Before I get to my impressions and feelings about LOS, I want to tell you about my experience at the airport on the way back. At the beginning of this thread, I mentioned a problem with taking budget airlines to and from The Philippines. If someone had told me this before, I’m not sure I would believe him.
Angel and I arrived at the Bangkok Airport with plenty of time to spare. Even though we had booked our flight with Tiger
Air, our flights were with SEAIR, which I guess is a sister company. Everything was going according to plan. We go to the ticket counter to get our boarding passes, and the woman behind the counter says, “I’m sorry, sir, but you have to show me a ticket for a flight out of The Philippines before I can give you a boarding pass.” When I looked puzzled, she pointed to a printed sign on the counter that said, “International travelers to The Philippines must present either a return flight ticket or another ticket out of The Philippines to Philippine Immigration or you will not be permitted entry into the country,” or something like that. I told the lady that I live in The Philippines and showed her my Alien Certificate of Registration card. Unfortunately, that card is very clearly marked at the bottom with, “NOT AN ENTRY VISA.” I asked the attendant what I’m supposed to do. “I would suggest that you buy a ticket out of The Philippines here now,” she said. “A ticket to where?” “Anywhere.” I said, “Are you trying to tell me that in order for me to go to The Philippines, where I live, so that I can stay there , I have to show that I’m going to leave there, but then not really leave?” “Yes.” I asked what sense that made, and of course she started with, “I’m sorry, sir, but regulations …” I told her that I had gone from P.I to Hong Kong and back without a problem. “On what airline, sir?” “Cebu Pacific.” “That’s not a budget airline, sir.”
As it turned out, I remembered that I had booked my flight to return to the U.S. in May. I booked it early because my friend here told me that Cathay Pacific had some promo rates. I was able to go to the Cathay Pacific booth, get a printout, and show it to the attendant. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what the reason for this crap is. I know that some Aussies got stuck in Phuket because their budget airline went belly-up while they were on vacation. They were stranded, so I could understand a country wanting to be assured that didn’t happen. But this was a RETURN flight. No one was being stranded. I could go on and on in a rant about this, but it is so confusing and frustrating, it makes my head ache.
A couple of things I’d like to mention about the trip. For one thing, everywhere we went, people started to speak Thai to
Angel. When she looked confused, they asked where she was from, and when she told them, they all said basically, “Oh, Philippines. Very much same same.” It got to the point that
Angel asked Nia to teach her how to say, “I don’t speak Thai.”
I want to be careful that
Angel doesn’t see me writing this part, because I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Normally she has no interest in this site or anything I write on it, but she knows I’m writing about the trip, and from time to time she has stood behind me while I was writing. I have to say that LOS has it head and shoulders above The Philippines, at least from what I saw. We have a local paper here called “EV Mail” (EV for Eastern Visayas), and I read an article in it a while back that talked about the fact that The Philippines has been surpassed by so many SE Asian countries that had been behind them only a short time ago, like Thailand and even Viet
Nam. So many SE Asian countries are magnets for tourists while very few make PI their vacation destinations. I know
Angel would be hurt because when I mentioned during our stay that I really liked the country, she said, “Why?”, in such a defensive manner that I knew that she realized I was comparing it to P.I. Now obviously I didn’t see much of the country (just Pattaya and of course the countryside as we traveled from Bangkok to there), and it’s not fair to judge on so little knowledge, but I have seen enough of The Philippines to know that it is totally run down, and certainly no lure for tourists. It’s also unfair for me to compare a tourist target like Pattaya to our town here in P.I., but I read the absolutely fascinating TR that Batman4ever wrote in this section (Another Day in Paradise). It shows and describes Issan. I know there’s poverty there, but I don’t think there’s squalor, and that’s what I see here. It’s truly a shame because there are tremendous natural resources here, the people are friendly and helpful, and there are some beautiful and scenic areas. I don’t think there’s a prayer of it changing as long as it’s run by the same families that have had a stranglehold on it for more than 100 years.
I found the people of Thailand to be very friendly for the most part. I’ve read some negative things about them in this forum, a lot of it centering around treating foreigners as human ATM machines, and also around what is considered as putting a “phony” face on their interplay with foreigners. All I can say is that I have 6 Thai acquaintances back in New York who I met through golf, and they are the most kind and generous people you could want to meet.
My last thoughts concern the P4P scene. Believe me, if I didn’t have the relationship with
Angel that I do, I’m sure I’d be diving head first into it, but being there made me aware of some of the things that I’ve read about the girls themselves. I’ve read a lot of comments about how all they care about is the money, etc. I know that no one is forcing them into that life, and I’m sure that most of the lads treat them with kindness and respect, but one thought keeps coming back to me. I can remember when every word spoken about
Nancy was how nice, sweet, fun to be with and intelligent she was. She’s been in this scene since she was 18, and she’ll soon be 24. What I’m hearing about her now is a far cry from the
Nancy of old. Now people talk about what a bad attitude she has, to the point that potential customers walk away in disgust after approaching her. One of the guys says that there are now 2 Nancys – the bar
Nancy and the real
Nancy, who is still a great kid. Obviously something changed her, and it is probably the life itself. I can only hope that the 2 selves don’t merge into the bar girl. No matter how you look at it, that kind of life has to take a toll on you. I can’t help thinking of the comment that the LB made to
Angel, and
Angel’s reaction.
Oh my Buddah. What a downer that last paragraph was. Screw that. Have fun, lads. Wish I could join you, but …
Thanks for listening.
Tel
