One of my favorite movies of all time is Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts. I couldn’t help but think of some of the similarities with what I have seen on Bangla Road.
They prostitute themselves.
They can be bought for a price for a period of time to be a date or tour guide around the area.
They are bought clothes and go to extravagant places that they wouldn’t have been able to if it weren’t for him.
They say they won’t be affected by this male’s attention but inevitably when he leaves, she is heart broken.
Vivian gets her fairy-tale ending. Edward falls madly in love with her and supposedly they live happily ever after. Julia Roberts portrays a character. This isn’t her life. For the women that I met, this is their life. This is how they know how to put food on the table, to pay for her daughter’s cell phone minutes, to pay for her son’s dream of being a doctor or to take care of years of family debt.
They dream about leaving and having a man save them from this job that can easily be and has been portrayed as glamorous. 
The original intention of Pretty Woman was not meant to be a romantic comedy. In the original ending, Edward literally drops her off somewhere on the street and she is begging him to love her. He leaves her with all the boxes of clothing and goods he bought and she falls asleep sobbing-alone in the streets with the memory of false love and gifts that were purchased.
People thought that the ending was too harsh and wanted to leave feeling great. Isn’t that how everyone wants to feel about life-that we all live happily ever after? That it’s all roses and peaches?
Yes the ending may have been too harsh but it’s realistic. It’s real life. It happens. Daily, women in Patong are left heartbroken, sad and lonely because of the false promises of love or affection the men showed or because of movies like Pretty Woman.
Only hide her away from the rest of the world…
…that’s all they really want.
