The book everyone is talking about

Bangkok Angel
by Mike Smith
and Robin Hayes

Readers Comments:
"Read the book ? I'm living the book ! My thanks to the author for making my journey easier" - Martin Plant

"The lonely man's rough guide to Paradise, where East meets West, and how love can conquer everything. A great story, full of honesty and humour." - Peter Chester

"Just when I thought life had dealt me a bum deal this book came along, picked me up, pointed me in the right direction and showed me that if you look far enough and never give in, there is someone out there for everyone. An open, honest heart warming story that I would recommend to anyone with a love of Thailand" - Gary Hill

Go To links Page

Mike Smith and Warunee

Over fifty percent of marriages in the west end in divorce. Dating agencies have never had it so good. Many middle aged lonely divorced people turn to such agencies in desperation to kick start their lives. One such lonely, downtrodden, divorced man was Mike. At forty eight and living with two children, two cats, two chinchillas, one dog and a cockatiel with perfect pitch he felt the need to look for a new partner before all his hair and teeth fell out. So armed with a bottle of light oak hair colour,after shave that was guaranteed to be alluring, he began his search for a new wife.

Following some disastrous and hilarious attempts at the dating game in England Mike finds himself attracted to an advertisement for 'eastern' ladies. He negotiates a deal with an agency in Bangkok, Thailand and travels there to meet with a girl who he has seen only on a video and from whom he has received a cryptic message. Despite the warnings of his black country friend Wilf who declares, "Your head ain't straight ! You're raving mad pal ! I don't know why you don't find yourself a nice English girl. It'd be cheaper !" he embarks on a trip half way round the world and comes face to face with the seedy agency in matching eastern girls with secure western men run by an even seedier character he nicknames 'Fagan'. Girls are paraded for inspection and dating but his experiences inevitably end in disaster and disenchantment he longs to return home to England. An eleventh hour chance encounter changes his whole complexion and mood when he meets a waitress called 'Whisky' who, five trips to Thailand later, he marries but only after a series of hilarious and hair rendering experiences. The problems of cultural differences and misunderstandings together with communicating from afar are told with a quick and witty humour.

The reader is introduced to a variety of western men with similar experiences who had encountered the rigours of obtaining a settlement visa to enable their Thai girlfriend / wife to live with them in England he faces friends, family and a mother who threatens to disinherit him. His return to Bangkok finds doubt and unease from the girl Whisky who is encountering similar peer pressure. One is introduced to the spectre of ' The Phantom Bangkok Bum Biter' who always attacks just as everything seems to be going along well. There is a taste of the exotic Bangkok and Phuket night life as well as the magical heaving metropolis and the ancient culture which pervades the behaviour of its citizens. Add to this a ready made three year old son, the pitfalls of house purchase in Thailand and the doubt of whether one is actually married or not. All these, and many more experiences of Thailand, make this a very readable, informative and racy true story that is hard to put down once you have started.

It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it may well help you make a decision.