The prostitution industry in Thailand is enormous. There are two main areas, the Nana district and Soi Cowboy. They are lined with bars. Women stand outside to lure the customers inside. Some bars are outside and offer a place for men to have a drink and talk with the women. Some bars are places you can go to play pool. Some places have the front of amassage parlor, and I guess that isn’t a complete lie. Others take you behind curtains to a dimly lit sitting area. There you can take a seat on the plush chairs and watch the women dance in next to nothing on the dance stage. At all bars, a waitress will approach to ask what you would like to drink. It is customary that you also buy a “lady drink” for one of the women. Then the women will entertain the men, charm them, do everything possible to entice the men to pay their bar fine for the night.
The bars are called go-go bars because the women go with the men. Once a man decides that he would like to take a woman out for the night, he pays her bar fine. The bar fine is usually 500 Baht, about $15. He can pay her fine for multiple nights and take her on vacation with him to one of the beaches. Or he can just spend the night with her – walking the streets, eating dinner, and then back to his hotel. The man is expected to pay for everything when he takes the girl out. The two usually work out an additional price that he will pay directly to the girl.
Some of the men actually believe they are doing a good thing. They think that they are helping the woman out by supporting them and their families. I have been trying to figure out how degrading them; leading them on with hopes of true love and then dropping then when it gets old; and using them only for self -satisfaction is helping the women. But that is the enemy using the power of deception to kill, steal and destroy. That is how we all, at some point, come to a place of justifying the sin in our lives.
I learn each day, but there is so much more than what I can see with my limited view and my limited time here in Bangkok. This is a huge place for trafficking of women. Many girls are sold by their parents for a mere $20-30. I don’t think I run into those girls as often. It is obvious that this industry is much larger than the things that I see out in the open. There are obviously meetings of businessmen in the industry (traffickers) taking place right in our midst.
The magnitude and devastation of the sex industry is incredible. For me, all I can do is focus on the one that I will talk with tonight; the one that I can love with the love that Christ lavishes on me; the one that I can listen to and laugh with.
Pray for Thailand.
