Win Motorcy by Werewolf
Posted by werewolf | Blog, Reader Submissions | Posted on September 19th, 2007
A friend of mine has decided to give up on Thailand and return home to the United States. While he lived in Thailand he was deeply involved in Men’s ice hockey, and on Saturday night he was given a brief farewell by the guys in the league. As a going-away gift he got an orange vest like the ones that the motorcycle taxi drivers wear. It had his name in English on the back, and in Thai script on the front. His playing number was in English and Thai script, and it had an American flag.
Later in the evening me & hockey-boy went for a goodbye tour of Patpong. We began and ended at the Safari Bar, having one drink in nearly every go-go bar in the ‘Pong in between. Hockey boy wore his orange vest throughout.
It was a riot! Thai people in the street as well as in the bars were calling out to him, “Hey, Win Motorcy, na?” They were calling him by name and asking for rides on his bike. He was laughing and joking back with them.
It was one of the most enjoyable nights out I’ve ever had in Thailand; a reminder of how much Thai people love sanuk — even the otherwise irritating touts, vendors and mamasans. Everyone was having a laugh with us.
I’ve been in Thailand long enough that the novelty and outright joy of visiting the bars has worn off. In many ways I’m as jaded as the girls who work in the bars. For one night, because of the silly orange vest, it felt like it did on my first visit to Thailand… lots of laughs and fun; there was a certain innocence to the evening that I’d forgotten.
These days when I go out to the bars it feels more like work than play. When I compare to my first Bangkok holiday I realize that I’m more careful with my money, I smile less, I calculate a great deal more about what I can expect from each girl based on my observations of her. The simple wonder of being surrounded by beautiful little brown girls who want to cater to my desires has been lost over the years.
I don’t know if it was the spirit of fun, or simply getting out to the bars early in the evening, but as we toured through the bars I saw a lot more cute and beautiful girls than I’ve been noticing lately. My guess is that because I was relaxed & laughing I was seeing the girls doing the same, and I was seeing the beauty of innocent fun reflected in their faces instead of the hard calculating eyes that I so often see in the go-go bars now.
If you want a return to the age of innocence… to that feeling that you had the first time you came to Thailand there are probably many different things you can do, but I can suggest that wearing a bright orange motorcy driver vest, complete with the reflective strip, is a way to take you back to that nearly-forgotten sense of fun and adventure, if only for a few short hours.
8 Responses to “Win Motorcy by Werewolf”
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Translator
When one tries to analyze people places and things and sometimes take things too seriously, then one starts to miss out on the many subtle pleasures in life that gives one happiness, joy… bliss! I don’t want to sound too philosophical but, life is a bitch, too much of anything becomes routine and one instinctively starts taking many of our blessings for granted. The novelty wears off very fast, that’s when a person starts to look for new and exciting things to keep the spirit alive.
Each morning brings many opportunities; one just needs to find a sense of balance. The secret lies in the “Law of Attraction”, its all about ones state of mind. Cheers! Have fun
View all comments by karma
return home to the US
what’s up with that?
run out of $$$
View all comments by Jack Dawson
@JD: Yeah, being broke was a major problem for him. I can honestly say that in the 18 months that I knew him he never really seemed to ‘fit in’ in Bangkok, and he just couldn’t seem to sort out his work situation after leaving his old job at the end of 2006. He left the US in 2001, and spent 6 years in Asia (but less than 2 in Thailand). I doubt he’ll step back into his life in the US easily.
View all comments by werewolf
I heartily agree, as I have had many similar experiences when dressed up in the most ridiculous fancy dress on football tours.
The sheer total uproar and shrieks of delight as fifteen guys enter a bar dressed in all kinds of everything is a true joy to behold.
We must annoy the fcuk out of the other punters though!
View all comments by Combover
WW: I think you captured very well the transition many expats experience from their intitial, eye-opening plunge into the nightlife scene as a newby tourist, to the jaded views that develop after years of over-exposure to the hard-core business aspects of the scene.
Now, when I want to recapture the ‘fun and innocence’ of my intitial tourist visits, I’ll travel to Pattaya, the Philippines, or Cambodia with some friends, or just check into the Nana Hotel for a couple of nights. Often, the working girls seem to react with a more sanuk manner to a perceived tourist than the expat.
BTW, some friends and I talked about buying and wearing some mototaxi vests last Halloween. One of our group, who had lived in Thailand several decades, reminded us that many mototaxi drivers have to borrow thousands of baht to purchase a vest giving them a spot on busy sois, and would resent any ‘unsanctioned’ person wearing a vest, or might consider it an insult on their profession. Sounded extreme, but gave us enough thought to pass.
View all comments by DJ
“fun and innocence” in pattaya?
i like that.
that’s funny.
View all comments by Jack Dawson
It is easy to become jaded, but if you look jaded you’re not going to attract the sanuk you’re after. Chicken and egg situation. Just go in looking like you’re looking for a good time. There’s usually at least one girl there who hasn’t also become jaded and is more fun than the rest. And you’ll get her. Like attracts like.
View all comments by Bangkok Barry
BB: Yup, you got it. I often find that when I return to Bangkok from a trip to the States, I must have some sort of “simulated newbie” scent on me that attracts some sanuk from the demimondaines. I can augement the experience by pretending not to speak Thai for a while.
WW: I appreciate the story. Sometimes we become so jaded here that we forget the sanuk. The ladies in the watering holes can sense an undercurrent of uptightness and give the bad-attitude punter a wide berth. Keeping a balanced sense of fun/humor can be challenging at times… RE: my recent experience at Baccara with the mandatory two ladydrink minimum for to qualify to barfine a chick.
C: Over the years, in my travels around rural Thailand, I’ve acquired some traditional Thai textile fabric that I’ve had made into shirts/vests etc. One shirt in particular is made from weft-ikat indigo cotton from Nakorn Panom and I got it from a “Chao Poo Thai” village. When I wear that shirt around NEP or Cowboy, I get appreciative comments from the chicks. Some recognize exactly where it came from and others are just thrilled to see a farang wearing some traditional fabric. Helps promote some “sanuk relations”…
Party on dudes.
View all comments by Bison