Bangkok Reports

I spent a short week in Bangkok, staying at the Sofitel Sukhumvit (see report in Bangkok hotels tread).

I found Nana Plaza and the surrounding areas good, but not fantastic. Mostly availed myself of the freelancer there. Found three deaf girls and went with one of them. I was hoping for an soft, somehow different experience. She behaved sweetly, but it was a little hurried.

Had a look at Annie's massage near Nana Plaza, and found the talent surprisingly bad. I probably arrived too late, but still I was shocked.

I had some nice experiences with SWs from along Sukhumvit. Price range 1000-2000 baht, so cheaper than other options. During some period of the night loads of miniature bars pop up along Sukhumvit, basically a hand trolley with some booze standing on it. Very many of them have attractive girls sitting at them trying to lure you to sit down. This is a (mild) trick to get you to buy a drink in the hope of getting the girl to go with you, but normally she won't. The proper street walkers are usually not sitting at a bar, but standing or sitting on the curb or something like that.

I found Patpong not that great. Parts of it are heavily dominated by ladyboys and / or gays (bless them for stepping aside and improving the female-male supply-demand balance in our favour, but it is not what I am looking for). But there are a few go go bars with very attractive girls there.

Soi Cowboy has a lot of action in little space. I particularly enjoyed one bar. I think it may be called Crazy House or something like that. It is outside the actual Soi Cowboy alley. To get there you have to walk to the bottom of the alley and take a right and walk about 20 feet. There are a lot of girls on stage there, most of them all nude. I am not that interested in strip shows. But this is different. There are also a lot of customers. The girls are rowdy and provocative and there is a lot of interaction with customers. The result is a continuous wild party atmosphere. You may think it is a rip off, but it is worth buying 2-3 lady drinks just for the hell of it, at least when I girl gives you the eye, a little show or approaches you. The girls appreciate it, and it is nice to have a totally naked lady rubbing up against oneself. Once you buy one or two girls a drink, the others will notice it and start to give you positive attention too.

I actually found the Bangkok girls quite loving and am not sure sure of the conventional wisdom that Thais are more professional and Pinoys more loving. Now I think more of Pinoys as scheming / demanding and Thais as honest / loving. I had two girls stay overnight with me, something I usually don't go for, but they were just such cuddly kittens.

Bangkok is not a particularly cheap mongering destination. If you stick strictly to street walkers it can be cheap, but selection (that I saw) will be limited. There are many attractive girls in the go go bars, but you end up paying 2500-4500 baht (lady drink + bar fine + girl's fee + short time hotel + tip), especially if you want to save time and go for a short time room so that you can come back quickly and do more girls.

I found that some of the girls would have one or two kids and still almost no impact on their bodies or pussies. In the end I stopped speculating about whether they had had kids or not.

In my limited experience, when Thai girls enjoy DATY, they arch their backs and raise their hips into the air.

Thai food is spectacular.

I used condoms strictly for all penetrative sex, but did go for BBBJs. Somehow I managed to contract something, probably chlamydia (I though gonorrhoea, but doc says it would hurt more). So now I have white puss dripping from my dick, waiting for test results and taking antibiotics. I always operate this way, am an experienced monger and have never had trouble like this before. I encourage others to also report similar problems so that we can all have an objective picture of risks and problems. I am still not going to stop mongering.

[QUOTE=Wolvenvacht;1691713]Please, as if one man giving a tip for good services is going to ruin the market.

Besides, since tips come [B]after[/B] the service is provided, they cannot drive up the price of the service itself. If anything, they may even keep the price of the service lower as (perhaps) the girls start to expect a tip and thus lure you in by agreeing a lower basic price (and getting a fat tip).[/QUOTE]That's Western logic. Thais don't think that way. Once a Thai gal gets more money, be it in a tip or whatever, all of the sudden that is what she believes she is worth and if she does not get a "tip" then it is a loss of face.

[QUOTE=RobertLong;1691663]So you feel that giving a woman 300 is a lot for 90 minutes of pleasure? But if you go to a club a beer and a LD is 300. And you say I am driving up the prices? Then you must pay a BF and negotiate with the WG for how much she wants? Dude, where is your report that shows lower prices for the same service?

Respectfully.

RL.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Wolvenvacht;1691713]Please, as if one man giving a tip for good services is going to ruin the market.

Besides, since tips come [B]after[/B] the service is provided, they cannot drive up the price of the service itself. If anything, they may even keep the price of the service lower as (perhaps) the girls start to expect a tip and thus lure you in by agreeing a lower basic price (and getting a fat tip).[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Goatscrot;1691808]That's Western logic. Thais don't think that way. Once a Thai gal gets more money, be it in a tip or whatever, all of the sudden that is what she believes she is worth and if she does not get a "tip" then it is a loss of face.[/QUOTE]This has nothing to do with the OP's 300 B tip. I wasn't there. It may have been worth every sateng. But the ensuing debate brings up some interesting philosophical questions.

The biggest single annoying thing that my fellow Americans, and I have been as guilty as the rest, is this annoying habit of tipping everybody within earshot. As I said before, tipping is like some sort of economic Ebola. It infects everything it touches and, in this case, can't be cured.

You can always tell a country where lots of Yanks visit. Everybody in the area has their hands out constantly. Tip the waiter. Tip the busboy. Tip the doorman. Tip the bathroom fairy, err, attendant. Tip the cabbie. Tip the masseuse. This is learned behavior, because this practice simply does not exist in most countries. Guess who taught them? Instead of resulting in better service, the locals too often simply see it as "free money. " These guys are so rich they throw around money for nothing. I'm going to get me some!

Generally speaking, Thais don't tip much, and few expect to be tipped. If a price for a cab is negotiated, that's what is paid. If using the meter, they'll often round up to the nearest 10 baht, or so. However, I have seen them count things to the exact baht. In restaurants without a service fee the tip usually amounts to a few baht. Pricier establishments usually get larger tips, but 15% - 20%, as in the States? No way. If you have lunch and drinks at some ultra-local mom and pop joint, and are presented with a bill that is unbelievably cheap, the Yank's first instinct is to tip well. And it's often perceived as an insult. You've just told the guy he's too f*cking stupid to price his wares properly and he didn't charge you enough. And this is the exact same lesson many of the service providers take away from this. I'm not charging enough. For a chuckle, imagine a Thai girl demanding a X00 Baht tip from a Thai man. (Before anybody flames me, I understand that massage may be a grey area, because sometimes the masseuse gets nothing from the house and must rely on a "tip" but that's really not the point of my ramblings, nor is it a "tip" in the true sense of the word).

It's not that tipping doesn't exist in places like Thailand, or Mexico, just to name a couple. (The two societies are strikingly similar in many aspects). It's that it tends to be more rare and far more culturally nuanced than in the States. There are no hard and fast rules, and much seems to be based upon the recipient's social status. A 2-week millionaire is never going to learn the ropes. So, IMHO, it's better to tip sparingly, or not at all, than it is to throw tips at all and sundry. It kinda reminds me of the tourists who run around and wai everybody in sight. I guess they mean well, but it indicates they are too lazy to try to learn a bit about the prevailing culture.

[QUOTE=Phordphan;1691830]If you have lunch and drinks at some ultra-local mom and pop joint, and are presented with a bill that is unbelievably cheap, the Yank's first instinct is to tip well. And it's often perceived as an insult. You've just told the guy he's too f*cking stupid to price his wares properly and he didn't charge you enough.[/QUOTE]Do you have specific evidence that a high tip in a mom-and-pop restaurant is often seen as an insult in Thailand? Or is this just your speculation? I'm not really sure which, but am curious.

[QUOTE=Yujin;1691313]Cost of condoms in Bangkok:

[URL]http://www.bangkokcomplementaryhealth.com/Condom-Packs.html[/URL]

Like in the USA, cost might be slightly cheaper or slightly more expensive at 7-11 or pharmacies; but the difference shouldn't be too significant.[/QUOTE]Thank you for your response.

[QUOTE=Llantarnam;1691704]Thanks for the directions.

Are these all soapy massage places?[/QUOTE]There are 3 seperate threads for the massage parlors. Check them out for all your questions.

[QUOTE=Cucumber;1691762]
I actually found the Bangkok girls quite loving and am not sure sure of the conventional wisdom that Thais are more professional and Pinoys more loving. Now I think more of Pinoys as scheming / demanding and Thais as honest / loving. I had two girls stay overnight with me, something I usually don't go for, but they were just such cuddly kittens.[/QUOTE]I think it's safe to say that Thai girls are more professional and Pinays more loving, IN GENERAL. Of course there are very loving Thais and very professional Pinays as well. I guess you were just lucky to pick only loving Thais. If you go there more often you will come across the hardened pro's every now and then. And the starfishes.

By the way: Pinoys are the male variant and Pinays the female variant.

[QUOTE=Goatscrot;1691808]That's Western logic. Thais don't think that way. Once a Thai gal gets more money, be it in a tip or whatever, all of the sudden that is what she believes she is worth and if she does not get a "tip" then it is a loss of face.[/QUOTE]Maybe, but only Thai can properly understand Thai logic, yet I still don't think tipping will increase the basic price.

[QUOTE=LAGuy5;1691847]Do you have specific evidence that a high tip in a mom-and-pop restaurant is often seen as an insult in Thailand? Or is this just your speculation? I'm not really sure which, but am curious.[/QUOTE]It sounds logical, but it is just not happening. Those high-tipping Americans hardly if ever make it to the non-touristy mom&pop restaurant somewhere in a small village.

And "simple" restaurants in touristy areas know by now how to gracefully accept a tip.

I travel through Thailand with my Thai GF and the most I have seen her tipping is perhaps 20 baht on top of the small change.

Pushing and shoving? Did you ever take a Paris metro? That is pushing and shoving!

The Paris Metro is tame compared to the Beijing Metro or even walking on the sidewalk in Beijing. People or bicyclists will head straight at you and act surprised or pissed that you did not get out if "their" space. Also, try getting in line to buy a metro ticket in Beijing sometime.

I am in BKK for a few days, one of which where I need to work for 4-5 hrs or so during the day. Rather than stay in my hotel room, I would like a spa or high end massage place. I am thinking a bit along the lines of Macau or some places in KL. So where were I can be left alone or get a massage and / whatever.

Suggestions gratefully received.

TL.

I visited Som's haven three times in my recent trip.

It's my custom to just accept the first in the queue. I find this better than basically telling everyone I did not select that I did not take them because they weighed more than I do and had pus-oozing sores on their lips. The drawback is that, at least in my case, often the first in the queue weighs more than I do and has pus-oozing sores on her lips. Something went wrong this time and I ended up with Amy (sp?) A reasonably cute and, as far as I could tell, pus-free provider. She did appear to have a tourist map of Angkor what tattooed on her upper back, but I assume this was a requirement for a previous long term bar fine as the punter was heading there and this seemed like an excellent way to study the layout while otherwise engaged.

Up we went to the room. After a good scrubbing at the sink we took our positions on and in front of the couch. As I was getting the second washing with the moist towelettes I noted that the room had a Star Wars theme to it, a mural across from me depicting Princess Leia kneeling in front of Jabba the Hutt. The odd thing was that Princess Leia had what appeared to be a mirror image of a tourist map of Angkor what tattooed upon her upper back. Hey, wait a minute.

Okay, that mirror crap may work well for some punters, but do I really need to stare at myself in all my horror while I'm trying to focus on things in hand or mouth? At least get one of those convex or concave I cannot remember which (takes time out to try to bend the hotel mirror, comes back with seven years of bad luck) ones that make you look skinny. Maybe put a magnifier on it so that certain areas are enlarged. I'm looking for the "Death Camp Survivor With Donkey Penis Grafted On" look.

The room had three times as many mirrors as my entire house has.

But this isn't really as bad as it could be as I generally keep my eyes closed during these activities, either in sheer bliss or just to avoid looking at those pus oozing sores or whatever. So I settled back and tried to forget that Jabba was staring at me.

Amy's technique was remarkably good, with one glitch. First the good. She started out with a lot of attention to the low hanging fruit. So much so that I felt vaguely guilty and vowed to investigate ball shaving. Then I thought of my poor, hairless, frozen balls as I took a leak outside back home at sub zero temperatures, plus figured it was payback for my early days when DATY was somewhat like an Amazon Jungle expedition, hacking through the thick Bush in search of the source, finding treasures like a previous explorer's dental bridge along the way. Ah, yes, That '70's Show!

But back to the glitch. There were a LOT of tissue sounds, like she was emptying out tissue cartons as a side job. Things would be going exceptionally well, then there would be a pause as she would draw another ten percent of a rain forest from the box, shake out the dental bridges, and wipe my privates. I would have looked to see what the hell was going on, but I knew Jabba was still there and if I thought tissue sounds were distracting, Jabba would lead to a catastrophic collapse of the tower that Amy was working so hard on. Weirdly, when the act was finished we were not ass-deep in tissues, so I'm a little confused.

Amy's technique is one of the more gentle ones I've experienced. Very little hard squeezing either with mouth or hand. Kind of a nice change, certainly from when I am practicing and even with most other providers. Eventually a happy conclusion was reached, though largely through hand-and-oil therapy, but that is par for my course even when not solo. I tend to be a difficult customer.

On a final note of weirdness, on the way out she did the cashiering as the desk was unstaffed. I've always had the mamasan take care of that. Maybe she was doing double duty?

On the next visit Amy did not appear to be there, so again luck of the draw, and ANOTHER score! I actually looked around a bit, trying to recognize the top of Amy's head, and found the scoring odds were pretty good: One of the better looking BJ bar lineups I've seen. Next in queue was Nok, so up we went. I was relieved that in our pleasure den I would be looking not at Jabba, but instead at a very tasteful sink and shower.

Tasteful, yes. Functional, no. There was a hand-scrawled note in the sink that apparently said, "No water", or, "Drain plugged by cum-filled condom", or, "We want to see the fat guy run naked down the hall. ".

I'm guessing the last, because they got their wish. I was hustled out the door and down to the next room, where, of course, Jabba the Hutt was waiting. Crap! I can't get away from this guy! There followed a vigorous scrubbing and buffing of the dirty parts, followed by a panicky, balls-a-flapping dash back to our room when footsteps approached the door to the hallway.

Nok was different in style from Amy, more the conventional, firmer, persistent head bobber after some very good initial work on the barely settled back down balls. Essentially, I got a third ball bath, this time cat-style. There were no rain forests felled this time, maybe because SOMEONE had run them out of tissues or something. I would definitely repeat with either of the young ladies if I could just recognize the tops of their heads in the lineup.

And then it had to happen: The first failure to launch of the trip. My luck ran out with a vengeance. The First in Queue was a rotund thing. I came very close to turning her down. We both would have been a lot happier forty minutes later. Predictably, I got Jabba the Hutt's room again. This time, though, instead of Princess Leia between his legs (assuming he has legs. In this case he did), there was perhaps his sister, or being charitable, a first cousin or something. And Sis / Cousin seemed pretty eager for the act to be done, getting quite vocal, "You come now! About it rather early. The technique started out well, but it degenerated pretty quickly into the classic suck-tug-suck. As an aside, do most guys like having very sharp nails dragged across their sensitive parts? Nipples pinched almost to bleeding? It didn't really do it for me. Also, what sort of an a*hole whistles while he's getting a blow job?

I think the quintessential moment was when we ran out of oil and she had to go somewhere in another province to get more. It was a l-o-and-g, ultimately fruitless session.

Final note: Yes, I know it is not Angkor WHAT. I can't get it to spell correctly.

Yes, the MRT and BTS get crowded. So does the Paris Metro. I am vaguely haphephobic (dislike of being touched) but I cope with it by looking for a brighter side. On the way home from Dr. BJ's I was treated to a delightfully busty and conveniently short little thing standing at my ten o'clock position on the Skytrain. It was a packed car. My back was against the door and a farang in a suit was pressed in front of me, prison sex style. I am really glad that, being an old dude, I had not yet recharged from EE's draining, or it could have been very awkward. Instead I could stare down on the beautiful valley and the bronze hills with no fear of learning what a whole different form of A+ was like. Little Miss Cleavage was way too interested in her phone to look around behind her, so I was safe, and, as a bonus, determined that she had some really hot girlfriends. More reasons to be thankful for the quality work of half an hour earlier.

The poor guy in the suit, however, while also quite aware of the scenic view, had to look hard to his left, even a little behind him, to get a good ogle. A lot like sitting in an aisle seat in a tour bus: You know the view is there, but to see it you would have to be rude. A lot like that, but with the added possibility of unwanted surprise sex from behind. He still tried, and got caught. Twice. I would love to have been able to read what she was texting her hot friend: "OMG there is a perv totally staring down my shirt! A gross, sweaty farang! I would pull my dick out and wave it at him, but the guy in front is in a suit and kind of cute!

I think I just ruined one of my fondest memories by writing that.

I paid three visits to the. BJ's. There were several decent lookers in the mob that followed me in the door the first time, but I had a mission: I was looking for the legendary Consultant EE. The reviews here speak glowingly of her but warned of a very bad boob job. The idea of being trapped in literally a cage with mutant boobs was daunting. I have a high Boob Standard as a result of some good upbringing. When I was just a wee lad of maybe eight I bought some of those tiny binoculars-on-a-keychain that had delightful pictures in them. Kudos to my parents for not asking for a detailed accounting of my allowance money. The featured young lady was definitely not a local girl. This was easy to determine because she was blonde and the locals were either Arabs or blacks. Yes, eight year olds could buy porn in Sudan, but try selling that stuff to them in one of those modern, progressive, western countries and you'll find surprise morning sex isn't half as enjoyable when you're incarcerated. Score one for Islam.

The mysterious blonde woman was a fortuitous find for my first post-nursing tit sighting. It was a near thing, though: Just months later we went on a trip though East Africa and I observed many more bare breasts, but I knew by then that things that looked like bowling pins, almost dragging nipples when the noble Masai women bent over, were not the gold standard for bosoms, regardless of how convenient it was to be able to toss one over a shoulder for the baby on the back to suckle.

Twenty years later I saw the picture of the comely blonde lass again, in a back issue of a popular men's magazine: The Sweetheart of the Month, Marilyn Monroe, in the iconic shot with the red background.

A non-topless EE is really a sight to see. Easily in the top ten of BJ providers I've had. While a BJ is itself supposed to be foreplay, I found foreplay to foreplay: Following her up the stairs. With her high heels, the steep stairs, and my average height I found myself staring right up a microskirt at the most amazing intergluteal cleft, more technically referred to as butt-crack, with the sacred orifice hidden by a glorified shoestring. Sadly, the hallowed ground is supposedly off limits, but one can fantasize. Or maybe even ask next time.

The performance was good. Nothing really wrong, but no standout technique either. Some good attention to the sack, but also some hokey moaning. Really? You're getting off on stroking a cock? I do it all the time and don't moan. Well, not much. Okay, at least I'm rarely heard next door.

For the next two visits I took the plunge for the VIP Service in the VIP Room. The website listed a 1000 baht surcharge for VIP Service. I thought that meant the VIP room. No, it means a one hour FS cage match in the regular cages. Frankly I'm far from sure I could manage satisfactory FS in the cage: Does the chair recline all the way? Bend-her-over-the-sink doggie would be an option, but I figure I'd last twenty minutes before either slipping in my own sweat and breaking my neck or having a fatal heart attack.

Another 1000 gets you twice as long in the VIP room. So 3 K for two hours. Not by any means a bargain, but a lot depends on the company you take up there. Besides, I would die in much nicer surroundings, and knowing that the bastards were going to have a hell of a time getting my fat ass down those fifty or sixty flights of stairs (my estimate) that I had to climb to get there. Okay, in all truth they would likely just lob me out the window, but hopefully that idea would escape me as I drew my dying breath. With any luck I'd hit one of those pricks walking at a snail's pace while glued to their phone.

Miss EE was as lovely as ever, but I knew the twins (or maybe not twins. That could be the problem) were to be released. They were. I peeked. I did not turn to stone. They are not nearly as bad as I had feared. With a nipple in your mouth they feel and look fine. The next day I managed to uncross my eyes.

As mentioned in earlier posts, the VIP room is actually a studio apartment. Lots of room. A nice touch is the towels all wrapped in plastic, implying that no one had actually wiped their ass with them since they were washed. My towels at the Hilton have never been wrapped like that. I'll never trust that chain again. The bed is big I think a king, begging for multiple occupancy. Most importantly, there is good air conditioning which was a damned good thing after those eighty flights of stairs (my new estimate). A defibrillator would have been spiffy, as well.

After the shower and a brief discussion of rodents (no not in the room) (well, yes, the discussion was in the room, but not the subject rodents) (as far as I know), we were off to explore the bed's acreage. Things started out well with the eponymous BJ, then got ugly with the brandishing of the condom. This is getting old. So am I. Probably time for medications. But EE was not deterred and displayed an amazing repertoire of positions, culminating with the old standby, 69. Happy endings came to both players, though that mattress is probably still drying from the sweat. I suggest another week before following my footsteps.

The price and the stairs were pretty steep, but not outlandish. The two hours would be overkill (probably literally) for me if it were not for EE's good English. Quite a pleasure to talk to between gasps.

My last visit, the night before I left for AC, featured the same solid service and a lot of talking. There was one of those awkward, ". And I choke on my reply. I'd rather hurt you honestly than mislead you with a lie. " moments when she wondered why she didn't have a boyfriend.

Nah! Just kidding! I don't have a sentimental bone in my body. I deftly dodged the query with double talk, avoiding mentioning things like her career choice. I pointed out that I've had one girlfriend: it lasted six weeks and it took several years to get rid of her. Hopefully she won't think into this too much. On the surface it sounds fine, but then she's sitting there looking at this porky, sweat dripping loser and thinking maybe that is not really a path she wants to follow.

It was the only time I've ever wished for a non-English speaking provider. I don't think she was exploring the sponsor possibility as I would have thought that my probably ill-advised answer that divulged my availability would have been pounced on, "Oh, you don't have a girlfriend? I have an idea. ".

Over all, highly recommended. Yes, you could have skipped all this BS and just read the last line.

[QUOTE=LAGuy5;1691847]Do you have specific evidence that a high tip in a mom-and-pop restaurant is often seen as an insult in Thailand? Or is this just your speculation? I'm not really sure which, but am curious.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Wolvenvacht;1691935]It sounds logical, but it is just not happening. Those high-tipping Americans hardly if ever make it to the non-touristy mom&pop restaurant somewhere in a small village.

And "simple" restaurants in touristy areas know by now how to gracefully accept a tip.

I travel through Thailand with my Thai GF and the most I have seen her tipping is perhaps 20 baht on top of the small change.[/QUOTE]Well, I don't have Arlo Guthrie's 8 x 10 glossies. But I do have a fair amount of anecdotal evidence, and a bit of logic.

I've caught myself doing it, I. E. Looking at the low price, figuring the money was nothing to me but a lot to this poor restaurateur, and began to leave a generous tip. In one case I was with a friend (non-bg, upper-middle-class, plenty of her own money) who, to blatantly steal a phrase from one of my favorite movies, looked at me as if I had lobsters coming out of my ears. She, in no uncertain terms, made me take the tip back and leave a few coins. In other instances I watched the other locals, who tipped nothing or very tiny amounts.

So, let's say you're upcountry, for instance, and presented with your bill at the mom-and-pop som tam joint. In a culture where tipping isn't done. Logic would indicate that forking over substantially more than the restaurant's price can easily be construed as the high-and-mighty white man tossing money to the poor, benighted brown man. We see it differently, they very likely don't.

Now, to address the cultural nuances of the above paragraph, imagine that you are, instead of a farang tourist, a rich and famous Thai pop star, or a member of the royal family. You would probably tip very large, and it would probably be gratefully accepted. Because that's the way royalty works in this not-too-far-removed-from-feudal society. The king bestows gifts on his subjects because that's what a king (or rich boss, or whatever) does. However, you, as the rich farang, are not part of the cultural "food chain. ".

Mr. Wolf is correct; the average farang tourist isn't going to make it past Pattaya, so probably won't be patronizing any seriously local joints. I, too, watch my Thai GF when we go to local places upcountry. And, yes, the tips range from 0 baht to perhaps 20 baht.

I guess my overall gripe is that tipping is such an ingrained part of the American psyche, and it's such a hard habit to break. And Americans have been criticized, with good reason, for throwing around money like it's going out of style. I think the Chinese may have taken over that dubious honor these days. It reminds me of an anecdote from Pappy Boyington's autobiography. He was in Burma, IIRC, and had an extremely filthy and muddy pair of flight boots. He had a young gofer who ran errands, cleaned the tents, etc. , and he asked him to clean his boots. He spent all day cleaning them and apparently did a good job. He gave the kid $1. (It was nothing to him, and meant a lot to the kid). Later the boy's father showed up very angry. He assumed that the kid's father was angry because he hadn't paid enough. Turns out that he was angry because Mr. Be had paid far too much, more than the father could earn in a (week / month I don't remember), and the father could no longer discipline his boy because the boy had lost much respect for the father. His (and my) point is that tossing around the almighty dollar doesn't always make everybody happy.