girl child about five years old, and the wife’s mother. No one spoke English and I spoke no Khmer. His wife and her mother got my wet clothes off me, giggling and pointing at my semi naked frame. Now I am 185 centimeters tall, 95 kg at the time. For the non metric, that is six feet one inch and 220 pounds.
They gave me a blanket, and we all sat in the meal/sleeping/lounge area, and I was given some hot local tea which really hit the spot whilst my clothes dried out in front of the fire. We tried to communicate, pointing and talking about what we called things and listening to the Khmer music channel on his old TV. They tried to offer me food, but I indicated that I wasn’t hungry always wary of food in a foreign country.
The rain stopped about 90 minutes later, and I got my dry clothes back on. I tried to give them some money for the hospitality, but they wouldn’t take it.
Returning Kindness with a Gift Basket
I drove onto the next town about 20 minutes up the road. I saw that they had those gift packets that I had previously bought for the monk, so I bought one: a six pack of beer, a pack of cigarettes, and a pack of lollies for the daughter. It was getting late in the day, and I rode back to the farmhouse where I called out and the family came out. I gave them a wave and handed them the gift basket.
Grandma took the basket, grabbed the cigarettes, and packed her pipe immediately. I think I conveyed my appreciation that I was able to get out of the rain and potential downpour. There were such lovely people and just wanted to help despite the sheer poverty they lived in.
Trying Grasshoppers and Local Food
On the last night, James and I went to a local Khmer restaurant not one Westerner was there. We had another great meal there, but I was offered dry grasshoppers from a basket. Now at this time, everyone in the restaurant was watching me and the grasshoppers. I grabbed a large one, showed it around the table, and ate it. Crunchy on the outside and soft and squishy in the middle. I managed to keep it down while some of the locals clapped that I did it. I nearly downed a full bottle of Anchor to get the taste out of my mouth.
May and a Connection Without Words
Whilst we were eating, the waitress May a 35 year old ish woman was serving. A pretty little thing with very slim, long black hair, a great figure on her with really nice legs. She spoke English as well as I speak Khmer, which is to say none at all. She kept looking at me, smiling, fussing after me, and speaking to James the whole time and throwing me glances.
Finally, James told me that May was asking if I was single or had a girlfriend. She asked if she could spend time with me after work. She was a single mum with three young children at home. Her husband was killed in a car accident about three years before, and James knew her well and said that she had not had relations with a man since her husband was killed. She and her three children lived with her parents.
I told him I wasn’t looking for anything like that because I was off to Bangkok in the morning. He told me that she wasn’t expecting anything and she found me handsome and that she would like to spend the evening with me.
May came home with me. We had a great night together. We spent the night together and barely slept. We got along really well and I enjoyed the time with her.
The Morning After an Unintentional Insult
James came around the next morning to take me to the airport to go back to Bangkok. I gave May a hug and a kiss and then I tried to give her 50 US dollars so that she could buy herself something nice. She gave me this look apparently I had insulted her by offering her the cash. I tried to tell her through James that this was for her kids and to buy them something nice from me. She softened visibly, giving me another big hug and kiss, and we said goodbye.
I gave her a little local currency to get a local tuk tuk and returned to Bangkok to visit the other girls.
It’s been a few years, and I speak to James a few times a year. He always says that when he goes to the restaurant, May asks after me and if I’m coming back again.
I loved my trip to Cambodia and often think of May and what a great night we had. Too bad I didn’t meet her the first night whilst James showed me around town.
Reflections on Poverty Landmines and Dignity
The markets in the villages it was quite noticeable about so many middle aged and older people missing limbs due to the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge. There were still minefields in the outer areas. Farmers tried to get more land to farm and accidentally encroach on the landmines, and they go off often, killing people and mutilating others, killing their livestock, and they still have to make a living.
On the whole, most of these people want to earn money and not receive charity, so they sell all manner of things in and around town. James told me not to stop bartering for the item I wanted because of compassion, but to haggle over the price just like I would with an able person. It is still part of their culture to haggle over the price. The smiles I got from these people after I followed James’s recommendations was great.
