I was 16, maybe 17 tops, an American exchange student in Thailand. I was walking home from a friend’s house, about 7:30 or 8 p.m. The street was lit only by the lights pouring out from some bars and restaurants along the side, deserted except for one man following behind me.
He was a little too close for comfort, so I took some random corners to try to get him to stop, but he continued following me. In a pool of light up ahead, I stopped and pretended to be searching for something in my purse, allowing him to pass me and get plenty far up ahead before I started walking again. Just seconds later, HE DID THE SAME THING until I was forced to pass him. He started walking again when I was just a meter or two ahead of him.
As I got onto a slightly bigger road but just as deserted road, the beacon of a brightly lit 7-11 glowed a hundred meters ahead of me. It was in the opposite direction of home, but it was lit and guaranteed that there were people. I took the opportunity and went in, thinking I would call my host family or a friend to come pick me up if I still didn’t feel safe.
He entered the store right behind me, and I kept my eye on him from where I was pretending to look for a snack. He also pretended to be browsing, just an aisle or two away from me. I was closer to the door.
When he turned his head down to look at something, I made a beeline for the door and booked it home, not stopping running until I was at my front door, out of breath and fumbling for the keyhole.
It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened to me, and it certainly wasn’t the last.
– Anonymous
Location: Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
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