Guest Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 I could not decide if this is Nightlife, Arts & Culture or what... Health seemed reasonable due to the potential adverse effects on punters. I have now known two Isaan bargirls for about two years. I'm totally baffled by their unwillingness to consult a doctor when they have health problems. One has complained a long time about stomach pains, but just shrugs it off when I urge her to go and see a doctor. It can hardly be a money issue, since she was regularly cranking out one or two short times per night when she was a go-go dancer and now she has two sponsors sending money. The other one is still a dancer in Pretty Lady (aka Bottoms Up). I once again barfined her only to find out to my dismay that she was totally unwilling to do anything, not only because she was quite sick but also due to the cocktail of painkillers and decongestants that she had been given in some pharmacy. She was obviously quite sick, so I urged her to go and see a doctor. "Too expensive". I told that seeing a doctor and getting medications even in the expensive Bumrungrad cost only less than 1000 baht (been there, done that). "No". I offered to take her to a hospital and pay for it so as to remove all the cost issues. "No. I see doctor next month for checking HIV and pussy. Go then." I tried to explain that a gynaecologist is not really competent to deal with other health problems and that she would be able to work much better if she were not ill. I could not turn her head. I just do not understand such attitudes and I suspect that they are quite common. The good news is that this monthly visit is now required by the Pretty Lady management - according to her, previously they did not care... Wagner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thai3 Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 I took a girl from PL for a four day trip to CM, she would not do anything either! Of course they can use feeling not well as an excuse but it seems many have a big fear of the needle for some reason. Took a girl for an HIV test one time and she moaned about how much the neddle hurt, also heard other girls say the dont like Docs for this reason-peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 you forget the background most of these girls come from - very low education and poverty. they might appear all modern with their mobiles and fancy haircuts, but below that are simple village girls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 Agree here. Ignorance (not stupidity) is the real villain. My girl couldn't watch me do insulin injections at first, now she if fine with it. The saddest case I ever encountered was in a Lisu village. I was staying there for a while and the women were all talking about how one of the children had died from measels (rubella). So donning my white knight armour, I set about to arrange for a nurse and vaccine to come up from Chiang Mai for a couple of days to vaccinate the childen against the most common childhood diseases. When I finally got around to explaining all this, to that years g/f, she said. " Why you do this ?" I say, "Because children get sick and die. No doctor in village. So, I bring nurse, pay for medicine." She replied that, while they did not have a doctor, the gov't supplied a full time nurse and all the medicine they wanted. I was shocked, taken aback and totally confused. And that takes some doing, considering the devotion these people normally show to their children. In a very serious evening debate in the headwoman's hut that evening, the truth finally came out. The women would not take their children to be innoculated because, "Needle hurt, make baby cry." No amount of explaination, pleading or cajoling could change their minds. Ignorance had won again. Truly sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickfarang Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 "Needle hurt, make baby cry." Very sad that those people could not see past the ends of their noses. Perhaps an education campaign would boost participation in the innoculation programs. Up in my wife's village, everytime someone goes to see a doctor, they get an injection as well as a bag of pills. Many of the injections are more as placebos than as medicines -its to show the doctor has "power". My wife would have to have one foot inside death's door before going to see a doctor. She cites the injections as the reason (they call the doctor in the next village "two-shot Chileong" because he gives two). RickF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 >>>No amount of explaination, pleading or cajoling could change their minds. Ignorance had won again. <<< you won't need to go that far. in klong toey slum tubercoloses is still rampant, and by far not all take the medicine even though given free of charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.