Shanthi

Shanthi is the latest in a series of unexpected visitors to Bangkok. Tom, Jessy, Sean, Paul, Shereen, and now Shanthi – all of them are either acquaintances or friends that are early on in the relationship. But it’s great to see them all, and out of context. Shanthi and I used to work together back in the day, when I got my first job for PA – subbing TV listings.

Since we both moved on we’ve kept in irregular contact, and very rarely our busy London schedules would allow us to meet up together with other PA Listings alumni. Now she’s here in Bangkok with her long-term boyfriend Tim (they’ve been together 11 years, which is very sweet) who, incredibly, I’ve never met.

After having dinner with Vanda I head to Khao San and meet them outside their hotel Buddy Lodge, the same place Paul stayed at. We have some beers and a catch-up. Tim is a nice bloke, a photographer, and he claims to have met me briefly once. He’s probably right. After awhile they tell me they’re pretty hungry, do I know anywhere good to eat? I’d assumed they had and apologise for not taking them somewhere earlier. We head to my favourite cheap and cheerful little restaurant where they eat ravenously. The heat is too much for them however (I’d forgotten how overwhelming it is when you first get here) and they ask me if I know anywhere with air con. I can’t think of anywhere but remember that Gazebo has fans that also blow sprays of water, so take them there. We smoke shisha and drink mojitos and I have an absolute blast hanging out with them, but it’s Saturday tomorrow and I have to work. Eventually I unhappily knock it on the head.

I meet up with them again briefly the following night – my night out with Aom and Aor and Joey – but they’re off to Cambodia then Vietnam and so I don’t see them for well over two weeks. When they return on the 19th they are changed people!

I meet them in Soi 4 in Silom, which Shanthi discovered earlier and yet has no idea it’s full of gay bars. The bar she suggest we meet in is right at the end of the soi and dead quiet when I walk in. It’s like some kind of piano bar and there’s a man playing acoustic guitar and singing badly on the little stage to people who I assume are the staff, it’s so dead. I walk out again cos there aren’t any customers in there, let alone Shanthi and Tim. As I walk back down the soi they are walking up. Their clothes are looser, there are less of them and they both look a little more ruffled than when they left. They look like travellers.
Shanthi apologises for her unstraightened hair, but I tell her it actually looks nicer all wavey and natural. She looks great. We go to another bar – too quiet; we go to another one – too expensive; then we go to The Balcony. I’ve not been in here before but I know it’s a gay bar. Despite this being apparent from the clientele, Shanthi still doesn’t realise she’s in amongst the gay bars until I tell her. We have a laugh about it.

They tell me about Vietnam and Cambodia - Hanois in Vietnam is lovely, Ho Chi Minh City not so; they went to Halong Bay which was beautiful. I’m overwhelmed by the stuff they did and wonder how they manage dot pack it all in. The answer is flights. They flew a lot to get to the places they wanted to see.

In Cambodia Tim was trying to uncover more about a story regarding Angkor Wat and the alleged subsidence there. It’s a good place to get away with taking pictures I guess. They met some crazy characters as well – one highlight was the very gay staff at the Golden Banana in Siem Reap (near Angkor Wat).

After getting me all excited about my own trip to these countries, they suddenly have to leave. Their flight is at one am and so they make a move. I’m a bit gutted, they’re such fun to hang out with.