Travel Lessons From Bangkok
Me and my buddy Mike decided to take a boys’ trip to the Philippines Angeles City as we tried to invite other guys to come along but they couldn’t make it on the dates we chose to go. So it just ended up being us. Mike just got his green card and is from Canada so he was eager to go right away. A month after he received his green card we were off to the Philippines.
We landed in Manila and decided to spend two nights there. We got to the hotel to freshen up and off we went after an 11 hour flight. The first night we went to a business that had male and female dancers on stage doing a dance routine and then they had other performers after. So it was cool to just chill out and watch and have some beers after a long flight. They also had a karaoke room and the host was pushing us to use it. So we did and the host brought in girls for us to choose to keep us company and entertain us. We both chose our girls and we sang and drank till about 130 AM.
By that time we were tired as hell but the girls offered to come over to our hotel rooms after they got off work which was 400 AM and for a price of course. I think they wanted $114 to come over to our rooms. I negotiated it down to $98 but I told them ‘Call me first before coming over because we might be asleep by then.’ I knew in my heart I was going to go straight to bed. My girl ends up calling me a couple of times at 430 AM but my phone was on silent so I missed that opportunity.
The next day we did some money exchanging and walked around the mall until night. Then we decided to go to a massage parlor. And after stopping at three of them my friend finally seen a girl he likes and took her to the room for about 45 minutes. Now Mike is this dorky small Asian guy that is extremely picky when it comes to girls. I don’t understand why he is like that because when you look at him he isn’t anything either to girls but he is paying for a girl so he has control of what girl he wants.
I picked a massage girl and was waiting in the room for her. We showered and did our thing and showered again. Girls’ bodies are tricky because when you look at them in clothes they look great but when it comes off you see guts or pooch stretch marks from babies. She thanked me after our session because she said she only needs one customer a day to be financially good for the rest of the week. We then went over to get a real massage after that no extras.
The next day we hired a driver to take us to Angeles City. It was a 1.5 hour drive so we slept in the car. I was excited because I always have a ball there. We spent five nights there. Every day it was the same thing. We’d wake up go to eat lunch somewhere nearby and then go back to the hotel for another sleep then wake up later and eat dinner and go look at lady bars along Red Street. We don’t explore because Mike doesn’t want to. I just go with the flow. I mentioned activities to do around the area but he does not seem interested and seems like all he wants to do is look for the girls to bring back to his room.
Bar Drinks and Decisions
When I go into a bar there I like to buy multiple girls drinks all at once and ask them who’s their best co worker friend is and to bring them over. I like to talk with multiple girls at once. I have more fun that way. We usually end the night at this one particular bar that has multiple dance teams. And I took a liking to this one particular dance group because they’re so nice and friendly. So I invite almost the entire team to my table for drinks. This dance team has 12 to 15 girls in it and I invited like 11 of them to join me every time I’m there.
On our last night I took the dance team out and was walking around Red Street to the club with like 15 people. Everyone was looking like ‘Who are these guys?’ I treated them again to drinks and food. The bill wasn’t bad either $200. I could never do that back in the US for that price.
But what I actually really want to say in this story is that one of the five nights we were in Angeles City we ended up not taking girls back to our room. So as we were walking back to the hotel I wanted to stop by a 7 Eleven to pick up some late night snacks. I noticed a few young children standing outside of the 7 Eleven and they were opening doors for customers coming and going and asking for loose change. So when me and Mike finished paying I walked out of the door first and gave the kid that was opening the door for us 50 pesos. Mike yelled out not to do that but it was too late and I gave it to the kid already. Mike immediately walked past me at a very high speed.
When he did that a second kid had approached me asking for some money but I said ‘I don’t have any’ but he kept walking alongside of me asking for money. I kept repeating that I didn’t have any money. So to get rid of the kid I jogged off with my food in hand. I jogged for about 30 feet and looked back to see if the kid followed me but he didn’t. I jogged up to Mike and I said ‘Why are you walking so fast ahead and so far ahead of me?’ He ignored me and kept walking like he had to use the bathroom or something. So I knew he was angry.
I let Mike continue walking and by the time he got to the hotel doorstep I was about 500 feet behind him. I got back to my room and I put my food down and I walked over to his room which was across the hall. I knocked and he answered the door and opened it for me. I asked him what was wrong but he kept saying nothing but I knew something was wrong so I pressed more. So he finally opened up and said he was mad that I gave money to those kids. I must mention that these kids looked homeless and about 8 to 10 years old.
Mike said he had a bad experience from these kids pickpocketing his friend in the past and now he says he has PTSD from it and does not want to be around that kind of activity where his friends give money to kids thinking he might get pickpocketed.
Left Behind After a Fight
I told him I did not know he had PTSD from a past experience and I won’t do that again around him. And I apologized to him. So he said ‘Okay we’re good.’ But then I wanted to clarify with him that it was not cool that he had left me behind. Not once did he look back to see if I was okay. I’m thinking what if I did get mugged or pickpocketed? He wouldn’t have known because he was so far ahead of me and didn’t even look back once. I told him we have to look out for each other because we have no one here to watch our backs. He said he would help if I was in trouble but in my mind I doubted him for saying that.
Mike is not that type that would fight and I don’t think he had ever been a fighter or have fought someone before. He had no martial arts experience no boxing experience no street fighting experience. He is a pencil pusher back at home.
I told him we need to get along on this trip because we have a few more days left and we need to look after each other. And then on the last day when we were going to depart to the airport he books a car for 300 PM and my flight was at 630 PM. I told him ‘I want to book my own car’ but he insisted that I would make it on time. I was nervous all the way to the airport. The driver even tried his best to drive fast as he could to get me there on time. I got to the airport at 532 PM for an international flight back to the USA. Mike on the other side he wasn’t worried because he was on a later flight at 820 PM back to Canada to visit his family.
I made it through immigration and security and got to my gate 5 minutes before boarding. Thank God.
Because of this experience with Mike I don’t feel safe around him and I know I would not have backup if trouble was coming. I’m a law enforcement officer so I think of safety first. I rather would have gone alone if this was the case. We used to hang out and go to bars back in our hometown but now we don’t. I have not hung out or talked to him since we got back home. So the moral of this story is pick your travel partner with care. Some people who you thought had your back don’t always stick with you.
Story Two First Night in Bangkok The Magic of Soi Cowboy
I’m an American living in California. I recently came back from a Thailand trip and was really having the Thailand blues. Your videos help me ease the sadness so I figured why not contribute towards the stories as well. These are stories from my very first trip to Thailand last year.
Our trip started in Hong Kong as my friend John and I had a 2 day layover there. I had not been to Hong Kong in 20 years and it had really changed a lot. The city lacked the energy and the magic it once had. It felt like a somewhat hollow shell of its former self. Before we left for Bangkok we took another short walk around our hotel in the morning. It had started to rain a bit. The walk was actually quite nice and wrapped up our quick little stop in Hong Kong very nicely. We took a taxi and we headed to the airport. A short 3 hour flight later we arrived in Bangkok at 500 PM.
After we got to the baggage claim we were greeted by completely new sights new people and new scenes. We picked up our bags exchanged some Thai Baht and walked outside to wait for our Grab which I learned was like the Uber of Thailand. Right away the heat and the humidity hit us. We were in it now. The tropical heat was different. It was more dense way more intense and humid than even Hong Kong. The Grab waiting area had a huge line so we decided to just get a taxi instead which even that was only $20 USD to the city.
It was a long and strange cab ride to the center of the city. It was a whole different world. I noticed some real decay on many of the buildings along the way a different kind of grime and decay than what you’d find in America. Bangkok was a dense city. We had to wait at extremely long traffic lights that felt like 10 minutes at a time. Some of the rural areas along the way looked exactly like a third world country I thought and some parts of it looked quite bleak. I was beginning to have doubts about Thailand and Bangkok. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be like this everywhere.
When we were in Hong Kong I started looking up hotels in Bangkok. The pictures all looked extremely nice and modern. In fact it looked nicer than any major Western city hotel. Almost too nice. But what I saw so far was not what it looked like in the pictures. I was pretty clueless about Thailand and Bangkok. I had never been here. I didn’t watch any YouTube videos or know anything about it. I didn’t know where we were going and I had no idea what the Sukhumvit area was. Anyway I had recommended a hotel for John to book but he decided on an Airbnb that had really nice photos.
When we finally arrived at our Airbnb on Sukhumvit Soi 16 the place turned out to be an utter nightmare. The conditions were completely 180 degrees from what they looked like in the photos. In fact it felt like a house in the countryside of maybe China or something. It was borderline uninhabitable. I tried to imagine in my mind to tough it out for just one night but even John agreed. There is no way we can stay here. So we booked the hotel that I had originally recommended. John was just going to cancel the Airbnb and hoped to get his money back which thankfully we did without issue. Our other friend Ben who had been staying in Bangkok for a few months by that time came to meet up with us at the Airbnb. The place was extremely dirty and hot and full of mosquitoes.
A Bad Bangkok Room
The bed sheets and couches had stains on them that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in years. So we just grabbed a couple of chairs to sit while we waited for our taxi. John and Ben shared some beers and we headed out to our new hotel which turned out to be not that far away on Soi 18.
It was already dark by the time we got into the city. And now we finally arrived at our new hotel. Although the hotel itself was a bit older than it looked online we were quite happy with our rooms especially after that Airbnb experience. I recommended that John get the junior suite with a terrace as there was only one left. After we settled in we all met up in John’s room. It was quite a relief to have some normal decent accommodation. Now it was time for the party to begin. Ben went to get some beers and some Thai whiskey. By this time the vibes were getting quite high. We were really happy to see each other in Bangkok and officially kick off our little journey in Thailand. I did not realize until much later that was probably the highest point of our trip. Even now I miss that moment very much.
Everyone was so happy. We were having drinks on the hotel terrace looking out to the Bangkok skyline talking about girls and everything else and getting very excited and anxious to hit the town.
I was clueless about Bangkok so we just let Ben take the lead. It turned out our hotel was pretty close to all the action and Ben had planned for us to go to Soi Cowboy first. I had not a single clue about what that place was. And looking back I wish I’d paid more attention. It was probably the place where we had the most fun. We were pretty hungry so we went for dinner first before our nighttime shenanigans. We stopped by this great restaurant for some amazing pad thai and green curry. Finished our meal and walked to Soi Cowboy. Man oh man what a scene that was. If only I can experience it all over again for the first time. It must have been a weekend night as the vibes were buzzing. Lovely Thai girls were pulling us in every direction. There was just too much going on. Very overwhelming.
We were pretty buzzed at that point without realizing it.
Before we headed out Ben had given John and I some stern warnings about the ladies about not getting too excited too soon or giving in too early to make sure we have a proper good night before we commit to anything or wander off somewhere on our own. I thought ‘I don’t know. Why is he making such a fuss about this stuff? It’s not like we’re 21.’ Basically just stick with the boys and enjoy our night out. Got it. I don’t see what the issue is. Anyway we kept on walking and kept on exploring until we reached the other end of the street. So far so good.
A Night That Became a Blur
I don’t remember the exact moment but this beautiful model looking Thai girl had gotten next to me when we finally decided to go into the Tilac Bar. Her name was Beam. Beam was very beautiful had a really pretty face a slender body and stood out from the rest of the girls. I mean she really did. This was it. The bar looked good enough and we happily went in sat down next to a stage full of girls dancing. We got settled in and ordered some beers. By the time we finished ordering which was like 30 seconds or so John and Ben somehow magically each had a girl next to them as well. We were finally in for a good time and the wild night ahead. Then all of a sudden Beam suggested that I could get the full experience and we could go and have aerobics right away. I was like ‘What?
Already?’ I thought maybe it would require some playful pretending or at least getting to know each other first or something. I mean the beers hadn’t even arrived yet but she was so beautiful and the idea of it got me really excited. Plus I liked the idea of taking care of business first then continuing the party afterwards because it would take away all the tension and anticipation.
So I calmly explained to John and Ben that I would have to excuse myself as Beam and I needed to go off for a few minutes for a quick exercise. Ben shook his head and laughed and gave me this look like ‘What did I tell you before we left bro?’ We hadn’t even sat down for 5 minutes yet at that point. She was just so pretty that I couldn’t believe what was happening all so easily and quickly. Again I was hopelessly clueless about Soi Cowboy.
As we were getting ready to leave the mamasan stopped me and asked me for another 1000 Baht. I was like ‘What? I already paid for the beers.’ She then proceeded to explain to me the concept of what’s known as a bar fine. I was pretty drunk at that point and did not grasp what she was trying to explain but I was just trying to get out of there with Beam and it seemed really important that I give her the 1000 Baht. So I did.
The whole thing was really blurry in a good way almost dreamlike. I just remember how beautiful she was. It wasn’t just the aerobics. It was very passionate and tender. I felt this undeniable connection with her right away. This wasn’t just some regular going through the motion kind of thing. Against my better judgment I couldn’t resist kissing her. The aerobics were amazing and the connection was undeniable. I felt it and she felt it. I had anticipated to be with her for maybe 15 minutes tops as I really wanted to return to the bar right away to party with John and Ben again but we ended up cuddling and holding each other for a whole hour. Everything was so unexpected that I did not want to get up and leave at all. We had such a strong bond that I wanted to stay there for as long as I could.
I remember us looking into each other’s eyes and her gently stroking my face. Maybe she could feel desperately I needed some loving. Or maybe she was just as lost as I was. I can’t imagine the kind of people and the number of guys that she must have encountered on a daily basis. I wonder if this was easy or difficult for her to deal with or maybe she’s just indifferent. But it seemed like nothing else mattered in that moment because I was living a fantasy and in that moment everything else disappeared. All that mattered was our connection. So we kept holding each other until the alarm went off. It felt like time froze for a little while. There I was in Bangkok for the first time in my life looking out of that seedy little second floor hotel window at Soi Cowboy down below and all of the neon lights.
Bangkok Neon Nights
I felt like I was in a Blade Runner movie. I’m glad she let me take some photos of her with my phone to remember because I knew I wouldn’t have otherwise.
It was still mostly very hazy but I remember us going back to her bar together. I don’t know why I assumed that John and Ben would still be there. As it turned out of course it wasn’t only me who was propositioned. Both their girls had offered them the same pretty much as soon as I left but I wouldn’t find out exactly what happened with them until later. Anyway when we finished we first got to Soi Cowboy I was so excited and already pretty drunk without realizing. I had drunk text another girl Nang a picture of Soi Cowboy to show off to her that I was in Thailand. I had met Nang while traveling in another country and we had hooked up before.
She’s this beautiful girl of mixed race also very slender and looks like a model and I later learned that she is part Thai and what are the chances? She replied right away that she was in Bangkok too. I mean literally what are the chances that we were in Bangkok at the same time on my first trip? So I thought after she replied I had planned to meet up with her that night for some aerobics at the end of the night until I met Beam who derailed the whole plan.
On that first trip I didn’t activate data roaming and was only relying on Wi Fi. So I was walking back and forth on Soi Cowboy to try to find Wi Fi in order to message John Ben and Nang all the while dodging attacks from the ladies and ladyboys alike. I think at that point I was pretty confident that I could go for two rounds on the same night. After I got Wi Fi I found out that John and Ben had also gone off to short time hotels. John did not end up having aerobics but Ben did. As it turned out both Ben and I took out our girls without much haggling but John had done some extra reading online and he tried to haggle with the mamasan to get a better price for his girl.
After he and his girl got to the hotel room his girl let loose on him throwing her high heels and cursing him out for probably making her lose face in front of the bar staff and the other girls as he was the only one who tried to haggle for her time which probably made her feel inferior to her colleagues. The whole thing was so comical. We had a good laugh about it as he attempted to tell the story with a Thai accent. Perhaps out of disappointment and also fatigue John said he was ready to go back to the hotel room and ready for bed. Ben was off somewhere with his girl. He had charmed his way into turning a short time into a long time. So now I’m by myself.
There was some miscommunication between me and Nang. I had thought that she would come meet me at Soi Cowboy but she was at a nightclub somewhere else and I misunderstood her in my drunken state. You see I didn’t know what Soi Cowboy was. I thought maybe it was like Leicester Square in London but of Bangkok or something some kind of landmark. I sent Nang a picture of me at Soi Cowboy acting all proud as if I was a Bangkok insider in the know. It wasn’t until months later that Nang would explain to me that she was very confused by my text to her of me at Soi Cowboy. She thought I was being a weirdo and it was my way of asking her to come and have a threesome with another bar girl or something.
Searching for Nang in Bangkok
Anyway I exchanged some more Thai Baht and somehow got myself a taxi to go to the nightclub. It was a club called Truth or Dare. Something in a very cool and interesting place with great vibes great people and unique cocktails. I finally met up with Nang there. She was in a short black dress and looking very beautiful as ever given what she does also a bar girl I think. I don’t even know how she remained so fresh faced and perfectly done up all the time. We started with getting some drinks in but I was already kind of a mess at that point.
Nang could probably sense I was pretty drunk and tired or perhaps she could also smell another girl on me because usually by the time I met up with her I’d already be so turned on that I couldn’t think of anything else but to have aerobics with her right away. But that night I definitely was way more relaxed. At the same time however I was also quite happy to just enjoy our drinks and take in the atmosphere of the club which I rarely do. She showed me around the nightclub. It was quite an interesting place with really cool designs. We then sat at the bar and ordered some more delicious cocktails but at that point she could probably tell that I wasn’t that eager. I’m sure she knew exactly what happens when a guy goes to Soi Cowboy.
It was getting pretty late something like 2 or 300 AM at that point. She suggested that I was perhaps too tired from traveling and we should just go home to which I agreed. I told her we should meet up the next day got in a cab and headed back to my hotel.
Story Three The Tokyo Scam Yakuza Bait and Switch and a Stolen Lighter
I had an experience in Tokyo Japan that I felt would be good to share with your listeners. I’m a big fan of your channel Peter and listen to your stories at my job daily. My first trip to Japan was in November 2024. We were both in our late 20s and I surprised my best friend for his birthday with this trip and we had a blast.
We had a long flight from New York to Tokyo which was about 14 hours. I’m a pretty social guy and I decided to chat with a person sitting next to me. I met a guy from London who said he was working in Japan for 6 months out of the year and had experience living in Tokyo. I asked him where the best places to go would be and he mentioned the bar area known as Golden Gai. It is a combination of tiny bars that can fit only a few people in them. The other part of Golden Gai is the adult entertainment district and massage parlors.
The man I spoke to warned me to watch out for the touts usually men from Nigeria or other countries who would harass the locals and try to get you to follow them to bars where you can purchase cheap drinks or girl bars where you can purchase extra services if you know what I mean. I was also told that these guys scam locals and usually try to bring you to places where they overcharge you for drinks then refuse to let you leave until you pay. Being it was my first time seeing Japan I wanted to avoid any kind of scams or trouble and kept the trip fairly tame for our first experience.
I then booked another trip to Japan for 2026 with my brother. And this time my plan was to monger and explore what the adult entertainment district of Japan had to offer. We booked a trip for February 2026 and set a plan to go straight to Shinjuku to make our way to Golden Gai. We arrived in the evening and checked into a basic hotel as close to the area as possible. After we showered changed and put our bags down in the hotel room we hit the road to explore the bars.
Within the first 15 minutes of walking we had an African tout walk up to us and offer us services and female companionship I can’t say what on your channel. Needless to say we told him yes and followed him down what felt like a maze of streets until we arrived at a commercial building that looked like an office. We took an elevator from the street to the fourth floor and were walked in by the tout. Clearly they get compensated by the massage parlors as he was given 4000 Japanese yen about $25. Once inside two beautiful Japanese women escorted us both to dimly lit rooms with a massage table in each room. My girl did not speak very good English but was able to make do with what little English she did know. ‘How long you stay in Tokyo?
This your first time in Japan?’ Since I had been there once before I told her it was my second time. She started the massage for about 10 minutes until she eventually asked me to turn over. To my surprise I had not one but two Japanese women in my massage room. They asked for 10000 yen per girl to have them both spend a short time with me. After some negotiation and discussing what I wanted they ended up persuading me to agree to 50000 yen for both of them for a full experience. After agreeing to the price and paying the girls things started to go wrong. I was told I would need to get fully dressed and that we needed to walk to a different building to do the deed.
Walking Into a Tokyo Trap
I felt like a king walking down the street with two beautiful Japanese women on my arms. My brother also agreed and had a similar arrangement with two girls as well. Same deal another office building with an elevator but this time we were brought to a makeshift apartment with about 20 tiny rooms covered only by a sheet and a black fake leather mat on the floor. The girls told me to get undressed and go into the room. After doing as instructed one Thai girl walked into my room and asked me what I wanted to do. I immediately popped my head out of the room and realized the girls who walked me over had left and had scammed me out of the money I paid which was about $300.
I got dressed and I spoke to the older woman running the place and was told they don’t go with customers and they only walk them over. I was then told to either accept the Thai girl or I could leave without getting anything. I reluctantly agreed and after the deed was done I left. My brother had a similar experience happen to him. Not only that but the girls who walked him over to the second location stole his Zippo lighter. This lighter was sentimental to him and he refused to part with it. After walking for about 30 minutes we ended up finding the tout who brought us to the first location and of course the girls were nowhere to be found. After explaining to him what happened he made a few calls and eventually with some convincing walked us back to the first location where we met the girls.
Apparently this was very uncommon and we were greeted by not only the girls but a group of about 10 Japanese men who did not look pleased to see us. The tout who spoke Japanese and English explained the situation to the men who promptly made a call to the girls we were with and it did not sound like a friendly conversation. The Japanese men said something to the tout and then he relayed to us that he could get the lighter back but not to call the police as they had photos and videos of us being intimate with the Thai women we met. We had no intention of calling the police to begin with but especially now we definitely weren’t going to report them. After another 30 minutes the girls reappeared and my brother was given his lighter back.
The tout explained that the men were Yakuza and that customers usually never come back after being scammed to save face. It was a pretty stressful experience as the men were clearly there as muscle to make sure nothing was going to happen during the return of the lighter. After that we decided not to mess around with the women of the night or follow a tout again. I hope this story helps anyone who is considering following a tout while in Japan to get female companionship. Thank you for allowing me to share my story.”And they locked the door. One of them stood in front of the door and the other guy kind of cross examined. They swore blind they didn’t have them. They were searched and they didn’t have any lighter on them. So they let the girls out because they didn’t have the lighter on them so they couldn’t really keep them.
And we discovered later in the hallway there was a rack where we kept towels because the rooms were very very small. And the next day my friend the guy who had one of the guys who had the other room picked up one of the towels and the Zippo lighter fell out of it. So what had happened? The girl had taken his lighter put it inside the towel hoping he wouldn’t notice. And as they were leaving if he hadn’t have said anything they would have taken the lighter out of the towel and scarpered. He was very very lucky actually. I think the lighter was sentimental as well.
