Tag: bargirl

  • THE PAPAYA KNIFE PROMISE: PATTAYA’S MOST TERRIFYING ROMANTIC TROPE

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    You are sitting on your balcony on a breezy Tuesday afternoon. Your girlfriend is sitting on a plastic stool, rhythmically shredding a green papaya for your afternoon Som Tam. Thwack, thwack, thwack. The kitchen smells of lime, chili, and garlic. It is a scene of pure, unadulterated tropical domestic bliss. Suddenly, she stops. She looks…

  • THE FALANG COMPETITION: THE INVISIBLE WAR WITH KEVIN

    It always starts innocently. You think you are in a standard relationship with your Thai girlfriend, but you are actually entering a high-stakes, geopolitical financial arms race with a man you have never even met. His name is Kevin. He is her friend’s new boyfriend. And Kevin must be defeated. It begins on a Tuesday.…

  • THE PATTAYA FLYING CLUB: A PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST

    Simon, 65, sits in a corner condo unit that feels like a brick oven. He hasn’t turned on the air conditioning to save money. He doesn’t actually know what he is saving for anymore, but old habits die hard. For the past two hours, he has been staring blankly at the wall, his gaze slowly…

  • THE SADDEST EYES IN PATTAYA

    A few days after the wild Songkran water festival ended, I stopped by a regular curry rice shop in Central Pattaya. I noticed an older Thai man sitting alone at the next table. He looked exhausted, staring blankly into his iced tea, until he raised his head and gave me a tired but warm smile.…