Disclaimer: This blog was written on a night that I stayed behind and prayed for the other team that was going out on Bangla Road. Due to different factors, I didn’t have enough time to get a first- hand account to hear exactly how and why the women were in each bar, but through my teammate’s stories, and through what our contacts shared, I wrote this blog through the perspective of a girl heading to Bangla Road in search for a new start.
Each woman’s story is different, unique, special, and should be heard.
I pray that this blog opens your eyes and heart to these women and their stories.
Days 1 -4
Eesan had nothing going on in it or for it. I knew that I wasn’t going to go to college, not because I’m not smart enough, but because my parents don’t have the money for me to go. After thinking about it for a couple of days, I knew that getting a job in Phuket was the only way for me to make a decent living for me and my family.
I booked my ticket last week and arrived at the Phuket bus station with my one suitcase, and a lot of hope. For four days, I applied and applied and applied to countless hotels and clothing stores, but all of the managers said they couldn’t hire me because I don’t have a college degree, and that my oral English isn’t good enough. So I went to my last resort: down Bangla Road in Patong.
When I walked down the road in the middle of the day, all I could see were sad street vendors, with circles under their glazed- over eyes. After just a few minutes on the road, I found the HUGE collection of small bars, otherwise known as Tiger Bar. I sheepishly walked through the maze of smaller bars, and finally found Kinky Bar, the bar my friend back in Eesan told me to go to.
With a warm smile, I met the bar manager who stared at me up and down, staring especially at my breasts and butt, then told me to have a seat. As we talked, she asked me where I was from, (Eesan) how old I was (18) about my family, and when I arrived in Phuket (a few days ago). I gave her only honest answers.
After a few more questions, she told me that I’d have to have a bit of training, and then I’d be able to start dancing on the bar and playing games with the customers. As I began to ask what I’d get paid each week, she smiled a bit too widely with her crooked smile as she told me that if I worked hard, put on a nice smile, and danced well, I’d be able make a lot of money here, that I’d be taken care of, and that I’d be safe. Then, she grabbed a grocery bag full of bikini tops and said, “Take one, and get yourself some very short jean shorts, and high heeled shoes. You’ll start tomorrow.”
Day 7
It’s my 7th night here in Phuket, 3rd night working in Kinky Bar. The other girls have been training me for the past few days. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but the girls are really nice and continue to help me. This is the third night I’ve just sat at the bar, with constant nausea due to confusion and disgust but I’ve been able to keep a bright, smiling face. I’m confused because in Eesan, women NEVER act in the way they do here, giggling loudly, occasionally screaming or shrieking, flipping their hair, rubbing strangers’ backs. In school, us girls were taught to be gentle, quiet, and polite.
It’s like these women totally forgot Thai customs! Some of the “clients” that come in are pretty handsome, but most are just average- looking men, who come to the bar and stare at all of us girls with drunken eyes wide open: Hungry, barbaric eyes. My stomach churns as I watch these men grab my co workers breasts and butts, and all they do in return is giggle, smile and twirl their hair. As I continue to witness everything going on, my mother’s voice comes into my head, “You need to wait for your husband,” but all I can do in reply is ask myself, “What have I gotten myself into?”
