Love Stories From Nana Plaza
I never had the desire or interest to visit Thailand. It was never on my radar. In 2008 I was traveling in India for almost two months and ended up in Kathmandu Nepal with several friends. We were basically killing time there until our flight left. I talked to the airline to see if there was a possibility to change our reservation to leave a week earlier India can really weigh you down and I was worn out and ready to head back to the US. We were able to change our tickets to an earlier departure. The only problem or not a problem as it turns out was we had to catch a connecting flight in Bangkok. Two people in our party had booked flights straight through but I was on a standby flight.
Once we got to Bangkok someone suggested I just get a hotel room for one night and arrange another flight for the next day instead of waiting all day at the airport. At this point I really just wanted to go home and had zero interest in staying in Thailand. However I was tired and run down from India and I decided somewhat kicking and screaming to just get a hotel in Bangkok for a night and relax.
During the flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok I met an English guy on the plane and we chatted a bit. He was a nice guy with what seemed a lot of knowledge about Thailand. He was beginning a six month vacation there and had been there a few times before. After collecting my luggage which I had a lot of after collecting stuff in India as luck would have it I ran into him again in the taxi area at the airport and asked if he could recommend a good hotel for the evening. He said ‘Jump in with me and we can ride together into Bangkok.’ So I jumped in with him and ended up on a street called Soi 4. The taxi took us to several hotels but they were booked up. We finally ended up at the Nana Time Mansion at the end of Soi 4 before you enter the park.
Later for 10 years my wife and I would always stay there. I always felt comfortable there and after 10 years of my wife and I staying there the staff knew us well. It was also quiet and a good location to head out for shopping and restaurants.
Anyway we found a room there. I was dressed in cold weather clothes from traveling in the Himalayas and opening the door to go outside at the airport was a real shocker a wall of heat hit me like a freight train. I ran up to my room dropped off my luggage peeled off my sweater and ran back down to the travel agent in the lobby to book my flight out the next day. I was horrified to find there were no flights out for a week. I was stuck in Bangkok on this street called Soi 4 for a whole damn week. How horrible.
It was about two in the afternoon and I went back up to my room and passed out. I woke up around 7 PM somewhat disoriented. I got up to go out and get a bite to eat. What a strange new world I’d entered into. When we came in the afternoon it seemed like just the same as any other street but when I went out at night it was a whole other universe. I’d never experienced anything like this before. I walked down Soi 4 looking for some place to eat. The more I walked down Soi 4 the more amazed I was. What were these bars with all these lovely ladies? It seemed women were everywhere. Not having a clue about Thailand I was a kid in a candy shop. What a place.
Nana Plaza Temptation
I then made it down to Nana Plaza and crossed Sukhumvit to end up at an Arab restaurant a block or so away. I was married at the time 12 years to an Italian lady a beautiful wonderful woman. However we were in a somewhat sexless marriage for the past couple of years living more like brother and sister which seems to happen to me with women after a few years. The honeymoon is over and I get bored with the same woman after a while. Needless to say I was quite amazed and attracted to all these lovely women everywhere and the temptation got the better of me. That night I stopped in one of those massage parlors about halfway back to my room and ended up taking a girl back to my room for an hour or so of fun.
After all the years in a routine marriage the floodgates opened up and I spent the rest of my time in bliss. Quite a transition from going to a country I had zero interest in visiting to a wonderland of low hanging fruit heaven on earth.
Meeting Yip
The last night before leaving the next day I was walking back to the hotel and I came upon a strikingly beautiful woman working in a massage parlor. She was just standing at the front with several other women but something about her captivated me. After spending a week on Soi 4 I wasn’t shy and asked her if she could come to my room. She gave me the number to call her massage shop so I called and asked for her to come to my room. The manager sent the wrong girl and I had to call back and ask for Yip. Yip finally came and she was extremely shy and somewhat scared to come to a farang‘s hotel room. She had heard of bad things happening to girls in hotels on the news and was very apprehensive.
She was also very inexperienced in giving a massage she took a fast massage course about a week before. I later found out I was her first customer. This was her first night on the job.
Now I know what you are thinking I just fell for the story all the girls tell their customers. You will just have to take my word for it it’s true. As I later got to know her she spoke very little English and I tried to tell her I was leaving the next day. I took her downstairs and got her a taxi home. I still remember the look on her face as she drove off. What a special woman and I’d never see her again. Part of my heart left with her in that taxi. She later told me she came back to my hotel to see me but they told her I was gone. She cried for four days and told all her friends that I was her husband.
It turns out before we met she had gone to an astrologer and tarot card reader and the tarot card reader had told her that she would meet her husband soon. So when we met she was convinced I was the one the astrologer foretold would come. All this didn’t matter because I was back in the US with my wife with only fading memories of our one night together. I had cheated on my wife but I put it behind me and tried to forget about it.
The next year again I traveled to India and this time arranged my return flight through Bangkok. I again had a one week holiday. I saw Yip at the same massage parlor and actually avoided her because I knew if I made contact with her I couldn’t resist and it would be the end of my marriage and at that point I was trying to make things work with my wife. Yeah a few girls I knew I wouldn’t get attached to but I stayed away from Yip because that would be fatal.
The next year coming back from India I arranged to stop in Bangkok. This was 2010 I believe. At this point my Thai my Italian wife and I were going our separate ways and I had the feeling our marriage was near the end. I was walking down Soi 4 when out of nowhere Yip appeared standing outside her shop. She jumped over the flower bed to meet me. I said ‘I don’t know you.’ And her face lit up with joy. ‘You’re Michael’ she said. ‘I have prayed every day you would come back to me.’ I could no longer resist and I took her out. We spent a few days together and I hate saying it but I fell in love with her.
Yips Kindness After the ATM Mistake
She took me to her apartment. She lived near On Nut station and on her shrine was a necklace from Nepal I had given her the first time we met. She would ask every day when the owner of the necklace would come back to her. What were the chances our paths would meet again halfway around the world? I have a pretty good sense of people and can read them at first glance. I felt Yip was a genuine good honest girl. I told Yip to give me one year to sort things out with my wife. On the last day I brought Yip a computer so we could communicate. I went to an ATM to get the cash and I forgot to take my card out of the machine and it ate it. Once again that was the second time I did that in Thailand.
I had no money to pay my hotel or get a taxi to the airport. Yip to my surprise volunteered to pay my hotel bill quite a lot of money for her and got me to the airport not knowing if I was trustworthy or she’d never see me again. As soon as I got home I sent her the money and that kind of sealed our relationship and we began to talk on the internet.
Once home I asked my wife if she was happy in our marriage and she said no she wasn’t. Within a week my wife and I mutually agreed to go our separate ways after 13 years of marriage. I never mentioned I had met Yip. She left for Italy and two months later I flew back to Bangkok to tell Yip the good news I was free.
There was a severe travel warning issued by the State Department for Thailand right at the peak of the Red Shirt protests in May. I had left two months before right when the protest started then returned within days of it ending. Yip picked me up at the airport. We went out to the movies had dinner all the while Bangkok was burning. Right after that Bangkok was issued a curfew so we grabbed a cab and headed down to Hua Hin for a few days. When we returned to Bangkok the protests were over. We went to her mum’s house in Ubon Ratchathani and were married in the local Buddhist tradition. I had to give a dowry to save her family’s face but once the villagers saw I gave her mum a lot of money Yip collected it and gave it all back to me. It was just for show.
Yip’s mum has never once asked me for money and in fact I’ve had to at times insist she sent her money.
During this time I hired a lawyer to work out a fiancée visa which took about a year and a half. During that time I flew to Bangkok once every two months. I could never go through the whole visa thing again it was terrible. While waiting for the visa I sent Yip around fifteen hundred dollars a month as she quit her job. Before that she was a manager at S&P and then managed an import export business in the Big C that went ‘kaput’ as Yip would say. Yip was a hard worker and was now out of a job. At 37 years old a friend suggested she try massage and she said ‘No way.’ She had walked by the entertainment areas on her way to work and thought it was crazy. However her friend eventually convinced her to try it. At this point she was broke and had to do something.
Waiting for the Visa
She later told me she would cry every day during our visa wait.
I read many horror stories of Thai women scamming men and vice versa and at times I questioned her. However during the year and a half wait she proved to be honest and sincere. She never drank alcohol and hated the nightlife party scene. I never once caught her lying to me even to this day. She wouldn’t touch alcohol. She’s the exact opposite of most bar girls.
The visa finally came through and I flew over to pick her up. We flew back to America and Yip loves it here. In many ways for me America is a repressive place only because I grew up here. For Yip Thailand represents repression and her very difficult life there. America is freedom to her and Thailand is freedom to me. Yip started her own business here in America and as all Thais are she is a natural at business and trade. She isn’t happy unless she is making money in her shop. She’s the most honest woman I’ve ever met full of integrity and compassion for others less fortunate. After 12 years of marriage I trust her with my life.
Three years ago we built a house in Ubon Ratchathani. She didn’t really want to build a house there and said she did it for me as she wasn’t that excited to move back to her village after living in Bangkok and the US. I haven’t been to our finished house yet because right then the worldwide illness struck. We told her mum and sister and family to move in. My dream is to retire to Thailand but Yip wants to stay in the US. When we do move back to Thailand we’ll probably rent a place in Hua Hin as she won’t survive the village life at this stage and I probably couldn’t either. But at the end of the day we have a nice house there.
We have had a few ups and downs over the 12 years what married couple hasn’t? Our problems revolved around jealousy issues. It seems Thai women are naturally suspicious and jealous. I thought it was crazy because she is a beautiful woman and if anything I should be jealous of her. She will always be jealous and I suspect one reason she doesn’t want to move back to Thailand anytime soon is because she thinks I’ll run off with another Thai woman. She is 14 years younger than me I think that’s a good age difference. At 50 she looks like she is 28. She keeps my attention just fine. She was never a bar girl and was never attracted to that scene and got into the massage business late in her life.
I feel like I’m the real accidental tourist stumbling upon Thailand kicking and screaming without any preconceived notions to go there meeting the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. I believe in karma and so does Yip. Many forces were at work to bring us together. She continues to amaze me every day. So I hope this story is interesting to some. It could have been a disaster had it gone the other way. I was needless to say completely naive about scams and Thai girls but somehow it worked out.
A Successful Marriage With Yip
She has made many friends with Thai ladies here in town and it pretty much makes up our social life. She is a devout Buddhist and has a big heart. All the Thai women here have very good husbands that support them I don’t know of any bad relationships. Yip reads the Thai news of one bad thing after another happening to Thai women. I just tell her ‘Look around at your friends here they all have good marriages and stop reading the news. It’s always bad stories.’
So here’s my success story and that’s it.
Story Two A Look Back at 1980s Bangkok
I had a friend from the States who knew this expat who lived in Bangkok let’s call him Hugh though that’s not his real name. Upon arrival at the old Don Mueang Airport Hugh met me there drove me to the hotel and helped me check in and get settled. I had arrived late at night so for the next day I pretty much took it easy as I didn’t feel like going out as it was too hot.
Early that second night though Hugh took me to some bar in Patpong. There were all these different vendors in the middle of the street selling all kinds of stuff including bootlegged audio cassette tapes and VHS movies. I don’t remember exactly which bar he took me into but I was amazed at all of the beautiful girls in the club and these girls were not ladyboys from my memories. I’m guessing it was a go go bar. My friend said I should choose one I liked and she would go back with me to my hotel room and spend the night if I wanted. I kept thinking ‘How awesome is this?’ During those days I had little interest in so I asked him ‘How could I be sure the girl standing in front of me was not a ladyboy?’ At that point Hugh told the girl something in Thai.
She giggled and proceeded to grab my hand to check her. Then Hugh asked ‘Okay?’ The three of us laughed. When I think about it it still makes me laugh today.
To any viewers who would write in and say that she might have been a post op ladyboy I can say there was no evidence of that plus I don’t think the plastic surgeons during that time even in Thailand were as skilled as they are now. Also everything else was real if you know what I mean. I don’t know how much of a tip it was for the whole night and into the next day because Hugh paid for everything. I found out later that Hugh and my friend in the States were business partners. Anyway all Hugh told me to do was to give her some money to take the tuk tuk home in the morning. I forgot how much I gave her but it wasn’t much. I don’t remember motorbike taxis back then.
After that experience I ended up going by myself and was bar fining different girls in different bars around Patpong. I never got to see any of the other areas in Bangkok. One thing that sticks in my memory was that most Thai girls during those days had very thick eyebrows. I still see some of them do today but most have gone to a Western style with thinner eyebrows.
While in Bangkok I took in a soapy massage that Hugh had recommended. What a sight to see all those girls in a fishbowl and many of them waving at me to get my attention. That was the first time with the inflatable mattress. Frankly I didn’t find the girls that exciting because my girl was bathing me quite vigorously and after a while it became painful. I told her to stop whereupon she rinsed me off and then we had some aerobics. All in all not the greatest experience. Perhaps that’s why I don’t really go to any of those soapy places now when I visit Thailand but I might try one again on this next trip to see if anything has changed.
Fishing Outside Bangkok
Hugh also took me to this great fishing place outside of Bangkok that he was a member of. I think it was only about 15 to 20 minutes from the hotel. It was this huge lake with small open walled shacks almost like a big bus stop shelter. If we wanted anything like a beer or food or anything else we would ring a bell and a kid would come running from across a pond. There were no cell phones or intercom systems. Most of the fish don’t ask me what kind were huge slightly shorter than a meter in length and 20 centimeters wide.
The setup when you caught a fish which was pretty much guaranteed because they kept the pond stocked you had three choices you could either take it home have them cook it however you wanted it or weigh it and throw it back in to which they would credit you so many Baht per kilo. Then at the end of the stay they would add up what you drank and what you ate deducted the money made if any. Pretty sweet. I don’t know whether they’d have given you the excess money if you didn’t spend that much but it was really fun.
That trip was both eye opening and left me with a very positive impression that I still have today. It took me decades before returning which was the first story I submitted about my positive encounters. I’m really looking forward to returning before the end of the year.
Story Three The Weird Story About a Girl I Met on Tinder
I live and work in the Middle East but I fly back to Thailand once a year to see my mum. It was two weeks into my trip when I decided to get on Tinder since I was bored at home. I was swiping through many profiles until I matched with a girl called Ann. Ann was a beautiful girl with short brown hair braces and light skin complexion which I really liked as many cute Thai guys do. She was from Khon Kaen in Isaan and in her mid 20s but lives in Bangkok and works in an office. She isn’t a bar girl or a working girl. We started to talk and got along quite well. She seemed like an innocent girl from the way she talked but there was something about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. But we talked for a few days anyway.
One week before I was due to fly back to the Middle East I decided to go into Bangkok to do some shopping for my trip back because my friends back in the Middle East wanted me to get them some t shirts and clothes. I was talking to Ann in the afternoon when she was about to finish her work at around 530. I told her that I was planning to go to the MBK Mall to do some shopping. At this point me and Ann still hadn’t met and she was always busy with work every day and I was at my home with my mum in Lat Krabang which is about 30 minutes from central Bangkok. She said that she was free after her work so we decided to meet up.
I got ready and took the Airport Rail Link into Bangkok and the BTS directly to the MBK Mall. I got there and took a stroll around the mall looking for clothes and things to take back for my friends. Ann text me and said ‘Where are you? I’m here next to McDonald’s.’ I walked for a few minutes trying to find the McDonald’s as I haven’t been to the MBK Center for a few years. I finally found the McDonald’s and could see Ann from a distance and my was she gorgeous. My heart was pounding stronger as I approached her. We met and smiled at each other and I was talking in Thai and joked about trying to find each other. She was way better looking than in the pictures. Everything about her was perfect in my eyes as she was exactly my type.
She was wearing a short skirt white sneakers and a suit top. I thought it was a bit weird that she wore a quite revealing skirt because she worked in an office for a company. I asked her ‘How can you wear a skirt that is that short for work?’ She replied to me ‘It’s okay for me many of my co workers and my boss allow us as the dress code wasn’t that strictly enforced.’ I didn’t quite think anything of it so we continued. We were holding hands and walking and stopped at a shop and I bought some t shirts for my friends. We then decided to go grab a bite to eat and went to a restaurant. We sat down and had some nice dinner and talked. She said that she needed to go back to her condo to do some leftover work and meet her sister that was staying with her.
So I said ‘Let’s meet again tomorrow.’
At this point I was very happy and I was falling for her even though we’d just met for the first time.
Dinner and Rooftop Drinks With Ann
The following day we met up at Siam Paragon shopping mall and went for dinner at a Japanese restaurant. The food was quite nice and we talked more. When we finished we got the bill and I was ready to pay. She got out 1000 Baht and placed it on the table. I told her ‘What are you doing? I got the bill.’ She insisted on paying which I think was odd but nevertheless I would never let her pay for her dinner since it wasn’t right and I was quite well off at the time so I paid the bill and we left.
We decided to go for a drink so we got on the BTS and Ann said she saw a bar on Facebook that she thought was nice a great place to take photos. We got to Sukhumvit Soi 32. The place was called Million Space Bar it was a space themed rooftop bar with great atmosphere. We got to the bar and chose the uppermost table with a stunning view of the skyline and BTS trains passing by. We ordered a few drinks which were amazing got quite drunk and took some pictures and selfies. We were getting very physical and sitting very close to each other and I couldn’t resist we made out. Suddenly we could hear people coming up the steps. We were at the upper level of the bar where there were three tables.
It was a group of ladies that from my guess just finished from a club and decided to come to the bar to continue their night out. We stopped kissing as us both being Thai it was inappropriate to kiss in public. At that point we didn’t want the night to end and with us being both drunk we decided to find a hotel room for the night because we couldn’t go to each other’s rooms her sister stayed with her and I stayed with my mum. So we got a room for the night not far in Sukhumvit. We got to the room and had a great aerobic session but with some strange things that I cannot say because of YouTube.
But let’s just say that she liked and wanted hardcore things which I was stunned about as I have not been with any girl that was into that sort of stuff before. We slept until the morning and woke up around 8 AM. We were talking about how much fun last night was and how much we liked each other. She said that she had something to tell me. I told her ‘Yes.’
She said that she wanted to be completely honest with me because she feels great around me and that we had a good connection. Now this is when things got weird for me. She said that she had a child from a previous boyfriend (which is fine) he was very abusive towards her and that she did not want to be with a guy that was abusive. I assured her I would never be abusive and that I wasn’t like that. She said ‘I have a confession about my past. If you can handle it then we could be together. If you’re not serious or embarrassed about it then…’ So I told her ‘What?’
She explained to me that a few years ago she had been in a few adult films that were quite famous on websites and was even shared around in the Line group chats for a while. She said she had been in the adult films because at the time she was young and needed the money. She then pulled out a photo from her wallet it was a photo of her with a guy in a scene. She was younger and her hair was longer back then. At this point I couldn’t say anything it was like the whole world had stopped spinning. The girl that I liked and thought to have a relationship just crumbled. I didn’t know what to say. I don’t even know why she had shown me the photo.
Leaving the Tinder Relationship
She told me that the videos were made a long time ago and that she would never be in one again. I just wanted to leave right there and then.
We checked out of the hotel because she needed to go to work and I needed to return home. When I got back home I couldn’t take in what happened I was constantly thinking about it. We talked that afternoon but I did not mention the story and talked as if everything was normal. A few days later I text her and said I’m leaving back to the Middle East in a few days and that I did not want to continue the relationship. She respected the decision and I told her we could remain being friends.
I don’t know what other guys would have done in this situation. Maybe some guys could handle it but I couldn’t. Nevertheless Ann was a nice girl and we had an amazing time together and kept in touch even after I got back. It just goes to show you that even if you think you have met the right girl sometimes it’s just not meant to be.
Story Four The Noodle Stand A Short Success Story
I came to Thailand in 2009 after serving four years in Iraq with the US Army. That was my final assignment at which point I retired. I was single aged 59 and decided on Thailand because the military had deployed me there numerous times on short assignments during my 30 year career and it was my favorite country anywhere hands down. So I came to Pattaya with the goal of meeting and marrying a beautiful Thai lady. I believed in the principle of ‘choose wisely my son’ so I did not date bar girls.
Financially I had a military pension and would soon qualify for Social Security monthly checks so money was not an issue. I enjoyed walking the streets of Pattaya daily chatting with locals but did not find that special lady for five months. I passed this streetside noodle stand often and one day the elderly female cook/owner stopped me and told me her daughter was interested in dating me. I thought the lady was joking smiled and continued walking. Her 28 year old daughter worked with her and was absolutely stunning but I truly didn’t think she was serious.
Two weeks later fortunately for me that same lady stopped me again to say her daughter was still interested. Really? I couldn’t believe it. We set up a cinema dinner date and that was the start of true magic. We married six months later had a son two years after that. Today we’ve been married for over 12 years. In a land of hundreds of absolutely incredible attractive Thai ladies patience is important. If you find the right one you wake up every morning knowing you’re in paradise.”And the couple at the beginning as well that worked out as well.
