With a lot of time to kill being indoors as a result of the big wet, I have probably been watching too many British crime dramas, English football replays and allied YouTube offerings. Ordinarily I would be out cycling, working in the garden or just staring into a sunny space with a book of verse in my hand.

It may be that I have watched Thai-themed video channels before (most likely Thai music), but lately a lot of recommendations from YouTube are Thai-centred, albeit from a foreign perspective. One such surprising offering is a channel devoted almost entirely (or so it seems) to the experience of Western men coming on holiday for the sole purpose of hanging out in go-go and beer bars. It goes without saying that their intentions go beyond the mere consumption of alcohol, their misadventures being the subject of much of the content on the channel. This involves a huge amount of naivety and self-deception on behalf of the men, some of whom appear to have tipped their brains out on the journey over.

Now, I haven't lived a saintly life and the bar ladies are undoubtedly both clever (at parting a sucker from his money) and beautiful, but in my travels to Thailand I have never considered spending time in such a bar a legitimate part of seeing and experiencing Thailand. None of the letters written by these men to the channel host ever mention temples, Buddhism, museums, rain forests, wildlife, interactions with ordinary people - you get my drift. It's all bars and bar ladies.

Moreover, these poor fools really think they have a shot at true love, having fallen for the patter, the charm, the whole schtick that goes with successfully plying the trade. I feel sorry for them - the warnings are out there - but they just keep coming. I'm not saying I'm any better. I just don't get it.