Most of the transportation relevant to this story will take place on a bus from Pattaya to Bangkok and vice versa. But we can start the story directly after one of those many bus rides of the same journey I took, a journey that would come to define my life in the best and worst ways I've known.
I took my luggage off the bus, the last of my things from my room in Pattaya, and was ushered by one of the Thai employees(I think he's an employee, he directs you to a taxi though, sometimes it's a security guard, it's hard to say what's what and who's who in Thailand sometime) to a taxi. I explain to him I want to go from the Eastern Bus Terminal/Ekkamai station to a location on Ekkamai(an office at my new job a good friend gave me, where I'd end up sleeping on a makeshift bed of 6 chairs, which isn't quite as bad as it sounds, but still not a real bed, untill I can find my own room in Bangkok, preferably one across the street so I can just walk to work easily, and not deal with traffic and transportation in Bangkok in the morning). The man points across the street to Soi Ekkamai and says "Nam Toa", my Thai is good enough now that I can deduce this means flooding in the street(nam means water or liquid, usually water). I wonder if I'll be able to get to my room/office tonight, Ekkamai is notorious for bad traffic line-ups, and flooding water doesn't help. I'm thinking maybe they'll just drive around to the otherside by Phetburi Rd. as my office is closer to the other end of Ekkamai anyway.
I get into the taxi and once again explain where I want to go. The driver starts driving and points across the street at Ekkamai and says "Nam Toa". I'm like "Yes, I know" and hes says 100 baht to go down Ekkamai. I give a slight grunt and I say no, the meter, which is what everyone should ensist on in a taxi in Bangkok, with maybe slight exceptions, but always go for the meter. As it turns out the extra 40 baht I would pay would be worth the story this taxi driver would go on to tell me, and fair enough since I don't bother to leave a tip with these guys anymore anyway. You really don't have to, although it is nice to, but it's different when you're not a super rich man and have to watch every Sip baht here and there when you can, becuase it makes a difference. It's also not the same when you're trying to stay in Thailand for a long time, as opposed to some quick 2 week, or one month vacation, the mentality is just different, but we can get to more of that later.
So the taxi driver notices my disdain at his resistance to the meter, and goes on to point out that there's "Nam Toa" and it's dangerous and what not, I'm pretty tired and it's not too much more to pay so I don't put up much of an argument and say ok. If the road's really flooded than that's more than fair anyway. What's another 40 baht after all the money I've just spent the last 4 months on an emotional and financial roller coaster ride from Bangkok to Pattaya to Chiang Mai to Lao and back to Pattaya, and now finally back to Bangkok again, where my journey began.
We drive past that first little flood and I notice that the rest of road doesn't seem to be that bad at all, just wet because of the rain. I shake my head a bit at being taking for another baht from a Thai person, but I'm getting used to it by now, but the taxi driver can see this, and says respectfully in Thai that he's not one of those rip-off guys trying to charge 2-300 baht flat rates, it's a "fair fare" for the extra flooding, traffic and danger of the road conditions. He understands why some "farangs", the Thai word for foreigners feel the way they do, that many Thai people are only after them for their money, and probably seeing how I can speak Thai, senses that I'm not just a "short time" tourist and how this must affect me, aside from the fact I just got off the bus from Pattaya.
"I'm "sangsok" farang he goes onto say. Recently he had a passenger who was a very well off teacher, sitting in the front seat of his cab, crying his heart out about how the Thai woman he loved, and did everything for took him for a bunch of money and left his heart a crippled mess. "I feel sorry for farang" is what the driver said. He was a teacher who loved a Thai woman very much, and gave so much money and things to her and her family. "Song Lan Baht he says. Song Lan Baht! I can't remember how to say it in English, but Song Lan Baht", he repeats holding up two fingers in my direction in the back of the cab. I would later learn that a Lan is a million, and I already knew song was two, so 2 million baht was given away by this man to this girl and his family in the name of "love". Many times in Thailand issues of money and love come crashing together, maybe more so than anywhere else in the world, or at least in a very unique way, becuase of reasons of lack of wealth, poverty, prostitution, and even basic Thai culture. It can be very hard to navigate and understand. That being said, many relationships are devoid of these issues, or work out regardless of them, which just goes to show for the parties involved finding the right balance of love and money.
The taxi driver would go on to point at the place at Ekkamai where he let the sobbing Farang Teacher out of the car, I looked and shaked my head in acknowledgement, and mention how he bought land for her in Isan, and things like this on top of the money he gave her over time, ultimately so she could just rip his heart out. As we managed the traffic and nidnoy of water the rest of the way(I'm reminded of my first real flooded road taxi drive in BKK, it was like being in a boat with the water waves hitting the sides of the cab) I say how I understand what he's telling me, I've had my own experience in Pattaya the last 3 months, and he asks me how much money I gave in the name of women, and I say "sam mun" or 30,000 bhat, really a bit more when I think about it, but somewhere about there for straight up payment to the more serious girls I had spent extended time with, and then you count extra money spent around that, but nowhere near song lan. I would say "thankfully nowhere near song lan, but to be honest with you I wish I had song lan to lose and spend, I think I'd be better off one way or the other(it's somewhere in the 70-80000 dollar range depending on exchange). I get out of the car and happily give him his 100 baht, the extra money was worth the story alone, fuck any percieved danger due to nam toa!
I've thought about writing this for a while, as a form of therapy for myself, in my life and what I've experienced as I'm made the biggest descision of my life to hop on a plane and move to Thailand and see what goes down. I may just bare my soul, some very private and hurtful things, I'm writing this anonymously, I don't expect any of you to actually care, but if you have a positive respectful encouraging comment to leave than please go ahead. I'm also aware that some of you will feel the need to be hurtful and condeming of me, or something I have done or said, please understand my intention was never to hurt anyone or cause any problems, so if you can go easy on me please do so...no one is harder on me than myself, and there's nothing harsher you can comment about my story than anything I've already told myself. I just felt I might as well write about this story and my experience since I have the type of mind that doesn't stop thinking about it anyway. I feel I understand as much of what's gone on and that I've experienced as I can, but maybe this will help me add some closure to this chapter of my life and move on. I'll warn the faint hearted or squeamish that their will be talk about issues of prostitution and the like that go on in Thailand and Southeast Asia on a daily basis(and have for a long time, so if your not open to accepting this truth you might not want to read, but I only write about what I've seen and done, I didn't create this world, it's not my ideal life experience but it's the only one I have and I don't regret it despite the hardships. So I write this blog by myself, for myself so that I can possibly help myself, no other reason...except maybe a possible book or movie deal down the line, so no thieves out there please, lol, 555. ;)
Actually their's a number of fictional and true books about this side of Thailand available that you might want to check out, so get your ass to an internet bookstore, those books can be pretty cool, especially when you can personally relate. Untill the next post!
