HOT MESS – Relationships in Bangkok – at least mine – seem to go by quickly. Sometimes it can seem like they’re over in the time it takes me to finish a plate of som tam (a sad tale I may tell another day) or, they take so long to get started that they fizzle out before they begin.
Meeting people in Bangkok is easy. It’s one of the friendliest cities I’ve lived in and I often get to chatting with people in elevators, bars, in the queue for the supermarket and wherever else I happen to be. While the initial encounter can be straightforward, sometimes taking things to the next level (i.e. chatting somewhere you’ve both arranged to meet at a certain time) can be harder to organize. First dates, at least for me, are a rare occasion indeed.
Usually, I find that my shyness and their shyness mean that we never really get beyond grinning and stealing furtive glances at each other from across a room. Perhaps we small talk a little and swap names. Then we both chicken out and don’t go any further. I chalk these failures up to a combination of awkwardness and the language barrier. It’s one thing to be good at talking to taxi drivers and quite another to be able to flirt well in another language.
Enter Line.
Line may not seem like the sexiest app on your phone, but let me assure you, if you’re trying to snare the heart of a shy guy or you’re a little shy yourself, it’s really the least time-consuming romantic medium. Moreover, it can replace the whole nightmarish screening process of a first date. Because, let’s face it, first dates are usually awful.
If, in real life, the conversation is stifled and involves a lot of fleeting eye contact, the conversation on Line usually flows because you don’t have to actually say anything.
Most men I know have an impressive sticker language that portrays anything they want to say and, after a few years of using it I now speak a little Line.
The most commonly used sticker in my romantic chats the big white head with his hands up to his mouth looking naughty. I take this to mean: I want to see you naked.
Other popular stickers include anything with hearts. In my mind these suggest: I want to see you naked, but I’m going to be a little more romantic about it.
One of my favourites to use is the one of the rabbit folding its arms and looking angry, which I interpret as: I’m angry you didn’t call, etc. I also like the one of the rabbit skipping, which I use to mean: yay.
I can have full conversations with one particularly talented Line user and we barely use any words. It’s not that he doesn’t speak English or that I don’t speak Thai, it’s just that, as we all know, a sticker paints a thousand words.
