Chapter 7: Phuket, Thailand

Dan was quick to point out to Stephen that the name of the island province was pronounced with a silent 'h', in other words it's supposed to be called pu-ket, not fu-ket.

He and Stephen were both the same age, 47 at the time, although Dan hadn't been promoted beyond Lieutenant Colonel. He had retired a year before, while Stephen was still soldiering on. He had been married and divorced twice, not an uncommon statistic in the military. The constant moving and separation always placed a huge strain on relationships, so he was not really bitter, just disappointed.

For months Dan had pestered Stephen to go on a holiday with him, suggesting a visit to Phuket. He had been there the year before, as soon as he had retired. Eventually he gave in and agreed to go with his mate. It was then two years since his wife had been killed.

Because of Stephen's work commitments, they had agreed to catch the Monday morning flight and come back Friday night, arriving into Sydney Saturday morning, which would get Stephen back to Canberra that afternoon. This would give him a day to get over the jetlag (and the probable late nights) before he had to report for duty on the Monday morning.

He decided to fly down to Sydney on Sunday afternoon before their Monday morning flight, so that he could avoid having an early morning flight on the Monday. That also gave him an opportunity to spend an evening with his mate, catching up before they headed off to Sydney Airport.

Despite his two divorces, Dan was fairly well off, though not as wealthy as Stephen, and he enjoyed travelling, but always tried to fly business class; one of the luxuries he permitted himself to enjoy.

In his last couple of jobs he had been required to travel a lot, so had reached Platinum frequent flyer status with Qantas. Even though he was not supposed to use his frequent flyer points accrued through government travel for private purposes, he was not prevented from taking advantage of his Platinum status, which he had managed to retain with a couple of overseas business class holidays since his retirement.

Consequently, they flew star class on JetStar and were both able to take advantage of the Qantas First Class lounge because of Dan's Platinum status. Stephen was quite surprised to find out that it really was first class and he enjoyed a half hour relaxing facial, which he selected rather than a massage, before having French champagne with his eggs Benedict. This was washed down with a few glasses of very good Australian red wine, so by the time he boarded the plane, he was quite relaxed, but still able to partake of a glass of bubbly before the plane took off.

But both were careful to space their drinks during the flight, so that although quite happy, they were well and truly in control of themselves as they disembarked right on time at 7:30 pm local time at Phuket International Airport, the second busiest in Thailand. Three quarters of an hour after landing they were in a pre-booked hire car being driven south of the airport along the west coast of the island.

An hour later they were checking into the Yorkshire Hotel and Spa. Although they were a bit dearer than a standard room, they had both booked Traditional Apartments, which gave them a separate sitting room and kitchenette. Even though they were comparatively expensive, they were still very cheap by Australian standards.

Dan had stayed here last time and reckoned the facilities here were excellent; right in the heart of Patong, minutes from the beach, seconds from the night life, but still opposite one of the largest shopping and entertainment complexes in Asia, was how he put it. Knowing nothing of Phuket, Stephen was happy to go along with his mate's recommendation.

By 9:30 pm they were settled in their apartments, but as it was after midnight by their body clock, they opted just to have a couple of beers at the bar and then enjoy a relatively early night. They had three more nights to check out the action and best to do that when they weren't so tired. They weren't 20 year olds anymore.

In the morning they met up for breakfast at 8:30 am and then went for a workout using the excellent gym facilities. Stephen could remember watching a few nubile nymphs lazing around the pool just outside the window of the gym, wearing the briefest of clothing; a pleasant way to pass the time while using the aerobic machinery, he thought.

They decided to have a swim after their exercise, showering first before diving in the very attractive pool, refreshingly cool in the shaded area. Afterwards, they lounged around the pool enjoying a pizza and a beer for lunch. Finally, after showering and changing they ventured out to see the main drag Stephen had heard so much about from his mate. It was, of course, very hot and steamy.

"So where are all these girls you keep raving about?" he asked Dan, seeing virtually empty streets.

"At this time of day they are all probably resting like sensible people at the hottest time of day" was Dan's reply.

"Well why are we out here then? It doesn't look all that flash."

"Exactly, but wait until tonight. I just wanted you to see it briefly by day. Let's go back to the pub and have a quiet beer or two before dinner and then we'll go and catch the nightlife" Dan suggested, before adding "but would you believe that only a few years ago on Boxing day, the 26 December 2004 a tsunami washed right up this street, killing a couple of hundred people, but luckily not the tens of thousands it did in some other Asian countries. Less than twelve months later apparently you couldn't see any damage remaining."

As they sipped on a cold beer, Dan said "I've booked us on a private tour that will take us right round the island and the guide will explain everything as we go. He'll pick us up at 9 am and we should be back around 4 pm, so I suggest we don't stay out too late tonight. But let's go and have dinner. You've got to try the Braised New Zealand Lamb Shanks – it's their specialty."

Two hours later, having drank quite slowly and eaten a good meal, they were ready and raring to go. Although it was now dark, it still wasn't much cooler, but at least it was a little less humid.

"Wow, I see what you mean" Stephen commented as they went out of the hotel, walked 100 metres along a narrow road and then crossed a much busier road to the top of the main street which was now closed to traffic; pedestrians only at night. He saw lights and girls everywhere, before asking "so where do we go first?"

"Well I suggest we walk down one side of the street to the ocean and then back up the other side. By that time we should be ready for another beer. If you see anything you like, we can stop there for a while" Dan replied.

He enjoyed their slow walk, taking in the noisy sounds and sights that were a real eye opener for him. Dan had pointed out the many lady-boys and how to recognise them: "Check their hands and Adam's apple in particular, but they are often the most beautiful 'girls' as well."

But Stephen was much more interested in seeing and talking to real girls, so soon they were propped up at one of a series of bars in a large complex down one of the many side streets. Instantly they were surrounded by scantily clad beautiful girls, each vying for the men's favour.

It didn't take him long to settle for an attractive girl with an interesting tattoo on her left shoulder, which was bare in her brief costume.

"Hello, my name is Da" she said in her halting English with an accent that made him struggle to understand, but far better, he realised, than his Thai, which was nonexistent. He had tried to pick up a few phrases but found he just didn't have an ear for foreign languages, especially the difficult tonal Thai language.

Having introduced himself, they exhausted the (what he found out later to be) standard Thai repertoire for most of the bar girls; how old are you? where are you from? how long are you here? is this your first time in Thailand?

One thing that Dan had instilled in him was not to say it was his first time in Thailand, as that would increase the chances of his being ripped off.

Soon, he and Dan and the two girls either side of them were engrossed in a game of Jenga, which was based on a number of building blocks being removed one at a time using only one hand and then placed on top of the stack, hoping that it wouldn't collapse – a variation of fiddlesticks that required a very steady hand. Stephen found that not only was it a good fun game, but it tended to keep him slightly sober as he concentrated on not making a mistake and didn't drink as quickly.

But as soon as his first beer was finished, Da urged him to have another and then asked plaintively, but in a melodic tone "you buy me one drink please?"

Of course he couldn't deny her; especially as by this time she had rubbed her hand up and down his thigh, coming dangerously close to his manhood, and was frequently rubbing her breasts against his shoulder. He felt himself slowly getting aroused, something that had not happened to him in a long time – far too long.

He was surprised that no money seemed to change hands and he noticed that his friend didn't pay either when around the same time, he too got another beer plus a drink for his young companion. He later found that each time either of them or the ladies with them got a drink, a docket was place in a container at the bar and he was pleasantly surprised when they finally got the bill to find after a quick perusal that it was spot on and that no attempt at rip-off had occurred.

Dan had already explained to him that a lady drink would cost about twice the price of a beer, which only cost about $2.50, so it wasn't costing a fortune for the girls company. Even so, he was even more impressed that the girls didn't seem to be too greedy, only suggesting a drink every second time the boys had a beer.

Stephen was amazed when he glanced at his watch to see it was 11:30 pm. The time had flown by and he'd really enjoyed himself. By this stage, he noticed that Dan was cuddling and even surreptitiously fondling the girl with him, Som he seemed to remember was her name, and by this stage his companion, Da, was starting to get a little more affectionate with him as well.