In the experience of those of us here at WoWasis, most expat writers who have complimentary things to say about Thai women contrast them with disparaging views of Western women in general and Yank women in particular. Frank Visakay, a former New York chef, has penned a book that’s a hoot for guys who love the women of Thailand.

Visakay’s Jasmine Fever: Confessions of a Jaded Expat in Thailand (2007, ISBN-13: 978-981-05-8973-8) is a terrifically fun read. A lot of the book is about contrasting what the author would pay in New York for female companionship, sexual or otherwise, and what he pays in Thailand, including dinners, drinks, and paid-for sex. Lots of these tales are similar to those told by Khun Lee in his Bachelor in Bangkok column in the WoWasis blog, where naïve western men, many on their first trips to Thailand, give away small and large fortunes to bar girls one third their age. Visakay relates many of the usual aphorisms we’ve all heard, or should have heard: You’re not paying Thai girls for sex, you’re paying them to go home; How do you make a small fortune in Thailand? Come with a large fortune. And because the book is essentially about women and the men who love them, he offers this interesting quote: “The deviation between whores in Thailand and whores in America is that here the hookers try to make it a girlfriend experience and are so charming that you really could fall in love. In America when you pay a hooker for sex she couldn’t care less if you lived or died.”

Our favorite story was “Land of Opportunity,” where a sharp Thai lady taking a one month break from her husband and child in the U.S. manages to get a Canadian to build her a bar, get the guy permanently kicked out of the bar, and sell it for a small fortune, all within one month, prior to getting back on the plane for the States. The book is a great read for people already familiar with the Thailand bar scene, and a must-read for first-time visiting men who are intending to meet Thai women, in or out of bars.

Potential readers feeling uncomfortable about the concept of paying for sex really need not worry. Everyone knows that prostitution in Thailand is illegal. Buy it now at the WoWasis estore, powered by Amazon.

Additional note: Frank Visakay died on May 11, 2010, at the age of 71, of an apparent heart attack. The comments following his obituary in the Phukette Gazette indicates that left left dozens of friends and admirers.