Thai Shorts Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Author’s note

  The Stories

  1. The Contract

  2. Up Country

  3. The Cigarette Girl

  4. Dear Diary

  5. The Winner Takes It All!

  6. Lek’s Bar

  7. Nana

  A Bonus Sample Of The Latest Novel

  About The Author

  Copyright

  Thai Shorts

  E-book, 1st edition 2014

  Text by Guy Lilburne

  eISBN 978-616-222-277-1

  Published by www.booksmango.com

  E-mail: [email protected]

  Text & cover page Copyright© Guy Lilburne

  Cover Design: Guy Lilburne

  Cover Model: Miss Aom Pennapa

  Edited by: Bernie Sinclair

  No part of this book may be reproduced, copied, stored or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the publisher.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ***

  Author’s note

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are entirely drawn from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Once again my thanks go out to my friends Jules Lee and Laura Bailey for taking the time to proof read my work and to my editor Bernie Sinclair. A big ‘thank you’ to all the wonderful people who I meet and who inspire me to write these stories.

  For my beautiful daughter Sasha, I love you.

  The Stories

  1. THE CONTRACT

  A story of a shared wife

  2. UP COUNTRY

  The adventures of a first time visitor to the north of Thailand

  3. THE CIGARETTE GIRL

  A story of love, trust and responsibility

  4. DEAR DIARY

  The story taken from a boy’s diary of 1953

  5. THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL!

  A story of Murder

  6. LEK’S BAR

  A Bar story!

  7. NANA

  A story of a Killer

  8. A bonus sample of ‘Snatched’, the latest novel by Guy Lilburne

  1. The Contract

  A story of a shared wife

  Tony;

  “I was best friends with Ricky. I had known him for nearly 20 years, since we were both in our late teens. We were both in the building trade and we came from the same part of London. Ricky was a ladies man - a player. He had the chat and he was a nice looking bloke. He was in great shape too. Went to the gym every other day. Was I surprised that he ended up in Thailand? No not really. Was I shocked about what happened? Yes, of course, we all were. Wouldn’t you be?”

  John S Richards Jnr.;

  “I knew JW all my life and my daddy knew his daddy before then. JW was born rich. His daddy was in oil down south, but JW made his own fortune. He studied, became a lawyer and made millions pursuing personal injury claims. His was one of the first companies in New York to open up the personal injury market and he never looked back. I went to all his weddings too. He was married four times - always to society girls, but, like all of us, he was getting older a lot quicker then he wanted to. When he ran out of young beautiful wives over here in the States he retired in all but name and went to Thailand. I know that he was having the time of his life out there before he settled down with some young society girl from Bangkok. Between you and me she was young enough to be his grand-daughter. In fact all his grandchildren are older than her. I went to his wedding over there too. She was a beautiful girl alright. She looked like a princess. Was it love? I don’t know. She was fifty years younger than JW. Don’t get me wrong, he looked good for 74. But maybe if he didn’t have money then he wouldn’t have got the princess. I think her name was Foy or Fon or something like that!”

  Nit;

  “Fon wasn’t interested in money. Her family had money - lots of it. She was Hi-so, but she was a rebel. She broke her papa’s heart many times from the time she was about 14 years old. Her mama used to go to the temple and pray that she would turn out OK. She was an only child and the best friend that I ever had since the day we started school together. We told each other everything. Fon had no secrets from me. I knew everything she ever did or wanted to do. She knew about me too. I didn’t agree with what she did and I don’t know why she did it. She didn’t have to do it. Would I ever live my life the way she did? No. Do I think she was crazy? Well, yes. She was crazy. She had to be to do all the things that she did, but she was the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen and she had a good heart.”

  John S Richards Jnr.;

  “Let me light another cigar and I’ll tell you the story. These are Cuban you know. I’ve never smoked anything else. JW always attracted women. He had what we call in the south, an easy charm. When he was in Thailand it was no different. The women just flocked around him, but they were just a lot younger. I think these Siam girls like older men. Anyway, by all accounts, JW was fighting them off for the best part of four years before he found his princess. He told me he met her at some evening ball at the American Embassy. He was always being invited to those sorts of things. He carried a lot of weight, politically speaking. Anyway, she was some high society girl and she went after him like a shark after its dinner. It was all done in the correct manner of course and at all the best places, but JW told me after that first meeting that she was something special and he had the feeling that she wanted to be more than just friends, if you get my drift. I think it was a whirlwind romance because within the year they had a big high society wedding in Bangkok. Over 1000 people attended, including me. Did JW love her? Yes I have no doubt in my mind that he did. He was crazy about her. She turned his world upside down. He would have agreed to anything for that little lady, but she never took a single dollar from him.”

  Nit;

  “Fon liked to shock people. She never stopped shocking me and I was her best friend. Yes, of course I knew her husband. I went to the wedding, but I knew all about JW a long time before then. He was a big spender around Bangkok and he always had three or four girls with him. He had paid for them all. He was an old man, but he had money. I’ll tell you something else. He didn’t meet Fon at the American Embassy! He met her at the Go-Go bar where she worked on Nana Plaza. I don’t know why she worked in a Go-Go bar. She didn’t need the money. She just wanted to do it. I think she liked the power… and the sex, of course. She was always very different from the rest of the girls at the school and she didn’t worry about what people thought. The more she could be different, the more she could shock, the happier she was. She had sex in the school, with one of the farang teachers, when she was only 14. Everyone knew about it, but nobody would dare say anything. The teacher just left after a few more months when he realised the secret was out. I think he went back to England. When she was 17 she had a big tattoo on her back. I mean a really big one. It was a tiger that started off between her shoulder blades; its body wrapped around her waist and its tail went down her left thigh and curled up back to her bottom. It took
six months to finish it. Her mama and papa were shocked beyond belief and they hated it, but they always loved Fon. They never blamed her for the way she was. At 18 years old she left home. Her papa bought her a big apartment overlooking the river. I think he paid 35 million baht for it and she had an allowance each month, which was more then she could ever spend. She had everything!”

  Tony;

  “The first time Ricky went to Thailand was about five years ago. He had been working with an old guy on one of the new building sites in the East End, who told him all about the bars and the girls in Thailand. Ricky loved the outrageous stories and the old fella told Ricky that he would make a killing out there because he was younger and better looking than most of the men who went out there for the ladies. Ricky went out for a month with a couple of the lads and he had a wild time. I saw the photos. I was amazed. I was gob smacked! If I wasn’t married with kids I’d be out there myself. Anyway, after that Ricky saved all his money and he went back to Thailand twice a year for a month at a time. He always came back bronzed and with a big smile on his face. Oh! And with photos - lots of photos! They were pornographic. I’m not joking.”

  John S Richards Jnr.;

  “JW set up some company in Thailand. It became the parent company of all his business interests over here. I think it was a tax thing. JW was good at making money and when it came to legal loop holes he knew what he was doing. He was the master. Now I’m not saying he ever did anything illegal or morally wrong. He wouldn’t. He was a God fearing Christian and a good man. I don’t know why he set up that Thai company, really! I didn’t like to ask him, but I signed some legal documents as a witness when I went over to his wedding. I don’t really know what I signed now. Goddamn it, I just don’t know, sorry!”

  Nit;

  “Yes, I went to see Fon dance at the club. I went a few times. I didn’t want to at first, but she wanted me to see and to be honest I was sort of intrigued. I’d never been into one of those places before. I don’t know how I felt really, seeing my best friend dancing naked in front of all those people. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her before. Her hair was long - down past her bottom. She was wearing black leather boots up to her thighs - nothing else. But she had something about her. A confidence, some kind of air about her, as if she knew something that nobody else knew. She had some kind of power about her and she owned that stage. I think the first time I was probably just shocked, but I was sort of excited too. I was trembling with a mixture of fear and excitement, but Fon looked amazing. She was so in control and she drove all the men crazy, but for most she was just simply beyond their reach. Beyond their wallets too, for that matter! She told me when she started working there that she would charge one million baht for one night with her. One million baht! That was so much money, even for farangs. I don’t know what it is in foreign money, maybe £20,000 or $30,000 - I don’t really know. But the amazing thing was that men would pay that sort of money just to be with her. And they did. Lots of them! The other dancers were charging 2,000 or 3,000 baht; even the most expensive girls only charged 5,000. That wasn’t cheap and many of the farang wouldn’t pay that much. They would come and watch the beautiful girls in the club and then go and get a girl from one of the bars for 1000 baht; 500 baht if the girl was desperate for business. I told you before. It wasn’t about the money for Fon. She didn’t need it. But, if she was going to put a price on herself it had to be a good price, and the price was a million baht. I’ve known her go out in the daytime, dressed Hi-so. Looking like a real lady and like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. She would pick up a farang in a café or restaurant and take him to a five star hotel and sleep with him. And she paid for everything. So it really wasn’t about the money. I asked her once why she was the way she was. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, because that’s the way she was! One thing I can say about Fon is this - she would never mean to hurt anyone. Well, anyone except herself that is! I always thought that she had some kind of self-destruct button and, to be honest, I think she pressed that when she was 14 years old!”

  John S Richards Jnr.;

  “JW had made a good life for himself in Thailand. He had become part of the elite high society in Bangkok. He spent most of his time attending functions and charity dances. He raised a lot of money for charities over there and gave away a lot of his own money. He had a good heart and, if there was a good cause, then he would stand up for it. I’m proud he was an American and I’m proud that I knew him.”

  Nit;

  “JW had never given away a single satang to any charity - not that I know of! And, unless the charity function was being held in one of the bars or clubs in Nana Plaza, than it would have been impossible for him to attend one of those either, because he was in Nana every night. He was tight with his money. He loved his money more than anything in the world. He loved what it could buy him. It could buy him people and whatever else he wanted. He only spent it if it could get him what he wanted. He bought several apartments along the river and he would put his favourite girls into them, but they never got to stay very long. When a new girl came along the old girl would be kicked out in the middle of the night by a few of his police friends. He paid them too. The girls always went without a fuss. They were given no other option. I was in the club with Fon the night he made a move for her. He had been a regular for some time. He always came in with a group of three or four girls. They were never the same girls. Some would last a few weeks, others just a few days.

  JW knew the price for Fon - everyone did. I was sitting with Fon between her dances. We were drinking water and laughing at some of the farangs in the club. They have no idea how stupid they look sometimes and each one of them thinks that he is some kind of sex symbol. Anyway, JW had sent over one of his girls with an envelope for Fon and she told her it was from JW. She looked over to where he was sitting and he just smiled and nodded. She opened it and it contained one million baht in new notes. She smiled and got up and walked over to him carrying the envelope. When she got to his table he pushed a stool away with his foot and just said

  “Sit down missy.”

  “No thank you,” she said and tossed the envelope onto the table.

  “I thought that was your price?” He looked shocked. I don’t think that he was used to anyone saying no to him.

  “For you the price is one million dollars.”

  “One million dollars! Are you crazy?”

  She just shrugged her shoulders and walked back to me. The next night he was in the club again. He came in with a very respectable looking Thai man this time. The Thai man was wearing a suit and carried a brief case. He handed it to Fon - one million US dollars. She went with him that night and slept with him. He wanted to see her again and she told him that it would cost him another one million dollars. He didn’t want to keep paying that sort of money, but he was just crazy about her. He asked her to marry him and she said that she would want a contract.

  “A marriage contract?” he asked.

  “No! A contract - a legal agreement outlining what we each want from the marriage and stating an amount that we would have to pay to the other, if we were to default. What do you want JW?”

  “I just want you to stop working in the club.”

  “Okay. I’ll have my lawyer drawer up a contract and you can get your lawyer to look it over. If you agree to the terms then we will marry within six months.”

  “I can look it over myself. I’m a lawyer.”

  “Up to you. I’ll see you in two days with the contract.”

  That was it. She left him open mouthed and she went to her solicitor’s office with a long list of demands. She never thought that he would agree to any of them, but she didn’t care anyway. She had money already and didn’t need anything. I think it was all a big joke to her. She was just seeing how far she could push him.”

  John S Richards Jnr.;

/>   “No. I’m not aware of any contract. It was a proper marriage - properly registered and everything. Not just one of these Thai ceremonies. And he was very generous with his wedding gifts to her. I think he bought her an apartment along the Chaopraya River. No, I don’t think JW would have put anything else in any kind of contract. He was too smart for that.”

  Nit;

  “I saw the contract. Fon brought it to me to read before she gave it to JW. It was all written in English, so he must have understood it alright. I can’t remember everything that was in the contract, but I can remember most of the big things. The things that shocked me the most was that the contract stated that JW would have to set up a company in Thailand in Fon’s name and it would have control over all his business interests in the States. He had to sign over all the properties he owned in Thailand to Fon. He didn’t have to give her any more money. He was allowed to keep his cash! It said that she would have sex with him once a week on a Saturday. He was allowed to have as many other sex partners as he pleased. She would stop working in the club. They would not have any children together, but they would live in the same house. They would never divorce. But here is the big thing! The contract stated that when Fon found someone who she really loved, than he would move into their house and live with them forever. She would sleep with her lover six nights a week, but still sleep with JW on Saturdays.

  I was shocked beyond belief. Basically he would have to sign everything over to Fon and agree that if she fell in love with someone than she would be sleeping with him in their marital home.

  “He’ll never sign this,” I said, after I had read it over twice.

  “Then I’ll never marry him,” she said, with a shrug of her shoulder that told me she didn’t care less.

  The next day she met me for coffee and she had a big smile on her face. She showed me the contract again and he had signed it. They had both signed it and it had been witnessed by two Thai solicitors. The contract was solid. He had agreed to everything! He formed the Thai company and gave her the legal documents for that on the day they got married. Was Fon happy? No, I don’t think she was really. Well not at that time anyway. Was JW happy? Yes he was! He really had fallen in love with Fon and he happily signed his life away. I don’t know what thought he had put into the future, when another man was going to be living in his house and sleeping with his wife. Maybe he thought that it would never happen!”