Every night, one after another, there she is, in that same spot. She never moves too far one way or another. She stands there, obviously not happy to be there. She doesn’t even glance upstairs to the girl in the glass box on top of the bar, who may or may not be in a coherent state, dancing around the pole, grabbing the attention of potential customers as they walk on by. She puts minimal effort into approaching people and inviting them in. She doesn’t look excited to be there, and she’s not trying very hard to fake like she is. If you make eye contact with her, she just may smile at you, and then try to gesture you into the door. She doesn’t really try to make conversation, perhaps because he’s there watching her, and she’s afraid of what might happen later if she does.
But what is she doing here? She is so far from her country. What would someone like her be doing, working in one of Thailand’s Red Light Districts? Why is there a bar that specifically markets girls from her country? Why don’t any of the girls look happy? Why are they afraid to talk to anyone for more than a few minutes? Why do they have the same dress on day after day? Why don’t they ever get a break or a day off? Why can’t we talk to them? What do you mean it’s for their own good? What do you mean they get beat for talking too long to people and not getting them in the door? What about their friends and family? How long do they have to be here? Do they have a choice? Can they leave if they want to?
Going on Bangla Road on weekday nights is what ministry has looked like for us this month. Going to the bars, meeting the dancers and/or prostitutes, running into lady boys, talking with bar managers and promoters, and getting to know Bangla Rd. Everyone for the most part is open to talking to us. Many of the workers admit that they do not want to be there. A lot of the ladies are only there to make money to support their families and children in Bangkok or further north. One lady boy admitted that the only reason he got into the business was so that his younger sister did not have to. One person after another, the story is similar. Their families do not have money, so they came to Phuket to find work, and working in bars is what they could find. For the most part, the people we’ve met do not seem to be forced to be there by way of threat on their lives or the lives of their families. At least we don’t think. They talk to you freely, try to get you to buy drinks, and even play games of Jenga and Connect 4 with you. Many of them are even to open to having one on one time with you outside of the bar scene during the day.
But the girls closer to the beginning of Bangla, the ones that are not allowed to talk to you, the ones that have the same dress on every day, the ones with the glass showbox up top where the girls rotate in and out every few minutes dancing on the poles, I’m not sure how optional it is for them to be there. I’m not sure if it’s that easy for them to just say, “I’m done with this, I’m going back to my country”. I’ve heard different things on how they got here, but I’ll be honest, I do know for sure what their story is because I haven’t been able to talk to them. We’ve been discouraged from engaging in conversation with them for “their own good”. I think for many of my team, one of the hardest parts about Bangla Rd ministry is not being able to talk to these girls, not knowing if they were there by choice, and feeling like there is nothing we could do to help them. Of course we pray. We know that prayer is important. But we serve a God that calls us to action….so what is that action step?
For some, it’s working for organizations that fight against sex trafficking for those that are not there by choice. For others, it’s going into bars, meeting the girls, building relationships with them, getting them connected with organizations that can help train them in a skill so they can make money in a different way, granted a lot less than what they’d make in the bars, if they so chose. It may also look like talking to friends, family, and coworkers, raising awareness about the things that are happening around the world and even at home, because most people have absolutely no idea. For me, I’m not quite sure what that looks like just yet. But for the time being it’s following after the heart of Christ, sharing what He puts on my heart, and encouraging others to do the same.
