Part of my ministry for the past couple of weeks has consisted of going out to the local bars at night and making friends with the women who work there. Our purpose for going is to just share the love of Jesus with women who dont see that love very often, if ever. We also want tell the women about “The Well” and let them know that there are options out there. Most of these women come from outside of the city and see no other way in making money. Their need to provide for their families is greater than the shame in working in the bars; and though a lot of them conceal it from their families, they see no way out.
Quick Stats on Prosititution in Thailand:
-In 2004 the sex trade was reported to be a $4.3 billion per-year industry
– Approximately 60% of the countries national income comes from tourism, and sex tourism encompasses a large part of Thailand’s tourism
– Around 10 million tourists come to Thailand each year; 60% are men — 70% of those men come specifically for the sex industry
– The number of women, children, and men who work in the sex industry is around 2 million.
*stats from www.rahabministiesthailand.org
There are three main “hotspots” of bars and prosititution in Bangkok, and we spent most of our nights out at the most popular one. It was located just off of a main road right underneath some major hotels. Once you turned off the main road there is a rush of people, and bars start to line the streets. A quick left takes you into a narrow road that opens up into a horseshoe of bars, and extends three stories high. I have never seen anything like this. The amount of bars, and women, and men lurking around is overwhelming. The darkness in that place is undeniable. The floors are divided up into the services they offer. The first floor is mostly bars full of women who grab at men as they walk by and convince them to sit down for a drink. Drinks usually turn into the men paying the 600 Baht (around $18) bar fee for the girl and taking her out for other “activities”. He pays her around 300-400 Baht to go dancing or karaoke, and 2000 Baht (around $60) to have sex. The second floor is full of barely dressed women draped across darkened doors trying to lure men into the ‘gogo’ bars. Again, the women here have the same kindof of ‘fees’. The third floor is completely dominated by ‘ladyboys”. Ladyboys are men dressed as women; some are very masculine, and some have worked very hard to become entirely female. Ladyboys are very common in Thailand. A majority of the ladyboys are boys who from birth were raised as girls. This happens because culturally, the men leave their parents in search of a life of their own, while girls are the ones who take care of the parents, thus becoming the more desired offspring. A lot of the ladyboys found in the bars come from this environment.
During my time spent in the bars I met a lot of broken women. There was one bar we were able to return to four times to see the women. Moi, Mai, and May were the names of the three we became closest to. We were able to share with them about ‘The Well’, hear their stories, share Jesus’ love, and even pray over May our last night. They all are so broken and lost, but we know that God is going to continue pursuing their lives and one day bring them into the kingdom. Incredible things are happening on that first floor and I feel so blessed to spent time with those women.
