of my neck as she talked to Pam. It was a good trip. I learnt a lot about Isarn,
and I learnt a lot about Joy, too.
From COOKING ACROSS SOUTH-EAST ASIA Edited by PETE RAYMOND THAI FRIED NOODLES 10 ounces of rice vermicelli, soaked in water for fifteen minutes 4 ounces peeled uncooked prawns, chopped 4 ounces tofu, cubed 2 eggs, beaten 4 ounces beansprouts 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons lemon juice 4 shallots, sliced 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 ounce chopped peanuts 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander Heat the vegetable oil in a wok, add the garlic and shallots and cook until golden. Add the fish sauce, lemon juice and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the eggs and cook for a few seconds, then stir in the noodles and coat with the egg and garlic mixture.
Add the prawns, tofu and beansprouts and cook until the noodles are tender.
Add the peanuts and cook for one more minute, then transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with coriander and chopped peanuts.
BRUNO I enjoyed Pete's company during our drive around Isarn. He was a good listener and an intelligent conversationalist, something one doesn't often come across in Thailand. Joy was a pretty enough girl, a bit coarse I thought, but she had lovely hair and a nice figure. As soon as she opened her mouth I could tell she was from Isarn. She was polite enough, but there was a roughness about the way she spoke. In many ways she reminded me of Pam when I first met her some twenty years ago. Pam has put on a lot of weight since then, of course, but she's still a good-looking woman. They got on very well together, Pam and Joy, chatting away as if they'd known each other for years. That's often the way it is with Thais, especially when they come from the same part of the country.
Pete obviously likes the girl, and I can understand why. She was very attentive, very affectionate, but it was interesting to hear what she was saying to Pam. Joy kept on talking about all the things Pete had given her, the clothes, the jewellery, the presents. She said he appeared to have a lot of money and that he was very generous. And she said “khao long rak chan”, he fancies me, several times. It was the typical attitude of a bargirl, seeing the customer as a source of financial rather than emotional support, but I really think that Pete believed the relationship involves more than that.
When I got back to Bangkok I sent Pete several papers I'd written, including one that I thought might be helpful to him – ‘Cross-Cultural Complications of Prostitution in Thailand.’ He never mentioned it so maybe he didn't read it, but if he had I think it might have set alarm bells ringing.
It's virtually impossible to have a true Western-style relationship with these girls. Take Pam,
for instance. She doesn't love me, not in the Western sense, and I'm reasonably sure that she has a Thai husband or boyfriend who stays away while I'm in Thailand. After all, I'm only here for three months a year, six if I can arrange a sabbatical, I can hardly expect her to be celibate for the rest of the time. She'd had three children by the time I met her. Pam's husband had gone off with another woman and she worked in the bars to support her family. Now I take care of her, and she's a great help to me in my work, but the relationship is not love. It's more like a friendship with sex.
Do I love her? Of course not. I love my wife in Germany. She's the mother of my children,
and family is very important to us Germans. Thai women can be great fun if they are handled properly, but I fear that Pete will have a problem if he tries to make Joy conform to his Western ideal of a relationship.
I must say I found the three sisters a fascinating case study and I wished that I could have spent more time with them. I'd like to do a paper analysing the Western perception of the morality of the situation. An initial perspective from an outsider would
and I learnt a lot about Joy, too.
From COOKING ACROSS SOUTH-EAST ASIA Edited by PETE RAYMOND THAI FRIED NOODLES 10 ounces of rice vermicelli, soaked in water for fifteen minutes 4 ounces peeled uncooked prawns, chopped 4 ounces tofu, cubed 2 eggs, beaten 4 ounces beansprouts 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons lemon juice 4 shallots, sliced 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 ounce chopped peanuts 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander Heat the vegetable oil in a wok, add the garlic and shallots and cook until golden. Add the fish sauce, lemon juice and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the eggs and cook for a few seconds, then stir in the noodles and coat with the egg and garlic mixture.
Add the prawns, tofu and beansprouts and cook until the noodles are tender.
Add the peanuts and cook for one more minute, then transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with coriander and chopped peanuts.
BRUNO I enjoyed Pete's company during our drive around Isarn. He was a good listener and an intelligent conversationalist, something one doesn't often come across in Thailand. Joy was a pretty enough girl, a bit coarse I thought, but she had lovely hair and a nice figure. As soon as she opened her mouth I could tell she was from Isarn. She was polite enough, but there was a roughness about the way she spoke. In many ways she reminded me of Pam when I first met her some twenty years ago. Pam has put on a lot of weight since then, of course, but she's still a good-looking woman. They got on very well together, Pam and Joy, chatting away as if they'd known each other for years. That's often the way it is with Thais, especially when they come from the same part of the country.
Pete obviously likes the girl, and I can understand why. She was very attentive, very affectionate, but it was interesting to hear what she was saying to Pam. Joy kept on talking about all the things Pete had given her, the clothes, the jewellery, the presents. She said he appeared to have a lot of money and that he was very generous. And she said “khao long rak chan”, he fancies me, several times. It was the typical attitude of a bargirl, seeing the customer as a source of financial rather than emotional support, but I really think that Pete believed the relationship involves more than that.
When I got back to Bangkok I sent Pete several papers I'd written, including one that I thought might be helpful to him – ‘Cross-Cultural Complications of Prostitution in Thailand.’ He never mentioned it so maybe he didn't read it, but if he had I think it might have set alarm bells ringing.
It's virtually impossible to have a true Western-style relationship with these girls. Take Pam,
for instance. She doesn't love me, not in the Western sense, and I'm reasonably sure that she has a Thai husband or boyfriend who stays away while I'm in Thailand. After all, I'm only here for three months a year, six if I can arrange a sabbatical, I can hardly expect her to be celibate for the rest of the time. She'd had three children by the time I met her. Pam's husband had gone off with another woman and she worked in the bars to support her family. Now I take care of her, and she's a great help to me in my work, but the relationship is not love. It's more like a friendship with sex.
Do I love her? Of course not. I love my wife in Germany. She's the mother of my children,
and family is very important to us Germans. Thai women can be great fun if they are handled properly, but I fear that Pete will have a problem if he tries to make Joy conform to his Western ideal of a relationship.
I must say I found the three sisters a fascinating case study and I wished that I could have spent more time with them. I'd like to do a paper analysing the Western perception of the morality of the situation. An initial perspective from an outsider would
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