Dating Apps in Thailand and Vietnam A Minefield of Scams
My first experience in Pattaya was in 2022
My first experience in Pattaya was in 2022 with a friend of mine who I work with. We agreed to scour this foreign land of Thailand to see what all the hype was about. Since we are true nomads and had already explored and conquered all of Cuba Brazil and the Dominican Republic to name a few needless to say I was not new to travel and had extensive experience with what goes on at night in many of these countries.
Upon our arrival to Thailand my friend caught the eye of some American woman they hooked up and he basically abandoned all of our initial plans to explore Pattaya (in brackets foolish him). So there I was in my hotel room by myself with two options either I wait until my friend was done with his bad decision or I figure out this town on my own.
Well needless to say I put on a pair of comfortable walking shoes and I hit the pavement harder than a 747 operated by Spirit Airlines. I walked with no idea of where I was going and just freely enjoyed all of what the area of Pattaya had to offer. I ventured out for about 3 hours going from street to street stopping at a few bars along the way just to quench my thirst because despite the fact that it was 1000 p.m. in Thailand it still felt hot as if it was 1200 noon.
Discovering Pattaya Walking Street at Night
On that night I discovered a few local spots but still wasn’t satisfied as I knew Thailand had much more to give than that. So I made my way to Walking Street after asking random English speaking pedestrians for directions. I walked up and down Walking Street but still didn’t see anything that met my standards. So I decided to start walking back to my hotel.
Just as I began walking down Beach Road there she was. A stunning beauty with long jet black hair about 5’4″ in height an hourglass shaped figure with loads of upfront entertainment if you know what I mean. We immediately caught each other’s eye and I gave her the nod indicating to come and walk with me. She wasted no time. I must admit I may be 50 years old but I enjoy dressing well and I’m a gym rat so usually I pass for someone in their mid 30s.
She told me that her name was Som and she was 24 years old. Som spoke very good English which was a plus for me on this first venture. Som was upfront and told me her price for short or long time to which I said “We will determine later.”
Getting Along With Som
Som and I appeared to get along well as we did not experience any awkward moments of silence or uncertainty. I was surprised that nothing about this young lady set off any alarm bells. I interview people daily for a living so over the course of time I have learned to read people very quickly.
We eventually made it back to my hotel and she immediately disrobed to get in the shower. The aerobic session with Som was beyond all of my expectations. At this point I realized that I had something that I wanted to enjoy a little further that night. Som also expressed that she did not want to go home and preferred to stay with me so we agreed to a reasonable price for her time.
The next morning I gave Som a little money for which she showed much appreciation and even began to cry tears of joy. I had done tons of research ahead of time and already knew the going rates in order to avoid getting taken advantage of so all was well with her financial agreement. It seemed like she was just happy that I wasn’t some nasty overweight guy that was trying to take advantage of her.
Som Offers to Help With the Laundry
Som said that she wanted to come back and was willing to take all of my dirty clothes to have them cleaned when she went home. I was shocked when she expressed this but this was a type of treatment and cooperative behavior that I was yearning for which our American counterparts refuse to even consider. Later that evening Som came back with all my dirty clothes (in brackets underwear and all) fully dry cleaned and she expressed that she was ready to stay with me for as long as I liked.
I was happy with this arrangement as I really just wanted a true girlfriend experience while here in Thailand. Som stayed with me for over a week and she escorted me around Pattaya. I forgot to mention that Som told me that she had a vehicle but I later realized that it was a 2021 Nissan like SUV which she would use to drive me all over Pattaya. I felt like my life could not get any better for me. I really enjoyed having Som as my personal tour guide as she was a true stunner and everyone just looked at us when we entered a restaurant or bar that she knew.
One afternoon Som told me that she had some place special that she knew I would really like and she took me for a slow drive through Soi 6. I was in awe as I could not believe what I was seeing and told her that we immediately had to bring my friend there because it was unlike anything I ever saw before. Needless to say when my doopy friend was released from his room because the dragon from the US was returning home he couldn’t believe all that he had missed. I was really annoyed at him and wondered how could he fly for 12 hours to Thailand in order to mess around with something he could have found up the street from his house in the US.
When the Meeting Goes Wrong
He constantly looked at Som and asked “How did you get so lucky to find this one?” I would just tell him that I walked for hours to find what I was looking for.
Som and I would eventually bring him to Soi 6 where he would bar fine a pretty young thing but she was nothing in comparison to my Som.
Anyway the week long vacation eventually came to an end and Som offered to drive me and my friend back to the airport in her car. The drive was a little rough due to the crazy driving patterns but she drove like a racing driver and got us there in no time. Som gave me a great experience and I will never forget it.
Keeping in Touch With Som
Som and I keep in touch every so often but I’m not going to sponsor anyone overseas so obviously that put a damper on any hopes of receiving income based off my hard work in the US. I am returning to Thailand for Songkran 2024 but I will not be looking to connect with Som even though I know any subsequent experience there will never compare to my first trip. I am not looking to fall in love as I have experienced many females trying to play the long game with me and I already know what that’s all about.
Such is life. I’m really looking forward to my next adventure nevertheless. I just wanted to share my experience so others can learn that they can enjoy themselves here in Pattaya even if they are alone. I also want the viewers to see that some of the girls there are not money hungry vultures. Some of them just want to be treated with a little decency and compensated for their time since they are poor and this is the hand that life has dealt them.
Story 2 The Characters of Pattaya Fantasists Liars and Bar Girl Rules
This is more my initial impressions of Pattaya years ago and its inhabitants than the usual crash and burn story. It must have been early in the 2000s the first time I visited Pattaya. At the time my friend from back home had been living there for a year after somehow wangling a job teaching business people in Laem Chabang how to speak English. This was a bit of a surprise as he was not exactly what I would have considered academically gifted and an even bigger surprise was that he had somehow become fluent in Thai conversation almost instantly. I guess he must have had a hidden gift for languages.
At the time he rented a condo in View Talay which had quite a few expat types as neighbors most of whom I got to know reasonably well over the next couple of years. It’s fair to say that these guys were all characters and I would also say that most of them were bigger fantasists liars and more delusional than your average bar girl.
First off there was Pavel. I think he was Czech mid 30s. Spent his mornings jogging his afternoons lifting weights. He made his cash by buying pharmaceutical products from Thailand and selling them back home. He thought because he was youngish and fit that he was more desirable to bar girls. The reality was they were attracted to him due to his lucrative supplement sideline.
Peter and the Stories He Told
And then there was Peter early 50s from London. He liked to pretend he had a secretive past hinting that he could never go back to the UK due to unspecified crimes. In truth he was a retired civil servant who had sold and inherited property and moved to a country where he could sit and drink beer all day without the stigma. The more he drank the taller the stories became.
Charles a middle aged French or Belgian guy who got up to some slightly bizarre activities involving suitcases of dressing up outfits and a steady stream of bar girls. Nobody was too sure what he got up to or what went on but speculation was rampant.
Then there was Tony about mid 30s posh Home Counties England accent. I think he was a retired RAF man. He too was a little too fond of an afternoon beer or two but was generally good company.
Justin Keeps His Past Private
Justin a Londoner mid 50s who never ever revealed anything personal and was adept at changing the subject whenever discussing the past. In the Land of Lies he was likely the one with a hidden past.
There was also a Dutch guy who spent a lot of time going to Cambodia and had tastes that were a little weird for most people’s likings so the less about him the better.
These guys along with my friend indoctrinated me into the ways of Pattaya the bro science as it were of the customs rules and etiquette of the beer bar world. I think it’s funny that almost a quarter of a century later these rules are still the same and pretty much the language the stories don’t change much either. Guys are having exactly the same experiences and dramas back there too.
Keeping Pattaya Relationships Businesslike
Being naturally cynical I knew even then that if you keep everything strictly business it’s all good fun. These were still the “sick water buffalo” days of Pattaya and I could not believe people fell for those sob stories. It might be slightly more sophisticated these days but it’s still the romance scam capital of the world.
Anyway being in my mid 20s at that point in my life I was more interested in drinking partying and pursuing backpacker girls than the beer bar scene but I did occasionally dabble. I think Soi 2 or Soi 3 were the places to go in those days but I gather that’s all taken down now.
I don’t really have any bad bar girl stories but I do remember they were often quite hard to get rid of the next day and would even seek me out when they found out I was in town again. In the days before smartphones the bar girl telegraph system was highly efficient.
Returning to Thailand Over the Years
I still go to Thailand every few years. I never did fall in love with a bar girl but I did fall head over heels in love with the country. Nowadays it’s about staying off the booze extreme fitness and adventure activities and I haven’t been to a beer bar in almost 20 years.
Story 3 The Tequila Warning A Passed Out Girl and a Morning Flight
I’ve recently been listening to some of your viewer stories and see this as a good service to both newbies and as fun listening for those with more experience. I want to share a story I hope people can learn from.
I have been located in Asia since the early ’90s and made my first trip to Thailand in 1991. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that I took a girl out of a bar. It started off fairly tame but became a slippery slope. By 2010 I was going two or three times a year for a week to 10 days to Thailand. During my stays I would take different go gos out of bars most nights. I rarely took the same go go twice as I was not really interested in a short term girlfriend experience while on holiday.
The Canadian Traveler Explains
I should mention that I am a Canadian and was a young looking guy in those days for being in my mid 50s. Anyway I learned a lot through trial and error about how to increase one’s chances of having a good experience with a girl. I learned to not go to the bar too late not to drink too much and to vet the girl before taking her out of the bar. By “vet” I mean buy her a drink check out her English and more importantly check out whether there was some chemistry between you some attraction and potential for being a fun girl.
I have been with some of the most beautiful women in the world at any one point in time. After meeting a girl I would often delay going to the hotel so we could play a bit of pool or have a bite somewhere and have a drink to get relaxed.
The above is a background for my next story. The story I want to tell you is about a particular girl and what I learned from it.
The Last Night Before an Early Flight
This was 2013 or so and it was my last night in Bangkok with a flight at 900 a.m. the next day so I would need to wake up at 500 a.m. so it shouldn’t be a late one. So I went to Nana Plaza visiting Rainbow 1 and it was fairly early. I met a beautiful girl that I quite liked. We left and she wanted to visit another bar before heading to my hotel. I said okay and we went to Rainbow 4. She wanted a tequila shot and I said okay. And then she had another maybe one more. I was wondering if this was a good idea but decided to trust that she knew how much alcohol was good for her.
She hadn’t seemed drunk when we left Rainbow 1 but she was pretty wobbly now. We took a taxi to my hotel and we were rolling around a bit as she had been dancing. She asked me if she could use the shower and I said yes no problem. She suddenly slips and hits the back of her head on the tub and starts moaning and there is some blood oozing out of her head. I get her into the room apply pressure to her head and suddenly she’s out like a light. I shake her a bit and she won’t wake up.
A Difficult Decision Before the Airport
I sat back and thought about the situation. I could have a passed out girl in my room. I could have a dead girl on my hands. And I have to head to the airport in a few hours. Not good. What to do right?
She was breathing slightly and so I just waited it out. To make a long story short she woke up and was a bit grumpy about her head but was very professional about it all if you catch my drift. Boy was I glad to see her walk out that door.
Moral of the story? Yeah a bit of alcohol can help them loosen up and enjoy the experience. But when you don’t know how much they have had to drink before you meet them or know how well they know their own tolerance for alcohol best to err on the side of caution. I won’t make these mistakes again but maybe some new ones I suppose.
