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Whatever Happened To ... The Thai Sex Worker Trying To Rebuild Her Life In A Pandemic?

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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M. dances at a go-go bar. She was working as a topless dancer — and also as a sex worker — in the tourist city of Pattaya, Thailand, until the bar closed down in January. She decided to return to her hometown to look for work in a different sector. Allison Joyce for NPR

 

SUCHADA PHOISAAT

AURORA ALMENDRAL

 

In February, NPR published a story on the tolls of the pandemic on Thailand's sex workers. Before COVID-19 hit, international tourism made up 20% of the country's gross domestic product — and fueled a thriving sex industry. That collapsed in March 2020 when the country shut its borders to keep the coronavirus at bay.

 

Sex workers in the cities of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket struggled to cope with the lack of sex tourists. Most were barely scraping by, and many returned to their home provinces in the rural countryside. We check in with M., one of the sex workers whom we interviewed and who has asked for anonymity because individuals have been disowned by their families or ostracized by their communities for association with a stigmatized, illegal industry.

 

When we interviewed sex workers in Thailand back in September 2020, many were holding out hope that the coronavirus pandemic would end soon. But the country's coronavirus crisis has only gotten worse, with the average number of daily new infections reaching its peak on Aug. 13 at 23,418 cases. While some resort islands, like Phuket, have reopened to vaccinated foreign tourists, tourism is far from having rebounded.

 

We caught up with M., 33, whom we met in the Thai tourist hub of Pattaya. Before the pandemic, she was earning good money as a topless dancer at a go-go bar and as a sex worker. But when we spoke to her amid the crisis last year, she said she was struggling to send money to her mother, who was caring for her two sons, and was sharing a studio apartment with two other women who worked at the same bar.

 

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Full story: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/09/08/1033267519/whatever-happened-to-the-thai-sex-worker-trying-to-rebuild-her-life-in-a-pandemi

 

-- NPR 2021-09-09

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TooBigToFit Silver Member

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From the NPR story...

 

" In January, she returned to her rural hometown in the northeast region of Isaan and started a job in accounting at a local hospital. "

 

"I only had a small amount of money left. I had about 10,000 baht [$300] saved and used it to pay off my rent in Pattaya. I sent some money [in advance] to my mother for the expenses of my two sons, about 3,000 baht [$100]. " 

 

In my opinion, these stories should also take into account the males who knock up these girls and dump them.

 

 

"What is life like for you now?

My routine has changed. On the weekends, I have time to be with my family. I'm making new friends. [Instead of going to bed late because of my evening shift at the bar], I get up early and go to a daytime job. It's funny — I used to complain that someday I would have to sleep like a normal person!

Do you miss anything about Pattaya?

Party life, handsome men, drinking with friends. I hardly drink now because of my new profession, but I miss it so much."

 

 

 

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ezzra Star Member

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Can't touch any of them not even with a 40 ft pole, can't risk it, vaxed or not... you never know what they carry with them now days, so back to the porno sites for now...

Edited by ezzra
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BangkokReady Ruby Member

BangkokReady

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19 minutes ago, TooBigToFit said:

Do you miss anything about Pattaya?

Party life, handsome men, drinking with friends. I hardly drink now because of my new profession, but I miss it so much."

Very difficult to get the toothpaste back in the tube...

Edited by BangkokReady
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khunPer Diamond Member

khunPer

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Do you miss anything about Pattaya?

Party life, handsome men, drinking with friends. I hardly drink now because of my new profession, but I miss it so much.

 

Seems like the old saying "You can take the girl out of the bar, but you cannot take the bar out of the girl" is true...????

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hotchilli Star Member

hotchilli

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2 hours ago, TimBKK said:

I am sure you have model quality looks and the body of Adonis.  Right? ????????

 

 

I don't, but then I don't strut around a pole all night showing off my imperfections.

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Tanomazu Silver Member

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I wonder if Thailand will have as many prostitutes when the tourists return.

 

Clearly a large number of sex workers will be lost due them embarking on new careers. However, it's such an obvious way to make money, will their ranks not be replenished by new wannabe sex workers?

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mrfill Platinum Member

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55 minutes ago, Tanomazu said:

I wonder if Thailand will have as many prostitutes when the tourists return.

 

Clearly a large number of sex workers will be lost due them embarking on new careers. However, it's such an obvious way to make money, will their ranks not be replenished by new wannabe sex workers?

It rather depends on the other side of the supply/demand equation. If men have given up wanting sex, there will be fewer prostitutes. This is, however, unlikely.

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csmith Advanced Member

csmith

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3 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

Covid bloat... Affects à lot of westerners too.

“Covid Bloat” … not heard that term before … but fits very well …. I suspect for many of us ….. “Heard Immunity”

 

 

582802E5-2D3C-4A2C-A73F-A275FE707CC3.jpeg

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RJRS1301 Ruby Member

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3 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

Covid bloat... Affects à lot of westerners too.

Happened decades before Covid for the majority I think. 
probably long before they got to Thailand

Edited by RJRS1301
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canthai55 Platinum Member

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4 hours ago, TooBigToFit said:

In my opinion, these stories should also take into account the males who knock up these girls and dump them.

In this day and age there is no reason for unwanted pregnancies.

Piles and Piles of info out there -

To disregard it is either laziness or stupidity

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spidermike007 Star Member

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4 hours ago, Tanomazu said:

Clearly more evidence that women are not coerced into prostitution but given a choice a whore would choose to be a whore.

 

So much for the human trafficking/slavery narrative.

 

 

Sex worker seems so much gentler a reference. Many of the really hot ones are still making money online with Tinder and other sites.

 

For the larger gals with kids, that is a tougher task. 

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