Thai country bars a more enjoyable life do make

I first heard of Thai cowboys in reference to the ladies men of southern Thailand who, generally speaking, are young, attractivish, work in bars and hit on members of the western, female tourist population in the hopes of adding notches to the ol' belt.

Can you spot the Thai cowboy in this picture?

As I traveled north I came to realize rather quickly that the Thai infatuation with American Western culture was not in any way limited to the southern beach context. In fact, all things resembling an American Western are popular throughout Thailand, arguably even more so in the north where the landscape more closely resembles that of the Wild West. Thanks ever so kindly to my awesome Couch Surfing host (aka "the Great Tribal Leader"), I was afforded the opportunity to enjoy a night of drunken debauchery at a Thai country bar in Chiang Mai called Tawan Daeng, apparently a chain of bars originating in Bangkok. At least two bottles of whiskey were ordered and divided amongst our group. Bless the memories, the ever so blurry memories, of an excellent time.

This is the stage.

Sorry, this is the stage where countless bands played to our coordinated or not so coordinated body movements.

Quiz: In order to party in a Thai country bar you need a) Bottle(s) of cheap Thai whiskey b) Mixers of choice c) A bucket of ice d) Your or someone else's mom e) All of the above
The answer can be found in this photograph of Thai women partying in proper fashion.

Here are some friends I met on my dancing exploratory wander.

This lady is possibly the best dance partner I've ever had. Ever.

According to my ever so loving mother I have William's syndrome because:

"Williams people talk a lot, and they talk with pretty much anyone. They appear to truly lack social fear. Indeed, functional brain scans have shown that the brain’s main fear processor, the amygdala, which in most of us shows heightened activity when we see angry or worried faces, shows no reaction when a person with Williams views such faces. It’s as if they see all faces as friendly."

When I mentioned other not so flattering characteristics of this syndrome she swore up and down that she just saw "one little thing from a T.V. show and the only thing it said was that 'they weren't fearful of others' " and she didn't actually know anything about it. I suppose I shouldn't be too offended. She did apologize profusely.