Undercover Police Officer

Our last full day in Thailand. We headed down to the pool for one last dip before checking out. We wanted to return to New Rotel Inn to wrap up our trip where it all began. At New Rotel Inn, the guides recommended that we check out the weekend market. We took the sky train there, which cost 40 Baht per person. The sky train is a train that runs on tracks elevated above the regular traffic to avoid chaos on the roads. The weekend market is absolutely massive. You can buy everything: food, clothes, wooden items, glassware, jewelry, flowers, animals, and so much more. We ended up picking up a bunch of stuff like a Hawaiian shirt, a vase, a belt, and salad utensils. Jan even got a painting done, but it didn’t turn out quite right, so we ended up tossing it. After wandering around for hours, we headed to a shopping mall where we found a delicious pizza restaurant for lunch. Once we satisfied our hunger, we took a taxi back since we were too tired to walk any more. We got a really good deal on the taxi ride, just 110 Baht, which isn’t much compared to the sky train price. We decided to celebrate our last evening in Patpong, as we had grown quite fond of the area. We found a cozy restaurant with great food and some lovely chilled wine. We still wanted to check out the street where the go-go boys hung out. We walked over for a drink, but Jan wasn’t comfortable there since the guys were pretty obvious about their interest in him. So, we quickly moved back to the other streets. At one bar, we met a guy from Switzerland who worked as a narcotics officer here. He had settled down in Thailand and married a Thai girl. They had an arrangement for an open relationship, as long as she didn’t see anyone else and he took care of her and her son. So, he didn’t feel guilty about being with other girls, which he was that night we were there. The Swiss officer worked undercover in Thailand to arrest foreign drug dealers. The Thai police can only arrest Thais and not foreigners. Similarly, the Swiss officer can’t arrest Thais, which has to do with respect, even towards criminals. We asked him what to do if someone was unfortunate enough to have something slipped into their bag. He said to throw it out immediately and not to go to the police, as they are often corrupt. He was able to answer many of the questions that had come up during our trip, which we hadn’t been able to find answers to otherwise. He also explained why so many Thai girls choose to become prostitutes and work in places like Patpong. The reason is that the pay is so much better than working in a restaurant. Often, they can’t find work because they are poorly educated. Schooling in Thailand is 12 years, but many drop out after 6 years, which is about equivalent to 3 years of schooling in Denmark. He also told us that if we wanted to help them, we shouldn’t give them money, as they would just waste it instead of saving. He gave us the address of a German priest, Father Meier, who worked in a troubled area in Bangkok. If we donated money to him, he would use it to improve the lives of the Thais. We decided to do that the next day before heading to the airport.