Now, by shampoo, do you mean shampoo, or "shampoo"?
I'm back in Bangkok and went to get a hair cut yesterday. In any other country it should be a non-event, however this is Thailand, so a different set of standards apply. It's well known that most massage spots and salons also dole out happy endings, the trick is actually finding a legit place to get a hair cut. I got a recommendation for a place from the Internet cafe I'm currently using, which as far as I can tell, is an only Internet cafe and not a brothel. An older woman did the cutting, so I figured I was in the clear; despite it being Thailand, I couldn't imagine she was in the sex trade...anymore.
After the hair cut she says, "You want shampoo, it free." Now, truth be told, there was a sign on the wall saying that for a limited time, you could either get a shampoo or a shave included in the cost of the haircut (which, incidentially, was about $3.75). I figured that was below the cost of sex in Bangkok, and that combined with the woman's age made me think that I was in the clear. It's then that she tells me to get up and go to a different chair, one behind the curtain. I'm more than a little dubious when a young girl walks out to escort me over to the chair. Not wanting to jump to conclusions or offend anyone, I hesitate but follow. The girl has what looks like shampoo so I sit down and place my head over the sink. She begins to wash my hair, but it's more of a head massage with shampoo...good stuff and totally legit.
After three applications of shampoo and/or conditioner, I'm starting to wonder if this situation is going to escalate to one I don't want to be in. I mean, I've now been at this place for over an hour and I've agreed to pay fewer than $4. After the shampoo, she leads me back into the initial chair, and begins massaging my neck and shoulders...again, good stuff and totally legit.
After that, she leaves and goes back to reading her magazine and the woman who cut my hair returns and asks if I enjoyed the massage. I give an afirmative reply, and then she asks me if I want a full massage. In broken English, she starts saying how some girls like to do more than massage, but I can't tell if she's referring to some girls in Bangkok or some girls in her shop. I've had enough at that point, so I paid my 170 Baht tab, thanked her, and left. In retrospect, I believe that the shop was legitimate, but one can never be too careful in the land of smiles.
The day before, I was close to being involved in an international incident. My visa had almost expired, so I had to make a visa run to Burma. It's a technicality that some people have been doing every thirty days for many years...it also should be a non-event. Well, this is me, in Thailand, and of course it couldn't be that simple. The process should be:
1. Go to Thai Immigration in Ranong and get an exit stamp and a little piece of paper stapled in your passport which gets stamped in Burma.
2. Walk to the Pier, pay $5 US and get on a long tail boat, for a 30 minute ride to Burmese Immigration.
3. Hand your passport to the guy on the boat, he goes to the office, gets an entry and exit stamp from Burma, and then you return to Ranong, Thailand.
4. Return to Thai Imigration, show the the stamps from Burma, proving you left Thailand, and then they give you a new entry stamp and another 30 days in Thailand.
This was my experience: We arrived in Ranong after a harrowing ride in a minivan through the mountians of Thailand. Picture the curviest road you've ever seen, rut it with potholes, throw gravel all over it, make it two lanes, post no speed limit, and allow passing wherever you want. Now drive it in a minivan, rapidly. Michael Schumacher would be proud of our driver.
Once in Ranong, we (a Swede and a Dane were also making the run) went to Thai Immigration and, interrupting a televised Thai boxing match, got our exit stamps. We walked down to the pier and had to pay $5 US, which goes straight to the Burmese Government, or Junta, if you will. When you purchase your visa run ticket, the travel agent asks if you need a $5 bill, I declined since I still have a bunch of US dollars. Well, what they don't tell you is that the dollars need to be fresh-from-the-Treasury perfect. I had $18 in singles, and only three of them passed the visual test of being unmolested enough to give to the Burmese. Making this situation worse is that I had originally taken $5 out of the over $600 in US bills I have with me. When they wouldn't accept the first 5 bills, I had to go fishing in the wad of large US bills for singles. I can tell you that I've never been so nervous in my life seeing twenty Thai fisherman eyeing a knot of US cash worth more than they make in a year. There was no way to be discrete about it either; I couldn't very well walk away, since they guy already had my passport. Luckily, they eventually said I could pay in Baht, so 300 Baht later (about $7.50) I was on the boat to Burma.
The "crew" on the boat considted of one deaf Burmese guy running the motor, another Burmese guy who had our passports, and boy who looked about seven handing out cokes, he was also trying to sell us Viagra...go figure. Anyway, we took the "big" boat and left the Thai pier. It was only after the boat started to run aground did they realize that the tide was going out and we'd have to return and take the other boat, a covered long tail with a gimbal mounted motor.
On the way back to the pier, the guy with our passports starts inspecting mine. The first thought that crosses my mind is that he's wondering how much a US passport would fetch on the black market, but after a few moments it becomes clear that he's looking for my exit stamp, which Thai Immigration never gave to me...not good. If I had actually arrived in Burma with out the stamp, I doubt the Burmese would have cared, they got their $5. The fun would have started when tried to reenter Thailand, without leaving leagally. Luck was on my side since the tide was heading out and I had a chance to run back to Immigration and be real charming in order to not arouse suspicion, I imagine that immigration officers don't like being told they screwed up...loss of face and all.
The rest of the trip was, thankfully, without incident. We made it over and back before the tide went completely out (another boat wasn't so lucky and actually was beached on a sandbar) and once again found ourselves at the Immigration office getting an entry stamp and a fresh 30 day visa.
After the hair cut she says, "You want shampoo, it free." Now, truth be told, there was a sign on the wall saying that for a limited time, you could either get a shampoo or a shave included in the cost of the haircut (which, incidentially, was about $3.75). I figured that was below the cost of sex in Bangkok, and that combined with the woman's age made me think that I was in the clear. It's then that she tells me to get up and go to a different chair, one behind the curtain. I'm more than a little dubious when a young girl walks out to escort me over to the chair. Not wanting to jump to conclusions or offend anyone, I hesitate but follow. The girl has what looks like shampoo so I sit down and place my head over the sink. She begins to wash my hair, but it's more of a head massage with shampoo...good stuff and totally legit.
After three applications of shampoo and/or conditioner, I'm starting to wonder if this situation is going to escalate to one I don't want to be in. I mean, I've now been at this place for over an hour and I've agreed to pay fewer than $4. After the shampoo, she leads me back into the initial chair, and begins massaging my neck and shoulders...again, good stuff and totally legit.
After that, she leaves and goes back to reading her magazine and the woman who cut my hair returns and asks if I enjoyed the massage. I give an afirmative reply, and then she asks me if I want a full massage. In broken English, she starts saying how some girls like to do more than massage, but I can't tell if she's referring to some girls in Bangkok or some girls in her shop. I've had enough at that point, so I paid my 170 Baht tab, thanked her, and left. In retrospect, I believe that the shop was legitimate, but one can never be too careful in the land of smiles.
The day before, I was close to being involved in an international incident. My visa had almost expired, so I had to make a visa run to Burma. It's a technicality that some people have been doing every thirty days for many years...it also should be a non-event. Well, this is me, in Thailand, and of course it couldn't be that simple. The process should be:
1. Go to Thai Immigration in Ranong and get an exit stamp and a little piece of paper stapled in your passport which gets stamped in Burma.
2. Walk to the Pier, pay $5 US and get on a long tail boat, for a 30 minute ride to Burmese Immigration.
3. Hand your passport to the guy on the boat, he goes to the office, gets an entry and exit stamp from Burma, and then you return to Ranong, Thailand.
4. Return to Thai Imigration, show the the stamps from Burma, proving you left Thailand, and then they give you a new entry stamp and another 30 days in Thailand.
This was my experience: We arrived in Ranong after a harrowing ride in a minivan through the mountians of Thailand. Picture the curviest road you've ever seen, rut it with potholes, throw gravel all over it, make it two lanes, post no speed limit, and allow passing wherever you want. Now drive it in a minivan, rapidly. Michael Schumacher would be proud of our driver.
Once in Ranong, we (a Swede and a Dane were also making the run) went to Thai Immigration and, interrupting a televised Thai boxing match, got our exit stamps. We walked down to the pier and had to pay $5 US, which goes straight to the Burmese Government, or Junta, if you will. When you purchase your visa run ticket, the travel agent asks if you need a $5 bill, I declined since I still have a bunch of US dollars. Well, what they don't tell you is that the dollars need to be fresh-from-the-Treasury perfect. I had $18 in singles, and only three of them passed the visual test of being unmolested enough to give to the Burmese. Making this situation worse is that I had originally taken $5 out of the over $600 in US bills I have with me. When they wouldn't accept the first 5 bills, I had to go fishing in the wad of large US bills for singles. I can tell you that I've never been so nervous in my life seeing twenty Thai fisherman eyeing a knot of US cash worth more than they make in a year. There was no way to be discrete about it either; I couldn't very well walk away, since they guy already had my passport. Luckily, they eventually said I could pay in Baht, so 300 Baht later (about $7.50) I was on the boat to Burma.
The "crew" on the boat considted of one deaf Burmese guy running the motor, another Burmese guy who had our passports, and boy who looked about seven handing out cokes, he was also trying to sell us Viagra...go figure. Anyway, we took the "big" boat and left the Thai pier. It was only after the boat started to run aground did they realize that the tide was going out and we'd have to return and take the other boat, a covered long tail with a gimbal mounted motor.
On the way back to the pier, the guy with our passports starts inspecting mine. The first thought that crosses my mind is that he's wondering how much a US passport would fetch on the black market, but after a few moments it becomes clear that he's looking for my exit stamp, which Thai Immigration never gave to me...not good. If I had actually arrived in Burma with out the stamp, I doubt the Burmese would have cared, they got their $5. The fun would have started when tried to reenter Thailand, without leaving leagally. Luck was on my side since the tide was heading out and I had a chance to run back to Immigration and be real charming in order to not arouse suspicion, I imagine that immigration officers don't like being told they screwed up...loss of face and all.
The rest of the trip was, thankfully, without incident. We made it over and back before the tide went completely out (another boat wasn't so lucky and actually was beached on a sandbar) and once again found ourselves at the Immigration office getting an entry stamp and a fresh 30 day visa.
posted by MPW at 6:00 AM
1 Comments:
Sounds like a blast. I was buying crap in mexico last week and they were selling Viagra too. $10 a pill i happilly kept walking. Keep Posting.
Brian S. (Still in Texas) but moved on to the next Plane - whoo hoo!!
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