Thai Bar Girls
One of the less pleasant sights in Thailand you may encounter in the beach resorts and cities of Thailand is that of young Thai women coupled up with (often older) Western men. Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, but you wouldn’t know walking along the roads of Pattaya or Patong beach where bargirls boisterously seranade solo men on the streets – whether they are trawling the go-go bars or just trying to get home safely to their hotel.
A bargirl’s life seems bleak what with having to meet (ageing) Western men and possibly service them in unpleasant ways if they agree to do so, but for many it is a justifiable means to an end. Many Thai bargirls come from the poor rural villages of North Eastern Thailand and are desperately trying to support their families financially. They regularly send money home, and in this respect their “actions” – which you would expect to be frowned upon in conservative Thailand – are to a certain extent condoned by their families. Indeed, the ultimate prize for a bargirl – a marriage to a Western man – is seen as a triumph rather than a shame, as such a (relatively-speaking) rich spouse means the Thai girl and family will be provided for for the rest of their lives at a level of comfort they never could have hoped to have achieved themselves. When a Western man takes a Thai wife, he takes financial responsibility for her family too.
The important thing as a backpacker – and just as a decent person, really – is not to judge, as you don’t know people’s individual situations. Yes, there are sex tourists that come to Thailand every year for carnal gratification, and some of them are thoroughly unpleasant characters. Others come to build friendships and ultimately relationships with Thai women. Still others arrive without any such thoughts, but manage to fall for a regular Thai girl in the traditional way without so much as a single Baht changing hands. This latter scenario described my own personal experience in Thailand. Throwing dirty looks every white male/female Thai couple you see is not the way to go. I received my unfair share of such scowls for my situation, almost exclusively from white female backpackers who thought I was something I wasn’t. Don’t make the same mistake; let people get on with their lives and don’t judge until you know the situation.
