Thailand - January 5, 2004

Bangkok - World's Oldest Profession (Part 1)

The world's oldest profession is alive and booming in Thailand. "Ladies of the evening" can be seen in countless bars and in almost every town entertaining Western men. This state of affairs is nothing new and is common knowledge to most anyone who has visited Thailand.

What is not common knowledge however is the fact that 95% of Thai prostitution is Thai to Thai and occurs outside of the visible bar and massage parlor scene. While there are other Asian and Western countries with a greater per-capita number of sex workers, few if any can rival the omnipresence of street prostitution found in Thailand. After inadvertently befriending a prostitute before her occupation was revealed, and wishing to further explore the factors that stimulate the trade, I decided to document some of my observations.

DISCLAIMER: I did NOT ever partake in the trade. All my information was gleaned from befriending a few prostitutes in Chaing Mai, asking prostitutes questions at the various bars that they serve, and my general observations throughout Thailand. These are my observations only so be careful when attempting to draw greater generalizations.

I quickly learned it was easy to make friendly contact with the prostitutes in Chaing Mai. My first encounter occurred when, searching for the night market that sells everything from food to Thai instruments, I became lost. If you have been following my trip, you will know this is not the first time that has happened.

Walking into a group of twenty or more open air bars I made eye contact with a few women playing pool. When I went over to ask for directions they informed me I was in fact already in the night market and asked if I wanted to play pool. It took me a moment to reply as I savored the warm smiles and ego boost resulting from the invitation from the two beautiful Thai women.

Within five minutes however, the two girls had a drink in my hand, had racked the pool table for me, and had made me feel welcomed with engaging, although sometimes unintelligible, conversation. "G" ran the table, banking off of my smiles and pocketing my interest with her laughter. "We're gong to temple, come with me then you can go eat as you said you want" she said as the eight ball fell under her silky black hair. I said okay instantly as I thought to myself how amazingly unguarded Thai women appear.

Under the golden laced oriental temple the girls exchanged whispered giggles so as to not disturb the chanting monks. When they approached the shrine their faces tuned solemn as they laid roses at the base of a golden Buddha. For two minutes they knelt with eyes closed, while slowing their breathing to match the drone of the monks chants. The incense and melodies twined together in the air and seemed to carry the girls away to a place of inner peace. After two minutes they unclasped their hands from prayer, hit me playfully in the stomach, and joked about how I was now wet from sitting on damp steps.

After visiting the temple I left the girls at the bar where we had met and went to eat by myself. While eating, I noticed an American man sitting to the left of me. He was easily near retirement age, with a pound over his belt for every year of the Thai girl's age accompanying him. I guessed not more than twenty years for the girl's age.

To my right a man with teeth browned from years of bad British dental care sat with two Thai girls who appeared to be in their twenties In the back of the restaurant a Bob Barker look-alike sat with a twenty year-old Thai beauty. I imagine he and the others left these details out of the postcards to their grandchildren. Surrounded by the depravity of false relationships and incongruent couplings, I couldn't help but listen in solitude to the flat conversations.

Outside of the restaurant, the outdoor bars were teeming with a disproportionate amount of young Thai girls chatting with older Western men. Suddenly, the reality of life in a foreign land hit me again and as my naivete evaporated in front of my eyes I realized that the bars were virtual open air markets for the peddling of prostitution, where men can meet hundreds of prostitutes and get more than an ego boost. I now understood the girls I went to temple with were prostitutes, as well.

Confused by the girls intentions when spending time with me the day before I returned the next day during daylight hours to talk to them. Did they want money from me or were they genuinely interested in spending time with me? When I told prostitute "G" I was just having fun and I did not know she was a prostitute the day before, she told me with a relieved smile, good. Thus, a friendship was established. Throughout the next two weeks I would return to the bar where "G" worked, talking to her and the other prostitutes as they attempted to lure suitors. I was also able to talk freely to prostitutes in other bars as long as I bought drinks while talking to them.

The bar prostitution system in Thailand is supported by the large number of girls inviting men into the bar to play pool, buy drinks, and maybe go home with them. The prostitutes get a percentage of every drink bought and encourage pool playing to keep the men in the bar to buy drinks. There are more prostitutes than men and only a few actually go home with men at the end of the night.

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