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sex industry
--Grace; Jan 3, 2005
Thousands of travelers have written on this
subject, and frankly, I don't really feel like it, but somehow
it would seem remiss to leave it out of our Bangkok entries.
We've heard that Bangkok is trying to change
its image, but so much momentum already exists; people know that
it's the place to go if you want to buy cheap and easy sex. And
it doesn't really matter what your sexual preference is; in Bangkok,
you can probably find anything that strikes your fancy. What's
more, it’s affordable, easy to find, and accepted by local
society. (Bangkok is apparently also the place to go if you'd
like to undergo a reasonably priced sex-change operation with
a good surgeon, but that really should be another entry, and one
that we’re not qualified to write.)
There are many night clubs that cater specifically
to the prostitution market, but you will see some level of it
in almost every club. Even though we’ve been here only a
short while, we’ve seen the process at work many times already.
The "working" women and paying men spend the evening
eyeing their potential targets and making initial contact. Then
after last call, all the "interested parties" go outside
to negotiate, and men can be seen leaving with one or two or even
a small entourage of women. Another common practice is for a woman
to work officially for the club, in which case a caller is expected
to buy them very expensive (and watered down) drinks all evening,
and then pay a "finder's fee" to the club if he'd like
to continue on after hours. After the club gets paid the woman
usually calls the shots on price and terms.
It's very common to see a 45+ year-old Caucasian
man (second most common is an older Japanese man) dancing very
closely in the club with a much younger (age 16-25) Thai woman.
Or heck, maybe he's dancing with two or three if he wants to pay
for it, which as it seems, many do.
Amazingly, it doesn't stop when the sun comes
up. You see it going on throughout the daylight hours as well.
The man buys the company of a pretty young thing for the day or
the week or whatever. And the woman gets a closet full of new
clothes, nice meals and some spending money.
As you'd expect, there are plenty of younger
bachelor-party types roaming around, too, proud as peacocks with
their temporary girlfriends, but for some reason it's the older
men that really gross me out. I suppose that there are lots of
cultures where prostitution is considered okay, but somehow I
will never get used to it. I try to have an open mind about it,
but I can't help imagining the wife and kids waiting at home.
Blech.
There, I've written about it. I'm sure you
can find out as much on this subject as you like, so I think I'll
stop here.
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