Origins of Valentine’s Day, with a Thai twist, by Barry Daniel
Saint Valentine’s Day is traditionally a time for romance, flowers, candle-lit dinners and the whispering of sweet nothings into the shell-like ear of the object of your affections. But in Phuket there can be other distractions!
History is unclear on whether any of The Beatles had journeyed to Thailand before they wrote their 1964 smash hit with its charmingly quaint lyrics… “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.”
Clearly the lyricist Paul McCartney had never had the pleasure of a wander down Soi Bangla around midnight on almost any evening. Had he done so, he would have witnessed filthy lucre buying love… or something that looked very similar, at all sorts of local entertainment venues along that febrile strip.
In fairness, John Lennon did come to his senses a few years later when he was quoted as saying, “Anyone…
