sfbandung

The biggest problem I see is that many of the bar-girls enjoy the high life of their trade so much that they forget that it is only temporary. The smarter ones put some away for the inevitable time when the competition gets to be more attractive.

I have a good (and once VERY close) friend who retired at 40 and returned to the home village where she is quite the little capitalist, with a nice house and a couple of businesses. Who should sneer at her success through hard work?

Not me.

A lesson here for many Thais. She got off her back.....eventually.... and worked hard for an honest living.

Who's to say she wasn't working hard for an honest living before? Being morally judgemental is risky business. Why is prostitution any less an honest living than say selling cars? Or being a lawyer? Or running a shop and buying something for 10bt and selling it for 15bt? The list goes on.

Blaming poverty is rubbish. These girls are lazy and greedy. In many counytries much poorer than Thailand there are very few prostitutes.

Are you for real? How stunningly judgemental.

Where are there "very few prostitutes" in poor countries? And I mean poor countries where tourists go, not some freezing outpost somewhere.

Poor country + Pretty girls + Tourists = Thriving prostitution. Without exception.

SOME sex workers don't want to be rescued. I'm sure there are tens of thousands out there that are being exploited / extorted / forced and would love to be rescued.

Perhaps there is a small % who would like to be 'rescued' - yet perhaps there are a greater % of indentured maids, clearing 20 baht a day, forced to work 24/7 for rich Chinese -Thai families who would also like to be 'rescued.' Sex workers, with few exceptions, can walk away if they choose. The #1 reason for sex worker harassment is Christian aid groups motivated by their western puritanical superiority complexes. I had a Christian group wanting to rent my large house. They were planning to do 'improvements' to it - which would have turned it in to a fortress to keep 'rescued sex workers' from having visitors and/or breaking out. I said 'no' to the house rental proposal.

Until these so called Christian's brought there ideas here to Thailand there was no stigma attached to prostitution. They missed that part of the Bible where it says let he who is with out sin cast the first stone.

Not sure about this.

If there is no stigma on prostitution here...why do you get the dirtiest look if you say "som phee nee"?

Why do they call themselves "working girls" instead of ...

Why do some (most?) hide their "profession" from their families?

And in general: if it is "easy money"...why do I not know ONE "working girl" who is not drunk or stoned out of their eyeballs on a daily basis?

Just think for a second: how do Thai-girls/ women go to the beach?!

T-shirt and boxers, right?!

And now: dance in front of total strangers, barely or not dressed!

Get shagged by fat old sweaty drunk and often abusive foreigners, sometimes 4 times a night....

Easy money?

Well....

Most of them dont get it.

They sold their heart and soul, most of them dont even know what you mean, when you mention something crazy like "love"!

And most of them don't get it, that they are having customer now, because they maybe 25 and look 18.

At the rate they use alcohol, drugs and live an excessive live, they will be looking 45, when they reach 30!

Easy money?

No stigma?

I'm not sure where you go. But yes, I've seen girls obviously rat arsed while they're working. I wouldn't go near them. I wouldn't shag a woman of any nationality who I thought didn't know what she was doing, hooker or not. But you've never seen ONE (your caps) "who is not drunk or stoned out of their eyeballs on a daily basis"? They must be dreary establishments where you hang out because it isn't the norm where I've been.

And I have not met ONE (my caps) who openly admit to their family what they are doing. Everyone knows of course, they just don't talk about it.

It's been said here many times, but compare what they do, the conditions and the pay, to working in a rice paddy, or perhaps worse, in a sweatshop in Bangkok.

The biggest problem I see is that many of the bar-girls enjoy the high life of their trade so much that they forget that it is only temporary. The smarter ones put some away for the inevitable time when the competition gets to be more attractive.

I have a good (and once VERY close) friend who retired at 40 and returned to the home village where she is quite the little capitalist, with a nice house and a couple of businesses. Who should sneer at her success through hard work?

Not me.

No woman wants to work in the sex trade, but given the alternative, many do not have much of a choice.

5555 A lot of these prostitutes, especially ones that work with foreigners, have multiple men sending them tens of thousands of baht each every month in order to 'rescue' them from their bar. And they STILL are out there 'working' each night even though they already have a monthly income higher than most Thais and many of their foreign customers can only dream of.

And good luck to them I say! Ever known someone who works for Western Union? Some of these poor girls are making in excess of 100,000bt a month. Back and forth from their computer at home and back to WU for another pickup.

Regulation is the answer. From regulation comes protection. And as several people have pointed out, why would a pretty girl work in a factory for 10 hours a day for 200bt, when she can earn many times that for a few hours "work" a week? As long as they are protected from exploitative bar owners and violent Johns, then where is the problem?

Off Topic: Do people really fly dressed like that ? I'm just thinking of how many stereotypes those two photo's fit.. (sorry Aussies !)...

Yes they do .....

Cringeworthy stuff. I'm no picture of sartorial elegance, but you're in an airport, not on the beach.

And the dropkicks (not necessarily Aussies) walking around Pattaya (and Patong) without a shirt on. Get dressed for God's (or Buddha's) sake. No-one's impressed.

Much ado about nothing ...

The poor guy is no longer with us. RIP.

Even if they give it away to starving people, think of the karma!

How much of ur wealth do u give away (for free) to the poor?

When I have excess food. All of it. But I live in a poor country so it's logistically easy for me to do.

I'm just saying if it might sit there and rot, then give it away.

I'm probably over simplifying things.

But aren't there loads of people starving around the world? I've never heard of a global food surplus before.

Even if they give it away to starving people, think of the karma!

Thailand give away to overseas farangs? They only give aid to their neighboring countries and they already have rice.

Probably because they don't know where the other countries are! My wife is quite well educated, not university but all the way through high school and she can read and write Thai and English, but her knowledge of geography is appalling. She only knows where Australia is now because she's been there so often and can watch the map on the screen on the 777.

I'm probably over simplifying things.

But aren't there loads of people starving around the world? I've never heard of a global food surplus before.

Even if they give it away to starving people, think of the karma!

How ever you look at it flood mitigation is the best answer. As has been pointed out by several posters there are options for diverting large amounts of the water relatively (versus moving the capital!) easily.

12,000 baht? I paid more for a TV recently.

He received a quite calmly worded threat, normally the most dangerous. He was a wealthy guy. Just pay and politely tell him (without company) that he won't get any more work unless he makes it good.

It isn't just Thailand, in any country where you are a visitor you will be at a disadvantage. If it isn't a life changing amount of money just pay it and walk away. This is like fighting a bloke who has a gun and wants your wallet. Just give the bloody thing to him and be more careful next time.

That said however, it is tragic and I wish him and his family well.

Terrorism is actually the last thing you need to worry about in Pattaya. There are so many other ways to get into trouble there, all named above.

Farmer? Seen her in Shark bar

.

There are many categories of farming .

And many categories of business you might

pump your bar earnings after for your retirement.

I am saure 70% of bargirl profits get sent to farms regularly.

Only 70%? A conservative number I reckon.

Disappointing stuff

or maybe just really drunk? he's still drinking a disgusting chang export in the picture..

Yeah that chang export is really horrible...I tried it once during the floods when singha was scarce....

Thiis is off topic and we'll wind up in trouble. But I can't agree, Singha is too sweet for me, I like Chang Export. Sorry ...

"This is no more a democracy than North Korea" - A little (lot) over the top. Thailand is still subject to international scrutiny, North Korea doesn't allow the international press in.

And this forum wouldn't exist in North Korea. The fact that you can make the comment above, which you are certainly entitled to do, is proof that Thailand is nothing like North Korea.

You do remember the Democrat Deputy Prime Ministers stance on International Observers don't you?

BANGKOK, March 24 -- Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on Thursday said he disagreed with the idea to seek international observers to monitor the upcoming general election, saying he deemed it "inappropriate.".....................

http://www.mcot.net/...age/185964.html

and declared the UDD as being non respectful of Thailands sovereignity;

Mr Suthep said he wonders why the UDD does not respect Thailand's national sovereignty but respects foreigners by inviting them to be involved in the country's internal affairs.

Now why wouldn't he welcome foreign observers? No wonder the UDD were campaigning for a return of democracy (not "against the coup" as some posters on here insist).

I'm with you. Things could be a lot better, but a comparison to North Korea is a bit ridiculous don't you think? Yingluk is no Kim Jong-il, or his obese son Kim Jong-un that's now in charge.

Which leads to the conclusion that the Thai electorate prefer the Shinawatras to the alternative. Even if (as some assert) she is an airhead, who can't speak coherently, won't engage Abhisit in a TV debate, trawl this forum for all the other claims.....

Doesn't say much about the alternative!

Listen to both of you. This is no more a democracy than North Korea. She is an Airhead. And the flood would have been much less if they started to do the necessary when Chaing Mai flooded instead of worrying about big brothers passport. The flood was a PTP screw up because they started to think about the Thai people too late. I believe that getting Taksin back is the only thing we may see from this government that was promised in the campaign. Yingluck may have never said it but plenty of the now cabinet members did.

"This is no more a democracy than North Korea" - A little (lot) over the top. Thailand is still subject to international scrutiny, North Korea doesn't allow the international press in.

And this forum wouldn't exist in North Korea. The fact that you can make the comment above, which you are certainly entitled to do, is proof that Thailand is nothing like North Korea.

thanks for the picture Webfact, like I said before, we need to see pictures day by day, if possible in the shools and if possible with more burned or bloody death drivers inside.....hard, but I think may be it will help to understand what cars and motobikes can do to people if they are used like weapons on the streets.

The roadside signs are pretty graphic here. Broken heads and blood everywhere. It doesn't seem to help though.

This is beyond stupidity. How should the government guarantee that there won't be a flood next year? Especially if nothing is done to prevent one.

Yep.