'He promised her a future but left only empty words'
Nok was sitting in a beach restaurant on Koh Samui, the place where she had sat with him three weeks earlier, listening to his stories about the distant, cold Netherlands. The air was sticky and the smell of the sea mixed with the fumes from the kitchen. Here, where she had once laughed at his Dutch expressions and his crazy way of eating rice, now there were only her memories of what had turned out to be a big play.
She wasn’t a woman you met in a bar. Not a tourist flirt lured by the glamour of easy money or the promise of adventure. Nok was a teacher, a woman with a stable life, a serious job, an honest vision of the future. Someone who had always told herself that love couldn’t be bought and that life had more to offer than short flings. She had been looking for something genuine, someone who could see her for who she was, someone who could appreciate her for what she contributed. So when he showed up on that dating site, with his warm smile and that seemingly sincere look in his eyes, she thought things could finally turn out differently.
In the beginning, it was all so real, so honest. He talked about his loneliness in the Netherlands, his tiring workdays, his dream of escaping the daily grind and finding something better. “I’m not looking for just anything,” he had said. “I’m looking for someone who understands me, someone with whom I can build something.” Words that went straight to her heart, like a kind of poetry that fit perfectly into the emptiness she had felt for years. She had been hurt before, he knew that, and he had promised to be different. “You can trust me,” he had assured her, holding her hand as if he really meant it.
For three weeks he had showered her with attention, with love, with gestures that seemed almost old-fashionedly gallant. He brought her flowers, he listened, or pretended to listen, to her stories about her work, her dreams, her friends. He talked about plans for the future in which she played a part, in which she would be the linchpin of a new life he had envisioned for himself. But it was the nights that betrayed him, the moments when his love seemed so intense, so impatient. Sometimes it seemed as if he only really looked at her when the light went out and his hands found her. A part of her had felt the warning, somewhere deep inside, but she had told herself she was paranoid. She had wanted to trust so much that this was it, the love she had been waiting for, the man who had come not for a simple conquest but for a future.
When he left after three weeks, he had hugged her and whispered softly to her: “Wait for me, I will come back. Are you sure?” She smiled. How foolish she had been, how blinded by hope.
The first week after he left, she waited for a message. A simple “I miss you” would have sufficed, a sign that he was also thinking about everything they had experienced together. The second week came, and still nothing. Her messages went unanswered, her calls went straight to his voicemail. And then, after three weeks of silence, it hit her. He wasn’t coming back. He had never intended to. All that time, he had been here just for himself, for the thrill of an adventure, for the company he missed so much, and for the easy comfort of someone who truly opened her heart to him.
“I brought it on myself,” she whispered, her voice dull. It was as if the realization was an icy shower that shook her awake in one fell swoop. He had never promised anything that he would actually deliver. That whole future he talked about so casually was probably nothing more than a charm offensive for him, a clever trick to win her over as quickly as possible. What had been a short, warm vacation for him was something that had touched her to the core.
An old acquaintance, a woman Nok had known for years, looked at her mockingly. “You know, girl,” she said, shaking her head, “men like that don’t come here to find a wife, they come to fill their empty days. They want company without the effort. And that romance, they build that up themselves.”
Nok looked at her, and felt a tear well up, not so much out of sadness, but out of pure anger. “And I really thought I could trust him. I’m not a barmaid, I’m a teacher. I thought he understood that.”
“That was his whole game, honey,” the woman replied dryly. “You saw love, he saw sex.”
She suddenly realized how true that was. She had never been anything but a warm shadow for his cold existence in that faraway land. Nok took a deep breath, her gaze cold, as if she were rediscovering herself. He had used her and left, back to a life she would never really play a part in.
And as she stood up and left the restaurant, she knew she wouldn’t break, not because of him. He might have seduced her with his false promises and smooth talk, but from now on she would be stronger. She wouldn’t lose herself to the castles in the air that men like him built.
About this blogger
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My age officially falls into the category of 'elderly'. I've been living in Thailand for 28 years - try to do that. The Netherlands used to be paradise, but it fell into disrepair. So I went looking for a new paradise and found Siam. Or was it the other way around and Siam found me? Either way, we were good-natured.
ICT provided a regular income, something you call 'work', but for me it was mainly a pastime. Writing, that's the real hobby. For Thailandblog I'm picking up that old love again, because after 15 years of hard work you deserve some reading material.
I started in Phuket, moved to Ubon Ratchathani, and after a stopover in Pattaya I now live somewhere in the north, in the middle of nature. Rest never rusts, I always say, and that turns out to be true. Here, surrounded by greenery, time seems to stand still, but fortunately life doesn't.
Eating, especially lots of it – that’s my passion. And what makes an evening complete? A good glass of whisky and a cigar. That’s about it, I think. Cheers!
Photos, I don't do that. I always look ugly in them, even though I know Brad Pitt pales in comparison. It must be the photographer, I think.
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And next week we will read a story with a final quote:
He saw love, she smelled money…
Just as there are bad Farang, there are also bad Thai ladies looking for money. And this has nothing to do with Thailand. The majority of divorces in our own country are caused by money.
Well Andre, for your question you can also look at YT and especially at Thai Talk with Dan where readers tell Dan about their experiences.
Farang Kee Nok, another bullseye... beautifully worded how unfortunately the feelings of sincere Thai women are often abused. A deep bow for your writing style. For responders who come to say that this abuse also happens the other way around: that is not what this story is about.
I agree with Raymond. Very nicely worded, maybe I shouldn't say it but if we all look in a mirror and ask ourselves if something like that happens to you. How would you feel then? That said, big thumbs up for all the writers who let all kinds of stories flow from their 'pen' to make us stop for a moment or to let us enjoy their stories.
In 99,9% of the cases it is the other way around!!! Too bad for this girl who meant well. When most men who think they have found the right one after the first meeting after 3 weeks, and then they get in a taxi to go back home, their dearest is already looking in her agenda when her next one arrives or she rushes back to her bar, because maybe there is something to pick up that same evening.
What beautifully written. You are truly a talented author.