Point of View of a Bar Girl

We hear frequently about the farang’s experiences with Thai bar girls, but rarely hear about what things are like for the bar girls themselves, or hear the truth of their opinions of or life with farangs. I’d like to take this opportunity to enlighten all you farangs out there and show you that you aren’t too badly done by. The first story concerns a bar lady who was invited back to her farang client’s hotel room. As soon as she was ushered into the room, she saw 6 farangs sitting expectantly on the bed. Now she’d heard of such things with ladies who had been with Arabs, but never before with farangs. Her first reaction was to try and escape, but the farang client who had engaged her held onto her arm tightly. She was lucky to escape with minor bruising after effectively being gang raped by the 7 men. Hopefully, she’ll know better next time.

This incident also illustrates how trusting Thai ladies are. If it had been a Russian, or one of my minders in Dubai, checks would have been made at the start and finish of the proceedings and someone would have kept a watchful eye on the client, but here in Thailand such things are not commonplace. Which leads me onto the next story.
One sometimes hears of ladies being kidnapped by Thai taxi drivers in Bangkok and whisked off to foreign climes. The next incident concerns a lady who shared a taxi with a Russian. Sharing is not usual in Bangkok, but she was in a hurry and didn’t think twice about it. The Russian started speaking to the taxi driver in Russian and he apparently understood him. The next thing she knew was a cloth containing chloroform being put over her face and losing consciousness. The next thing she knew she was on a freighter on her way, it transpired, to Dubai. She was forced to work in a hotel as a sex-hostess for six months before she managed to escape with the help of one of her clients. Moral, don’t share a taxis with strange men.
Thai men have a bad reputation of sending out their wives and girlfriends to work in bars, but not usually farangs. The next story shows even the supposedly jai dee farangs are not always so. A farang had been living with a Thai lady for six months and all had gone well, initially. She had been treated well, gold and other presents bought for her, taken out to expensive restaurants and on day trips to various exciting tourist venues. Then one day, it all turned bad. The money ran out and the first thing was that her boyfriend asked her to sell all the gold he had bought her. Then he asked her to borrow money from her friends, who rapidly turned into enemies, as a result. Then her farang boyfriend forced her to go to a mafia money lender to borrow money at extortionate interest rates. She was lucky to escape with her life over that one, when they were unable to pay and her boyfriend went into hiding. He reappeared 3 weeks later and it was then that the inevitable happened. He forced her to go and work in the beer bars to support them.
If Thai guys have bad reputations, this particular farang was ten times worse. He was an absolute tyrant. He made her work all hours god sends and forced her to go on as many “offs” as possible. So much so that she was battered and bruised. Eventually, she wised up and found another lady for him to take her place. She was lucky to get off the hook.
The next story is equally bad. A farang was so jealous of his live-in Thai girlfriend after hearing stories of how Thai ladies have innumerable Thai boyfriends that he effectively kept her imprisoned in his room. When he was there he wouldn’t let her go out and when he himself went anywhere, he kept her chained up to the bed by a chain and padlock. Needless to say, she sought help one day, phoning one of her friends who brought the Tourist Police round to free the lady. A similar story concerns a Thai girl that her farang boyfriend knew smoked speed or “yah ba”. He, too, was hyper-jealous and to keep her contained threatened to phone the police and report her every time she wanted to go out. Thankfully, she managed to escape one day when he was out. He didn’t contact the police because she found out he was a wanted criminal in England and turned the tables on him.

The Harrowing Tale of a Farang Betrayed

The Harrowing Tale of a Farang Betrayed

The following is a true account of and allegedly dishonest Thai sex-workers attempt to completely fleece her farang husband.

Both names have been withheld, but contact details will be passed on to interested parties who choose to communicate with PDN. The foreigner, who we will call John Roo, met the lady, who we will call Ying, apparently in Burriram. To cut a long story short, John fell in love with Ying and proposed marriage to her. As a consequence, he bought her a car, a motor bike and paid for the education of her 4 children over a period of 2 years. John says that he worked 8 hours a day to support and help this family that he considered his own and by whom he is still called ‘Papa’.
During some period of this time, Ying, at the insistance of her mother, went to Malaysia and Singapore. John only discovered when she was deported that she had, in fact, gone to work in these two locations as a prostitute. He also discovered that all the time he was with her she’d had several Thai boyfriends, at least one of whom had been driving the car he bought for her, and she had continued to work as a prostitute, all the while lying to him that he was her one and only.
John is currently stuck at her family’s house in Burriram, looking after her children while she is away, plying her trade in either Pattaya or Bangkok. Before she left, Ying gave John a signed IOU for Bt150,000, just before she stole another Bt25,000 (the cost of his airfare back to Australia), in addition to a further Bt300,000 that she stole previously. His embassy has told him they won’t help him out of his predicament, his friends and family have disowned him due to her and he is tired, scared and growing increasingly more desperate.
John made further discoveries about Ying, namely that she’d had 4 separate fathers for her children. In addition, she’s already had 4 abortions and is once again pregnant, which John assumes will also be aborted. She currently has genital herpies, all the while having practised unsafe sex, without a condom, and John is concerned that she will contract further STDs.

So others don’t fall into the same trap, we’re prepared to give several clues to Ying’s identity, namely that she is now 30 years old, has 3 distinctive tattoos: one on her lower back, a dark one on her right arm and a large dragon on her back. John says that she is a smooth talker and an habitual liar, who lies to Thais and farang alike. Most disturbingly John says she told everyone she had a rich farang boyfriend and borrowed money from all and sundry, telling them he will pay them back on her behalf. John currently has some members of the mafia looking for him, while other mafia members have found him and are putting pressure on him to do their dirty work by “doing (unspecified) things to her family”.

John says his neighbours can testify as to what type of person she is and that the whole town knows she did wrong by him. Apparently, she even attacked him and threatened him with knives when he asked her for some money back before she sneaked away with her mother’s help. He says he feels like a prisoner in their home with everyone treating him with contempt and pretending to care and be his friend. John says “my family gave them money to help and support them. I have nothing and no one now. I have lost everything. I have given them everything, my heart, my soul …. everything.”

Finally, John in utter desperation asks “Do they want me to kill myself before they are all happy…before they go out and do this to someone else?”These are the grim details of John’s heartrending story. If anyone cares enough to help him out of his dire predicament before he does something really desperate, please contact us and we will pass on John’s contact details.

Remarks:
The pictures are for illustrative purposes only. We hope to publish actual photos as we recieve them.
Warina Punyawan
editor.pdn@gmail.com

THE GRIM REALITIES OF BAR-OWNERSHIP IN PATTAYA

Snooki’s advice to aspirant bar owners

Have you ever wondered what it’s really like to own a beer-bar or Go-Go bar in Pattaya’s fair city? You have? Did you really talk to the people who run them and find out the true story?

            If you visit as a tourist and dream of being surrounded by idolising, willing ladies, dream on. The reality is somewhat different, especially in the low season, which seems to be most of the year these days. You’ll notice lots of bars up for sale on nearly all the notice boards in this Fun City. Ever wondered why? Ask yourself, if they’re such fun to run and so profitable, why are they always up for sale and why do you rarely see them advertised in real estate shops or publications. Could it be that they’re not so profitable and in reality, really difficult to run?
            Take the girls, for instance, do you think they’re as friendly as they appear when you’re a customer? If you do, you’re likely to be rudely awakened. Most of the girls seem to avoid work rather than welcome it. There’ll be squabbles, jealousy, groups of them leaving in droves. They’ll really stress you out; no doubt about it.
            And you’ll have to pay their salaries in the lean days, when your customers are few and the takings minimal. That’s if they haven’t already been pilfered by the unscrupulous members of the bar-girl fraternity. And don’t forget, for most bar-owners this is a 7 day a week enterprise, which is increasingly becoming a 6 day week as the girls wise up to their being exploited. Then, if you’re a concerned bar-owner, the girls have to be tested for sexually-transmitted diseases. And then you’ve got to get girls who will consistently be nice to the customers or will enthusiastically go out and “jap the farangs”.
            And then you may be afraid to take a welcome break for fear of all the girls leaving, or some unscrupulous, envious competitor reporting you to the immigration police for working. Don’t forget, you can’t lift a finger to help in the bar if you don’t have a work permit and few do! Then there’s ownership itself. Are you going to put the bar in your loved one’s name? If so, make sure she hasn’t got numerous Thai boyfriends, or a completely avaricious family with innumerable sick water buffalos, family members or younger siblings who seem to constantly need new mobile phones or motorcycles because they’re just lost or crashed them. You thought you were the one who wore the trousers, think again! It’s most definitely a risky game – Pattaya roulette, it’s called.
            Then there’s the lease. Make sure your bar isn’t too profitable; otherwise the lease is sure to rise as the landlord gets to hear of it. Or the competitors or the “boys in brown”, who will definitely be round for handouts. And so your profits vanish! There are those who do well, but very few. It’s often a question of prime locations, extremely able Mamasans, adept at keeping the girls, both in place and in line, (like me, until I gave it up and became freelance because it was too much hard work).
            And then there’s the noble art of knowing when to pull out or move on. And make sure you’re not tempted to sell cut price cigarettes from Cambodia or Viagra, for that matter. You need to have been here for a fair number of years to discover all the pitfalls, and you’ll hear many, many stories of failure – for the unwary, Thailand can indeed be the land of broken dreams, not just broken hearts. If you really want to own a bar, do some research. Check location, the competition, where to get stock, how much it will cost to redecorate, buy a new wide screen TV to keep up with your competitors, or a new pool table.
            Then there’s wages, how many employees to have. Think of the regulars, how to handle, freeloaders, or guys who play the girls or worse abuse them! Not an easy game bar-ownership, and don’t believe anyone who tells you it is.
Written by : Snookie

Journalist Charged with Lese Majeste Law

From the hell of his Bangkok prison cell, the writer Harry Nicolaides reveals the horror of his daily battle to survive.

We are woken at 6 and counted in the cell. Mine is 12 metres long and just over four metres wide, holding 50 or 60 prisoners, mostly Thais, mostly murderers and rapists. The cell has one toilet, which is a hole in the ground, and poor ventilation. I sleep in a face mask because tuberculosis and pneumonia are common. I’ve been in this jail for five months, since my arrest in September.
My book, Verisimilitude, was a rather clumsy first attempt at fiction – only 50 copies were printed and seven sold. I love Thailand and respect the royal family. It was never my intention to offend anyone.
For breakfast I have soy milk and a biscuit. The prisoners wash and shave around troughs covered in grime. The water is changed once a week. Then there’s assembly. We stand to attention as the Thai flag is raised. We’re asked to pray to a large gold Buddha. I use the time to collect my thoughts and think about my loved ones.
The guards make long speeches in Thai. I imagine they’re about prison etiquette.
I’m then taken upstairs with other foreigners to clean another cell block.

After that we’re at leisure for a while. I used to walk around, but I can’t help but encounter the weak and the feeble – such as men with TB, languishing on benches. It deadens me. So I try to spend my time replying to the many letters I receive. Letters keep me alive. We are allowed one 30-minute visit a day, but not on weekends or holidays. The hardest part is returning to my cell after a visit from family or friends. I break down when I think how they’re suffering. At 12 the lunch bell rings. The food is mostly fish bones in hot water, extremely spicy, with rice. I’ve tried it and felt unwell. I can’t afford to fall sick – the mental strain is enough – so my family send me some chicken and a salad every day. There are 20 or 25 cats that run into the mess hall before the prisoners. Some men put cigarettes in the cats’ mouths or do other unspeakable things to them. I am barefoot most of my day. It is partly a security measure so we can’t climb the electrified, barbed-wire fence, and partly custom. But the floors are covered with fish bones, saliva and cat vomit, so my feet are black. I am led to court in shackles and chains. It’s positively medieval. They’re degrading and they bruise and lacerate the ankles. They make you feel you’re guilty.

They say that it is easy to get to someone in a prison like this, so I am always on the alert. I have met some colourful characters, like Viktor Bout, the suspected Russian arms dealer. He’s an unassuming, softly spoken man. He gave me some garlic the other day – and a manuscript of his life story to edit. I haven’t looked at it yet. Lots of people give me manuscripts about their lives and cases. They seem to think I’m a BBC journalist, of all things. At 4pm we’re locked up until 6am. My patch is about a foot wide, the length of my body. I cannot move to the left or right without pressing on another person. I cannot stretch out my legs without kicking someone. On the king’s 81st birthday I saw fireworks in the distance. Some prisoners had tears in their eyes, praising a man they regard not just as their king but their father. I may not be Thai, but I am a son, and I know what it means to love a father. I am applying for a royal pardon. I pray the king learns of my plight so I might enjoy his grace. When I’ve finished my chicken, Thais beg for my scraps. The fluorescent lights stay on at night, so I sleep with a box over my head. I toss and turn on a thin mat on the hard floor. And this, too, shall pass, other foreigners tell me. It’s an old adage and true. But time passes very slowly here. as told to Andrew Marshall The Sydney Morning Herald 08 February 2009

Snookies Story Pt 2: Mamasanning

We lived happily together until Tom?s wife from England turned up one day at his condo. My Buddha! That was an experience. Talk about being a tigress! Tom?s wife went absolutely ballistic when she found me living with him. I had no option but to move out.

After Tom, I was at a loose end for some time. But one day I happened to meet a friend, John, who was a regular in Soi Cowboy, the beer and Go-Go bar locale off Soi Asok in Bangkok and he asked me to go with him to a beer-bar to give him my impressions of a new girl he fancied there. This I did, meeting John?s prospective new girlfriend, but I wasn?t impressed with her. I thought she was just a gold digger and told John so.
While we were in the beer bar, we got chatting to the boss, a farang called Jim. He asked me what I was doing at the moment, and when I told him I was between jobs, he asked if I would like to work as his cashier as the previous one had been sacked for ripping him off. I thought about it for a while and told him it would be OK as long as I didn?t have to go ?off? with any of the customers. He agreed to my terms and I started work the following day.
I?d only been working with him for a week when his Mamasan left after an argument. Jim asked me if I thought I?d be able to manage his ladies and when I replied yes, he asked me if I?d like to be his new Mamasan and I of course agreed to a month?s trial.
At first, the ladies were very apprehensive of me as I was older and of a higher class than they and from Chiang Mai, whereas they were all from Esarn. However, it wasn?t long before I was able to befriend them, because, basically, I?m a very friendly person and can get along with more or less anyone. It was low season and the girls weren?t in the best of spirits with so few customers.
My first crisis came when two of the girls fought over one particularly handsome young farang, British, as I remember. He was a bit of a sly dog, however, and played the two off against each other. His ultimate goal was to pay as little as possible and get one of the girls to live with him. It turned out that he had promised to take them both home to England and they used to continually taunt each other, making claims of being his favourite. Neither of them charged him any money; he had to pay the bar fine, obviously, but that was all. Eventually, he chose one of them, the most beautiful and we never saw either of them again.
My next crisis concerned a girl who was married to a Thai kick boxer that was incredibly jealous. One day, after making many threats, he came into the bar and assaulted one of the girl?s farang boyfriends, but he?d bitten off more than he could chew because this particular farang was a black belt karate expert. The farang beat the Thai guy to within an inch of his life. Needless to say, the Thai guy wasn?t humbled, but brought three of his friends to sort the farang out. The three managed to inflict some pain on the farang, but he too had friends and we had a really serious vendetta on our hands. The rivals used to stake out the bar, waiting for each other. I decided the best approach was to get the girl in question to persuade the farang to go to Pattaya with the promise of following him after a few days. Thankfully, I was successful otherwise I dread to think what would have happened, but certainly it would have spelled death for one or more of them. The girl did go to Pattaya for a couple of weekends, but then he found a new girlfriend and we never heard from him again, either.
The next problem concerned an American farang who was very reluctant to spend any money at all? Billy Ki Nok, we called him. He used to sit in the bar every night nursing one drink and never bought a lady drink. We tried every ploy in the book to persuade him to part with his money, but to no avail. That was, until he met Joy, a newcomer to the bar from Burriram. She completely won his heart and he changed into a completely different person. He?d obviously been waiting for the right person, He spared absolutely no expense, buying Joy expensive presents of gold and all the cuddly toys she could carry. The street seller of cuddly toys must have made a small fortune because Joy?s room was filled from floor to ceiling with bears, dogs, turtles and elephants; so much so that you couldn?t move for them ? just as well she liked cuddly toys! However, she sold them all and all her gold when Johnny-not-so-Ki-Nok returned to America. She made enough money that she was able to take a holiday in Burriram for three months.
My final bit of trouble at the particular bar we?re talking about ? sorry, no names ? involved a girl who fell madly in love with a farang customer. She had never really been in love before, and you know what they say, women only ever fall in love once in their lives. Well, this was definitely the one for her and for the month that her farang remained in Thailand, she was in heaven. When he returned to Germany, she was totally distraught. Moping about all day with a long face and refusing to entertain any other customer. One morning, we heard that she was in hospital having tried to commit suicide by slashing her wrists. Luckily, the paramedics had caught her in time and she recovered and returned to her home in Khon Kaen. I heard later that she?d recontacted her German boyfriend and was about to go and live with him in Germany.
About a week later, I asked my boss for a holiday as the previous 3 months had really taken it out of me. I never returned to his bar, but that?s another story.

Story by Snookie
Translated by Warina