The Drink Spike on Bangla Road

I wanted to share an experience I had in Phuket two years ago. My parents live in Phuket so I normally visit during the holidays every year. I come back to train at a Thai gym where I meet many different people from around the world.

I went to Kudo Beach to have dinner and have some drinks with friends that I had met in the gym before going to Bangla Road. After eating we went to a bar to grab some more drinks. We were the only ones at the bar as it was early January and this was when COVID was getting bad but bars and clubs were still open. The owner of the bar let us play our own music and we were singing the night away having a great time.

After an hour or two we continued walking along Bangla Road and went bar hopping. As we made our way into one particular bar I saw a girl who I thought was very attractive. As I walked past her to go to the bar we made very long eye contact the type of eye contact that suggested she wanted me to come to her and ask her to dance. But I continued to walk past her and rejoin my friends as I saw something that looked a bit suspicious. She was with a very skinny pale Thai guy who was standing right beside her. They didn’t look like they were in a relationship. She was far too pretty to be with him but I was skeptical.

I decided to go back to our table and continue drinking with my friends. As I walked back to our table I made very long eye contact with her once again. I looked at her and shook my head at her indicating to follow me. She came over to me but not alone. The other guy came over which I thought was really weird. But they both seemed very friendly. It was too loud to actually hear anything they were saying and I was too drunk to take anything in anyway.

After chatting to this girl for a while I gently grabbed her hand and asked her if she wanted to dance. She nodded her head indicating to the guy she was with. I realized at this point that they were probably a couple. And as much as I wanted to pull her aside and dance with her I didn’t want to make any trouble. I left them alone and went and found my friends who had a table at the front and were dancing with some girls they had met. I joined in the dancing with the girls and a few minutes after I instantly knew something was not quite right. So I turned to my friend and I told him I think someone has spiked my drink.

My head was spinning I couldn’t really walk. They took me to the toilet where I started throwing up. They called a cab for me and I remember trying to unlock my phone but I wasn’t able to enter my password as everything was too blurry. The taxi driver finally arrived at my home. The driver said something to me and as I went to say ‘drop me off here’ I found it difficult to speak. I couldn’t put a sentence together as I was slurring my words. The taxi driver got very frustrated so he just told me to leave. I managed to make it back to the house safely and couldn’t thank my friends enough for helping me back home. I had to stay at home for five days to completely recover. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

Realizing the Drink Was Spiked

The following week I went back to the gym with my friends. After training we sat down and recorded everything that had happened that night. My friend who booked the taxi to get me home safely recalled that the Thai guy who was with the girl was talking to at the back of the bar may have poured something into my drink. It was the same pale skinny guy I thought was suspicious. I remember having a bad gut feeling about him and should have followed my gut instincts. I was way too drunk to realize it at the time but it all made sense and it validated what happened. I asked him why he didn’t tell me at the time. He thought that we had known each other. I completely understood as I remember this pale Thai guy being very friendly.

Till this day I don’t know what they spiked my drink with and I don’t know what their plans were but probably to get me outside and to rob me. I wanted to share my story as I’ve grown up in Phuket and these things happen all the time where pretty girls will bait travelers to spike their drink. I guess they intended to get me outside as I’ve said but I was lucky. Just be careful guys when you’re on Bangla Road.

Story Two A Thai Police Encounter Buying Lunch for the Officer

I remembered an incident I had in Thailand. I was preparing to leave Thailand to return to the States for medical appointments. I had some errands to run so left in my truck by myself. I was driving on a highway and traffic was not very busy but I still tried to be observant while driving. I needed to move over to the left lane to go under a bridge and make a U turn. My wife had stayed at home so I was driving alone.

I looked at my side mirror and I saw no traffic put on my turn signal and as I moved over I heard a noise. A motorcycle had come up in the lane very quickly and had impacted my left front tyre. It didn’t do any damage to my truck but his motorcycle had crashed. I could have driven on and probably not have ever been found out but I stopped and went back to check on the guy on the motorcycle. Luckily he wasn’t badly injured but his helmet had been cracked in two and came off his head but it saved his life.

The police and ambulance showed up and the medics treated him at the scene and left. The police told us to meet them at the police station. I called my wife and told her what had happened and had her call the insurance company. The insurance agent showed up at the police station about the same time as my wife arrived. He talked to the guy on the motorcycle then he came over and talked to me. I told him what had happened. He said he believed me as my story seemed more realistic than what the motorcycle driver had told him.

He then talked to the police and came back to me. He explained the insurance would pay for the damage to the motorcycle the hospital bill for the motorcycle driver and the driver’s salary for his time off work to recover and get his motorcycle repaired. But the police wanted to state that I was responsible for the accident as a charge 500 Baht for a police report and didn’t feel the Thai guy would have 500 Baht and that I would. He then asked if I was willing to pay the 500 Baht for the police report. Also during this time the police had never asked for my passport and had trusted me to go to the police station on my own. I had only four hours before my flight so told him I would gladly pay the 500 Baht.

I’m writing this story in defense of the police as I feel they do an excellent job in Thailand and want to commend them for the jobs they do. I have been stopped in Bangkok a few times for traffic infractions. I will talk with the officer and then give him 200 Baht. I do not feel I was scammed as I’m sure going to court would cost me more than 200 Baht and I like to feel I’m just buying lunch for the officer that day as I believe like most police officers they are generally underpaid for doing a thankless but necessary job.

Story Three The Tinder Twist and a Night in Nana

My story will start off in 2021 after a breakup . I was 35 at the time. I don’t consider myself ugly and when I lived in Los Angeles I never had a tough time getting women. Then I moved to a smaller city recently for work and the dating pool became single mothers who were always extremely bitter. So I downloaded Tinder.

I happened to be scrolling on Tinder and a random Thai girl was using the ‘explorer’ option. The explorer option lets you change your location so you can look for someone in a different area. I did not know this at the time and we matched. I am familiar with dating Thais I lived by Thai Town in Los Angeles and my ex was born in America but her parents were from Isaan. That’s a long way to say I matched with that woman and decided that I was going to Thailand and hopefully I would find myself a nice wife.

I ended up going and buying the Tinder Gold and talking to a few girls. It took about two months and I found the girl of my dreams. She was born in central Thailand. We spoke two or three times a day doing video calls. My original plan was to buy a plane ticket eight months later when tickets were cheap. Instead the girl asked me to hurry up and buy my tickets so I could speed up the process. I bought a ticket three months out and I felt that this was a good compromise. She agreed.

After talking on the phone for about nine weeks multiple times a day she suddenly stopped texting me and didn’t answer my calls. I knew something horrible had to have happened because there was no good reason for her not to respond. A few more weeks ticked by and finally I saw that she had posted a picture on her Instagram page of her and an older foreign guy with hearts all over it. I couldn’t believe it I had been tricked.

Fast forward to February 2022. I’m getting on the aircraft for Thailand not knowing what I’ll be doing and with who. After not sleeping on the aircraft (because I gave up my window seat for an aisle seat big mistake because everybody bumps into you constantly) I get to Bangkok airport and being completely out of it I try to figure out how to get my pre booked taxi to my day one quarantine hotel. It wasn’t easy. When I finally found my driver and got to the hotel took my test and I just crashed out as I was now exhausted.

Sometime the next day after sleeping I messaged a girl named Oh who I had chatted with on and off but only as friends but I knew she really liked me. So I messaged her while waiting for my results for my test. The whole testing thing was a nightmare. I originally bought tickets when it was Test & Go in January. Oh almost instantly messaged me back and was excited to hear from me but she didn’t believe I was in Bangkok. Oh is from Isaan dark skinned kind of short and had long jet black hair all things I find pretty attractive.

Meeting Oh Near Nana Plaza

Well after all the backstory and buildup while talking to Oh she said we should get something to eat and I’m someone who always has room for a little more good food. She said she was working until 1030 PM but she could meet me after she finished work. We arranged to meet at a street market near Nana Plaza. The BTS train from Bang Na would take her about 20 minutes to get to Nana. Since I figured I would not get there until about 1025 or 1040 I would just get there at 10 past 10 to check out the area and see what’s going on. I was still pretty unclear what a night market was like and was excited to see one. In America they’re typically called swap meets and it’s usually held during the day.

The taxi driver looks at me and asks if I really wanted to get out of the taxi at Nana and I said ‘Yes of course I do.’ I didn’t want to be judgmental but it seemed very similar to when I lived in Hollywood kind of dirty and a lot of scantily clad ladies and surprisingly tons of guys in all the bars. So I went into a 7 Eleven grabbed a drink and walked along in the same direction as the train girls. I have no idea why but I had brought my backpack with me when I went to Nana not a smart idea.

As I walk along I noticed the areas getting what I would call seedy. A Thai man clearly on drugs who was very dirty was the first thing I saw when I left the 7 Eleven. I figured that it would be best that I kept moving as it wasn’t the place to hang around to wait for Oh. I continued to walk down the street and my first thought was there must be a club around here because there were a couple of pretty girls standing outside. The further I walk down the street the more freelancers I see standing around. I continue down the street and I notice that the ladies suddenly are becoming taller in height. Again I think that something is not right here.

I then realize I’m in the part of the street where normally I wouldn’t flinch but the ladyboys went from looking like very attractive women to very scary. One of them was sitting on something like an electrical box and looked exactly like Shrek from the cartoon.

I ended up making my way down to Tom’s Coffee Shop which is an American chain cafe. I was surprised to see it since I recognize the coffee shop from when I lived in Los Angeles so I popped in to grab a coffee. I get a text from Oh telling me that she will be arriving 15 to 20 minutes later than when she originally was supposed to meet me no problem for me. I decide to leave the coffee shop because there were a few strange people starting to gather so I grabbed my coffee and I went outside.

I’m outside for just a few minutes when a girl comes up to me and asks me what I’m looking for. I tell her nothing and she walks off. A few minutes later she comes up to me again and tells me she would like to make friends with me. I laugh and say ‘No thank you.’ The cycle repeats itself for about 10 minutes and she gets closer and closer and then starts rubbing on my backpack. At that point all I could think of was that she was going to start stealing from me so I swatted her hand off my backpack and decided to walk back into the coffee shop and grab a seat. After about five minutes I once again left the cafe. The girl who had been trying to touch my backpack stood in front of the door and made a grab for my backpack again.

Trouble Outside the Coffee Shop

I lost my temper and shouted at her ‘Get that f*** away from me.’ This kind of shocked her and her eyes grew enormous as she stared at me. Everyone around us stopped and stared. And I know it wasn’t a nice thing to do but I told her I wasn’t interested so many times and she definitely was trying to steal something from my backpack.

I eventually did meet Oh. We had a wonderful time together and I finally found out what a Thai night market is all about. After I left Thailand we stayed in touch for several months but like most long distance relationships after some time it faded away to nothing. I’ve been back to Thailand several times I’ve done some successful dating. My top tip to anyone looking for female company is to try to learn a little bit of Thai. I did and it really helps with the dating scene.

Story Four Pom The One That Got Away

I first heard about Thai women in the mid 80s when a friend described his annual trip. He would hire a holiday girlfriend for his entire stay preferring that over the chore of finding a companion every night in the bars or on the street. I was quite intrigued by his trips but I was married at the time and a long time thereafter so never really had the opportunity to sample beautiful Thai women.

Fast forward 40 years and I find myself in Bangkok. I’m 63 years old now but still fit as a fiddle. I’m an avid runner lean as I can be and still have a good set of hair on me. I have a bounce in my step. I’d say I’m decent looking for my age but at the end of the day I’m still an old man. Now I’m divorced and single no girlfriend. I am shocked at some of the train wreck stories especially the loser accounts and I wasn’t going to let that happen to me and it hasn’t yet. I want to share a story of an encounter with a Thai girl I met on my second night in Thailand.

On my first night I head out from my hotel to walk which is one of the busy districts in Bangkok. Taking in the sights and sounds of the streets of Bangkok is an incredible experience to say the least. It’s bustling with street vendors ladies and ladyboys selling their wares. It’s safe to say that Thailand has beautiful women and some of the most beautiful women are not women at all. I avoid the beer bars and go go bars on my first night. I head to a well known freelancer bar where girls work on their own and there are no bar fines. It’s already late as I haven’t arrived at my hotel from the airport until after 11 PM and it’s now midnight so it’s time to get to work and I want to find a nice girl to spend some quality time with.

I pick a beautiful and petite girl at the freelancer bar chat her up and we arrange to take a taxi to my hotel. It’s an average experience not great but still enjoyable. After our session she said thank you to me walking her from the room downstairs to the street to catch a taxi and she leaves alone and that’s the end of that.

The next night I returned to the same bar to have another go. There I strike up a conversation with Martin a guy who grew up in South America but is now working in the US and is currently on holiday in Thailand. He had been in Thailand for about four days and had already sampled six girls mostly from the go go bars. He said all but one of his experiences was amazing but rather expensive when you factor in the lady drinks bar fines and the agreed upon fee for services.

After my chat with Martin I walk around the bar and notice a somewhat average looking petite girl who seems bubbly making eye contact with me and smiling. Keeping in mind an ‘average’ girl in Thailand is probably an eight or a nine everywhere else. I go over and chat with her. Her English is not great but we are able to communicate the basics. Her name is Pom and she is 27 years old. I do the negotiation and within a couple of minutes we are walking out of the bar together. I quickly realize I still have a full beer left and I stop and ask Pom if she minds if we chill out for a bit while I finish my beer and that I will share it with her. She suggests I buy her a beer and we can sit for a bit longer.

Walking Back With Pom

I do that and we enjoy our beers and a few laughs together. I quite like Pom’s company thus far.

It’s a 25 minute walk to my hotel and I ask Pom if she would like to take a taxi or walk. She says ‘Up to you’ and I tell her I enjoy walking and she says okay. She is wearing flat shoes not heels so she has no problem walking. On the way we are chatting a lot holding hands and she seems genuinely affectionate towards me. As we walk holding hands she quite often grasps my upper arm with her free hand and rests her head on my shoulder.

We arrive at the hotel a bit hot and sweaty and I suggest we shower. Pom agrees and we have a lot of fun in the shower taking turns washing one another. After that it’s off for some aerobics. Pom never rushes anything so our time is quite enjoyable. After the aerobics we lay together on the bed my arm around her and her head resting on my chest between my shoulder and neck. I’m so blissfully comfortable that I doze off for a bit. After a while Pom suggests another shower to wrap up our session. I could easily have fallen asleep with her for the rest of the night. We shower get dressed and the night is still young around 11 PM. I ask Pom if she’d like a taxi back to the bar or alternatively if she would like to walk I would accompany her.

She agrees to walk so we head out onto the streets again back to the bar. The action on Sukhumvit Road is mind boggling.

I suggest we stop somewhere for a drink pointing out a few bars on the way. Pom says she knows a bar where we should stop and I say okay. Turns out the bar Pom suggests is on the street right next to the freelancer bar where I met Pom and she knows the owner. The bar is a pop up bar in Bangkok at night when the shops are closed street bars are set up on the sidewalk. I figure I’ll have a beer with Pom then she’ll head back to work in the adjacent freelancer bar. We enjoy great conversation lots of laughs and jokes. I find I am becoming quite fond of Pom. We finish our beers and I ask Pom if she wants to head back into the bar and get back to work. She says she doesn’t want to leave me alone.

I insist that I am fine and I don’t want to interfere with her work. The discussion is a stalemate and the only solution is to order more drinks and carry on.

Pom and Frank at the Sidewalk Bar

As we are drinking our beer at the sidewalk bar Pom notices a guy she met before at this very street bar. He’s sitting in a row of chairs against the building while we are at a table at the curb next to the street. People are walking the sidewalk between us. So many freelancers selling their wares on the street and also going in and out of the freelancer bar solo and leaving with new friends the people watching is amazing. Pom invites the guy over to our table and he politely declines. I continue my enjoyable time with Pom. When we are offered a better table by Pom’s friend (the daughter of the proprietor) we switch tables. But while it is a better spot my view of the sidewalk is compromised as I am facing a different direction.

I’m figuring out that Pom is very perceptive not clairvoyant by any means but she just pays attention to voice tone gestures etc. and seems to know what I am feeling. She somehow knows I am dissatisfied with my new seating position and offers to switch places with me. I graciously accept and apologize for the fact that my eyes are constantly wandering looking at all the beautiful women passing by. Unlike what I have heard about Thai women Pom doesn’t appear to have a jealous bone in her body and wants me to have a great time. She encourages me to look at the other girls while still giving her affection to me best of both worlds.

I am less perceptive than Pom but as we are sitting I realize that her friend the guy sitting alone probably declined her offer to sit with us because he didn’t want to intrude on my space. When I realize this I turn around and gesture him to come to our table and he does. Frank is a bear of a man probably 125 kilos (double my weight) originally from Ukraine now working for a company in Germany and living in Bangkok working remotely. Frank has had an adventurous life and begins storytelling. His English is quite good and he has spent much time at sea in Southeast Asia so has many tales to tell. Our guest Frank is in his mid 50s. We finish our beer and I buy another round for the three of us.

We’re sitting drinking and I start to notice that Frank is looking at me the whole time telling his stories and Pom is left out of the conversation. I am uncomfortable with this and Pom is completely aware of my discomfort. Frank gets up to head to the toilet and I take the opportunity to switch my seat. Pom is sitting across from me at the table and Frank is to my right. I take Frank’s seat so I can be next to Pom. I apologize to her that Frank is dominating the conversation and she has been left out. Again Pom is aware of this and not particularly worried. I also tell Pom again that she should head back to the bar if she wants to find more clients but she seems content to stay with me.

It’s getting late and I figure it’s time to head back to my hotel. I ask Pom if she wants to join me. I don’t expect to tip her and I don’t expect any more services. I just want her company for a blissful night of sleep. I like her a lot and the thought of cuddling for the night and going to breakfast together in the morning is very appealing to me. She seems a bit angered by my suggestion and asked me why I didn’t pay for long time in the first place. The answer is obvious how could I possibly know from the beginning that I would like her so much? I don’t say that but rather shrug my shoulders and let it go. Frank returns to the table and I make a point of directing my conversation so Pom is not left out.

I’m about to leave then Frank insists on buying another round since I bought the last one. By this time I am modestly tipsy as are my table friends but I decide it would be rude to turn down Frank’s offer and Pom is ready for another drink anyway. We drink our beers as the street action continues as does the conversation.

Leaving Pom Without Contact Info

I’m surprised that Pom does not want to head back into the bar but at this point I realize it’s time to head back to my hotel. I know Pom isn’t going with me and I’ve had plenty of beer for the night. I get up somewhat abruptly shake Frank’s hand and enjoy a nice hug with Pom. I set off walking down the street and after a couple of blocks I realized that I did not get Pom’s contact info. What a horrible blunder. She is such a nice girl and I really like her. I would like to see her again but I don’t turn around and I keep walking. We had a special connection but I have to take the advice that one should never fall for a Thai bar girl or a freelancer.

The next night I’m back in the freelance bar again so many beautiful girls to meet up with. I keep looking for Pom but alas she is not to be found. On this night I choose another girl take her to my hotel and quickly realize that while the experience is nice it is nothing like what I had with Pom. I never see Pom again and maybe that is for the better but I will always remember her as my first love in the Land of Smiles.

Story Five The Housewarming Party and the Queen Bee

My first real bar girl experience was in Hua Hin several years ago. After another just okay performance on the golf course at Palm Hills I asked the driver to drop me off near the Hilton. He could then take my golf clubs back to my hotel. Normally I would go back to my hotel sit on the balcony and sulk over another depressing scorecard but not on this day. I’m going for a few Singhas and anything else that takes my fancy.

The first bar I go into I’m playing pool with a Thai lady. It’s early and nobody’s about. Then a group of six English guys come in and we play killer pool for money. We have a few games they’re all decent guys and decent players. I won about 1200 Baht and decided to move on playing pool for money can turn ugly if you’re not careful. I turn the corner past the Panama Bar a group of ladies are giving it ‘Where you go handsome man?’ Well I wasn’t going anywhere as I was literally frog marched into a bar by a lady I’ll refer to as Queen Bee.

Bee was from Khon Kaen. I say bar girl she was actually 38 years old beautiful long hair full figure possibly taller than the average Thai lady definitely the center of attention in this bar. A fine sight around the pool table. The younger ladies seem to look up to her. At that time a bar fine was about 300 Baht and I gave her a 2000 tip for her time. Bee told me she had two sons one she said was no good and in prison I think the other was at school and the reason she worked in the bar was to support him for his education. She was the life and soul of the party and drank whiskey and Coke and boy could she knock them back.

I remember being in the bar when a guy comes walking down the soi with a hand cart selling ladies’ clothes. All the girls rush out of the bar like excited children seeing Santa. They purchase yet another revealing skirt or top the money given to them naturally from the farang in the bar.

One day Bee told me the bar was closing for a day or two the owner was having a housewarming party. I was invited if I wanted to go. On the evening of the party I got into Hua Hin a little bit late everyone had already gone. Bee called me and she sent a tuk tuk to pick me up. I was having a Bacardi and Coke in the bar next door while a sinister looking gentleman was shining my shoes when the driver arrived. It was a 20 minute ride away. Brand new property no expense spared Jorgen’s finest in attendance. It was really rocking with at least 150 people there including go go dancers bar girls farangs gays and ladyboys.

I got chatting with a big guy from London. He lived in Hua Hin. His Thai girlfriend was talking with Bee she was an attractive young woman and was also singing on the purpose built stage. She was wearing the shortest mini skirt I have ever seen. I then turned to the big guy and said ‘I don’t think she’s wearing any underwear.’ He boomed with laughter ‘This is Thailand enjoy.’ He was drinking red wine like it was Coke. Bee was drinking white wine.

After the Housewarming Party

Around midnight the party was over and to my disbelief the big guy gets on his motorbike and drives off into the night he was quite drunk. Some people begged him not to including his girlfriend. Me and Bee are in the tuk tuk going back to Hua Hin. She is smashed she can handle whiskey but she can’t handle white wine. I can’t take her back to the hotel in that state so we go back to where she is staying. I was in for a shock. The room was no more than three meters by two with a sliding patio door. All I remember was seeing closed shoes and a big water container. Bee asked if I wanted to see her the next day. I said no I was meeting someone from Korat. A bit insensitive I know. ‘I will kill you!’ she screamed.

Queen Bee strong sassy confident not now vulnerable lonely almost distraught. We did meet up again a few days later.

The following spring I was in Jomtien. I called her. We were to meet in Murphy’s Bar at 10 PM. She didn’t turn up. Thais and timekeeping oh well. Time to move on to another bar. I’ll have a Singha please.