The Long Gun

Fa was tall for a Thai woman, just a few inches shorter than my 5' 9". And she was very fair skinned. I guessed that she had a lot of Chinese in her genes. She was on the slim side and proportioned well for her height. She was dressed rather plainly, not like most of the bar girls that wore as little as possible. And she wore little make up, not that she needed much. She was just naturally pretty.

"Why isn't this place good for her?" I asked Som.

"She new. She want make money help family. But this not job for her."

"This job isn't good for her?"

"Yeah. She shy. I can see. She only serve drink. To make money, she need john pay bar fine. I don't think she want ask. I don't think this place good for her."

Fa knew that we were talking about her. I was pretty sure of that as her smile had disappeared and she looked dejected.

So I turned to her, "Hello Fa. My name is Peter."

"Hi Peter," she said as she tried to smile.

"How are you?" I asked.

"I ok."

"Som told me that you just started working here."

"Yeah. Today third day."

And so the conversation went. My asking questions with Fa answering them; but volunteering little more than a short response. That is, until I asked her about her family.

"So do you have any brothers and sisters?" I had asked.

"Oh yes." She replied with just a little more pep in her voice. "I have younger brother and three younger sister. They so happy. I take care them when I home. My brother just start work. He drive truck. He say good job but I don't know. My sisters still in school. I like them very much."

I smiled in return, "You must miss them."

"Yes, I miss them. I leave home two weeks now. So I don't see them two weeks."

"Why are you here if you miss them so much?"

"I have to make money. My family need money. Many bills to pay. My father sick. No work many months. Mother work but not enough money. I am oldest so I must help make money."

Ok, I understood her situation. I heard that many Thai bar girls start off this way. The easiest way for them to make money is to work in a bar and sell the use of their body for an hour or two, or the entire evening. But many of them get trapped in the lifestyle or run afoul of drugs or worse. Plus there was a plethora of STD's and also the danger of AIDS. It was a hazardous trade but many girls made a lot of money and that made a big difference for their families. Their trade wasn't well liked, but the money made it tolerable.

"How much money do bar girls make?"

"I don't know. I think maybe 10,000 or 15,000 Baht."

"A week?" I asked. I did the math and figured that would be about $500 in US dollars.

"No. One month. 15,000 Baht good money."

Som had been listening in to the conversation and added, "If girl have plenty john pay bar fine, then can make 25,000, maybe 35,000 Baht."

Fa blushed. I could see that she was having a difficult time with the idea of letting someone use her body for their sexual enjoyment. Even with the lure of money, that wasn't something that she was looking forward to.

The Som blurted out, "I don't think Fa be with man yet."

I looked at Fa and she looked down and shook her head acknowledging her virgin status.

"Better she work some other place. She good girl, but must help family."

Fa echoed Som's remark, "I must help family. This place bar girl can make much money. So I must find customer."

And so the evening went. I asked questions and Fa answered them as best she could, always insisting that she must become a good bar girl. But it was plain to see that Som was right, Fa was very unsure and very reluctant; perhaps even afraid of making herself available to the possible "Johns" in the bar each evening. She could have left our conversation at any point in time to cruise the many patrons seated in the bar. Yet she kept talking with Som and me.

Her English was fairly good and I asked her about that.

"Fa, you speak English well. Where did you learn it?"

"My maae (mother) take me to church school. I learn English and numbers. Teacher say I learn good."

"And you speak English very well." I complemented her. Fa smiled briefly, before her downcast look reappeared.

"But no job. No job for girl. No one want girl can speak English and knows numbers."

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know."

Som leaned over the counter and said, "No one want hire her because she smarter than them. Make them look bad."

Fa blushed, but nodded her head. "My brother say same thing. He say I should go big city, work for big company. So I come here, but no job. I look many company, but no job. So I come here. My family need money."

It was, and still is, a sad fact of life for many Asian countries like Thailand. The gender gap was and continues to be significant. It was rare to meet a female business or political leader. The reality is that most Thai women can earn a lot more money on their backs than with their brains.

It was getting late so I asked Fa if she would like to have something to eat after the bar closed.

"Ok, but I must make money so I don't know. I must see if I can find customer tonight." I could see that she really wasn't that excited about that particular idea. So I intervened.

"Fa, I'd like to make you a ..."

"Oh, I don't know ..."

"No, it's not going to be like paying a bar fine for an evening with you."

"Oh! ... But I must make money."

"I know, but let me explain what I'd like to offer you. Fa, what I'd like to propose is that I hire you to be my guide and companion for the next three months. This is my first visit to Thailand and I want to see more of your country. But I don't speak your language and I don't know what sights to see."

"You hire me to be guide and companion?"

"Yes. You interested?"

"I don't know. I know guide, but what mean companion?"

"It's like being a girl friend. You'll stay with me, and we'll travel around your country and see the sights. I'll pay all of our expenses. Hotel rooms, meals, airplane and train tickets, whatever. And I'll pay you a monthly fee."

"Thank you but I must help family. So I must make money."

"I understand. Som was saying that good bar girls can make as much as 35,000 Baht a month. I'll match that. I want to see as much of your country as I can over the next couple of months. So I'll need your tour guide services full time."

"You pay me 35,000 Baht each month to be guide and companion?" she was shocked as she looked at me, then turned to Som, "Is true?"

Som laughed. "Sounds like good deal to me. You make good money and have fun same time. Why not?"

Fa turned to me, "You no joke? You pay me 35,000 Baht to be guide and companion?" She couldn't believe that anyone would pay that much money.

"I'm not joking. I'm serious. I'm on vacation for the next couple of months and I want to see as much of your beautiful country as I possibly can. And I can't think of a better way to do that than with a beautiful woman by my side."

"Why you do this? You get tour guide, much cheaper."

"Yes I could. But then I wouldn't have you as my tour guide. I want someone who can speak English well and help me make travel arrangements, then take me to see the Thailand that tourists will never see. I want to meet and see the people of Thailand. And I'd like to do that with you."

She blushed which turned quickly into a frown, "I not ... I-I-I ... n-n-not ..."

"No you're not like the other bar girls. I can see that very well." I interjected. "And I don't want you to be one. That's not what I would be paying you for. I am willing to pay you a good wage to be my guide and companion as you will have to put up with me every day for the next three months."

"You want sex, yes?" she asked apprehensively?

I looked at Fa and took her hand, "that's not what I'm hiring you for. I would like you to help me see the real Thailand. I think you are an attractive woman who I can talk with easily. I won't deny that you are a very desirable women. However I'm not like that. Sex is something that only you can decide. I won't force you to do something that you don't want to do."

She looked at Som, as if to ask for help in dealing with my request. Som looked back at her and shrugged her shoulders. "Up to you. But I think is good deal. I think good for you. Is good money. So what if he want sex. You have to fuck customer here if you want make money. I think Peter ok. If not work out, you come back be bar girl."

That seemed to help Fa make up her mind. "Ok Peter. I be your guide and companion. But I don't know about sex. Ok? What you want me do?"

I smiled and extended my hand. "Let's shake on it." It must have seemed awkward to Fa as she began to blush all over again. But we did shake on the arrangement and it got her laughing at the whole idea.

"For tonight, let's just enjoy ourselves, have a couple of drinks and get to know each other better. Then tomorrow, you meet me at my hotel for breakfast. Bring enough clothes and things so you can be away for two or three months."

So we got to know each other better that evening. Fa was from a small village that was basically a suburb of Chiang Mai. Her family lived in a farming community that supplied a lot of basic produce to the nearby city. Fa's family farmed approximately 12 acres. Most of it in rice, along with small plots of local vegetables that ended up on the family's dinner table.

When her dad fell sick and her mom tried to take over, their farm production fell as she wasn't physically able to do everything. Although Fa's brother and sisters tried to help, they just weren't able to keep up with the demands of the farm. So gradually, the family let some of their acreage go untended.

Fa told me that her siblings were a number of years younger than she was. Apparently her parents had her at a very early age, then got busy trying to earn a buck. Further children were held off for more than five years. Then they came one right after the other.

Fa had finished the equivalent of high school several years ago at a school run by a local church in her village. She had been helping her mother around the house, taking care of her brother and sisters. The plan had generally been to finish school then find a suitable husband, have a couple of kids, then take care of her parents when they became too old to work.

Her father getting sick the other year changed those plans radically. She ended up caring for her father and her siblings while her mother went back to work as a farm laborer in the nearby fields. However that didn't bring in enough income so they decided that Fa would have to start working as well as her brother. And here she was. She hadn't been at the bar long enough to even draw her first wage envelope.

I told her of my going to school, working for a large company, then starting my own business. Then getting tired of the whole thing, selling the business as well as my home, and ending up in Tokyo. Then ending up here in Bangkok when my friend invited me to tag along with their group.

Fa was nodding her head as I related my story. She said, "Som tell me your story. She say you not like other farang."

I shrugged my shoulders. "All I can say is that I want to learn more about your country and your people."

So Fa started her employment with me that night. I gave her most of what I had in my wallet that evening which came out to about $500 in US currency; the equivalent of about 15,000 Baht.

"Fa, take this as part of your first month's payment."

Her eyes bugged out at the sight of that much money all at once.

"Peter! Is much money!"

"Call it an advance. Just so that you know that I'm being honest with you. Ok?"

"Ok. Thank you Peter. I hope I do ok."

With that, Fa became my companion and personal travel guide. We left the bar and went our separate ways for the evening. We met the next morning in front of my hotel and I took her up to my room. She stowed her suitcase in my hotel room then we left to get something to eat. She told me that she had been staying with a couple of other girls so she let them know that she would be leaving. Whatever she had in the suitcase was pretty much all of her belongings.

We went down to the hotel's coffee shop and ordered breakfast.

"So where do you recommend we visit first?" I asked as we ate.

"I think maybe we look map. I have." She then unfolded a map of the country and started to tell me a little about the area around Bangkok and beyond. We decided to first visit Kanchanaburi because of its natural beauty and cultural sites. Then down to Ko Samui for a little rest and relaxation.

After breakfast, Fa and I first went to a nearby local bank where I took another cash advance and paid her the balance that I owed her as well as give me spending money for a week or so. She deposited most of the money that I gave her into her account so that her family could start drawing on it.

"Do you need to call your family to let them know about the money?" I asked.

She shook her head, "They don't have phone. They know to ask bank each week. If have money, then they can take."

We returned to the hotel and sat down at their travel desk and made the travel arrangements. I first had the agent contact the airline and cancel my return reservations and had them credit my charge card with the refund.

Fa then arranged for us to take an air conditioned bus up to Kanchanaburi the next day, and stay at one of the better hotels up there. The helper at the travel desk recommended that we try the Nakakiri River Kwai Resort, and I'm glad that we did. It turned out to be a really nice place to stay complete with a spa, huge swimming pool, nearby access to a beautiful waterfall, and a hot springs bath. And it was located next to the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai.

When it came time to book our room, I told Fa to book us a two bedroom suite for our stay.

"Why you want two bedroom?"

"One for you and one for me."

"Oh, you not want me stay your bed?"

"Yes I would. But I don't want to force myself on you. If we share a bed together, I'd like it to be because you want to sleep with me and not because you have to."

Fa looked at me for a moment before she lowered her eyes. "I not sleep with man before. I ... I ... ah ... I don't know how say... I ..."

I placed my finger gently against her lips, "Fa, you don't have to say anything. Let's enjoy ourselves and be tourists. I won't attack you. That's not who I am."

Fa smiled. "Som say you different. She say you good man. I see why."

She turned to the agent behind the travel desk and booked us a one bedroom unit at the resort.

I looked at her for a few moments, then leaned over and kissed her softly on her lips. When I opened my eyes, it was to see Fa's eyes slowly opening and a beautiful smile gradually emerge on her face as her cheeks glowed a soft pink.

Our adventure would begin the next morning so Fa suggested that we just use the day to sight see around the area of my hotel, which we did.

Fa led me through the side streets of Bangkok and showed me where the average, working class people lived. I was taken back at first by the simple and relatively low living standards that many working class Thai had. But as Fa explained, to them this was fine. They (and Fa) felt that this was pretty good. And I guess it would be if I didn't know better. From what I could see, the homes and apartment buildings were clean, and the people seemed to be busy and more or less happy doing whatever they were doing.

We had lunch at an open air street vendor's stall. It was nothing more than a charcoal bar-b-que grill with a couple of small tables and chairs around it. Fa and I sat at one of the tables and she rattled off something to the old lady behind the grill. In just a matter of minutes, we had a hot lunch of a bowl of rice with a stir fry of some sort in front of us.

"You try please. Is good." Fa mentioned.

I tried a mouth full of the stir fry and was amazed at the burst of flavors that assaulted my taste buds! My smile lit up Fa's smile as well.

"Wow!" I whispered as I stared into the bowl, then up at Fa. "This is really good!"

"I happy you like. This food good for you. Good for heart. Good for stomach." Thai's, like a lot of Asians, are a pretty health conscious people and are careful of what they ate. I found out later that it was a meatless stir fry with egg plant, pickled bitter melon, and a local variety of string beans, mixed with mint leaves, cilantro and lime juice after it had been stir-fried quickly.

"Peter, you have Thai food where you come from?"

"Yes, we have restaurants that have Thai dishes. But this is so much better."

Fa smiled. "I happy you like."

After lunch we continued with our walking tour for another hour or so before returning to my hotel room in order to rest before dinner.

"Fa, I'm going to take a shower." I told her when I returned to my room. "I shouldn't take too long."

I took a pair of shorts with me into the bathroom and took a quick shower. When I opened the bathroom door, Fa took one look at me and blushed and averted her eyes.

"I ... I ... I sorry." She blurted out.

"Sorry? About what?" I asked.

"You not dressed. I sorry I look."

I smiled. "Nothing to be sorry about, Fa. This is what I usually wear when I'm relaxing in private."

"In private? What mean?"

"Oh, sorry. When I say in private, I mean when I'm alone. By myself. I hope that I didn't offend you by wearing only this pair of shorts."

Fa looked at me and smiled, "Sorry, but I not see farang this way before. At home my father, my brother only wear shorts all time, so ok for me too. Just first time I see you this way, Peter."

"If it makes you more comfortable, I'll put a shirt on."

"No Peter. Is ok. You be comfortable. Please."

So I lay down on the bed to watch television while Fa went into the bathroom to shower herself. After about twenty or thirty minutes I heard the door open and saw Fa emerge with just a towel wrapped around herself.

"I forget underwear." She explained.

I smiled, "well you don't have to wear any if you don't want to." I laughed.

"Not wear? Not wear underwear?" she was kind of taken back by that remark.

"Sure, I don't wear any unless I'm going out. I feel more comfortable without having to wear them. So I don't unless I have to go out."

She smiled then quietly looked through her things and picked up her underwear and returned to the bathroom to put her clothes on. A few minutes later she emerged dressed in a nice blouse and a pair of white jeans. She continued to towel-dry her hair as it was slightly damp from her shower.

"Come over here, Fa. Let me dry and brush your hair for you."

She smiled and handed me her towel as she sat on the bed next to me.

"My maae (mother) always do for me. Thank you."

I toweled her hair for a few minutes, then took Fa's hair brush and began to brush out her shoulder length black hair. It felt really nice to brush her hair for her. It felt so soft and smelled faintly of flowers. I finished brushing her hair a few minutes later.

As I handed her hair brush back to her, Fa turned and kissed me softly on my cheek, "Thank you Peter. I like very much."

"Perhaps I can do this for you every day?" I asked.

She blushed and smiled, "only if you want...thank you."

"Peter, what does companion mean?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You said you want me to be companion. I want make sure I understand."

"Ok. Well, I think a companion is someone's friend. Companions like to do similar things and are comfortable doing things together."

"So, is like girlfriend?"

"No. To me, a girlfriend means a lot more than just being a companion."

"How different?"