Stopped by the Ezy bar last night. I hadn't been there in a while and I have that there is an incredible display of beauty all in one place.
I was greated first by Chocolate and we sat and talked and then
Oil brought over one of the newest girls, Lay, to sit with us. I don't know how the girls work it but there appeared to be an understanding between the girls, even Chocolate, that it was Lay's turn to go with a customer.
I didn't mind at all. Lay's smile is warm and engaging and while she has very little English at this point we got by. One thing she could state clearly was her birthday: Aug 21, 1991. So she's two months over 18.
So I decided to take her back to my hotel.
We were stopped at reception since her birth year is in fact 1992.
18 may be an arbitrary number but that is what the number is and that number can be the difference between a restful night's sleep and police knocking at your door.
The Thais can respect their own laws however they choose but we falang have to be extra careful to toe the line as usually we have much more to lose. I don't pick up girls on Beach road instead preferring to barfine at places where I know that there's a fellow falang in charge who I assume is watching my back.
Why on earth is a 17 year old working at Ezy bar?
No, I didn't check her ID and do the conversion from Thai to Western dates. I did get a chance to see the ID at my hotel reception and I could never tell that the person pictured in the ID was Lay. It's very easy for a thai girl to hand a guy an ID of a friend, and many more times easier if you're dealing with LBs. However the bar manager is going to know the real information.
I took Lay back to the Ezy bar and got my barfine back without a problem. I didn't like what I was told however when I brought up that she was only 17. I won't repeat it in a public forum.
I guess the lesson is that you really can't trust anyone here. You're on your own.