Very large % of prostitutes love their job

[Guest beachlover]

True... It seems job satisfaction is fairly high.

 

But a lot of them do get stressed and emotionally drained or damaged by their job in Thailand.

 

I remember one night at DJ Station, this boy who had kept looking at me all night came up and we had a chat. It turns out he was a gogo boy (he was pretty upfront about admitting this, but also said he wasn't being a moneyboy with me, he just wanted to talk).

 

I asked him about his job, what led him to it and how he found it. What he told me was pretty depressing and made me feel for him in some ways.

 

He told of how, for a Thai with no education he can work selling shirts or as a waiter or something and earn maybe 6k baht or 10k baht a month, which is very little. Or he could work as a gogo boy and earn 30k bhat or 50k baht some months.

 

He also described his way of dealing with the job... "of course, when I on stage or when I with customer, I smile and be happy. But sometimes, when customer not nice, or big, or fat, or hairy and I have to be with them, after that I go home and I cry."

 

He was such a nice boy and really quite cute... I almost cried myself, when I heard him saying this. It wasn't just what he said, it was also how he said it and the look in his eyes opening up.

 

I believe one way he dealt with it was to drink a fair bit. When he came up to chat to me, he'd had 16 drinks that night. Now, I can drink a lot of people under the water but 16 drinks is a LOT for a boy to have. I don't think I could handle that many and still be standing. It was almost like he had come to this thriving, happy disco to escape his unhappiness for a while and drown his troubles in it for a bit.

 

He went on to say, "so yes, the job, is good for my money, but is very bad for my heart."

 

The story could have a happy ending though. He said a couple of years ago, with some money given to him by a client who he had a relationship with, he had opened a shop with some friends. Apparently it was now doing well, so he only works 2-3 nights a week in the gogo bar now.

 

Perhaps by the time I write and you read this he will be earning a decent income from his business and no longer working in the gogo bar... I like to hope so.

[Guest RichLB]

Aren't many of us applying Western values to our generalized view of these guys?

 

Some of us have seen education as the passport to career opportunities in Thailand and been disappointed when this view is seldom that of the guys we meet. As an educator I wish I shared that view, but I don't. Nepotism and prejudice in regards to skin color pretty much trumps education. I have a female friend from Isaan who speaks excellent English and has a Masters degree. Unfortunately she also is dark skinned and when applying for even low level jobs has been told she is too dark to be employed.

 

It also seems some of us are forgetting that our puritancal Western views of sex are not necessarily shared by our Thai friends. We from the West load sex with a far different meaning than most Thais. Let's make sure when we look at the sex workers here in Thailand we are not seeing their job through Western eyes.

 

I think some of us also label as irresponsible some of the very acts Thais believe to be highly responsible. Sending money home to mother is not just tossing it out the window to make mama happy. It is the social security system of the poor and they are paying into it. By sending money home, they are making sure the next generation will similarly support them when they are old.

 

I could go on and on, but the point I'm making is that many of our judgments about Thai guys and prostitution are just plain off the mark. We must look at it from their point of view.

[Guest fountainhall]

Ah sorry... I must've hit the submit button halfway through typing.

Ah well! That's what comes when you are trying to work, buy suits and at the same time making a gazillion posts on three separate Boards at the same time, I guess. Life is tough for some.

[Guest beachlover]

Nepotism and prejudice in regards to skin color pretty much trumps education. I have a female friend from Isaan who speaks excellent English and has a Masters degree. Unfortunately she also is dark skinned and when applying for even low level jobs has been told she is too dark to be employed.

 

I agree. That's very sad but often true. However, whilst it's an obstacle and a disadvantage, I don't think it's an impregnable barrier. There are successful dark-skinned Thais too, just perhaps, not as many.

 

It also seems some of us are forgetting that our puritancal Western views of sex are not necessarily shared by our Thai friends. We from the West load sex with a far different meaning than most Thais. Let's make sure when we look at the sex workers here in Thailand we are not seeing their job through Western eyes.

 

I don't think I've looked at sex from Western eyes when applying it to Thai money boys.

 

At the end of the day, the natural preference would not be to have sex with people you have no attraction to (or are even revulsed by) right?... No matter what culture you come from.

 

I think some of us also label as irresponsible some of the very acts Thais believe to be highly responsible. Sending money home to mother is not just tossing it out the window to make mama happy. It is the social security system of the poor and they are paying into it. By sending money home, they are making sure the next generation will similarly support them when they are old.

 

That's true... I don't think anyone here has ever stated doing is irresponsible or 'throwing money out the window to make mama happy'.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Margaret Mead has entered the room.