Rick’s Love Story

This is the extraordinary true story of one man’s encounter with the easy temptations that surface all too easily in Bangkok – and how they almost wrecked his life.

Rick had lived in Thailand a few years and knew the score. He knew how easy it is to fall off the rails and get into all sorts of trouble in Bangkok. He knew the temptations. And he understood the consequences. Despite this, he succumbed to the charms of a bar girl one night and his whole life changed.

It all started one evening when Rick and an old friend, we’ll call him John, went out to party. Visiting the red light district of Soi Cowboy, the pair went from bar to bar flirting with the girls, and drinking heavily, As the night wore on they were both getting wasted, so Rick suggested they go to a quieter bar and slow things down for a while.

Now, in those days the economy was booming. Even the bar girls were doing well, and the girls in the Noi bar seemed to be doing especially well. They were all draped with gold and eager for more.

Rick and John walked in, sat down at the bar and were immediately surrounded by a bevy of hostesses, feeding them drinks, and laughing and joking. The music wasn’t too loud, the lights were dim, and the feeling was good.

Inevitably, one girl caught his attention. The way she talked and behaved singled her out as someone different and interesting. Here was a girl with fire, as well as being very beautiful. Her name was Joy and unknown to either of them at that moment, she would become the catalyst for an extraordinary chapter in Rick’s life. After a night of passion with Joy, Rick was besotted, totally and utterly.

There was a major hurdle, however, as Rick was married. By his own admission, it wasn’t a particularly successful liaison and the couple was on the verge of separation. Nevertheless, they were still living together. When he got home about 11 in the morning after that fateful night out looking decidedly the worse for wear, his wife said nothing.

Rick couldn’t forget Joy and soon returned to Soi Cowboy to see her again. This went on for several weeks. They just couldn’t get enough of each other. It wasn’t just the sex by now. Joy knew how to make Rick feel tender, loving, romantic and a dozen other emotions he couldn’t even name.

Rick wasn’t exactly unaware of what was happening, and he finally decided that enough was enough. He stopped calling Joy. It was like going cold turkey off heroin. He shook. He longed to pick up the phone. His heart ached, and he’d never felt that before with any other girl not even his wife. But he forced himself to stay away from Joy for a whole week.

Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer so he called her up. When she came to the phone and heard his voice, all he heard was her enormous sigh of relief and he was lost. They took up their relationship again and it was stronger than ever.

Eventually, after a few more weeks, Rick’s wife was starting to get upset that he was staying out all night. In all the years they’d been married he’d never done that before, so one day she talked to him about it. He was unabashed. He told her he had never met another girl like Joy and he wanted to sleep with her every night.

Rick’s wife didn’t want to lose him, even though their marriage was not going well. She figured it was better to have an errant husband than none at all. So she suggested Rick bring Joy home with him. He was surprised at first, but she convinced him that it would be alright. So Rick talked to Joy. She was reluctant at first too. After all, what if Rick’s wife tried had revenge in mind?

But Rick talked Joy into accepting this situation. He paid her out of the bar for the last time and they returned to his home and to his wife. Rick was ecstatic. Joy had given up her highly paid job in the bar for him, and he saw a rosy future for them.

Arriving at his house the first introductions were a little awkward. But whatever problems Rick had anticipated quickly passed and this menage-a-trois began their unlikely existence together

Things went well for a while. Joy started helping around the house while Rick’s wife went out to work during the day. But instead of staying out until late at night like she had been doing, she started coming home early. Rick was amazed, because until then his wife had seemed to be working hard.

Rick had harbored suspicions about his wife’s late home comings for a couple of years. Her driver was a very butch looking girl and Rick had often thought there might be more to their relationship than just driving around. After seeing how his wife reacted to Joy his suspicions were confirmed. So it seemed he had found the perfect solution to his dilemma. He was happy, and his wife was happy too. But Joy wasn’t. Joy didn’t particularly enjoy sleeping with Rick’s wife and only put up with it for Rick’s sake.

A couple of months down the road it all came to a head. Joy told Rick she wanted to move to another bedroom. So Rick found he was shuttling between bedrooms at night; one night with his wife, the next night with Joy.

To add to Rick’s problems, he found out that Joy was married to a German and her husband came to Bangkok for a couple of weeks every 3 months. In fact, he was on his way.

Joy took off to stay with her German husband at the town house he had bought her in the Sukhumvit area. Before leaving, she assured Rick that she loved only him, and that she didn’t actually sleep with her husband; he was too sick to do anything like that. But she had to stay with him because he was very rich. She needed the money to support her daughter who was staying with grandma upcountry. She told Rick not to worry, even though he was poor she loved only him. She’d be back soon enough.

While she was away, Joy called Rick every day assuring him of her undying love. But that did not prevent him from thinking the worst.

Despite this, he still loved Joy to distraction and he took her back easily enough when she returned. It wasn’t long before he told his wife he was moving into Joys bedroom full time. And that was when things really started getting difficult.

Rick’s wife took to staying out late, sometimes coming home at 1 or 2 a.m. She refused to do anything around the house, and the two lovebirds found they had the house pretty much to themselves.

Then Rick started hearing that his wife was talking about them to all the neighbors and even to the people who ran the local 7-11. She had started rumors about how Joy was Rick’s maid and he was cheating on his wife. The situation was getting nasty.

One day, Rick’s wife came home and said it was time for them to part the ways. Since the house was in her name Rick should move out. He could leave everything else behind too she said, and take only his clothes, computer, and a few other things she didn’t need.

So Rick and Joy found themselves a small, cheap flat in Din Daeng district of Bangkok. Rick had no job, no money, and not much of a future. He managed to get some low paid teaching work and they eked out a living. He gave most of it to Joy to help support her daughter upcountry.

Joy’s German husband would come back to town every three months, and Rick was left alone in his little flat to fret and worry while Joy went off. Ten days later Joy would come back and despite the pain Rick was feeling he took her back each time and their life continued as before. Well, almost.

Although Joy was going off to be with her German husband she became intensely jealous of Rick and started accusing him of sleeping with other women while she was away. The fights started.

One day Joy took off for her home upcountry to see her daughter, so she said, and Rick decided to check out the town house in Sukhumvit. He was curious to see what sort of a place it was. As he walked past he noticed there was a bulky letter in the post box so he took it out. It was addressed to Joy from her husband. He could feel a tape inside, and being curious and suspicious, he took it home and played it.

The contents wrecked Rick. The tape was a voice letter. Mostly boring stuff, but then came the steamy bit. Rick listened horrified as Joy’s husband reminisced about their love making and told her how much he missed her feeling her naked body next to his.

Rick was so angry that Joy had lied to him that he went out and found a bar girl to bring home to their flat that night. The next morning before he’d woken up there was a knock on the door. You guessed it. Joy had decided to come back early.

Joy blew her stack when she saw the bar girl in her bed and ordered the unfortunate girl out of the room. She fled downstairs half dressed, shaking with laughter. Then there was a huge fight and Joy pulled out a sharp knife and attacked Rick. Luckily, Rick was able to disarm her and after more shouting they calmed down enough to sit and talk.

Rick told Joy about the tape he’d retrieved from the town house and Joy went ballistic again. She denied she’d ever slept with her German husband and then started in at Rick again for daring to bring a girl into their apartment.

Suddenly the scales fell from Rick’s eyes and he realized the Joy had been lying to him all along. He tossed her out and started to put his life together again.

He was lucky. He only lost one year of his life, his wife and marriage, his house, and all his money. But at least he was sane, in good health and able to start again. He left Bangkok soon after breaking up with Joy a sadder and wiser man.