Bangkok

Part Two

Bangkok

The plane lifted off through the London rush hour haze and I'm on my way. The flight was bearably boring. I was sat next to a young family and didn't get too much sleep but the plane landed on time at Don Muang airport. Customs, immigration, everything went smoother than I expected. I changed some pounds into bahts and headed to the taxi. I am shocked how similar the drive to town is with the Heathrow to London route; drivers cutting up the inside, foot to the floor when the lights change, concrete eleveted road overhead, expressway slowing to a crawl. Bangkok have toll booths though, which London doesn't yet.

Approaching the city centre and the traffic is building up, a pick-up truck pulls alongside at a red light. In the back there are countless bodies, all guys in some kind of uniform. Around the sides the men are sitting while in the middle there is a huddle standing up holding on to each other. The lights change and the pick-up hurtles forward with shouts and curses from the scrum trying to keep their feet. It seemed ironic to be sitting alone in an air conditioned mini-bus made to seat ten.

Arriving at the hotel I register, go to the room, shower and change. Picking up the 'phone I call the number Kung has given me. It's unnavailabe and eventually a female voice rattles out something in Thai so I put down the 'phone and try again. Same result. Oh well, no bother, I'll try and suss it out later. So I check out the street by the hotel, grab a bite of food and return to the room for an early bed, the jet-lag and lack of sleep had kicked in.

I woke up the next day, early Thai time, got breakfast and searched out the hotel internet facility to email Kung. I just said that I had arrived, maybe we could meet the following evening and gave her the hotel 'phone number. I set about a bit of standard tourist sightseeing at the Grand Palace and the Wats. I learnt pretty quickly the dangers of the pollution on the streets. Anything longer than a half hour exposed to it and my eyes are streaming and lungs ravaged.

Returning to the hotel I log on to find an email waiting from Kung asking where I am. So I reply, saying I'll be back in my room between 4 and 5pm. I'm drying off from the shower when the 'phone goes and I pick up the receiver to hear a faint 'hi' from the other end along with a heap of street noise. I shout 'hi, Dave here, is that Kung?' 'yes, is Kung here'. Struggling with the noise at her end I gather that she has something to do but we arrange to meet, with one of her sisters in my hotel lobby at 11pm. It was a mild shock to hear Kungs voice after all this time. It more or less met my expectations of what she would sound like.

Things were moving now. Kung is real, still a mystery but about to change from being virtual, all will be revealed in a few hours. I take a short walk outside as the nightlife bustle is building up, down a beer in a pub and return to the hotel, shower and change into a suit. I'm not quite sure why I put on the suit, to impress or be prepared if we decided to go to a restaurant. Whichever way it was a mistake as the heat built up even in the air conditioned lobby and made the jacket impractical. I waited untill 11.30 and still no sign of them so I return to my room to dump the jacket and as soon as I open the wardrobe the telephone goes. 'You have guests in the lobby sir' 'OK I'll be right down'. I grab the packages I've brought from London wrapped in Christmas paper - a diary for Kung and a box of high class sweets for her sister,

I head out of the lift into the lobby, eyes trying to scan the crowd for first sight of them. 'Dave...' I turn around and there they are. Kung is stood at a slight angle, head turned towards me, shy eyes flicking at me and away again. I hold out my hand 'Sa was dee khrap. Such a long time, I can't believe we meet at last' 'Sorry I no speak good English to you'. I put her deteriorated spoken English down to nerves and lack of practice. Just behind Kung is a taller girl with cropped hair and confident manner. 'Hello, I am Nid, Kungs sister' she says with a near perfect accent and pronunciation. 'Hi, pleased to meet you' I say and we shuffle about as a loose trio. I've become a little nervous and at a loss for words when Nid says 'We are going to see Tom Jones, do you want to come?' My mind being in a bit of a haze at this point I have forgoten the original plan of taking them out to dinner at an upmarket restaurant, to be able to chat with Kung in a reasonably safe and quiet environment. I say '..er well yes OK then' and Nid strides ahead through the lobby towards the street with Kung and I in tow. She brushes past the hotel taxi touts and steps into the street hailing the first taxi heading past. We pile into the taxi and Nid is rapping Thai at the driver like a machine gun in full flow.

Fear and Loathing in PhatPhong

Kung and I are sat in the back and both fairly speechless. All I can say is 'It's such a long time since we started our chat and now...' 'Yes..' is all Kung can manage, her eyes flitting at my face then away again like a sparrow picking up crumbs. Soon the taxi pulls up at a soi crowded with stalls, lights and people, a sign stretched across the entrance says 'Beer Chang.......' So this is Phat Phong. I had walked past it previously not realising what it was. Nid forges her way through the crowd, Kung following delicately and I'm shuffling behind barely taking it all in. People, bars, lights are all smudged together in a psychedelic swirl. Soon we are pushing through an entrance and down a flight of dimly lit stairs.

Nid leads us through to a balcony table above a small stage with a full band and a Thai guy dressed up as Elvis in a white suit, Las Vegas style. The dancefloor is heaving with Thais and tourists mingled together - dancing, shouting and singing along. There is a constant stream of people milling past our table and I notice a large number of the Thais greeting Nid and Kung, obviously regulars. One or two nod or say hello to me. Our drinks arrive and I insist on paying, Nid had paid the taxi and hopped out before I had a chance to get to my wallet. Next a thin young girl is shaking my hand and Kung is saying 'This is my sister Get, and that is her friend Seamus' pointing to a guy a little way away with his back towards me. I get up and stand next him saying 'How's the craic, Seamus?' He smiles, we shake hands 'I'm Dave, where have you come from?' 'Acton, West London' replies Seamus. Blow me if we aren't near neighbours! After our introduction Seamus and Get wander off with Get bouncing around to the music.

The evening progresses, the beer is flowing and my head has started whirling around to the noise, crowd and confusion. Kung is decidedly withdrawn from me, her quiet voice and habit of turning her head away while speaking making it difficult to communicate with her. 'Elvis' finishes his set and the girls want to get nearer the stage for 'Tom Jones'. As Nid leads us down the stairs, through the crowd and across the dancefloor I can feel my pressure rising, the heat and noise were starting to irritate me. This is not what I expected of our first meeting. Kung was holding back and I couldn't figure out what it was. Not only that but I was beginning to get a pulsing headache. Nid had led us to a corner by the stage underneath one of the loudspeakers which was booming out at ever increasing volume. 'Tom Jones' appears onstage to a roar from the crowd. Several tourist girls stumbling onstage to sing along: 'Sex bomb, sex bomb....'

The crowd is going crazy and building to a full roar while I am getting dizzy, feeling sick and breaking into a cold sweat. Out the corner of my eye I see Kung brush her hand across her face and swear I catch a flash from a diamond ring on her finger. A rock drops in the pit of my stomach and the noise level is hurting my ears. I edge closer to Kung to try to see her hand but she has her fist clenched. 'You like Tom Jones, Dave?' Kung shouts. I shout back 'Yes', unconvicingly. The throb in my temples is rapidly turning into a serious migrane and everything is combining into a state of panic. This is not what I wanted for our first meeting at all. I break off two cigarette filters to use as earplugs and try to shut off the racket. 'Whoa..whoa..whoa...Deelilah....'. I am starting to slump into a jellyblob. The claustrophobia builds until I have an overwhelming urge to get out into the air. I catch Kungs' eye and shout 'I've gotta go now...' my words trailing off as I fight a nausea attack. Kung leads me out and I stumble up the stairs behind her to the street, fighting for air.

We sit on two chairs at the entrance to the club. Two guys, probably touts or bouncers, had vacated them smartly after Kung rattled off some Thai. It was late and things were closing down. The stallholders were packing down, throwing the metal poles into piles every two seconds, which did my migraine no good at all. Kung fetched me a bottle of iced water and I started to revive a little. People were wandering out of the soi - a lot of middle aged farangs with their young girls hooked to them. I try to strike a conversation with Kung but wince every time a metal pole hits the pile, then Kung says 'What do you think of Tom Jones?' I answered that it was pretty good but that it wasn't my particular cup of tea and went into a tirade against tribute bands, karaoke and the suchlike. My opinion is that they take work away from struggling artists thus supressing originality and innovation. I'm not sure she understood fully, a sullen expresion had settled on her face, I was not charming the lady in the slightest. I tried to console her with 'But the band were really good technically, for people who like that sort of thing it's a good night out'. 'What you think of PatPong ?' Kung asks. ' Not much sweetheart. I had more fun exploring the Grand Palace'. The sullen look on her face got more serious.

Back on the Street

These sisters were well known in PatPong and they seemed to have a pretty slick operation going on. Forgive me for my cynical attitude in thinking the worst of the situation but it is not what I was expecting. Kung really struggled with anything above simple, mundane language. She really didn't understand irony or anything deep. Our longterm chat scene was thrown into doubt; I had probably been chatting with several different characters orchestrated by Nid. Kung was illiterate and didn't have the intellect to sustain some of the cultural debate I remember from our chat sessions. Later while we are in a restaurant Nid pumps me for what information I possess on Thailand and Bangkok. 'Do you know where we are from, Dave? ' I remember from the chat.. 'Isaan.. Udon Thani..' ' Very good ' says Nid. 'What do you know about Bangkok? ' ' In what respect? ' I ask. 'Like where we are ,here'. 'Oh you mean PatPong and everything?' I say, meaning the soi with the saucy dancers. 'Well I've done a lot of reading as it goes. I've read all sorts of things . .. PatPong, Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy, farang bars, barfines and all of that......'

I study her face as I am speaking and notice immediately her eyes dart at the speed of light to her sisters eyes across the table. That split second look probably conveyed more data than is possible with a broadband internet connection. I can tell that my words have penetrated to the eye of the storm and hit their mark. Another cramp grabs my stomache and tiny sparks are playing on my temples, the evening has taking its' toll, the migraine is pulling me down. I felt I had rumbled their scene and they wanted me out of the picture, quick. Too much knowing-ness did no good at all to their estimation of me, the sisters. I could imagine them sending out bulk emails and receiving guys from the airport like a conveyer belt. No wonder one of the girls had asked me ' What part of New York are you from? ' - an obvious mistake.

Nid hails a taxi for me and we part with a vague plan to meet on Sunday to take a boat trip. Back to the hotel in the early hours I feel emotionaly cold and empty. I can't say that I am dissapointed by the outcome of the situation, I was more relieved at finding out the truth than anything. No promises had been made or broken, no direct lies told and I can't blame the girls for their gameplan either, I'm just glad that I hadn't become more seriously ensnared. It was obvious I was far from unique in being courted and hooked with a computer connected to the internet. Seeing the countless internet facilities in Thailand with access at 1 baht per minute or less it is no wonder they are using it in imaginative and possibly profitable ways. Was I angry with Kung? Not at all. I can't blame her for wanting her own economic freedom and the luxuries we take for granted in the west. I just pity the poor guys who get taken. Or maybe Kung will find love in a true relationship with someone who will take care of her. I have my doubts. If these girls had wanted to keep everything respectable and above board I don't think they would have taken me to PatPong. At least not on the first night.

Just One Night

Back at the hotel I am feeling dreadful, my migraine has developed into a mild fever and sweat, keeping me from sleep and rest. The events of the evening are swimming around my head and I'm starting to feel slightly guilty at being so blunt with Kung and Nid. Kung had reacted with hurt and sullenness while Nid showed a kind of defiant silence, everything expressed in her look. No I shouldn't feel guilty, it was just a stand off between us, I knew their game and they knew I knew. I felt slightly sad that it probably meant I had lost my chat buddy but now I was free to have a bloody good holiday and discover Thailand. That is just what I intended to do. After all I hadn't had my one night in Bangkok yet.