48. A mess
Duff felt his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket. It rang and then stopped, then rang again. It was Bia signalling to Duff that he wanted Duff to call him back. Bia had recognised the farang caller and knew he was in trouble.
Bia was innocent. Peter was to blame for being stingy and rude. Bia’s request for a holiday in Europe and been reasonable and politely put but then Peter had offended Bia by not only refusing but making fun of the idea as well. It was only to be expected that Bia marched out under such circumstances.
Bia had not cheated on Peter. Bia had broken up with Peter, met Duff, said goodbye to Duff and then forgiven Peter and returned. This was simple to understand for any Thai person but of course the farangs would make a mess out of it.
Duff didn’t call Bia back. Bia was the last person Duff wanted to speak to. Duff tried to remind himself that his Thailand plan had never been dependent on Bia. But it still hurt. Duff had a fantasy about arriving at the airport in Bangkok and seeing Bia in the crowd, smiling happily at him and saying welcome to Thailand. Now this would not happen.
Duff wrote Bia a short email saying that he was disappointed that Bia had not told him he had a boyfriend already, in particular as this farang turned out to be a friend of his and therefore put Duff in an impossible situation. Duff concluded by wishing Bia good luck in life.
When Peter received Duff’s email explaining what had happened at DJ Station and the Malaysia hotel Peter told Bia to leave. Poor Bia, filled with self-righteous indignation over this injustice, had to pack his things and go back to the shared student room he had at Thammasat. In one day Bia went from having two farangs to having none.
*
Larson found Boyz Town. He sat down at an open restaurant and ordered a beer. Boys came and went in the soi and Larson was excited at the thought of the huge number of boys in the bars. Agents from all over Thailand recruited good-looking youth of all three genders to Pattaya, where they were put to work in the name of hard currency.
Sunnee Plaza was harder to find and Larson had to ask people on the street a couple of times. The soi leading to Sunnee Plaza looked like it led to nowhere but after a couple of minutes a half destroyed sign said …Plaza.
Bjorn had given Larson advice about where to go. Larson had asked if Bjorn, with his job in the travel industry, could get Larson a discount in Pattaya. Bjorn had said sorry, he was merely a destination agent for incoming tourists and wasn’t in a position to tweak rebates out of Pattaya hotels or bars. But Bjorn assured Larson that prices in Pattaya were lower than in Bangkok anyway.
Arriving at his first bar Larson noticed there was a wall, almost a tunnel, on the inside to keep people in the soi from seeing what was going on inside. Larson soon saw the need for this shield. Larson had expected decadence but what the boys banged on the table for him in this bar was more than he had seen in Bangkok.
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