I did my first visa run since I started coming to Thailand. I am not living here, however I am staying her longer then a month. So unless you want to pay 1000THB a day for an over stay fine. You can head for the Cambodian border. I went on a bus from a company that had daily service to the Poi Pet border crossing. It leaves at 5:00 am and comes back about 3:00pm the same day.

Being my first time I realized shortly after the Bus departed I was not adequately prepared. I brought an eye shade, a book, and a large bottle of water. What I forgot was ear plugs. The droning engine noise kept me awake and since I didn’t sleep the night before because of the 4:30 meeting time. I am throughly exhausted. The bus ride is about three and a half hours each way. You arrive at the border and you are ushered across. This company had vans pick you up from there and take you to a casino on the Khmer side. There you wait for about an hour and a half, you have a brunch (not that good) and either play the slots or wait for the trip back across the border.

I know Thailand is a prosperous country at the moment, however you realy realize it once you step across the border. You go from clean streets with motorbikes and trucks on the Thai side to human powered carts and bicycles on the Khmer. The streets are dirty on the Khmer side as are the people and abject poverty is visible everywhere. While sometime in Thailand you say to yourself “How does anything ever get accomplished here.” then you see that it could be much worse.

On the way back the company showed a couple of movies and dropped us off at a variety of different spots in the city. I would definitely make this trip again if I needed to maybe next time I’ll take my camera, they also have a trip to the Laos border. Maybe I’ll try that.

After having the problem with Fon the night before I was real reluctant to photograph Paula. Usually a hair cut this short isn’t for fashion on a ladyboy. It is because she was sent to jail for some reason. Usually drugs or abuse or something. Paula insisted that it was a choice and not because she went to “monkey farm”. While I didn’t believe her I took a chance, and as I have heard all of my life your initial feeling is usually correct. Well I am sad to say it was. While this shoot has some extenuating circumstances, it is not enough to compensate for her lack of focus and paranoia. The electricity went off in my house. It happens in Thailand. She was convinced that the police were coming. After she calmed down that is when she couldn’t focus. It was fucking hot I have to say with no AC. But her lack of focus continued after the power came back on.

Gobi I have shot before. I saw her on Soi 6 High Boss Bar and I could see she was drugged out of her mind.

She got my phone number from some one and in one night between 1:30 and 5:00 am she sent me 9 sms messages and called 3 times. I told her I was looking for new girls and if I had time I would shoot her, I lied.

In the next week I had at least 10 sms messages a day and a couple of phone calls. I am glad I had rented a house well out side of town or she would have showed up at my place.

She is crazy. Stay away from her.

Fon from King’s II bar on soi 8 Pattaya Beach road is fucking nuts! I found a beautiful ladyboy named Bee from this bar and their was a couple of other B’s working there. I asked them if they wanted to shoot and told them what they would have to do. They all said yes. I was a bit unsure about Fon but she had blond funky hair and she said she has a big cock (lie) and can cum many times so I said ok.

When she came to the shoot she immediately asked how long the shoot would take. I told her about 2 hours maybe less if she is good. She started complaining then, I should have known then and their. We get back to the place I was shooting and it starts again. How long? When she decides to go first she won’t stop looking at any glass surface or mirror around so I have to stop the video many times. She was murmuring under her breath I’m tired or hurt. After 30min she collapses into a chair. I was pissed. I said if you don’t want to do then I take you home. I go up to get Bee and the fight ensues. She want’s paid and want’s the photos deleted or she calls the police. I delete the photos and tell her to fuck off no work no pay. Their was nothing for her to break I saw her looking around, I had already hid my cameras. She said she wanted me to delete the video too. This is not that easy I have to record over it. I told her I would but it takes time. She goes crazy.

By this time her friend is fighting with her as well. She decided she wanted out. She tried to open my front door but wasn’t intelligent enough to figure out how to do it. She started yelling. I finally opened the door with the hopes of getting her into my car and on the way out of the area. She starts talking to people walking past the gate to the house now I get worried. Finally her friend and I talk her into the car and get her back to Pattaya Town. She is fucking nuts! It’s always the ugly ones that give you trouble.

Pattaya 2008

Pattaya is one of my least favorite places in Thailand. It seems like every time I go there it confirms my beliefs.

In 13 days I was able to shoot more than 40 models. I tried to shoot 4 a day but almost every day something happened to make it impossible. Either a no-show or a model forgot ID, or just plain crazy. I had some problems on this trip that I have never had before. I will post some girls you absolutely need to avoid when you go there.

The next stop on the road trip was Yosemite National Park.  With Damazo sleeping in the back we were ready for a great day.   As we were driving into Yosemite their was snow on the ground in sporadic patches.  Damazo has never touched snow! We stopped and had a small snow ball fight by the side of the road.

On a side note.  Seanchai has been making little videos of a slice of his life.  This isn’t for public consumption but for memories and posterity.  We stopped in the high desert in between Death Valley and Yosemite.  We had been listening to rock and roll on Seanchai’s ipod most of the trip.  Seanchai had this brilliant to make a karaoke video of the 3 of us rocking out to “In The Morning” by The Faces he set up my video camera with the fisheye lens on the top of the SUV pointed at the big blue skied plain and we rocked our asses off.  Even the cars driving by realized we were having fun.  We did the whole song, after we finished I went up to grab the camera… Seanchai had forgotten to push record DUH!

I haven’t been to Yosemite for years.  I had gone camping there a couple of times before and since every photographer who has an affinity for Ansel Adams will make the trek if they can. I was and still am awe struck by the majestic beauty of the place.  This time I took my camera but more for pics of my mates and I.  When you are young you think you can find a new perspective on the place.  I have realized that it is probably the most photographed place in the region.

We kicked Luiz a few times and he did get out of the car a couple of times.  We had a great day.

Driving Across the western US with Seanchai and Damazo.  Seanchai and I have traveled many times so we get along very well.  Damazo and Seanchai and I have also traveled together quite a few time so this was not a new experience, however being stuck in a car for a couple of days just the 3 of us was new.

It all started in Las Vegas, We had a gathering of some the new photographers with some of the more experienced ones to pass on accumulated experience and know how.  It went well and I think there are great thing to come from the Grooby family.  I was able get a shoot in Las Vegas before we headed out of town and Brooke  was a good one.

So we headed out of town in a rather small Pontiac SUV.  Luckily we were able to fold bown a seat and all of our luggage fit in with plenty of space for Damazo in the back.  The first day we headed to Death Valley.  Damazo must have automobile triggered narcolepsy because 20 minuets into any car trip he is snoring in the back.  We can wake him up to look at something he opens his eyes, sometimes he might get out of the car but as soon as he steps back into the car he is back to sleep.  So much for the scenic route for Damazo.  It was a beautiful day and we had some great adventures along some less traveled paths.

By time he decided to head out of Death Valley it was dusk and our gas was at a quarter of a tank.  The next town was 86 miles out side of Death Valley and we were worried weather we had enough gas.   We turned off the A/C and rolled up the windows. We coasted down hill and did everything we could think of because the low fuel level light came on and we were about 60miles out.  I would love to say we pulled into the gas station with the engine puttering it’s last gasp of fuel, but we made it with only minuets to spare.  Gas this far out was $4.78 a gallon but we were happy not to have had to push the car or walk our way out.

The town of Tonopah was our salvation.  It is at a high elevation so Summer evenings were 51F degrees, for a guy like me who spends most of his time in hot places (on purpose) it was chilly.  We found a great Mexican restaurant that was opened past 8:00pm and had a few beers and some filling food.  We then walked into town and ended up at a saloon smoking cigars hoping out bloated bellies wouldn’t make too much music that night.

Seanchai wanted to stay at the nicest hotel in the town, a Best Western.  I saw a great road side motel called the Clown Motel.  I had flashes of “House of a Thousand Corpses” and ragged scary clown working behind the desk. The man working was a very nice and he had clown statutes all over the lobby.  If I go back I will have to take one with me as a gift.  The rooms were clean and at $31.95 a night is was a priceless slice of a rapidly diminishing US car culture.

More to come….