shotover Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 The November 2002 National Geographic has an article on large cities and includes a profile of a tuk-tuk driver (who makes 17,000 baht per month) and a bargirl. Since you want to read about the tuk-tuk driver . . . just kidding. I edited out the bargirl's name, although it is in the article, excerpted below: Part 1 of 2 "But when I met ***, she had been in the City of Angels just five days. Perhaps few would regard *** as an angel, technically speaking; she works at a joint called the Prime Bar, one of scores of more or less identical watering holes in the Sukhumvit area. Her job is to spend ten hours every day of the week, from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m., inviting passing foreign men to stop and have a drink, or better yet, several. Whatever may or may not happen between them after that is up to them. She gets two days off a month, and a percentage of the price of each drink the customer buys. It was the war in Vietnam that created the bar girl phenomenon, as soldiers flooded Bangkok and other Southeast Asian cities on R and R. Now package deals lure masses of middle-class tourists from Europe and Asia, and though most of them head for the beach resorts, you still see shoals of men in Bangkok moving through the nocturnal depths of Sukhumvit and Patpong. The girls are waiting for them, ready to haul in their drift nets. In the warm evening dusk the neon lights over the bars give their skin a chartreuse sheen. They are all watching the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotover Posted October 30, 2002 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 Part 2 of 2 excerpted below, edited to clear the formatting peculiarities of MS Word: *** comes from Khon Kaen, a city in northeastern Thailand, and you wouldn't have picked her out as a bar girl. Like most Thais, she has an easy, friendly, self-confidence and a tranquil expression that is quietly appealing, but she's 34 years old now, with an uneven complexion and an ample figure that her tight jeans are unwilling to forgive. Though she may be starting a little late, she's here because she was ready to make a change in her life. "I was a nurse's aide in the hospital," she told me. "Ten years ago I got my certificate from vocational school with a major in the hotel business, and I was offered a job in a hotel in another province." But new employees are required to either put up money as a kind of guarantee or provide a reference, which serves the same purpose. *** didn't have either, so she couldn't take the job. She went to work in the hospital instead, but most of her 4,000 baht ($99) monthly salary went to help her parents, and in ten years she never got a raise. When her work schedule increased to 12-hour shifts for the same pay, she'd had enough. Unmarried, with no boyfriend and no children, she wanted to know "What else there is in life." So she decided to come to Bangkok. "I know this job is really socially acceptable," she said, "but I need to make money for my life and my family. I looked at the classifieds, but many jobs for my education level have an age limit of 20 or 25; anyway, not older than 30. My parents don't know what I'm doing here. They just know that I've got a job, that I'm looking for a better life in Bangkok. Still, I like the work. When you're a nurse's aide, you're with sick people, and it's kind of depressing. This is the opposite." We were sitting on tall stools at the bar, dipping slices of unripe mango into a strange paste of pounded red chili peppers, sugar, and salt. Some of the other girls were listening, though of course they already knew the story. It was their story, more or less. *** may have had some second thoughts before making the move, but her friends had no doubts at all. When she told them she was going to Bangkok, "they all said, 'Go for it!'; she threw her arms in the air, eyes alight. "They gave me a party; then they all came to the bus station to see me off. They said, 'You're the pioneer and we'll follow you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene1944 Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 This is a little difficult to read.... You might want to edit it a bit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUZIBANDIT Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 "But when I met ***, she had been in the City of Angels just five days." Sure. And you're her first customer. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom_Jao_Choo Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 That has got to be one of the fairest representations I've seen in media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 >includes a profile of a tuk-tuk driver (who makes 17,000 baht per month) and a bargirl. >Since you want to read about the tuk-tuk driver I say that we positively want to read about the tuk-tuk driver! 17,000 per month is a huge pile compared to what appear the typical income of a bargirl or most people in normal jobs. Any description of how he rakes it in? Wagner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 "...It was the war in Vietnam that created the bar girl phenomenon, as soldiers flooded Bangkok and other Southeast Asian cities on R and R..." O.k. I'll nit pick here. I believe Lonely Planet guide to Thailand and several other publications point out that Thailand has had a long history of "Concubines" as have many Asian countries (in Europe USA, they are called mistresses ). LP also points out that Patpong perhapes the "first" red zone in BKK so to speak, was established around the late 40's, and the main customers were foreign airline crews...So I will therefore state that this article is incorrect on blaming the Vietnam war for the current "problem/phenomenon." Also, it it created it, wouldn't you suppose it would die when the bulk of the business left? O.k. otherwise seems like fair reporting without the usual B.S. I think I'll pick up a copy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom_Jao_Choo Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 Your right, my understanding has been that it has existed waaay longer than that. It my have dramatically increased that part of the service industry. But how many years were there between the end of that war and the begining of the tourist boom? I really meant my coment more in the way the girls interest in the work was given, opposed to the frequently portrayed endentured servitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2002 Report Share Posted October 30, 2002 Says shotover: " When you're a nurse's aide, you're with sick people, and it's kind of depressing. This is the opposite." Very true! When you're a BG, You're with sick people, and it's a kind of exiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotover Posted November 1, 2002 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2002 Pom, I agree the article fairly reflects on the many BGs who work in bars as a choice, not due to being forced. Old Hippie, I also noted the article conveniently ignored the long history of Thai prostitution in order to focus on the Vietnam War impact. If you get a copy of the magazine, you might note the 2 small photos of the Bkk night scene: One of a BG getting makeup applied on the 2nd floor of NEP, and one of a bored looking beer bar girl wearing a halter top designed as a USA flag. Wsvinja, OK, the tuk-tuk article is next. He bases himself at the Grand Palace, collects 30 - 60 baht per trip, must mean about 340 trips per month working 14 hour days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.