KIM: The realities of Pattaya
This is our fifth day here in Pattaya and I’ve already experienced so much, a whole rollercoaster of emotions. It’s hard to convey everything we’ve seen here in words. It’s been far more shocking and complex than I had imagined. The sex industry here is so well established, it’s hard to understand how it could have reached this point.
Driving round Pattaya we’ve seen streets and streets filled with young girls with male tourists. It’s the sheer extent and visibility of it all that has confronted me; being immersed in a whole town based around this industry, of countless men publicly, shamelessly being escorted by Thai girls.
The men are from all over the world and of all ages, with a particularly large number of elderly Western men. The services, restaurants and shops around the town demonstrate the range of nationalities being catered for here; European, Middle Eastern, Indian, American and I felt a sense of shame hearing an Australian man behind us last night direct another Australian man to ‘Soi Seven’, a street where girls are blatantly on display. There are not only men holidaying in Pattaya, but many who have come in their retirement, to spend their remaining years paying for the company of girls.
Some girls are trafficked here, while many are drawn to Pattaya by the money in this industry. A girl could make over 20,000 baht every night, whereas in most other professions she may earn as little as 5,000 a month. The two incomes are not comparable, especially for girls coming from impoverished backgrounds, who must consider the lives of their families back home. When there is a struggle for many families to attain such basic rights as shelter, clean water, security and food it is easy to recognise the way in which poverty can cause such vulnerability to be lured to Pattaya. I feel as though it must be incredibly difficult to consider whether or not the relatively high-income industry that involves such pain, both physically and emotionally, such severe abuse, disease and psychological damage, is truly the best opportunity available. However, this isn’t really a decision that girls are free to make, when we reflect on the reality of what choice means in their situations.
Pattaya has revealed many harsh and devastating realities. The children of the women who work here sometimes remain in the villages with their grandparents, far from their parents. While other children stay at the back of bars and brothels watching their mums, others walking the streets until their mothers have completed a night’s work. And it’s not simply girls here but there is also a market for young boys. Male tourists can pay to fulfill any fantasy.
What I cannot understand is the extent of demand, how the market for this industry could have grown so large. One woman engaging with Openaid’s work told us that she has been in the sex industry since she was 8 years old. When I think of my cousin Amy, who is now 10, I cannot comprehend how anyone can mistreat a child in that way.
That question became more real yesterday when visiting a school in Wang Ma Dua, 3 hours from Pattaya. I did a presentation to a group of girls aged 10 to 14, but what I most enjoyed was sitting down with the girls and listening to them. We talked to the girls about their aspirations and asked them to draw an image of what they wanted to become. Most of the girls drew impressive images of teachers or nurses, holding a strong desire to help others.
Two girls, Kwamg and Nes will stay in my memory, long after I leave Thailand. Nes stood out to me immediately. Her sincerity and curiosity made me feel so comfortable even when language was a barrier between us and I loved the imagination and kindness she revealed through her ideas. Kwamg surprised me with just how capable she was. Her incredible English vocabulary demonstrated a real drive to learn, a sense of effort and self-belief. These girls were beautiful, kind, talented, respectful and so bright in the sense of their intellect and the warmth that they shared. The potential of these girls was great; there was no lack of passion, ambition or capability, but a dire lack of choice and opportunity to maximise that potential.
I left the school inspired by this group of girls, by their values and character. However, witnessing the reality that one girl, Duong Jai, goes home to everyday filled me with concern. She travels home with her younger sister by bicycle past factories of men to an open and empty home, clearly visible to any vehicle traveling on the nearby road. They stay alone until late when their parents return from work. It was the vulnerability of these two young girls that really unsettled me.
Driving back into Pattaya I could see the pathway there; the poverty that impels girls into an industry where income is substantial and available. I could finally see, in the countless girls presenting themselves to male tourists, the face of the girls I’d met in the school. I could finally see a girl dancing around a pole as a girl who originally held a very different vision of her future; a girl who once dreamt of helping other children as a teacher, now helping an old man into a hotel room. Thinking of Kwamg and Nes, their ambition and brightness, it really hurt me to imagine that immense potential being quelled by this place, by someone’s sexual desires. I could not accept that those stunning girls would be conscripted to a life of prostitution. I know I have the opportunities to pursue whatever it is I want to be, to develop my passions. And my passion is to ensure that these girls have the same. They deserve the same.
Through Openaid’s work - speaking to girls about their development, their safety, sexual health and setting up small ventures like mushroom and fish farms that generate steady income - we are able to create the means for girls and communities to grow and escape this cycle. I have seen that there is both a need and capacity to provide these girls with the opportunity to access resources and support that signify real choice.
