April 23 2004
Up-skirt panty shots on the Bangkok Skytrain

Mango Sauce has so far contributed precious little to the glamorous world of celebrity photo-journalism but, today, this is all about to change. I now own one of those funky new camera-phones that Japanese fellas use to take up-skirt panty shots on the Tokyo subway but I'm determined to harness its powers for good rather than evil.
When I took the device out on the streets of Bangkok for the first time, actress Elizabeth Hurley - looking ravishing in a strapless top and black leather mini-skirt - failed to show up at my local chicken noodles stand but persistence finally paid off when I spotted TV's Oprah Winfrey cat-napping on the Skytrain and I took this sneaky snap whilst pretending to send a text message. The effervescent chat-show hostess got off at On Nut, where she proceeded to ransack the delicatessen counter at nearby Tesco Lotus. The effect on her waistline is all too obvious.
OK, so it's not Oprah Winfrey but have you ever noticed how some ordinary Thai people bear a passing resemblance to western celebrities? To first time visitors, the idea seems absurd but, once you've been living here for a while, your brain begins to disregard common racial characteristics - allowing you to pick out the differences between individuals rather than the similarities. Once you've got your eye in, the celebrity-spotting fun can begin.
Bar girls straight from the rice fields go through exactly the same process. To them, one portly farang spilling beer over his fake designer clothing probably looks very much like another. Once they've been on the game for a while, though, their ability to recognise a customer's face from a single night 5 years ago is astonishing. Thai people are arguably better at playing interracial celebrity face-match than we are.
One bar girl fingered me as the farang lookie-likey of a popular Thai movie actor - and then whipped out his photo to prove it. There was indeed a resemblance but, if the guy was serious about playing me in the story of my life, he would first need six months on a high fat diet and then the assistance of a close friend to repeatedly slam a car door in his face.
The game is slightly harder for us farangs to play because Thai people truly exhibit less variation in their outward appearance. The truth of this was brought home to me when I last visited England. While I was away, my Thai girlfriend's poor relatives showed up and picked her piggy-bank clean. It was her own bloody fault but, after making her eat toothpaste for a week, I finally gave in and sent her some cash - before she started chewing the furniture. For security reasons, the staff at Western Union asked me to write down her physical description - slim build, average height, brown skin and long black hair - but this doesn't narrow the field down very much, does it?
[Posted to Activities by David]
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Activities
Chatuchak Market: It's the dog's bollocks
Get rich quick with Beer Chang Light
Blue Elephant serves up a stinker
Fishy fun at the Siam Paragon Aquarium
Mangosteen Poker: The sexy bet you can't lose
Up-skirt panty shots on the Bangkok Skytrain
Relax in a traditional Thai massage parlour
Baiyoke Sky Hotel observation deck
Meet farang girls at The Dubliner Irish Pub
Jim Thompson's house and museum
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