Friday night we went out to the bars in downtown Pattaya for our first time. After the night on the island during debrief, I had a pretty good idea at what to expect, except to find a girl that I could easily be friends with. I had no idea that these girls were just like me and so likeable.
I was in a group of three. There was me, who can only say hello in Thai really badly. (But Thai people are very friendly and act like I can pronounce it well.) There was a woman who could only speak Thai, absolutely no English. And there was a woman who could speak a little bit of English but got lost very quickly. So the three of us headed out to find a bar to settle down in and order a coke in hopes of finding a girl willing to talk to us. It was obviously not the easiest of tasks with the three of us. We finally found a bar and ordered our cokes and waters.
Part of the prostitute’s job is to entertain you while you are there. So while some people may find different ways to entertain themselves at the bar with these women, I played Connect Four with the bartender. (By the way, the bartender was the only one who I could talk to. I tried to talk with several other girls, but they had no idea what I was saying and neither did the two Thai women that were ministering with me.)
One girl that was off to the side, was encouraged at first (before they figured out that we weren’t there for a hook-up) to come over and speak to one of us. Unfortunately, she couldn’t speak English at all so they excused her from me. In my entire life I have never wanted to speak a foreign language so badly! This was only her second night and I just wanted to tell her to run and not look back. She looked so young and so nice and so innocent and I didn’t want her to open this door into her life. But I never got the chance. She spoke for a while with one of the ladies I was with and then went to talk with a man. I didn’t see her again.
The
bartender, Leeza*, and I ended up playing three games of Connect Four – I lost all three and that was with her helping me not to lose. We talked about our families, which she said are similar. (I don’t know if that is true or if she just said it.) And we talked about her boyfriend who she has dated for five years and wants to marry. She seemed very surprised that I even asked her about her life and even more surprised that I cared why she wasn’t married after dating a guy for five years. (Come on now, five years!!!! Seriously, time to fish or cut bait.)
Time flew by and it was time for our team to go. Leeza asked if I would come back and talk with her before I left and I told her that I would try my best if I could find her again. At least one person on my team remembers what street we were one so hopefully I can find her again.
If Leeza lived in America or I lived here, I could easily be friends with her. I didn’t expect that I would like these girls. I thought I’d go into the bars and feel so sorry for them and not be able to focus on anything but trying to convince them that this isn’t the life for them. (Which by the way, doesn’t work here. It’s all about the relationship first.) But I found a woman around my age with some of the same dreams that I have. And for the few moments that I got to spend with her, it was like talking to a friend at home.
Note:
Any names of the bar girls in this story or any here after will be fictitious. I don’t want to inadvertently advertise these girls for some creep to find them.
