Bangkok is Thailand's capital and, for most of the foreigners in these stories, the first city they set foot in. It's chaotic, sprawling, and full of contrasts: skyscrapers next to night markets, temples next to bars. Many of the relationships documented here begin in that mix, between business trips that ran longer than planned and tourists who came for a few days and ended up sorting out a visa for the long term. It's also, unfortunately, the setting for more than one scam in Thailand, so these pages include both genuine love stories and necessary warnings.
A 56-year-old American recalls his first night in Bangkok in 2013, when a woman named Tuk made room for him beside her at a bar on Soi 4. A brief romance that faded on its own, but whose memory has never stopped following him.
A 31-year-old Romanian recounts how a cheap flight booked on a whim sent him back to Bangkok alone, where he reconnected with Jit at a Soi Cowboy bar. A pregnancy, months of paperwork and a wedding later, they're now a normal family in the UK.
A 54-year-old American recounts how a two-week trip to Thailand stretched on indefinitely: first dodging a woman with escalating financial demands, then building a life in Bangkok alongside Gop and her daughter, who ended up calling him Papa.
A recently retired American looks back on his relationship with a Thai woman he met in Hong Kong. What began as a romance with visits to Bangkok turned into a growing list of monthly payments, until he discovered he wasn't the only man supporting her.
A 46-year-old Dane met Bun, a 26-year-old Thai translator, and they talked daily for seven months before meeting in person. They spent a month together between Bangkok and Pattaya with no red flags at all. Weeks after he got home, she vanished, and pre-wedding photos on Facebook were the last clue.
A 50-year-old Australian met Mali in Bangkok, a highly educated woman he spoke to every day for months. When she finally told her mother about the relationship, her mother demanded a $35,000 dowry and $2,000 a month. The story of a breakup nobody considers normal, not even Thai people themselves.
A 25-year-old British English teacher met Nisa in Khon Kaen, a university graduate from Isaan with zero interest in the nightlife scene. Her mum, living in Germany, had other plans for her daughter. This is the story of how he won the family over and decided to stay in Thailand.
After seeing plenty of bar scams in Thailand, a Swedish man was introduced online to a woman from Isaan looking for something serious. Months of daily calls and a visit to her family later, the relationship never quite came together. It wasn't the love story he hoped for, and it wasn't a scam either.
A 43-year-old Welshman went back to Thailand looking for a quiet holiday around Bangkok and Pattaya. He ended up meeting, almost by accident, a 47-year-old Thai woman with kids in Scotland. Now he's planning to drive up to Edinburgh to see her and maybe move there with her.
In 2009, 30 years old and out of work after the crash, a British plasterer from Nottinghamshire landed in Bangkok on his way to Australia. A 24-year-old waitress, a month of island-hopping and years of cheap flights later, he ended up living in Phuket: first at her travel shop, then running a bar on Bangla Road. Never a work permit.