Nightmarch

[PattayaPete 530]

Who Started the Fire? On Wednesday 18 May, and again on Friday 20 May, the Matichon newspaper, a Thai-language national daily, ran a couple of stories supposedly exposing the existence of a number of books for sale in Thailand that were allegedly derogatory to the nation and its people.

 

The main focus of the first story was aimed at Neil Hutchison, a fellow Australian and friend of mine. As it happened, Neil was out of the country when the story broke and knew nothing of the furore surrounding him when he returned a couple of days later.

 

Neil, not being a professional journalist and therefore un-used to the kind of dramas that can occasionally engulf a writer, was understandably concerned at the potential trouble this publicity could cause for him living in Pattaya. Having been a freelance journalist for almost 20 years now I am used to the occasional flurry of righteous indignation and threats of dire consequences resulting from pieces I’ve written.

 

Usually those most upset have their own hidden agendas. As the owner of Pattaya Today newspaper, Khun Visa, said to me when she read the Matichon story, “I can’t see what the problem is.”

 

Basically, there is no problem. The stories were a media beat-up with the central premise being that Neil and I were somehow impugning the character of Thailand and its people by our books and articles. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have always made a point of writing in context; the material in books such as Money Still Number One and Pattaya, Patpong on Steroids as well as newspaper columns such as ‘Nightmarch’ and ‘Fool In Paradise’ reflect our experiences and views regarding the nightlife scene in general. I have had a lot of Thai girls, both working in bars as well as others in so-called ‘normal’ professions, who told me they enjoyed Pattaya Unplugged and had a good laugh. The book is now in its fifth incarnation and has been re-titled Porn Unplugged.

 

It’s interesting to note the story denigrating Neil and his books was penned by a male Thai reporter. A year or so ago the Ying Thai magazine, a publication aimed squarely at young, Thai females ran a review of two of Neil’s books that were laudatory. In other words, a young, Thai, female reporter was intelligent enough to understand the humour (generally self-deprecatory in Neil’s case) of the works and recognise the context in which they were written. Sadly, the male reporter was unable to grasp this simple premise and, from what I understand, referred to Neil as ‘English’. Clearly, he hadn’t read the books in any depth because even a cursory flick through them will find sufficient reference to his homeland Australia.

 

Rumour has it the source of complaints against the books comes from a Thai woman married to a foreigner and who runs a bar in Soi Post Office. If this is the case, the question has to be asked why would they take up the cudgels in an attempt to have the books removed from sale? Perhaps they are working a scam with their female employees: writing con letters asking for monetary assistance from foreigners who’ve gone home after a tryst with an employee. The pay-off is a percentage of the money remitted by the walking wallet/s. Perhaps the Thai woman who owns the bar is aggrieved because too many foreigners are wising up to the wiles and tricks of the trade of the bargirls. The gullible are not so thick on the ground anymore, and this is cutting into her monetary return. Altruism is definitely not the reason behind this campaign.

 

So where does it all go from here. Were the Thai government to ban the books for sale in the country they would, in all likelihood, simply create an overseas best-seller. Imagine returning to Australia with the books and hawking the story around the national media about censorship in Thailand and being banned for telling foreigners how not to get ripped off by bargirls. The newspapers overseas would lap it up.

 

Of course the other as yet unanswered question is who contacted the journalist at Matichon and why did he agree to run what really was a ‘nothing’ story concentrating only on Neil and myself? I can think of a couple of other publications currently on the shelves that definitely denigrate Thai people, and women in particular, yet no one else was placed ‘in the frame’ as it were. No doubt the truth will be revealed in time.

 

Out of the Sand Trap: The long-established Bunker Boys golfing fraternity has recently undergone yet another form of regime change with the departure- for greener greens or deeper bunkers is yet to become clear- of Mr Loy, one of the chief organisers.

 

Operating out of the popular and well-run OK Corral (Soi Rungland, off South Pattaya Road), the organising of the Bunker Boys golf days has been taken over by Denis the Menace and Len. People interested in a good golf day out should turn up at the OK Corral before 10:00 am on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s and before midday on Saturday’s. Further information can be obtained by going to their website: www.thebunkerboys.com or emailing Denis or Len: bunkerboys@ipgc.org

 

There’s a Hare in There: Apart from having the well-named Ugly Brothers Band belting out familiar tunes every night of the week, the laid-back FLB Bar (Walking Street, just past the famous big tree) holds parties almost every month and now has what manager Ben terms a ‘bunny night’ on Saturday’s. The air-conditioned bar always has plenty of ‘bunnies’ just hoping for someone to put the down-payment on a new hutch or two, preferably in an Issan province.

 

It’s all in the Rent: Rumour has it that the owner of the building housing the long-running Champion a-go-go (Walking Street) has jacked up the rent yet again and Khun Joo, the owner of Champion, claims he can no longer make a decent living out of his chrome pole palace and may be forced into either closing down or trying to sell it off. Champion offers one of the best happy hours in town with the bar opening at 7:30 pm and retailing draught beer at just 35 baht a glass until 9:00 pm. In the same period other drinks are just 50 baht.