I ordered drinks and watched her as she perched herself atop a barstool, sipping her cocktail.

She looked a bit different from the typical dark-haired, dark-skinned Thai women. I couldn't explain why, but she reminded me of Vietnamese girls. Maybe it was all the Vietnam War movies I had watched. Her complexion was slightly fairer, and her hair had the color of dirty sand. She was quite pretty and must have been of legal age.

‘Are you from America?’ she asked me.

‘Nope,’ I shook my head. ‘I'm from Europe’.

That seemed to be enough for her, as she didn't inquire any further about my country of origin. It seemed to me that, to the average Asian citizen, Europe was like one big country, and we were all the same, just as people in Southeast Asia are to us.

She touched my hand again. I liked it. Her hand was warm and small. Her fingers were long and soft, her nails short and devoid of any bright lacquer. I couldn't tell if she was a freelancer or what? So I asked her if she was from Vietnam? She laughed at me. No, she was from Thailand, just from the north of the country, which was why she looked different. I was famished and my stomach grumbled in protest.

‘Ah, OK. Come with me. My friends have a grill not far from here, they serve delicious chicken.’

I reached into my pocket. I still had some money left, but I'd better get a little more from the ATM. Just in case.

‘Wait a minute. I'll get some cash from the ATM.’

‘Sure,’ she followed me and waited patiently as I wrestled with the machine, which asked me multiple questions before finally spitting out a dozen bills.

Money in my pocket, card safely tucked away, and off we went. My new friend's friends were seated at the mini grill a few steps away. They politely offered us tiny plastic stools, so we didn't have to stand while eating. Our heads were now at the same level as the butts of hundreds of passers-by. Skewers were cheap, particularly the chicken ones, but strangely flat. You had to eat three or four to feel full. I urged my “Vietnamese” companion to eat more, don't be shy. She took my advice literally and ate them one by one with great pleasure. We washed down the food with cold beer and squeezed our way back into the crowd. It was definitely time to find some good techno music.

More and more people had gathered at Bangla Road, so we moved slowly, pressed against each other while holding hands tightly. We listened to music in several establishments, but couldn't find anything that caused a pleasant tingling in our backs, like when the music reaches the very end of your nerves and your legs jump by themselves.

My “Vietnamese” friend (I asked for her name and even remembered it for a few minutes) would press her body into me from time to time as if testing my response. As the response was immediate and quite intense, she would move away quite pleased and allow me to cool off.

Money seemed to disappear quickly, and it was time to head back to the ATM and take on the machine of the “thousand questions”. As before, my lady followed me and waited patiently for the results of my duel with banking technology. I stuffed my pockets with ten thousand Baht. This was the equivalent of three hundred Euros or thirty Mojitos or over a hundred beers. Should be enough for a while!

Finally, after several failed attempts, we decided to visit one of the larger bars where the right beats were coming from. I began to suffer from the amount of Mojitos and beers I had all night, and I assume that my companion was experiencing the same issue, as she started mumbling incoherently and hung heavily on my shoulder.

With stiff legs and a kind of autopilot, as the image of our surroundings began to blur, we reached the entrance which was carefully guarded by a group of security guards. At the sight of them, my companion hugged me ferociously and kissed me on the lips, stuffing her tongue deep into my throat. At the same time, her hands began to wander near my most private places. I flushed red, probably out of embarrassment, but it was still dark and nobody seemed to notice. The guards stepped aside and let us in.

We had to climb the stairs to the first floor, passing the girls standing by the walls. I surmised that the girls were for hire, as there was no other apparent reason for standing on the stairs here.

It was not without difficulty that we ascended the stairs to the large hall. Here, girls were sitting in armchairs, all in the same white Playboy bunny costumes.

In my eyes, not one of them was more than fourteen years old, but I may have been wrong due to my tired eyes. I tried to take a closer look at them, but a firm tug changed the direction of my movement, and we were already in the main room.

The main hall was huge, with many dance floors, and packed with people. Finally, we’d found what I had been looking for all night – uplifting trance music. The crowd vibrated rhythmically, their eyes fixed on the stage where DJs and groups of dancers moved. It was hot, even though the air conditioners were running at full throttle. We squeezed into the bar and I ordered Mojitos. We started to dance, as much as the space allowed. It was crazy crowded.

The girl was really drunk now. She hung on me for a while and then started dancing close to someone else. She moved somewhat unsteadily, but it could have been a matter of my own stability. I had to go to the restroom. In the entrance to the restroom, I was greeted by a smiling black boy. He generously handed me toilet paper and ushered me in with a broad gesture. When I was finished, he sprinkled my hands with toilet water and handed me a wet towel to refresh my hands and face. This was quite the service! I reached into my pocket to tip him and to my surprise, there was only one small banknote. It was enough to tip a “porcelain prince”, but where had the rest of the money gone? The rather unpleasant truth that I had been pick-pocketed hit me, despite the thick veil of optimism caused by countless drinks – it must have been “her”.

All the grabbing, groping and hanging on me was a mere smoke screen for the heist. The amount of money stolen was not particularly large, but I was still highly disappointed. Such a nice girl!

I didn't think it was wise to cause a commotion, I knew all too well the kind of places I was in. In my state, if I had been too persistent and too aggressive, the only thing that would have happened was me tumbling down the stairs face first. It was much better for me to leave quietly on my own two feet.

It was already bright on the street, a new day had dawned. I trudged towards the Bangla Road exit, where local boys were standing and shouting – ‘Taxi! Taxi!’ I had to visit the ATM again.

‘Taxi?’ inquired a smiling, slant-eyed teenager.

‘Taxi, taxi’, I replied wearily and immediately asked for the fare. I was so tired that I could barely stand on my feet. After agreeing on my destination, the boy gave me a price much lower than the one I paid the previous day. Cool. The mystery of the good value was revealed almost immediately when I realized that I would be riding a moped!

The Mojitos still had an effect on me, I really needed to sleep, but before I could object, a helmet was fastened under my neck. The Muchacho started up his horse, made me sit behind him and hold him firmly.

At first, I was a bit hesitant about holding him tightly, since I'm straight and not used to embracing young boys. However, after a few hundred meters I completely dismissed all my doubts, as the boy was racing like crazy. I had to hold him tightly. The motorcycle leaned dangerously in the turns and overtook everything in its way. The engine spluttered and coughed up the hills and roared on full throttle downhill. I no longer felt sleepy, and was rapidly sobering up, whipped by hot wind.

In the quieter moments, I looked around and even in my current state, I couldn't help but admire the beauty of the area. On the left side was a bay and a long beach, on the right were massive rocks covered with lush jungle. The jungle was partially cleared and there were some very nice hotel buildings, with a spectacular view of the sea.

Surprisingly, we got to my place in one piece, no accidents. I paid for the ride and a little extra for the roller coaster experience. The hotel had just started serving breakfast.