Guy watching

'So you like guys,' a middle-aged woman visitor asked me a week or so ago, after shop-owner Mum introduced us.

'There's plenty of handsome young ones around here. It's a good area for them,' she said approvingly.

-

A new Thai guy at Mum's shop in Thon Buri is gay, but quiet.

The last few times, we barely exchanged a word. One night he seemed to be waiting for me to talk, but I didn't get the chance. Or maybe he turned up simply to watch all the handsome young guys in the area, of whom there are many.

Chai works nights at a hotel. The other night he was wearing a sports T-shirt which was almost see-through. He wore pale trousers as well, which were too big for him, and no belt.

As he approached the shop on my left side - I sit facing towards the street, so I can watch the passers-by - I could see a generous amount of his briefs showing above his trousers. They were black. He took the seat on my left, where I was able to talk to him most of the night.

I asked him what kind of underwear he likes to wear.

'Black and white,' he said. He didn't look in the least embarrassed that I asked.

'Why do you wear no belt?' I asked.

'It's the hip-hop style,' he said.

My friend is no teenager. Chai is probably aged in his mid to late 20s, but has a good body. He is not particularly handsome, but is polite and good company.

A friend had bought him in a taxi. Later another friend of his joined us, a young guy who drives a motorcycle taxi, and looks even more feminine than Chai.

Whenever Chai stood up, his pants would fall another notch. As he walked back to the table, his trousers would fall lower and lower. As they did, the black band of his high-rise briefs, visible beneath his shirt, grew larger and larger. He pulled his trousers up only occasionally, using one hand awkwardly, like a child.

While he was paying his bill, his motorcycle friend made fun of him, lifting his shirt so we could all see his underwear. He did not seem to mind.

The week before, I did the same thing to another friend of mine, a disc-jockey at a nearby nightclub. My DJ friend, who also likes to wear his jeans low, wears white briefs. When he turns up, to buy a bottle of milk before bed, he nearly always has a young guy friend in tow. However, I am told he's not gay, so I have to behave.

The night I lifted his shirt, he looked a little shocked, but did not complain. Last night when he greeted me, he put his hand on my shoulder warmly - and I apologised for my behaviour the week before.

'Don't worry. It was nothing,' he said with a smile.

As for Chai, he expects to return to the shop tonight. I hope he wears loose pants, though a different style would be nice, for the sake of variety. And since he wears only two colours of underwear, there's a good chance that tonight he'll wear white rather than black.