Phuket Tinder and a Hijacked Vacation

I want to start with a short backstory. I began my love of traveling to Asia about five years ago when I traveled to China on a few business trips and a few times for vacation. Before I took my first trip I learned that I would need to set up a WeChat profile to make friends there and be able to keep in touch.

On my first trip I had been recently divorced and was eager to meet some local women. I’m 40 years old now and if I might be so bold to say a decent looking guy. When I’ve approached women in my range I haven’t had too many problems dating in the U.S. I do want to be married again someday but haven’t considered meeting a wife in Asia up until this point. I just don’t have the ability to stay abroad long enough to build that level of a relationship.

During a visit to a tea shop I met a girl and we became very close. She accompanied me on every trip when I came back to her country and we are still friends. These experiences helped me a lot on my first trip to Thailand.

When back in the States I would occasionally use the ‘shake’ function on WeChat where it will connect two users that are shaking their phones at the same time. This is where I met my first friend in Thailand. Her name is Bun. She was nice to talk to and we would chat often. I later learned that she had some experience in massage parlors when she posted pictures of massage girls and invited people to come and visit her shop. She may have been like a mamasan or something who knows. She would also post some cooking pictures from her hometown where she said she owned a little restaurant.

Both her as well as a colleague of mine would often encourage me to take a trip to Thailand and I thought it would be perfect for my 40th birthday. I built my trip for February of 2022 to Phuket under the sandbox program. I asked Bun if she would like to come to Phuket show me around and go on some tourist activities with me. We planned that she would come for two nights over the weekend. She agreed and booked her own hotel room. She was supposed to travel back home for work on the third day.

The Pickpocket

On the 25th of February I arrived and walked around the town and stopped for a Nuru massage. The crazy part was after dark. I was walking around and drinking along the Beach Road on the side with the shops. An older lady came out of nowhere and grabbed my privates aggressively over my shorts with one hand while taking my wallet with the other hand. Luckily I’m fairly street smart and I knew something was wrong. As we know usually the woman will just grab your wrist and pull you in their direction.

I tried to continue walking and she let go of me. I immediately checked for my wallet and it was gone. She only had time to take a step behind me and I turned and said ‘Hey.’ I knew that making a big scene was not a good idea and I didn’t know what was about to happen. Thankfully I believe she thought I was drunk because she wouldn’t get caught but as soon as she was busted she smiled at me reached into her purse and gave me back my wallet. I smiled back at her with a look like ‘You almost got me.’ I jumped to myself thinking ‘Wow in Thailand even the pickpockets are friendly.’

Tinder and Tang

After stopping for a few drinks I went back to rest. The second day I opened Tinder and started swiping. I didn’t rule out paid companionship but I thought I’d see if I could match with someone and try a date. Very quickly I realized that there was an endless number of women on the dating site so I could date while I was in town.

I matched with a woman named Tang. She is an elementary school teacher. After chatting for a few minutes we planned to have lunch together that same day. We had a nice time in a beach restaurant. She asked me if I was looking for a wife in Thailand and I said no just something casual. I wanted to be honest.

After the day I was unsure on the customs so I went with my experience in China. The local girls appreciated when I wasn’t aggressive on a first date just be friendly be honest and have a good time. Then the second day everything was on the table. Most girls just want to know you’re respectful and they can feel safe.

After my date with Tang I said I wanted to see her again and she wanted to see me as well. She said she had to tutor some students online and has her computer with her if she can come to my hotel she would work for a while and we could go out again in the evening. I can’t remember if we ate dinner but I guess we did. I remember we went to an Australian bar and played pool and drank. We then went dancing and had a lot more drinks before some aerobics and she spent the night.

The Hijacking

I expected Bun the next evening and I felt like I could sleep in and tell Tang goodbye properly. Things rarely go to plan. Before I got my coffee Bun text me around 30 minutes earlier and said she was on the bus and wanted to know where I was. I looked back at Tang and thought to myself ‘This might not end well.’

I asked Bun ‘What bus? Are you going to the airport?’ She said ‘To the hotel.’ The airport to Patong is about an hour that’s when I began to panic. She would arrive in about 30 minutes. I told Bun that I wasn’t in my room and I was getting breakfast and going shopping a rare lie on my part but I was desperate.

Thankfully she wasn’t planning to come to my room she was heading to her hotel which was about five minutes from mine. Since I was up and making coffee Tang woke up and I told her I needed to go shopping. She was cool got ready to go. This would be the second time luck saved my trip.

I was able to shower and meet Bun later that day. I was planning to only spend two days with her and then I could go off on my own another plan that didn’t work out. Bun decided to close her restaurant and planned to stay five days and offered to stay longer if I wanted. I was a little upset but Thailand had been great to me so far so I put on a smile and tried to enjoy the moment.

Since we had met in person for the first time and we were getting along well I asked her if she would like to cancel her room and stay in my room. She asked ‘What do you want?’ I told her ‘Nothing serious I’m not here to find a wife.’ She agreed and moved into my room.

We spent the next few days having fun on some excursions and daily aerobics. Even though she basically hijacked most of my vacation I had a lot of that girlfriend experience we all love and I had a great time.

The Last Day

The morning before my last day in Thailand Bun went home and I was able to try and meet someone new. I began to swipe and match with a local girl named Ann she works as a flight attendant. We planned to meet for lunch. The funny thing was she recommended the same beach restaurant as Tang so I suggested somewhere else. She was the most beautiful woman I’d gone out with so far but unfortunately she already had plans that night and was disappointed that I was leaving in the morning. She was cool and we’re still friends.

Later that day I matched with another girl and talked about meeting later that evening. After dinner I thought I would wait in a go go bar while I made plans. I don’t remember her name. Some guy that worked there came up to me and said ‘No phone.’ I said ‘I’m texting my friend’ and he said ‘No phone again.’ I left that place. The bar next door invited me in and I asked them ‘Can I text?’ They said yes but no photos.

I was unprepared for the mamasan. She was working me hard for a sale and asking what I like. All I said was ‘petite.’ She introduced me to a girl that she recommended and said she’d only just started a few days before and only had one or two customers. I don’t remember exactly what it was I didn’t believe her but later I was thinking that she did seem kind of new.

I paid the bar fine and we left. We went dancing for a while and the whole time this girl was doing tequila shots. She also asked if I had paid the bar fine paying the mamasan which I said I had. She was texting the mamasan and trying to negotiate with me using very few words. She only asked like two times lower than the price and on the second time I kindly refused. The mamasan ended up showing up anyway I guess she was there for moral support and the free drinks. It might also be the fact that I overpaid for the first girl I’m embarrassed to say but it was 500 US dollars. I should have negotiated but it was my last day and I still had travel money to spend.

The new girl spoke very little English and we just drank and danced. The mamasan gave me some encouragement and left after some time. After the mamasan left we went to my place for the night. Another sign she might have been new was she couldn’t hold her drink she threw up several times in the bathroom. I was a good guy I held her hair out of the way and got her some water. She just kept saying ‘You take care me I take care you’ in the cutest voice. We went to sleep after some aerobics.

All in all I had a good time and I left in the morning. I can’t wait to go back and I’ve already booked my next trip.