Beware of Lek

I’ve read a lot of stuff about Thailand. There isn’t much else to do here in my bedsit in the northern England industrial town where I live. At least it used to be industrial, but the shipyards closed down long ago and there isn’t much of anything here now. I’m 40 years old and I had been living with my mother, but she recently went to meet her maker and I had to sell the house to pay off the debts she built up at the Bingo hall. Her afternoons there were the only pleasure she got after Dad passed over, and she soon spent her pension money and had to borrow from whoever she could to keep playing. Bless her. It wasn’t her fault that she was no good with figures. Which might explain why she never won anything at Bingo I suppose.

Anyways, after the house was sold I moved into a rented room and lived the kind of life many single men of my age do. That is, signing on for work at the Job Centre, spending evenings watching tv and having a night out at the pub and a few beers at the weekend. It was when I was down at The Drunken Toad one such night that I got talking to John. He’d been to some place called Thailand and was going on about all the fun that could be had over there. Well, I’d never been anywhere much, because when Mum was alive we always enjoyed a couple of weeks staying at the same bed and breakfast place in Blackpool. It was nice going back there every year and seeing everything the same. The people running the small hotel were the same, the guests were the same as the year before, even the stain on the wall in the room we always had was the same.

John was telling me he used to be living the same kind of life as me until he came into a bit of money. I didn’t ask how. Around my way it’s best not to ask too many questions. Then he’d seen some travel show on tv one night about Thailand. It talked about all these golden temples and beautiful women and the sunshine and this wonderful beach resort called Pattaya where they had palm trees along the shore. It sounded too good to be true so he decided to give it a bit of a go. He said he had been living the life of a king every night he was there and had to fight the women off. That made my ears perk up, because while I was living with mum I couldn’t get out much because she was a bit wobbly on her legs, what with her age and her liking for the odd glass of gin. If I ever did manage to bring a girl home, like Mavis the cashier down at the supermarket, I’d be about to really get going on the sofa and mum would turn the light on and come shuffling into the room in search of her false teeth. Urg! Anyways, John told me you couldn’t fail in Thailand, the women were falling over for you, and I decided I had to go and have a look. Fortunately I had managed to put a little money away for a rainy day, and I started making plans.

First, I wanted to have a look at Bangkok. I’d read quite a lot about Soi Cowboy so I decided to have a look at what all the fuss was about. I couldn’t believe what I found! It was like a fairground with all the lights and noise and people, and there were hundreds of girls standing around and calling out to me, saying I was handsome. And these girls were the sexiest things I had ever seen, much better than Mavis. I stood there wondering what to do, when one girl came up to me, took my arm and dragged me into her bar, the Naked Pussy. I had been surprised at what was going on outside, but I nearly fell over when she pulled me through the curtain at the door and my senses were assaulted by the lights and loud music and about 20 naked girls dancing on stage. The girl found me a seat, told me her name was Lek and asked if I would buy her a drink.

Lek had only been working there for a week so I was lucky to find her. She was very nice and asked me my name and where I came from and where I was staying and how long I was going to be in Thailand. No girl in England had ever been so interested in me. She nestled up close to me and I was overwhelmed by her perfume and soft skin. When she told me that she could come back to my hotel with me and spend the night it was all I could do to stop myself yelling in delight. I am a gentleman so will not tell you what happened later, but I must confess I didn’t get much sleep and found it hard to walk the next day. Lek wanted me to take her shopping though, and how could I say no after the affection she had shown me. She knew exactly where to go, and I looked forward to seeing her wear her new gold necklace and the beautiful clothes she bought. I thought they were a little revealing, but she told me that was Thai fashion so I suppose that was okay. We spent the next few days together, and although she asked me for some money to help her brother Somchai fix his motorcycle and for a new washing machine for her sick mother I was glad to help. You should have seen the smile it brought to her pretty face. The only thing that bothered me about her was a tattoo above her left breast that said ‘Dave’, but she told me it was the name of her father who had just died and she had it done to remember him by.

Everything was perfect, although there was one bad time I had at the Naked Pussy. It was dark on Soi Cowboy because there had been a power cut and so we decided to leave together. But something terrible happened. After she had gone to have a giggle with her friends and say goodbye to them, and while I was in the toilet, in the blackout she mistakenly left the bar with some obnoxious German the mamasan told me was a regular customer called Hans, who I’d noticed had been eying her up all night. It wasn’t until two hours later that she realised her error and came rushing back to the bar. Her hair was wet and she was breathing heavily, but she blamed that on the humidity and running back to find me. She became distraught when I said I was very upset that she had left the bar with another man and I had to go back to my room to think things over, and when she burst into tears what could I do except hold her tight and buy her a tray of tequilas to cheer up her and her friends that had come over to comfort her. Anyone can make a mistake, I suppose. I did wonder how she didn’t realise her mistake when he spoke, because Hans has a strong German accent and I have a thick northern accent, but she said that all farangs sound the same to her and she can’t understand most of what we say to her, so she just smiles and rubs our groin.

After a while I began to get a little short of money. After all, things were tough at home and I had to think of the future. Lek was very disappointed when I couldn’t afford to buy her a pair of shoes she wanted at Siam Paragon, and I knew that before long I wouldn’t be able to afford even to buy her and her friends at the Naked Pussy any more drinks. When I told her about my plight I thought she would be sympathetic because she had told me she loved me too much, but instead she got angry and called me a cheap Charlie. When I said I’d see her again that night she told me she was busy, so I stayed in that night and tried to watch some silly soap opera on the tv where they blurred out a glass of wine but showed two people threatening each other with guns. That was odd, I thought.

The next day I tried to call her but her phone was turned off. This had happened before a couple of times and Lek told me it wasn’t turned off but the phone system was very bad in Thailand and sometimes the calls didn’t go through. Even though I couldn’t contact her it didn’t matter, because I planned to go back to the Naked Pussy that night to see her anyway. But when I arrived she wasn’t there. When I told the mamasan that I hadn’t been able to tell Lek I was coming because her phone appeared to be turned off she told me that Lek was always getting drunk every night and then losing her phone, and that racks me with guilt because I know she must only be trying to drown her sorrows because I can’t be there with her all the time, buying her the tequilas she loves so much. My, can she drink them, but I know she gets thirsty because it’s such a hot climate so I’m happy to buy her as many as she likes. And for her friends too because she tells me they always take care of her when I’m not there. They are such sweet girls so how can I refuse. And I like to treat the mamasan too, because she whispers to me what a good girl Lek is and how she makes sure she never goes with any other customers but me.

I went back to see her several times but they’ve always stopped me at the door and told me not to bother as she isn’t there. Last night though I was just arriving to try one more time when I saw her come out of the bar with Hans and take him to some hotel just around the corner. I was devastated. She had told me she loved me for ever, and now this! Now I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and I hang around outside the Naked Pussy hoping for just a glimpse of her. I thought I might go home and save up all my money for a year and come back to see her, but now? My life is in ruins.

So, I wanted to write this to warn you about Lek. All she wanted was to use me to make as much money as possible and she never really had any feelings for me. It’s easy to know who she is. She works at the Naked Pussy, number 18, and she’s about 5’3” with long dark hair. Watch out for her. You have been warned.