That's the difference between punting in minor Third World countries and seriously third world countries.
you can go to a place like the Philippines or Thailand and as a single foreign male everybody there knows what you're doing and why you're there
and provided it's not with underage girls nobody cares because it's basically good for the economy
and a good time is had by all.
When you start going to places like Africa, Cambodia, Laos etc. where the rule of law such as it is, is not so well established or well-regarded before the wealthy (relative to the locals) and good intentioned and normally law-abiding punter just wanting to spread his seat and his cash around any more economical manner that in some of the more developed locales can sometimes attract all kinds of trouble
he never asked for: shakedowns, robberies, kidnappings, checkpoints, being taken into a police station just to extract a bribe
(this happened
to me once in one of these kinds of places
, and I was not in mid monger when it happened, just a foreign face in a small town where the locals don't see too many white faces
and it was "you ain't from around here boy are you?
")
Some people swear by places like Cambodia for P4P given it is ridiculously cheap something like five dollars per punt but to me you pay the price in other ways, when I was dragged into that police station I was very young and naive and had visions of "Midnight Express"
and it still give me the creeps years later.
For my money give me the girlie bars of Ermita or some of the other places, or the whole towns of Pattaya or Angeles City (at least the part where the foreigners hang out) , I'll take one of these places anytime even if I am paying 20 times more per pop. I know the cops will never hassle me provided I am obeying the law and not trying to avoid paying for bar fines, hotel charges and drinks I can go about my business with no fear or hassle.
not many people may know this (at least the foreigners who go to these kinds of places for a weekend of fun), but both of these cities are actually real cities and there is, okay, not a lot of terribly interesting things to see or do in the civvie parts of them, but if you ever want to see what a small sized Thai or Filipino city looks like, take a break from mongering and the restaurants with English menus serving Gwailo food and have a look at the other parts of these towns, walk around, go for lunch or look through the shops, it will give you a more balanced view of these countries, and you will understand that there is more to them than being merely producers of LBFMs
.
Keep on mongering, legally
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Last edited by gwailoplayer at 1-3-2012 19:56 ]
