Thailand Sex: April 5

There's no way I can discuss this topic without sounding like I'm talking in double entendre; so I'll just plunge in...
Of all the places I have visited in Thailand, Phuket has the strongest sexual current I have ever experienced. This impression is enhanced by the fact that there are so few tourists right now, compared to the huge number of young women competing for the Thai Massage dollar. Patong Beach is much more Westernized that other parts of Thailand so you don't see the same modesty in the Women that you see elsewhere. Many of the women dress in miniskirts and tight-fitting tops. If a Farang (Foreigner) walks close enough, the women will reach out and take you by the hand and gently pull you to their studios while smiling and nodding their heads.

This is Roweena. She is dressed in that typical style. I want to stress though, that she was NOT one of the women who sell themselves. she just does massage.

I did talk with a girl who looked just like this Roweena and WAS selling herself.
The woman I met called herself 'On'. She offered to give me a Thai massage for 250 baht. I learned my lesson from Khon Kaen so I made it very clear that I just wanted a 'Thai Massage' not an Oil massage. AS it turned out, she was definitely interested in selling me much more and because her English was very good, we ended up having a very enlightening conversation.
As 'On' led me upstairs she started with the selling job to get me to go for the 'Works'. I looked her in the eyes and said: "I'm not here for sex." She put her finger to her lips."Shhh. No talk about that here."
"Why not?" Then she gave me a mischievous smile and said softly: "Why not try it. If not try it, you never know." She went on to say: "I try everything. I am free girl. Why not you try it?".
Because I have to be true to myself", I said, pointing to my heart. On smiled and said: "I free. Do whatever want. Have boyfriend. Not have boyfriend- enjoy life."
"That's great. Do you enjoy having sex with Farangs here?"
The smile dropped from her face. "Is just money."
"Do you enjoy sex?"
"No. Not enjoy. Not need to enjoy. Just for Man."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-three."
"Have you been married?"
"Chai. Married, have child."
"What happened?"
"Man no good. Baby in Bangkok. I earn money for family and baby. Must work."
"It must be very hard for you, to be so young and caught in two worlds. You have so many commitments but you would rather just be a party girl, out drinking every night and having fun, Chai?"
She looked at me puzzled. "How you know?"
"I read eyes."
"My eyes tell?"
"Chai. But you know what 'On'? You're still so young. When you're twenty-six, you will know so many things you don't know now."
"I know lot now."
"I think you are very smart Party girl. But sometimes, can be too smart for own good, chai?"
(These are the women who work with Roweena. They were delighted to have their picture taken.)

'On' gave me a sad smile. Then, as if waking from a dream, she suddenly sat up straight and said in a startled voice: "What you do? I never talk like this! Always quiet with massage."
Then she moved in for the kill. she leaned over to me and batted her big Thai eyes at me and said: "Now time for me to do my job."
"Not a chance."
Then with a voice of resignation she said: "I tired anyway. Work from 9AM to 3 in morning."
I said: "I'm so sorry you are tired. Do you want me to give you a massage?"
She sat up straight again and looked at my eyes to see if I was kidding or not. "You give me?"
"Sure. Just 400 baht." I said with a smile.
"Too much. I give my own massage!"

Ayuthaya: Mar26

So I'm on a bus with small Oi's husband who is driving me to a place not on his route. We travel from 4 pm Friday, all through the night.

I don't know if you can see the picture on the front of his bus but it shows his majesty, Ramses IV who is the King responsible for introducing technology to the Country.

This is how I felt when the bus arrived in Bangkok at 2:30 Saturday morning. Yor (the Driver) had driven me past the turnoff to Ayutthaya and right to the Bangkok terminal so that I could get a bus to the Ancient city from there. Finally at 4 am the bus arrived and I headed to the city.

At 5 am I arrived at my Guesthouse. This is the woman who takes care of the place. Her name is 'Dim'. She's a sweetie Pie. By the way, the shirt I'm wearing is a gift from Joy in Ubon. I just casually mentioned one day that I was interested in getting a more lightweight shirt. The next day she just handed it to me. Thank you again Joy!

After a little sleep, I had a foot massage from a place that really knows their stuff. This woman pointed out some things she said I need to have checked based on what my feet were showing her; mostly to do with my prostate. Ouch. I took a picture of her chart and noted the numbers she pointed out. Something to check on when I get back to Ontario. Her T-shirt says: "I love Healthy Foods." (Enquiring minds want to know).

Those of you who follow my Blog will remember my very dear friend Jook. She lives an hour away in Bangkok. When she heard I was interested in exploring Ayutthaya she offered to be my guide at the ruins. She rented us a couple of bicycles (40 baht each) and we were off.

This is the entrance to the Palace grounds.

So much of Ayutthaya felt so familiar to me. It was if I was returning to my home town. Jook says that this was the original Capitol of Thailand. It was destroyed by the Burmese after 300 years, in about 1700. The buildings were once covered with gold, which was stolen, leaving the Palace and Temples a burned out husk. The Bangkok Palace of the present King, is a duplicate of Ayutthaya's structure, but not as intricate.

Jook says this is the Goddess of the Rains. Her job is to bring the rains to the earth so that things will grow. Thailand has been experiencing a drought this year so her presence is especially welcome right now.

This is a view looking from the Palace grounds to one of the lesser palaces.
Treasure Hunt

I thought it might be fun to place an object in the Ruins for you to discover. See if you can identify where this is.

I placed this 1 baht coin here. By the way, the green bracelet is a good luck bracelet and was a gift from Gai. The strings are good luck from a Buddhist monk. The day I was blessed by the Monk, I was given these strings and we all took turns putting them on each other's wrists as symbols of our friendship.

Then I placed the brick back on top where I found it.

If you can tell me what I inscribed on the coin I'll buy you dinner. I hope you like fried grasshoppers though...

Now under the category of really stupid things to try, let me tell you about the monument I climbed.

It's one of those things that is so easy to do but so hard to come back from. When I stood at the top and looked out, the view was magnificent.

I walked to the inner chamber and looked at the alter. Then I turned around and walked to the edge that I had come up.

I had to master my fear to even begin the descent. It was the same feeling I had the day I jumped off the 40 foot waterfall in Chiang Mai, except this time I couldn't chicken out. There was only one way down.

When we finished the tour, I came back to the Guest House and said goodbye to Dim.
I went back to Bangkok with Jook and there I embarked on one of the boldest adventures since arriving in Thailand: eating at a Thai McDonald's.

Khon Kaen: (4) Massage

Okay, We're leaving the Buddhist Celebration. I'm in the Pickup truck with Nu, Sit and Uncle and they are taking me back to Sit's place to get my stuff (I think). We arrive and a few minutes later I am on my way with Uncle to the big city. For those of you wondering, I never did get a hold of Nuan from Sit's place because their phone was dead.

Uncle takes me to the Phu Inn where I check in to find that no one speaks English. That is no matter though, because the girls behind the desk are such sweetie pies and laugh and giggle as I try to make myself understood. It becomes a kind of carnival show just to watch what I will do next.

I say in Thai that I would like a 'Thai massage'. The Woman manager at the front desk says: "We have. 300 baht. In your room." I ask her to repeat the amount because I want to make sure I'm not signing up for more than a massage.

Forty five minutes later there is a brisk knock on my door and an attractive very friendly woman enters the room in a track suit carrying a gym bag. She speaks no English but point to herself and says: "Kee-Ken". I started to worry. Her name sounded too much like a stage name. I introduce myself and she flops on the bed and pulls out two containers of oils and cremes and tells me that for 400 baht more she will use these lotions. Fine. She begins.

Her massage technique was rushed and very sloppy as she rubbed the creme over me but I just lay on my stomach and closed my eyes and relaxed. Then she suddenly had the TV on and began chatting with me. She kept alternating between watching the news, talking to me and massaging me.

Then she is saying something that means that she wants me to take her with me to Ubon Ratchitani as her "buddy". "Mai" (no) I said. Then she started to do a pout as a joke to my answer. She carried on with the massage again. Then she stopped and said what I think was: "Let me take you downtown so you can buy me clothes at a boutique." Or maybe she said: "I work as a model and I would like you to be my agent as I bring customers into the boutique to show them clothes." Then she seemed to want me to be her agent in Canada.

All the time she would go between watching TV, massaging me and making plans for me and her on her 'Motor-see-clette'. Two hours later, I get my money out to pay her the 700 baht when she says: "Steeeebbbb..." and did that pouty thing with her lips again. She held up her hands to indicate that I should give her one thousand baht so that she could have a tip. I reluctantly agree but then she winks and lets me know that for only 400 baht more she would be happy to have a shower with me that I would never forget. I smile and shake my head. She kisses my on the cheek and leaves. Call it false economy if you like. I just think that there should be romance associated with sex. I latched the door and heaved a sigh of relief.

Dennis; Chick Magnet 2

Perhaps I haven't properly expressed Dennis's ability to attract people to him. I have made a lot of jokes about how the women can't resist him. The truth is, everyone likes him. He is the most recognizable person in Thailand. Everyone calls him 'Santa'. But, since I seem to have given a false impression of our situation here, let me add for the record, that these are just nice women who like to have their pictures taken with him. In reality we live a very quiet life here in Paradise. Dennis is available for birthdays, but he is booked through the Christmas holidays...

This is the woman who arranged our transport to Koh Tao. Dennis just asked for her to pose for this picture and she melted into his arms.

This is Yoko from Japan. She does Tai Massage in Koh Toa. She was another big fan of Santa.

This seems to be a massage theme. This woman gave Santa a Thai massage on Koh Tao as well. Okay, we have gone for a lot of Thai massage. "You just keep taking the pictures Steve", Dennis kept saying. "It's something you're good at."

Thai Foot Medication

I have done a lot of trekking in Thailand. And I haven't worn socks in a month and a half; only sandals. So I decided to get my feet worked on here on Koh Samet. I went for a Thai massage and had the Works...not the WORKS but the works...

I had a manicure, a pedicure, a Thai body massage and a foot massage. They scraped the callouses off my feet for an hour and a half and put medication on my cuts.

When I started, I was having trouble walking. When I was done, I couldn't even recognize my feet.
Here's what I saw while they were busy working on me. The older of the two women kept making a quiet cackling sound as she cracked my toes and massaged me. She said something to the other woman as she wriggled my feet and said "Canada" and they would both laugh. I'm not sure what they were getting at but I'm sure they're right.

The beauty of this massage is that I had it done next to the ocean in a cool breeze. As Elizabeth Taylor would say when she woke up in the morning: 'I feel like a new Man!'

The total cost of this three and a half hour treatment? Eighteen Dollars, Canadian.
Diana, you would love this country. I kept thinking of your 'cranky feet'. At these prices you could have a massage every day. I've had 10 so far. Ahhhh.

Koh Tao 2

Koh Tao is a beautiful Island to relax on.

This rock behind me holds a Monogram inscribed when the King of Thailand first visited this Island. The Rock is considered sacred. Our Bungalow was just a few yards from this monument.

I spent a very relaxing day talking with Nicole, while it rained. It has only rained one day since I arrived in Thailand on February 5th. Nicole is from East Germany and saw the Berlin wall torn down. I asked her what it was like. She says it was exciting but she was only ten years old at the time so it didn't have the same impact on her as it had on her countrymen. She has travelled for several years and is certified in Scuba diving, Computer Technology, Thai Massage and speaks seven languages. When she's not relaxing she runs a small Country somewhere.
Nicole was also on the Beach the day the Tsunami hit Phuket. She says she had been sleeping in her hut and had just gone for breakfast when the wave came in. Her hut was totally gone and she would have died had she been in it an hour before.

This was Dennis's occupation on Koh Tao; holding the waves in place. His relatives insist I show him in the Blog every so often so they can keep an eye on him. He's still losing weight Angie, and is still a major chick magnet.

Litton is from Sydney Australia. He suggested the bungalow we stayed in. I love the serendipity of just meeting a traveller as you're walking down the path and he ends up giving you just the information you need when you need it.

I finally figured out the master plan of mosquitoes. It's not about biting. It's about recreating the stars of the night sky on my leg; one bump at a time...

These birds are exactly like the string of birds I talked about in the story: Calgary to Thailand in 2 Minutes. The psychic who gave them to me said they had belonged to someone who met the Dali Lama and that I will meet him too.

And here we have the turtle mascot for the Island.

We took a walk around the outcropping of rocks on our last day.

I never knew I could feel so peaceful as I did on this Island. Dennis and I would get up; usually very early and swim in the ocean, and dry off in the sun and drink coffee and cool down in the ocean again. Time just didn't mean a thing. I wish all of you that same sense of peace that I have felt here on Koh Tao.