Where Are The Boys Now?

I often think back fondly of the boys I have met and loved in Thailand and wondered what are they doing now. I wonder if I had any lasting effect on their lives. I wonder if they’re happy.



Tas on the left         Ott on the right


I first met Ott and Tas on my 2nd holiday in Pattaya in 1990. They were two inseparable street boys who survived only because they were a team. Tas was the calm, level-headed planner and Ott was the energetic, mai-bhen-rai sanook-seeker. For many years after we met and before the current instant communication of cell-phone and internet, they intuitively knew when the wheels of my jet hit the Don Muang runway. It never took longer than 24 hours for our paths to cross. I was a butterfly but they were never very far away.

Ott was the cuter. There were many times when Ott and I shared a bed while Tas patiently waited by the Homex Inn pool. Sometimes we all shared the bed together.

Arriving in Pattaya in 1996, only Tas was there to welcome me. Ott had found a good-paying construction job in LamChabang…found enough money to buy a motorcycle…found independence. It was obvious that Tas missed his friend.

One evening Tas stood in the apartment’s doorway with a mischievous grin on his face. He stepped aside and in walked Ott…as cute as ever. To make a long explanation short, Ott slept with me that night. Why? Because Tas asked him so that Tas could ask me for a favour. Ott offered his body for his friend. Tas wanted me to pay the down payment on a motorcycle for him. Tas assured me he could manage the monthly payments, he was living free with his sister and he had a waiter’s job. How could I say no?

Needless to say, Tas’ good intentions fell apart and soon he came to me for the monthly payment. I made a deal with him. I would pay the monthly fee as long as I could use the bike during the day to go to my teaching job. He could have the bike at night and on weekends. Deal!!

One morning I discovered the bike missing….stolen. I freaked! I called the school to say I wouldn’t be there that day. I contacted the police. I went to see Tas to give him the bad news. As I walked through the hotel’s parking lot where he worked I saw the bike. He had come in the night, taken the bike and not returned it. I was furious but he assumed the Thai stance when faced with an irate farang which only made me more irate. I told him to keep the bike and have a good life. Good bye.

Since that day I have never seen Ott or Tas. They were a major part of my early days in Pattaya and I think of them often and I miss them. What are they doing now? Chock dee peuan pom.