After a grueling 10 hour layover in Hong Kong I finally boarded my plane to Bangkok. The second I arrived in the land of smiles I felt a piece of me was at home again as the country of Thailand has touched me in such a profound way in the many times I’ve been so blessed to come here. I walked out of the airport to grab a cab and I was bombarded with offers for cabs and limos, everyone just trying with all their might to make a buck. Whenever your traveling abroad I find it so very important to have your whits about you. Having a clear mind and letting your intuition guide you is such an important thing. A man from Israel in his 50’s approached me and instantly started telling me “the way” things are here in Thailand. He was persistent in wanting to share a cab with me. Not knowing this man from a hole in the wall I proceeded to tell him I had everything handled and it be best if he went his way and I went mine. He wouldn’t let up on informing me about the various places I should be visiting for sex.
It’s very common knowledge that Southeast Asia is a melting pot for sex tourists, but I told him that wasn’t my game or intention for my trip. Being a fairly “street smart” dude myself I’ve seen a lot in my life that has been hard at times to accept when it comes to what he was trying to converse about. I finally had to be rather stern in telling him to go his separate way. I understand full well that these countries have their problems with making money and that prostitution is very out in the open and accepted. Then he started in on me how he’s killed many men, how I should live my life and ” fuck” all the girls I can while I’m here. How I should live in the “future” not the past! This was all after only knowing this man for less then 5 minutes. I felt he was looking for a partner in crime so to speak, but when he saw I wasn’t taking the bait he finally walked off.
Amidst the sex trade which is such a small part of this country, Thailand is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in the world. These “ladies of the night” were born into this world just like every other human being in this world. It’s just one of those things that again, we become victims of our environment. I’m here to enjoy the beauty. It’s a very real thing that the sex trade exists. But in my mind sex is something that needs to be respected and acted upon with emotion. I haven’t always had that mindset. But now at this stage of my life I just look at things in a different way. Bangkok is usually a stop over place for many people going to the islands and other parts of Southeast Asia. There’s a lot of really cool places here to check out and experience. I went for dinner with Khalil and one of his pals from France who is a very interesting person, his name is JC. He’s working on a very cool project called Find Your Way In The World. His work is all about Global networking and educating travelers. We had some good conversation and it was nice to connect. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Ryan