Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

Poles, Filth and Beer: Patong is a Paradise.


Everybody loves a skilled stripper, whether they're polishing a metal pole with their crotch or peeling paint off a surface, everybody can appreciate effort when they see it. 

I thought at the time that Bangkok was the seediest place in the world, but I was wrong, Patong outshines Bangkok in every sense. From Ping Pong shows to attractive women begging you to buy them a drink in the street to the lady-boys that wouldn't even register as anything but an attractive woman out of the context of a sordid Thai sex capital. 

We went to a strip club, walking into a room with a dozen naked Thai women barely moving is slightly surreal. We were the only people in the baron darkness besides a large group of clothed girls waiting to prey on men not accompanied by their spouses. We ordered an overpriced beer and sat down, the ladies grabbed their bras off the stage floor and were already half-wearing their underwear which they fashioned into a sort of garter-belt so it didn't stage floor grime on it.

Before we had taken our first satisfactory sips of beer, out came the ladyboys, they got into their favourite spot on the poorly lit stage and just stood and stared into a large mirror ahead of them, a dozen gender-hybrids awkwardly shuffling to the music, either contemplating existence or admiring all of the work they had clearly put into their bodies, staring into the void, dancing like nobody's watching was evidently optional. 

Objectively they were beautiful creatures, the only way it was certain that they were born male was because of their height in comparison to the tiny Asian creatures before them, that and the massive fake breasts. Simultaneously, without any sort of cue, they removed there bikini tops and did more of the same. The interesting part was when they removed their underwear, I instinctively expected to now be in a dark room, staring at a dozen jiggling penises but got no such joy, all of them had perfectly smooth Action Man crotches providing a hypnagogic sensation, my entire perception of gender and sexuality inflated and burst with the dropping of a small slice of lace fabric. These women were more convincingly feminine when they were completely naked than when they were fully clothed, I've seen more masculine looking women naked in the flesh. 

"These women were more convincingly feminine when they were completely naked than when they were fully clothed"


On a heavier night we decided to go to a ping-pong show, something that we didn't do in Bangkok thanks to hearing horror stories of bouncers demanding money from the clientèle as they tried leaving shows. I managed to get a picture of one of the menus that men and women carried along the main strip, showing to foreigners the delights that awaited them behind closed doors. 

Frankly the place was a pit, a depressing pit, and this was before I knew that the majority of ping-pong women are trafficked from neighbouring countries and don't have a way out of their predicament. We spoke to the guy holding a sign and we said "we won't go to a show that harms animals" he replied and said "they show what you want, no animals for you", whatever, we bought his pitch and went in, we were greeted with a woman holding three lit cigarettes in her vagina and blowing smoke like a distress signal from a desert island. 

Each "show" lasted a couple of minutes before the woman providing the entertainment would go back stage and another girl would come out with a new trick. One of the more entertaining of the bunch was the "Whistle Show" which had three women blowing whistles with violent queefs with a total lack of showmanship or synchronisation and I ended up creasing up with laughter (I was several
Changs deep so respecting human dignity wasn't on my list of priorities).


"One of the more entertaining of the bunch was the "Whistle Show" which had three women blowing whistles with violent queefs"


There were a couple of "shows" that were genuinely impressive, specifically the "Needle Show" and the "Razor Show" both of which involved a woman walking out, pulling on a string from their crotch pocket followed by razors/needles flowing out like a sordid magicians sleeve, they even popped balloons/sliced paper to show that they were in-fact real. The most impressive act was that of the balloon show, handing out some inflated balloons and having the audience members hold them above their heads (myself included) she would get into the birthing position, load a tube with a dart, insert it into her vagina, and blow a queef with such ferocity and accuracy that she would pop the balloon.

Unfortunately our request of not seeing any animals being abused wasn't ignored as it was never actually heard by anybody. As soon as a woman pulled back the velvet curtain, squatted on the stage and discharged a tiny turtle, we drank our beers and left.

Obviously, camera's weren't allowed in either the Ping Pong show or the strip club so the below images were all visible from the street, if you're heading to Thailand I recommend Patong for a fun weekend.




























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Humanity is doomed and that's OK


Existential Nihilism; humanity is nothing, we are concious and consider ourselves important but in reality we are algae, a disease growing exponentially until we're crippled by famine, a virus or a run of the mill meteor, we'll be gone before the sun burns out, of that I'm certain, the question is; does that matter? We're a blip in time, everything we achieve will eventually be dust, the earth is four and a half billion years old, our artistic ancestry goes back half a million, before that; mighty species have died out and never come back, recent evidence suggesting that dinosaurs might have just naturally disappeared in a similar vein to the current panda population, simply giving up mating possibly due to a lack of resources or a change in temperature.

As you get older they say you get more conservative, and I can feel that happening (at the ripe old age of 27), I am caring less and less of body shaming, racism, sexism and all kinds of bigoted remarks, maybe because I should check my privilege as a young white male or maybe because they're no longer the shocking despicable acts that they used to be, maybe it's because of over saturation in the news, I feel the world is now shocked enough (or at least feigning to be) for me. People can be cunts, it dies out with multiculturalism and it breeds with segregation, it's no longer surprising, if you're a minority you're going to face racism, it's a part of human tribalism, we formed societies based on it and mass amounts of money is made from it under the guise of sports teams, all wearing the same colour and singing/shouting/supporting something utterly pointless against an opposition... that's tribalism and it's hugely successful thanks to our instinctive need to be a part of a group that passionately excludes those of different shades.

Over time bigotry will die out, it always has been dying and it always will, the world is constantly improving even if it doesn't seem that way when you check the days news. Less than a hundred years ago women weren't allowed to vote in the UK, 50 years later homosexuality was decriminalised and nowadays we're fighting for people to be... nicer... to transsexuals, there are still issues with glass ceilings, racial violence and a lack of distribution of wealth, but the kinks will eventually be ironed out.

I used to be an outspoken atheist, shitting on those that disagreed because honestly; I found it funny that adults have imaginary friends, like genuinely funny (and equally infuriating at times). With a little self reflection, some basic maturing and seeing the hoards of assholes following Richard Dawkins I've found that I don't care either way, I'll laugh at the occasional Atheist meme but if I search deep down into my consciousness, idgaf. Nobody changes their mind having been mocked, it simply causes a stronger sense of justification that the world is filled with serpents intent on pulling them away from faith, so why bother?

Having travelled through Thailand and spoken to devout Buddhists, it can actually be nice hearing others belief systems, the world will eventually be majority atheist as governments reject religious input and apart from the occasional oddballs in cults, mass religion will be one with Greek Mythology, not in our lifetime  but so what? Why bother worrying right now? Just enjoy that we live in a strange in-between time of historic cultures/faiths and to-a-point; modern rationality.

I had heard the term "Nihilistic" many a time applied to meaninglessness, specifically politically or religiously and it summed up how I felt whilst thinking up a name for this blog I wanted to sum myself up with a word, I did a tiny amount of research of the philosophy and it not only fit, but it clicked, I realised I've been a nihilist for years without even trying. I know little of the ins and outs of philosophical arguments for or against and I've never picked up the writing of Nietzsche or Kierkegaard but it doesn't matter, the basis is all I needed, I simply wanted a word. There are people who state that "a true Nihilist wouldn't do X or Y", but would a true Nihilist give a fuck? Would they even bother arguing? I don't think so. The entire philosophy can be summed up with the now outdated word "meh", as suggested recently at a comedy gig I attended by the NZ comedian Brendon Green.

Regardless of philosophical ideologies, we're all still human, we eat sleep and shit, life may be meaningless but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it.

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Stupid, Drunk, Sunburned and Burnt


Getting older you doubt yourself, you think, 'am I still cool'? The worst way to test this is to get completely fucked up after spending an entire day in the Thai sun, joining in a fire dancers fire limbo and standing up when you're half way through. 


He wasn't cool, he was an old fool the liquor blinding him of any foresight.


Once proving to himself and everybody around him of his dull-wittedness it was time for round two, seeking the approval of the young muscle-bros surrounding him he suggested to one of the fire dancers that they pick him up and carry him under the pole of pain.


The Thai fire dancer replied by pointing his finger to his own temple and twisting his finger, the language barrier broken yet the information not sinking in to the aging human torch he continued to crawl under the flames.


The following morning he was  walking down the streets in the baking sun lacking a shirt, his wound exposed, I can only assume he cracked open a morning Chang and drank through the pain. 

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Tums Elephant Santuary Tour in Chiang Mai is Worth Every Baht

Donna and I knew we wanted to see elephants in Thailand, the problem was finding somewhere ethical, we didn't want to ride an elephant but we did want to get close, riding an elephant is one step away from using them as circus animals and it's cruel as fuck, they're beautiful intelligent creatures that deserve our respect. The problem in Thailand is that farmers still use the elephants to pull machinery to harvest crops, which I can understand and Thailand will naturally grow out of it just as westerners grew out of using horses and buffalo to pull machinery.

Being a tourist you have a responsibility to ensure your money isn't being used to perpetuate cruelty for entertainment, this is especially clear if you are considering coming to Thailand to pet a Tiger, there's no feasible way to do that without funding animal cruelty, either the Tigers are drugged out the whole time or they have been beaten into submission by the handlers, Tigers aren't domesticated animals, fuck you and your tiger selfie.

If you want to get close to magnificent creatures that are naturally gentle to anything not trying to eat them, I highly recommend the "Chiang Mai Tum Travel" company to do it. They're a smaller company than their competitors but for a lower price than the other elephant tour companies they also include white water rafting, bamboo rafting and a trek through the rainforest to a waterfall as part of the days activities, most of the tour companies are around 2,500 Baht to just hang out with the elephants, the Tum Travel company was 1,800 Baht for half a day with elephants and half a day rafting and trekking which equates to around £32, it seemed daft not to book with them.


After messaging them on Facebook they will pick you up from your hotel the following morning and drive you an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai into the mountains where the elephants live, they pick you up in one of Chiang Mai's unique taxi bus things and stop off at a market on the way for supplies.

When you arrive at the elephant camp, you are given a brief safety talk about not pissing off the elephants with selfie sticks (they think iPhones are food apparently) and then handed bags upon bags of sugar canes and bananas, elephants love sweet food and they're much more likely to act nicely to strangers if they're offering them something sweet and delicious. 

They have three elephants that they own, and a sick one that they're looking after for a local farmer,  the elephants were rescued from local farms and a local riding company. To buy a single elephant you're looking at spending 1 million Baht, or around £200,000. Knowing this, you can see why you can't really let an elephant out into the wild and expect it to stay wild, plus if you want to "save" an elephant, you have to buy it, then you have to feed it and elephants eat A LOT, so there are running costs meaning that without relying on government subsidising or external donations, you have to set up a business in order to help the elephants. Fortunately the Tum travel company seems to have nailed it, they have travellers pay for the privileged of taking on some of the labour of looking after elephants for half a day and I couldn't think of a better way to spend a morning.



Feeding the elephants is a pleasure, they clearly enjoy their sweet treats, they were very gentle with the way they removed food from our hands, they grab the food with the tip of their trunks and curl them into their mouths, kinda how you would expect, but it gives you a chance to feel their tremendous trunks which had surprisingly thin skin and were quite soft.

The guides (Nana and Korn, pictured below) mentioned that if you give an elephant something sweet they will remember you for a couple of years, yet if you gave them something sour and disgusting, they will remember you for up to five years, because they will remember to avoid you.  it wasn't clear whether the elephants were gentle because of their treatment previous to their adoption from the sanctuary or if they simply understood that we meant them no harm and wanted to enjoy their company, either way they seemed pretty content. 


Nana in the black top grew up with elephants and understands that they each have their own personalities that require special treatment on an individual level.




After feeding the elephants a ton of sweet stuff we went back into the hut and made natural medicine using tamarind which flushes their stomachs of parasites and sea salt which boosts their appetite, the tamarind is quite sour so we coated the salt and tamarind in sticky rice to make it more palatable.




After playing an elephant version of doctors and nurses we made natural soap by bashing some wood, when soaked into water it created a soapy smell and foam, we used the wood to scrub the backs of the elephants in the river.






Having said our goodbyes to the elephants, we went white water rafting, the down the river that we had scrubbed elephants in and it was slightly disappointing, we went during the dry season so the water was quite shallow, we kept getting stuck on boulders on the way down and really struggled to get out each time. There were parts of the water which were had strong currents but it would have been better had the whole trip down the river been exciting rather than frustrating. Following the rafting in a dingy we boarded some bamboo rafts and I was one of the lucky ones to control the ship, a little like the guys on boats in Venice where you use a stick to push against the bottom of the floor I managed to get us from one point to another in shallow waters without getting too stuck. 

After a brief break we jump back in the taxi bus and end up deeper into the mountains to begin our trek, the forrest was thriving and on the trail we passed small huts where locals were staying, one of the huts had recently had puppies which are always a bonus when trekking through the rainforest. 




After passing some huts and a failed hydroelectric project you arrive at a waterfall, it's nothing compared to the waterfalls in Cairns but it's worth a look and worth taking a dip after a hard day of being a tourist. 






All in all I would highly recommend Tums Travel Company, partly because of the budget price but mainly because of the way they treat their elephants, when we left them to go water rafting, they were being led back up the mountain where they like to stay, surrounded by trees and protected from poachers.  Anybody who normally reads my blog may find this post to be strange, this isn't sponsored content in any way, I just really appreciate what they're doing for their elephants as a small sanctuary and figured I'd give them a tiny boost in exposure, plus the pictures are nice.  



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