Good Bye 2014, Hello 2015 2014 brought with it a lot of change to MBSB and with it, growth. The time had come where I decided to spend more time working behind the scenes of Milk.Blitz.Street.Bomb. in an effort to expand readership. Additionally, I needed to fix site related weaknesses that I was unaware of creating when I built the site. With that decision came the desire to add new voices; 2014 was a year of multiple perspectives. I'm incredibly grateful for all the contributors who took the time to let us all into their worlds. We worked hard and it paid off. Traffic to MBSB has increased and with it, my commitment to continue the trend. In … [Read more...]
The Perils Of Dating Your Trainer: Is He Cheating?
PART 7 Note: This is a work of fiction based on the author's experiences training muay thai in Thailand. FEBRUARY Phuket, Thailand I don't hear from Gong until the next morning. He calls right after morning training. "Called you last night," I say. "Why didn't you answer?" "I was already asleep. You train this morning?" "Yeah, it was good. They all know you here." Morning training had been productive, a focus on clinching. The trainers at this Phuket gym talk to me between rounds. A couple of them flirt halfheartedly, mostly harmless. I smile without engagement. The ones who know Gong … [Read more...]
The Perils Of Dating Your Trainer: Everyone Lies And Everyone Cheats
PART 6 Note: This is a work of fiction based on the author's experiences training muay thai in Thailand. FEBRUARY Phuket, Thailand Hollie parks her motorbike outside the restaurant and I jump off the back, relieved I'm still alive. Even with my responsible friend driving, and even being allowed to wear her helmet, I still hate riding on motorbikes. "You just have to use motorbikes if you want to get around in Phuket," she said. "There isn't a good public transportation system. Taxis are expensive. They're run by the mafia." A couple cars cut us off on our way to the restaurant. I suppressed a gasp as Hollie swerved to avoid … [Read more...]
The Perils Of Dating Your Trainer: Fighting Muay Thai Or The Relationship?
PART 5 Note: This is a work of fiction based on the author's experiences training muay thai in Thailand. FEBRUARY "You don't care enough," Gong continues. "All you want to do during training is play cartwheel kicks with Glai. You train Muay Thai but you're the worst one at the gym!" "Okay Gong, maybe I'm the worst at our gym, but do you really think I couldn't win against someone in Phuket?" "Cut! Cut! Cut! Face!" he says in English, and slashes at the air with his elbows. He points to his brow and continues in Thai, "You want scars here, like what I have? I'm worried you'll get your face messed up. I don't want an ugly … [Read more...]
The Perils Of Dating Your Trainer: Don’t Fight Please
PART 4 Note: This is a work of fiction based on the author's experiences training muay thai in Thailand. FEBRUARY It's Saturday night, just a week before my planned trip to Phuket. Gong, my nak muay boyfriend of the last six months, is at the wheel of his beloved Toyota Vios and I'm gazing out the window at the passing lights of Bangkok. We're cruising down the main drag on the way home from the local supermarket, groceries in the trunk. Gong calls it a "date." I call it "running errands." I still haven't told him I emailed a gym in Phuket about fighting. Now's a convenient time to tell him the good news. I interrupt his quiet singing … [Read more...]
The Perils Of Dating Your Trainer: Entering A Romantic Relationship
PART 3 Note: This is a work of fiction based on the author's experiences training muay thai in Thailand. SEPTEMBER It's been exactly two weeks since Gong and I kissed in his room. Much to my utter relief, he has continued to train me well as before. In fact, he's been so normal and non-flirtatious with me the last two weeks that I'm starting to think what happened between us was a one-time mix-up. Tonight, Gong is over in my room studying English and Thai, as has been our Sunday evening custom the last couple months. We keep the door open and Camp Grandma walks by, smiling at the sight of us sitting on the floor with our … [Read more...]
Relationships in Thailand – A Ten Part Series by Shama Kern
Located in Chiang Mai, expat Shama Kern has created an incredibly informative series on Thai relationships. From his site, Spirit of Thailand: The “Relationships in Thailand” article series is a real eye opener - you won’t be taken by surprise if you ever come here. Enter the sometimes strange world of cross-cultural relationships, even if only for the fun of reading about it. A recommended read for anyone who is planning on staying for any length of time in Thailand and walking in blind. This includes those of you who are in relationships and those of you who don't plan to date. Shama's series will give you a great primer on the fundamentals of how things work … [Read more...]
The Fine Line Between Prostitution and Dating
The events proceeding my first intimate encounter with H, a Thai national left me in a state of complete mental blankness. As we lived in opposite ends of Bangkok and he wasn't in a position to drive me home, he hailed me a taxi and opened the door for me to enter the vehicle alone. "I'm sorry I can't drive you to your room." A kiss goodnight. Directions to the driver. The snap of the door closing. I opened my purse. H had insisted on paying for my ride to Pomprab. After some debate I had accepted but H had placed the bills in my purse without unfolding them. Now resting between my fingers, I realized H had not only given me funds for my ride home, he had covered the majority of my … [Read more...]
Sex For Free Or Sex For Cash?
There is a stigma attached towards Foreign women, particularly white Foreign women here in Thailand and that is due to what is commonly referred to as our propensity towards 'free sex'. The term free sex gets thrown around a lot when speaking of Foreign culture and specifically of Foreign women, this often includes people who can't really speak English. They know and will freely use this term. It is a term that is pejorative and used exclusively when speaking of Foreigners, from my experience. When I came to Thailand, my definition of free sex was one of sex that was for pleasure, sex that wasn't bound by anything but the consent of two (or how many you want) people. … [Read more...]
The Mathematics Of Promiscuity
There is a pattern of discussion I've encountered many times here in Thailand, usually with Thai males that I want to share with you. It's regarding romantic and / or sexual relationships in Thailand. Sex between Thai men and Thai women. Although whatever it is that leads to the discussion might differ, the following comes up time and time again: All Thai men have more than one woman. And Thai women only have one man. It's the way it is in Thailand. Sometimes this is said to point out that Thai men are players (either to brag or to warn). Sometimes it's brought forth in an effort to elevate Thai women in a way that a Foreign woman (like myself) can never reach … [Read more...]
Sex and Dating in Thailand (Including a Single White Girl Trying to Understand Her Place in It All)
I realized after my post Racism in Thailand - A Day in The Life of a White Woman in Buriram went live, that a peek into Thai public and private life between the sexes, as I know it, may be in order. It will give that piece, in addition to many of the pieces here on MBSB some context. When I speak of Thailand in the piece I'm currently writing you, it is the Thailand I know, the Thailand that is more culturally conservative from, my understanding of, the tourist areas and the culture presented by those Thai nationals who either are literate in a foreign, more specifically Western culture / language and those who have studied overseas. Perhaps when I speak of Thailand and Thai nationals in … [Read more...]
Blonde Hair and Red Lips
Lately I've been catching glimpses of myself in the mirror and thinking, What's up Armando? You're looking pretty worn out. Translation: I see my father with dark circled peepers, a bad wig and clothes that look like they've been pulled in opposing directions staring blankly at me. Or, as stated by a female who, when sitting at my laptop lurking portraits of prior Thailand me, turned her head in my direction and said, "Wow, you really have given up a lot to come out here." So my recent manifesto is to bring the stereotyped feminine back into my life. Dresses, hair treatments, perfumed sheets, clothes that weren't made for boys, and today, straightened, freshly blonde … [Read more...]