The first group are by Neil Hutchison, a Pattaya Expat from Australia.  His classic is Money Number One.  Another Neil Hutchison classic is A Fool in Paradise.  I strongly recommend that you get either, and after that at your option you might consider some of Neil's other books such as  The Fool is Back, and The Fool's Diary.  One thing I want to be very clear about and that is Neil is almost always right when he gives advice, so when Neil tells you that "Money is Number One," don't simply shrug it off by telling yourself Money is number one everywhere or that you are exempt from this rule or that your new Thai girlfriend is different. 

There are no exceptions and if money is number one everywhere, then Thailand's simply taken it to a much higher level. 

So pay close attention to what Neil tells you.  When he writes that you rank lower than the fly on the family dog's ass in the Thai bar girl hierarchy of what or who is most important, believe it.  That's why you need to read Neil Hutchison because if you don't you are setting yourself up to be one easy target for every woman you meet. 

  

Next up is Stephen Leather's Private Dancer.  Thailand is totally unlike the West.  You need this book to arm yourself for how Thai bar girls really think, not that you are going to learn everything in just one book.  I've lived here six years now and I still have no idea how bar girls think.  But, of course, the newbies all know a lot more than I do.  So etch this in stone, tattoo it into your foreheads and never, ever forget that

most expats who have lived here for years have gotten pretty fed up with most newcomers, the majority of whom  feel they have nothing to learn from those who have spent a lot more time than they have. 

Perhaps Stephen Leather's greatest lesson to his readers is just how easily you can get killed by hired assassins in this country and just what things you must avoid doing to keep this from happening.  The likelihood of this happening is extremely small however, so don't let the possibility keep you from visiting.  Just read "Private Dancer" and learn.

Another writer who's publishing books about Pattaya bar girls, etc. is Owen Jones.  I've seen Behind the Smile in several bookstores here in Pattaya.  You can get it at Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback.  Although I've not reviewed it yet, the following is the author's synopsis of Behind the Smile.

 

'Behind The Smile' is a novel of the moving story of Lek, a bar girl in Pattaya, Thailand. It tells, from her point of view, how she drifted into the sex tourism industry and how she tried for years to get out of it again. The story tells of some of things that happened to her and her colleagues in the bar they worked in called 'Daddy's Hobby', but it also tells of her thoughts for her friends, her family and her 'boyfriends' - the customers. When she finally finds someone she can love and who loves her too, she agonizes over whether she will ever be able to stay with one man again after ten years of complete sexual and financial freedom with no-one to care for but herself.

I am including my own book, "Welcome to the Fun House" for two reasons.  First, like Stephen Leather's "Private Dancer" it can show you how vulnerable you can be if you don't observe some general rules of common sense while realizing that herein Pattaya you can be much more vulnerable to a premature death than you are in your home countries if you behave like either Stephen Leather's main character or my own creation, "Ted Buffalo".    The second reason is, it will give you a pretty good idea of what it's like living here full time.  

I have recently published three other books.  Neither one of them centers around Thailand, but if strip club action and outrageous adult humor is your cup of tea,  click here.