11. Duff wants to stay
Robert Miller had invited Duff to lunch at the hotel Robert ran in a Sukhumvit soi. It was a small hotel, or a boutique hotel as Robert preferred to call it. Robert was easy to spot sitting in the restaurant. Duff thought Robert looked like a science professor, with his silver hair that grew longer and more untidy than usual for businessmen, and his eyeglasses.
- You are leaving soon? Did you enjoy your holiday? said Robert.
- I don’t want to leave, said Duff.
- Typical. Nobody wants to leave Thailand.
- I want to send my boss a fax saying I quit and tell him to stuff it.
- That’s a bit impulsive, don’t you think?
- I guess it is. But I am thinking of moving here. Really.
- Oh not another one. It seems every other farang who comes to Thailand refuses to go home again. If you moved here what would you do?
- I saw they employ many English teachers at ABAC. It looked like a nice place to be.
- I thought you worked in a newspaper. Have you been a teacher before?
- No. How hard can it be?
- Not to discourage you, but is there a boy involved in this sudden desire to live in Thailand?
- The boys I have met recently haven’t been much to get excited about.
- Good. People who move to Thailand for one particular Thai boy tend to be disappointed. When the romance ends or the boy turns out to be quite different from what they expected they are stuck here.
- Thailand is addictive. I don’t know why but even with all the nonsense I have to put up with I am happier here than in England.
- You are in your tourist bubble now. If you live here you will have to put up with a lot more nonsense.
- But I will have Thai boys all year round.
- Sure. You can have wall-to-wall sex every day in Bangkok if that is what you want. But finding a sincere boyfriend isn’t that easy.
- In a city of 12 million people there must be a decent gay boy somewhere.
- Possibly. If he is not taken. But before you find him you must date a large number of gold-diggers, undercover moneyboys, unreliable sluts and oddballs.
- Is that what you did before meeting Ae?
- Yes. So I know the type you dated from ABAC yesterday. The egocentric spoilt ones. And now you want to teach them?
- It’s a living. They can’t all be like that Fiat boy.
- Hopefully not.
- How much money would I need to live here?
- That depends on your style of living. But on an ABAC salary your style will not be grand. What will they pay you?
- I called them and asked. I can expect 18 000 baht a month plus a room.
- Can you live on that?
- The teaching load at ABAC is moderate. I can take extra classes without exhausting myself, and private students too. Maybe I can reach 35-40 000 that way.
- You will not appear on Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous on that either. Don’t rush into anything. Living here is not like a holiday. Your impression of Thailand is better if you only visit. Don’t stay long enough to find out what is really going on. Love them and leave them. That’s the best way.
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