(What Seems Like A) Sexpat Has A Go At Some Holidaymakers

[whistleblower]

Chiang Mai

They are not narrow self serving definitions. They are realistic definitions.

If you want to bend the definition of a prostitute to your own definition be my guest.

[chiang mai]

Chiang Mai

They are not narrow self serving definitions. They are realistic definitions.

If you want to bend the definition of a prostitute to your own definition be my guest.

I've said my peace in my previous post and I can agree that we don't agree.

[nocturn]

I dread to think where your definition of the word prostitute stops, or maybe it doesn't. Hows about, western woman marries western man, later has an extra-marital affair and divorces western man and is awarded half his financial assets?

Prostitute = cash payment for the sex, at point of sale.

Now what don't you understand about that?

A lot more Tommo than you do about the differences between people in northern villages and Issan villages! But back on subject:

How's about a starving homeless female who allows someone to have sex with her simply because she wants to eat, are you going to classify her as a prostitute also?

yes, especially if you remove the issue of morality from the question.

it is pretty simple if you don't spend your time trying to discern and quantify shades of grey.

but are starving homeless females and northern villages what we are discussing? No, they are not.

Prostitution is certainly not exclusive to females. why do you try to make it seem so?

The thing is you all have your axes to grind on this topic.

[whistleblower]

Chiang Mai

They are not narrow self serving definitions. They are realistic definitions.

If you want to bend the definition of a prostitute to your own definition be my guest.

I've said my peace in my previous post and I can agree that we don't agree.

and never will when you try to redefine what a prostitute is. (did you mean piece as in portion or peace as in tranquil?)

[phl]

That post appears to be fact and not logic, just how you manage to conclude that it implies all Issan women should be hookers escapes me, but let's not dwell on that aspect!

It does seem that the mother/daughter part is frequently true, I think though that's a feature of how difficult it really is for some poor rural families to haul themselves out of poverty. I think it's also a feature of how strong the family bond is in those families, the need to provide for the extended family seems to be passed down from one generation to the next and unless education levels are improved, the solution is always going to be the same one.

Finally, I only have little knowledge of Cambodian culture so I can't sensibly comment, but it would seem very odd if Thai females were found to be promisucous and morally corrupt whereas their Cambodian neighbours were found to be virtuous and saintlike!

I like your post, though do believe you are being little naive.

Following logic, if mother is hooking to put her daughter through school, daughter would not be a prostitute.

However mother is hooking because she is hooking full stop. They hardly ever send much money home and their kids hardly ever even finish school.

All the money earned seems to go into thin air or spent on latest phones, clothing, nails and toys.

If you take into account how much money some earn, they should be out of poverty and into a middle class within 1-3 years.

Why does the mother "retire" the moment daughter turns 15-16? why does not mother buy some shop or do something instead of moving back to village and sending daughter in as a substitute?

Why with all that money sent home, they are still poor?

SO many get lucky and find an idiot to buy/build them a house and a car, and yet she keeps hooking and keeps sending her daughter to hook?

I do not think one needs to have huge knowledge of Cambo culture, one just needs to see that prostitution is NOT as widely spread over there, because if it was Thailand would not be the capital

Edited August 1, 2012 by phl

[thenervoussurgeon]

The drunk in the video clip didn't get it and niether did you Tommo, perhaps comment again more sensibly when you've been here longer and seen the village communities (and all they entail) first hand and really understood the issues.

I live in a small village up North and farm with my wife, and have done for about 5 years ........ what exactly do I need to understand?

The girl in the video is from Issan and that's a far cry from the villages in the North, twenty years ago the northern villages were full of the same familes as today, central and northern Thais - twenty years ago the Issan villages were full of displaced Cambodians escaping from the fighting with Pol Pot and the camps along the border were overflowing. The stigma of being from Issan at that time was not unlike todays stigma of being a Burmese worker in Thailand, second class citizens with no career prospects and fit only for menial labour. Fortunately things have improved somewhat today but the situation for many familes in Issan remains dire, take a look at the make up of working girls in Nana today or along Beach Road in Pattaya, nine tenths are from Issan. If ever you were to take the time to engage with them socially and to listen to their stories, you'd undertand that the girl in the video was fairly typical, mostly honest and well intentioned, uneducated but exercising one of her very few options to stay afloat.

reading this i think ,why do so many guys make excuses for the bar girls working on beach road ect , nothing at all wrong with them ,many are quite nice ,but at the end of the day they are prostitutes ,the same as those in the west ,they do it because its easy money and its easy come easy go ,in 20 odd years i have not met many that did it to better themselves ,only because they are to lazy to do a proper job . Also in The UK they did it for the same reason.

[eek]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

[carmine]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

I think you are fairly spot on here.

[arthurwait]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Get to know some girls or even just look around some of the corners or in some of the alleyways around Nana or Cowboy etc and you will see where the money really goes for many, many girls. There's games going on all over the place fuelled by flowing whisky and as the whisky flows the stakes get higher. Give many a girl in a bar a tip in a bar thats near one of the games and she will just pop out for a minute.

The only way you will know what an individual bar girl is like is by getting to know them. The internet, guidebooks or speculation can't tell you. I know/known girls who are there to feed babies who didn't drink or gamble and left as soon as they could. They are in the minority of girls I've met though.

I've known girls who say they are only there to pay for their children ( who are mixed race), but talking to the landlord confirms they suspicion that the only child they have was concieved on the job.

I've known girls with no children who are there to just party at someone-elses expense everynight and if they land a foreign 'boyfriend' it's just another to add to the collection already sponsoring them. One who doesn't get a wage from the bar like she used to because she can't be bothered to turn up at 6pm, but instead turns up whenever she wants around 10pm to get ladydrinks before going on to late night bars to party and pick someone up if she can. She's told me it's because she's too lazy. Nice girl, great fun, but freely admits it herself she does it because she is lazy.

I've known one girl, really nice girl who had no children and probably making not much more than she would now on Bangkoks minimum wage in a shop, so why is she there ?

Then there's the very good looking girls scoring 3-5 guys a night at high rates. Where is the money going ? Same place as all the girl with multiple sponsors sending 20-30k plus a month from farang land ?

Then there's the obese girls trying for 300B. Is this like the obese people in povety on benefits in the UK ? If they are struggling to feed their families, how come they are obese ?

There is no one reason why girls are doing this and yes many are there because they are lazy. Just like there is lazy people in every country either doing the same thing or living on benefits in countries that have them. Thailand does have a share of workshy people just like every country does.

[WebBKK123]

Do all english girls cry and have screwed up teeth like that?

[whistleblower]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

'She goes to work in the'scene' thinking to not do it for long, make money and send money back'

That line tells me all the psychology of a bar girl that I need to know! ie rather than do a hard days work in a factory I will get quick cash by working on my back!

[Berkshire]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

I agree that the life of a bargirl undoubtedly changes her, and usually not for the better (i.e., hardened, bitter, etc.). Aside from the fact that many of these girls go through some horrendous experiences with some unsavory characters--not to mention having their hearts broken countless times--consider what she does for a living. For most women, having sex is about the most intimate experience there is. But when these women sell what is the most intimate and personal part of their being, what else is left? How can they ever have sex again, even with someone who actually means something to them, and not have it cheapened? I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, but being a hooker is not normal for a Thai woman, just like it's not normal for any woman. Even being in the business just a few weeks will change most any woman...sorry to say.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Berkshire

[chiang mai]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Another aspect of that is that most often rural village people will not go somewhere new that's a long way away, unless they have a friend or relative at their destination, other than if they travel with a companion or in a group. So when it comes down to deciding whether or not they will go to location X, Y or Z to work, the answer will be determined in part by whether or not they have friends/family there. Imagine if a farm girl who lives out in the wilds of Issan where all her school friends and nieghbours have gone to work in the bars of Nana and Pattaya, her choice of work destination becomes even more limited and predictable.

[whistleblower]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Another aspect of that is that most often rural village people will not go somewhere new that's a long way away, unless they have a friend or relative at their destination, other than if they travel with a companion or in a group. So when it comes down to deciding whether or not they will go to location X, Y or Z to work, the answer will be determined in part by whether or not they have friends/family there. Imagine if a farm girl who lives out in the wilds of Issan where all her school friends and nieghbours have gone to work in the bars of Nana and Pattaya, her choice of work destination becomes even more limited and predictable.

Her choice of work 'destination' maybe but surely not choice of career?

[chiang mai]

My experience is that a persons career is largely determined by the day day sucess of the work, that takes us back to Eek's point about becomming hardened and falling into the longer trap without intending to or wanting to, it's the boiling frog syndrome.

[arthurwait]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Another aspect of that is that most often rural village people will not go somewhere new that's a long way away, unless they have a friend or relative at their destination, other than if they travel with a companion or in a group. So when it comes down to deciding whether or not they will go to location X, Y or Z to work, the answer will be determined in part by whether or not they have friends/family there. Imagine if a farm girl who lives out in the wilds of Issan where all her school friends and nieghbours have gone to work in the bars of Nana and Pattaya, her choice of work destination becomes even more limited and predictable.

Her choice of work 'destination' maybe but surely not choice of career?

Spot on.

[TommoPhysicist]

For most women, having sex is about the most intimate experience there is. But when these women sell what is the most intimate and personal part of their being, what else is left?

If I may point out the error in your post

For many western women sex is about the most ......... (this I can agree with)

For many Thai ladies (that I know) sex has about the same importance as blowing their nose (and not just hookers).

You are judging all women from a western culture set, which just doesn't work.

Edited August 1, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[chiang mai]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Another aspect of that is that most often rural village people will not go somewhere new that's a long way away, unless they have a friend or relative at their destination, other than if they travel with a companion or in a group. So when it comes down to deciding whether or not they will go to location X, Y or Z to work, the answer will be determined in part by whether or not they have friends/family there. Imagine if a farm girl who lives out in the wilds of Issan where all her school friends and nieghbours have gone to work in the bars of Nana and Pattaya, her choice of work destination becomes even more limited and predictable.

Her choice of work 'destination' maybe but surely not choice of career?

As an afterthought:

You use the word "career" in this context as though we're talking about a western university student in their gap year, they're going to roam around for a while before settling into their career. For rural girls who are not degree educated, not connected and don't have money, career choices come more by chance than design, what will they do, go down to the Job Centre or get career councelling or similar! I'm being flipant because even half way decent jobs in say an office, will require an introduction by someone who works there or similar, it's not as though these girls can just pick up the job paper and sit down at Starbucks and decide which job they would like to do. Even if the system did exist here to allow them to do such things, very few have sufficient education or street savvy to be able to get through the process sucessfully.

Most low level jobs in say Bangkok are going to pay in the region of I would guess, around THB 7k to 10k, that means working in the 7/11 or if lucky, a Robinsons equivelent which means commission as well. Exactly why a young farm girl would consider taking those jobs escapes me since they don't provide enough money to live on, let alone support and extended family. So, we come back to choices and I wouldn't object at all if someone wanted to set out a template here of how such girls might manage that process of finding work and earning money, give us some practical alternatives and examples.

[Berkshire]

For most women, having sex is about the most intimate experience there is. But when these women sell what is the most intimate and personal part of their being, what else is left?

If I may point out the error in your post

For many western women sex is about the most ......... (this I can agree with)

For many Thai ladies (that I know) sex has about the same importance as blowing their nose (and not just hookers).

You are judging all women from a western culture set, which just doesn't work.

Hmmm, my experience has been a tad different. Perhaps we should ask a Thai woman...and not one that's in the business.

[whistleblower]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Another aspect of that is that most often rural village people will not go somewhere new that's a long way away, unless they have a friend or relative at their destination, other than if they travel with a companion or in a group. So when it comes down to deciding whether or not they will go to location X, Y or Z to work, the answer will be determined in part by whether or not they have friends/family there. Imagine if a farm girl who lives out in the wilds of Issan where all her school friends and nieghbours have gone to work in the bars of Nana and Pattaya, her choice of work destination becomes even more limited and predictable.

Her choice of work 'destination' maybe but surely not choice of career?

As an afterthought:

You use the word "career" in this context as though we're talking about a western university student in their gap year, they're going to roam around for a while before settling into their career. For rural girls who are not degree educated, not connected and don't have money, career choices come more by chance than design, what will they do, go down to the Job Centre or get career councelling or similar! I'm being flipant because even half way decent jobs in say an office, will require an introduction by someone who works there or similar, it's not as though these girls can just pick up the job paper and sit down at Starbucks and decide which job they would like to do. Even if the system did exist here to allow them to do such things, very few have sufficient education or street savvy to be able to get through the process sucessfully.

Most low level jobs in say Bangkok are going to pay in the region of I would guess, around THB 7k to 10k, that means working in the 7/11 or if lucky, a Robinsons equivelent which means commission as well. Exactly why a young farm girl would consider taking those jobs escapes me since they don't provide enough money to live on, let alone support and extended family. So, we come back to choices and I wouldn't object at all if someone wanted to set out a template here of how such girls might manage that process of finding work and earning money, give us some practical alternatives and examples.

I dont think you have to be 'connected' to Ronald McDonald to work for him. 300 Baht a day is the minimum wage so that equates to 9000 Baht a month. I disagree that this isn't enough to "live on". If you take away the phones/boyfriends motorbikes etc you can eat and stay somewhere for this price. Is it a happy life? my answer would be no of course not.

Template for finding work and earning a decent salary? - STOP accepting a 500 baht bribe to vote in a government that will shaft you.

[DrTuner]

Ah, the old "definition of prostitute" thing. Well, a prostitute is PROstitute, ie. a professional. Others are mere hobbyists. I hope that clears it up

[chiang mai]

I dont think you have to be 'connected' to Ronald McDonald to work for him. 300 Baht a day is the minimum wage so that equates to 9000 Baht a month. I disagree that this isn't enough to "live on". If you take away the phones/boyfriends motorbikes etc you can eat and stay somewhere for this price. Is it a happy life? my answer would be no of course not.

Template for finding work and earning a decent salary? - STOP accepting a 500 baht bribe to vote in a government that will shaft you.

Let's not forget in all of this that the imperative in the eyes of the young lady are to help her family financially, that means helping to pay a series of banks loans, government loans and probably loan shark debts, not to mention upcomming school fee costs, supplies for the rice planting season, and so on and so on, in total she could easily be aware of 500,000 bahts worth of family debts. So yes, Ronald's house beckons but you can easily see her dilemma when she realises that she can only contribute say 1,000 or 2,000 baht a month, after she has paid her own living costs.

Also, couldn't agree more re. the 500 baht, but that problem along with its many relatives are well entrenched and will take much time to dislodge, in the meantime the Issan girls need to feed their familes.

[F1fanatic]

One way to look at the possible psychology of a bar girl is this..

She goes to work in the "scene" thinking to not do it for long, make good money, and send money back.

She gets there and the scene starts to eat at her.

One way to make herself feel better, is emotional spending

Hair, nails, make up, nice phone..etc.

..and these things obviously will make her look better, and thus can be justified in her mind as it gets her more attention/more customers.

but its a temporary fix..so more frivolous spending required.

Then she might even better if she has a few drinks..has a try of some drugs. She might be thinking, well, the other girls do it, and it makes them feel good and makes the job easier..so hell, why not?

Its easy to see how an initial plan could end up spiraling wayy out of the goal set.

Maybe im being naive, but i think this could be the case for girls in the bar scene.

How could anyone NOT become a bit hardened and bitter and thus compensate themselves by frivolous spending?

Would take a VERY strong resolve in a woman to not fall into this trap..i think.

Another aspect of that is that most often rural village people will not go somewhere new that's a long way away, unless they have a friend or relative at their destination, other than if they travel with a companion or in a group. So when it comes down to deciding whether or not they will go to location X, Y or Z to work, the answer will be determined in part by whether or not they have friends/family there. Imagine if a farm girl who lives out in the wilds of Issan where all her school friends and nieghbours have gone to work in the bars of Nana and Pattaya, her choice of work destination becomes even more limited and predictable.

Her choice of work 'destination' maybe but surely not choice of career?

As an afterthought:

You use the word "career" in this context as though we're talking about a western university student in their gap year, they're going to roam around for a while before settling into their career. For rural girls who are not degree educated, not connected and don't have money, career choices come more by chance than design, what will they do, go down to the Job Centre or get career councelling or similar! I'm being flipant because even half way decent jobs in say an office, will require an introduction by someone who works there or similar, it's not as though these girls can just pick up the job paper and sit down at Starbucks and decide which job they would like to do. Even if the system did exist here to allow them to do such things, very few have sufficient education or street savvy to be able to get through the process sucessfully.

Most low level jobs in say Bangkok are going to pay in the region of I would guess, around THB 7k to 10k, that means working in the 7/11 or if lucky, a Robinsons equivelent which means commission as well. Exactly why a young farm girl would consider taking those jobs escapes me since they don't provide enough money to live on, let alone support and extended family. So, we come back to choices and I wouldn't object at all if someone wanted to set out a template here of how such girls might manage that process of finding work and earning money, give us some practical alternatives and examples.

How anyone is able to survive on 7-10k bht per month is always going to be an enduring mystery to us - as how anyone in the UK can survive on social security payments is a mystery!

But, whilst it is not something we can even imagine, many do manage to survive. Its not right and anybody relatively well-off is right to question whether something is wrong with society (worldwide) that allows this to happen.

[whistleblower]

I dont think you have to be 'connected' to Ronald McDonald to work for him. 300 Baht a day is the minimum wage so that equates to 9000 Baht a month. I disagree that this isn't enough to "live on". If you take away the phones/boyfriends motorbikes etc you can eat and stay somewhere for this price. Is it a happy life? my answer would be no of course not.

Template for finding work and earning a decent salary? - STOP accepting a 500 baht bribe to vote in a government that will shaft you.

Let's not forget in all of this that the imperative in the eyes of the young lady are to help her family financially, that means helping to pay a series of banks loans, government loans and probably loan shark debts, not to mention upcomming school fee costs, supplies for the rice planting season, and so on and so on, in total she could easily be aware of 500,000 bahts worth of family debts. So yes, Ronald's house beckons but you can easily see her dilemma when she realises that she can only contribute say 1,000 or 2,000 baht a month, after she has paid her own living costs.

Also, couldn't agree more re. the 500 baht, but that problem along with its many relatives are well entrenched and will take much time to dislodge, in the meantime the Issan girls need to feed their familes.

Tell the parents not to borrow 500,000 baht.

Stay away from loan sharks.

Govt schools are free.

Stop this tradition of sending money to parents. It only makes them lazy and want more materialistic things.

oh and most of them send money up country because the oldies look after their kids that they had when they were 12, so add use contraception to the list.

[TommoPhysicist]

For most women, having sex is about the most intimate experience there is. But when these women sell what is the most intimate and personal part of their being, what else is left?

If I may point out the error in your post

For many western women sex is about the most ......... (this I can agree with)

For many Thai ladies (that I know) sex has about the same importance as blowing their nose (and not just hookers).

You are judging all women from a western culture set, which just doesn't work.

Hmmm, my experience has been a tad different. Perhaps we should ask a Thai woman...and not one that's in the business.

I have asked many Thai women this question about sex, the invariable reply is. I eat, I sleep, I go to the toilet and I have sex. One is as important as the other. I personally find their thoughts strange, but who am I to argue with them. It does explain to me their tendency to not be entirely monogamous.

Edited August 1, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[skybluestu]

For most women, having sex is about the most intimate experience there is. But when these women sell what is the most intimate and personal part of their being, what else is left?

If I may point out the error in your post

For many western women sex is about the most ......... (this I can agree with)

For many Thai ladies (that I know) sex has about the same importance as blowing their nose (and not just hookers).

You are judging all women from a western culture set, which just doesn't work.

Hmmm, my experience has been a tad different. Perhaps we should ask a Thai woman...and not one that's in the business.

I have asked many Thai women this question about sex, the invariable reply is. I eat, I sleep, I go to the toilet and I have sex. One is as important as the other. I personally find their thoughts strange, but who am I to argue with them. It does explain to me their tendency to not be entirely monogamous.

No offence but I read at least one blatantly made up post on here every day and think this is today's!

[TommoPhysicist]

Sometimes I wonder if some of the posters have ever been to Thailand, or ever spoken to a real Thai!

Next, some of you will be claiming to have Thai friends.

Edited August 1, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[skybluestu]

Sometimes I wonder if some of the posters have ever been to Thailand, or ever spoken to a real Thai!

Next, some of you will be claiming to have Thai friends.

Lived here for 5yrs, married for 3yrs but was young, free and single for two glorious years and pretty sure none of the girls I dated saw sex in the same way as blowing their nose or going to the toilet! Have many friend and colleagues who are Thai and I know they don't either. Try again!

[BookMan]

I dread to think where your definition of the word prostitute stops, or maybe it doesn't. Hows about, western woman marries western man, later has an extra-marital affair and divorces western man and is awarded half his financial assets?

Prostitute = cash payment for the sex, at point of sale.

Now what don't you understand about that?

A lot more Tommo than you do about the differences between people in northern villages and Issan villages! But back on subject:

How's about a starving homeless female who allows someone to have sex with her simply because she wants to eat, are you going to classify her as a prostitute also?

Yes because shes selling sex. Does that mean a starving homeless female who breaks into my house and steals money to buy food is not a thief???

You can say she is prostituting herself on that occasion, that she needed food. It doesn't mean her job is that of a prostitute.

When i fix my car I am doing something mechanical for a given period of time. It does not mean I am a mechanic.

[DrTuner]

Stop this tradition of sending money to parents. It only makes them lazy and want more materialistic things.

It's a legal requirement. From the Civil Code:

"Section 1563. Children are bound to maintain their parents"

There is no social security to speak of in Thailand, kids are it.