Interview with Stickman

Will: Hi, Stick, thanks for taking the time to have a chat. I understand that your site will be back online soon. Do you have a date in mind?

Stickman: There is no specific date in mind. It all depends on others. A number of people will be heavily involved. For too long I did too much myself and just burned out. The site would not be able to continue without a good deal of assistance. I am good at starting things up, but crap at keeping them going. Delegation is what is needed.

Will: And will the content be the same? Or can we expect to see something new?

Stickman: The content will be similar, but not exactly the same. You'll just have to check in when it resumes! There will be a lot more in the way of photography, and there will be different people in charge of different things. I don't think any group of readers will find that their favourite part of the site has gone, and most will be pleased by the new sections.
There will NOT be a discussion forum added. They are very, very hard work to run and you need an entire team to do it well. There will however be major support for a well-run existing forum which has huge potential.

Will: I've been missing my weekly fix of Readers' Stories. Since the site's been off line have you still been receiving emails from folks seeking advice?

Stickman: The readers' submissions have been running as usual for a few weeks with some excellent stories coming in so tune in! Traffic to the site remains high, and while the number of emails coming in is down, it's not by that much. When I took the site offline I was getting a ridiculous amount of email coming in. In one 24 hour period I had over 300 emails, which is way more than I had ever received before in a single day. I still get a lot of emails asking for advice about this and that. I answer most, except for the teaching inquiries where I just respond to them that Ajarn.com is the place for that.

Will:They break my heart some of those stories. What's the most memorable one for you?

Stickman:There have been so many that it is hard to remember them all but a few spring to mind. There was the guy who was stuck with a woman Stateside for 6 years, trying to make a bad relationship right before eventually calling it quits. The internet relationships gone wrong stick in my mind too. More than a few of them out there! I also very much like the writings of Camaschula, a writer who has not written much, but when he does, he nails it.

Will: I've found the site to be a treasure of information over the years, as have many others. What hopes did you have for it when you first launched Stickmanbangkok? And did you ever envision it would become so popular?

Stickman: I never had any idea that the site would grow into what it has. I had no plans for it to be anything more than a small blog-like site, back in the days before such sites existed. I just enjoyed putting it together, started to get some pretty good feedback, and this was at a time when there were precious few Bangkok sites with up to date, original content. As the feedback became more frequent, and more encouraging, the site just grew and grew and slowly developed into what it is today.

Will: And where does the name "Stickman" come from?

Stickman: While I do enjoy a frame of pool, this is not the source of the name as manyhave suggested. The source of the name goes back almost 20 years, back when I was still at school and had a part-time job. I used to work in a cinema, a fun after school job that used to bring me a bit of pocket money. It was a nice scene - lots of others the same age worked there and you got to see all of the newest movies for free, a great perk. The cinema was a very popular movie house, set right in the middle of the city and doubled as a famous landmark. I don't know why, but we used to get lots of crazies coming to the cinema, including some eccentrics and real weirdoes.
There was one fellow in particular who I used to be intrigued by. He was an oldish man, probably in his 60's. He used to walk up and down the main street of the city, perhaps going to catch a movie at another cinema or to pick up some groceries or do some shopping. He was always well dressed in a jacket and tie, if somewhat unfashionable, even for then. However, the poor old devil walked with the assistance of a walking stick. Where he wandered remained a mystery to me but there was something about him that fascinated me. I have always been drawn to the unusual and eccentric folk really intrigue me.
One day I was just perching at the entrance to the cinema, bored, as most of my colleagues had gone home for the evening and there was no-one around to chat with. I saw this fellow walking past and I thought I'd flash my torch at him. He was actually on the opposite side of the road heading away from the cinema. I was quite surprised when he looked up, saw me, or at least the torch flashing, and changed direction so that he was now heading straight towards the cinema. This should be interesting I thought. He wandered across the road and stood outside the large glass doors for what seemed like an eternity, peering in, trying to see what was happening inside.
And then all hell broke loose.
The old codger swung his walking stick with all of his might and there was this large crack as the stick smashed against the glass. I'll never know how but that pane of glass refused to yield. The old codger spies me looking at him, no doubt with a mixture of bewilderment, trepidation and fascination on my face. He then opens the door to the cinema and starts yelling all sorts of obscenities at the only person present - ME! He starts screaming how you (the cinema staff?) are all a bunch of filthy perverts and so on. At this point, the manager, a sizeable man with an imposing stature, comes running around the corner from his office and screams at me, "Who the hell let him in"?
"He just came in now", I replied. I didn't feel it was the time to admit to the crime of antagonising this man, this man with the stick, this Stickman! The manager bellowed at this old guy to "get the fxxx out of here before I fill you in!" The Stickman (the old guy) looked at him with utter indifference, bordering on disdain, before proceeding on his way but not before questioning the manager's parentage. Now I was quite matey with the manager and we used to have quite a few laughs together. He came over and told me a story about The Stickman. Apparently this old codger was something of a pervert in his younger years and used to like to visit prostitutes and have all sorts of kinky sex. He waffled on about how this guy was known as The Stickman and that one should avoid him as not only was he a pervert, a recluse and a general weirdo, but he also liked to swing his stick around and whack people with it - and apparently was quite adept at it too.
As the manager upped and left to return to the relative tranquility of his office, he muttered something along the lines of "and don't you antagonise him again, you little shit"...
When I first started writing the information of this site, I sort of thought that some of it was a little perverted and I thought back to the original Stickman and thought, well, I'll be Stickman and so the name was born.

Will: I've heard it said before that the look of the site isn't very pleasing on the eye. Do you plan to keep the look the same?

Stickman: Of course the site is very '90s in its look, and anyone who said that it was a good looking site would be kidding themselves. The look is as it is for a couple of reasons. First of all I have absolutely no artistic flair at all and even if I wanted to make it look better, I am not sure that I could! I am just not good at design and that side of things. The other point is that the look of the site has almost become like a trademark of the site. I feel that changing it would be like losing an old friend.

Will: There's three things I miss about England - that's the food, the scarcity of creepy-crawlies and the long hours of daylight in the summer. Is there anything you ever miss about your home country?

Stickman: You cannot imagine how much I miss about New Zealand. There is not a morning that goes by when I don't wake up and think, "What the fxxx am I doing here?" I love my country and am immensely proud of it, the people, and what we have achieved. For a country of 4 million people, New Zealand is an incredible place. The lifestyle is just outstanding. I miss my family, my friends, and quite frankly, the people of New Zealand. I have met some great people from all countries, but as a single nationality, I like hanging out with people from my own country more than any other. I love NZ food, food products and the environment. I love NZ sport and I am passionate about rugby. I love the freedom and the open spaces. You have freedom in New Zealand. It makes me laugh when people say Thailand is free. Not compared to New Zealand! I miss my country VERY much.

Will: So it was teaching English that first brought you to Thailand. I get the impression you're very passionate about your job.

Stickman: There are many things in this world that I suck at. I really cannot write. I can be quite anti-social at times. For a New Zealander, I really don't drink that much. But teaching is one thing that I do think I do quite well. I enjoy the job immensely. I find teaching English to be a lot of fun, and something that is really worthwhile. I have also taught some computer courses too, but I much prefer language teaching.

Will: And are you continuing to do the Private Investigation work?

Stickman: This was never made clear, but I actually gave that away a few months back, well before the site went down. I guess few people realised but that was the first thing to go when everything started to became too much.

Will: Like yourself, I'm happily married, but what is it about all these guys who fall for bargirls? Most of them aren't stupid, so is it just sheer desperation do you think?*

Stickman: The bargirls treat many guys really well, perhaps better then they have ever been treated before. Remember, a lot of these guys are getting on in years and are no oil painting any more. They simply won't get that sort of treatment from women in the West. Many of these guys simply make the decision that despite her background, the cultural differences and the fact that odds are stacked heavily against them, that it is worth trying. I am told that such guys really struggle to meet anyone in the West, so perhaps a woman with a few flaws is better than none at all?!

Will: Whenever you get a client asking if you can check if their bargirl-girlfriend is being unfaithful, I'm guessing nine times out of ten you know it's going to be easy work. Do you ever feel guilty for taking their money?

Stickman: Actually, it is not easy at all. In the early days people simply wanted a "is she still working type check" but things became much more complex than that, and the sorts of information that some guys sought was challenging. I actually wrote a column once telling guys how to investigate their girlfriend so they would not need my help. The idea was to offer assistance, not get rich. Remember, I did this as a free service for quite some time in the past!
When there were cases where enough information had been provided that I could say with a high degree of certainty that she was up to no good, I would simply tell the guy this, sometimes providing him with a couple of things he could do that would verify things once and for all. A number of guys wanted someone to talk to about it all more than an investigator per se, and someone to ask for advice. They wanted to someone to listen to them.

Will: I would have thought it's quite risky work too. Some of those bargirls can be quite temperamental, so I hear.

Stickman: There are a number of farang investigators doing such work and I have yet to hear of anyone having any problem from looking into the girls.

Will: So what have you been doing with the recent break you've had from the site? Have you been away anywhere new? And where's your favourite place in Thailand?

Stickman: I have taken zillions of photos and spent a lot of time in surrounding provinces. I have also caught up with a lot of friends and generally done the sorts of things that regular folks do on a Sunday. I have spent more time relaxing, and more time in front of the TV, watching my beloved Liverpool work their way up the Premier League table! I don't have a favourite place in Thailand to be honest although Roi Et, Phuket and Korat are places I have fond memories of.

Will: Your reasons for taking a break were because you felt it burdensome and other aspects of your life were being affected. I had wondered where you found the time - teaching, investigating and maintaining the website. How do you plan to even things out when the website returns?

Stickman: Help will be taken on. That is probably the only way the site would be able to continue in anything resembling its former state. There will be a number of big changes but let's not say too much at this stage!

Will: A lot of people suspected that Stickman being off line had something to do with a certain Notstickman site. Now, to me, Notstickman all seemed like a vendetta without justification. What were your thoughts when you first became aware that you had a rival?

Stickman: The word rival is misleading. Baronbonk was a rival. Dave The Rave is a rival. But both of these guys were friends, people I have a very good relationship with, and amongst ourselves we should share news and views.

Will: I said "rival", but the word "stalker" seems more appropriate when reading some of his rants about you. It seemed almost personal. Had you done something to upset him?

Stickman: Nothing to him personally at all. I never even knew he even existed until recently. Now I know more about him than I know about even those closest to me.

Will: Printing pictures of your work colleagues was despicable in my opinion. Did that cause any fall-out at work?

Stickman: The situation was managed well. In a country where the laws of libel and slander carry extremely heavy
penalties, both civil and criminal, that was a very silly thing to do.

Will: And who's this Stickboy character? It's not really your illegitimate son, is it?

Stickman: Hehehe. He is a nice guy. Actually, I have not met him but we have communicated a bit over the years and plan to meet up when he is in town some time soon.

Will: There's so many farang websites out there now, is there any that you admire?

Stickman: I think Thailandguru.com is excellent and I also like 2bangkok.com a lot. Both of these sites produce really good, original content with analysis. These sites provide good info for both tourists and long stayers. ThaiVisa is huge of course and you cannot help but admire what they achieved with that site. It gets phenomenal traffic. I also enjoy PattayaSecrets.com. I personally do not have much time for the websites which simply talk about other sites. Bangkok has a surprising number of such sites.

Will: And for an aspiring Thai/farang website like ourselves, what advice would you have?

Stickman: It is hard work, it really is. I used to really enjoy running the site. I got into a groove and managed to keep it together for a long time, but it grew to the point where eventually it just became too much. If you really want a site to get big, and become meaningful, be prepared to put in the hours. And I mean serious hours to the point that other things in your life WILL SUFFER. Content is king and researching and then producing original content is time consuming. Bangkok has quite a number of websites now, so breaking into the market will take a bit of work. There are a lot of sites with original content, a lot of discussion forums and a lot of sites that cover the naughty stuff. You're going to need something different.
I sometimes get emails from readers saying something to the effect that there is a discussion taking place on a particular forum about me or something I wrote and they want to know why I have not replied. One just doesn't have time to do that. You could live your life online if you wanted but I made the decision recently not to do that. The real world is much more exciting and meaningful than the real world.
The other issue is that in Bangkok there is quite a number of really odd people, and you can get yourself into the firing line very easily. I've been there.

Will: Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you, Stick. Good luck with everything for the future.

Stickman: And all the best to you guys with your site too!