Thai Bar Girls – Looking Through Your Eyes

A recent post on Behind The Noodle Curtain, titled Canadian boys need to toughen up, highlights the danger signals to watch for when it comes to Thai bar girls on the lookout for soft touch tourists, and expats who so easily fall in love. Rick’s excellent post, also tells the tale of two of his fellow Canadian nationals who fell victim to the honey traps often laid by Thai bar girls. One lost a lot of money, the other his life, a victim of murder when shot dead by a hitman.

Rick’s post is a must-read for anyone new to Thailand or those about to visit for their first time. Rick’s article is also a reminder to all of us that going into a cross-cultural relationship, without a grasp of your partner’s language, really does leave you open to the idiom of love being blind.

A list of life’s untrustworthy ‘professions’, would see Thai bar girls vying with airport taxi drivers for a place near the top. Many Thai blogs and forums highlight horror stories of bar girls skimming, scamming and ripping off customers, boyfriends, and their other halves. But does one bad apple spoil the whole bar girl bunch?

The post on Behind The Noodle Curtain is educational and thought-provoking but is there only one side to Thailand’s sex industry coin? I think not, so, let’s look at the Western male through the eyes of a Thai bar girl.

Looking Through Your Eyes

The photographs used in this post are for illustration purposes only and Beyond The Mango Juice in no way implies any of the women pictured are involved in the sex industry.

When male tourists land in the City of Angels, many make a beeline for Pattaya, and on arrival think they own it. We are talking about those who believe they can walk on water and rarely drink it – the type of traveller who has little respect for anyone.

Any Thai girl arriving in Pattaya for the first time needs advice and direction from someone who has circled the block many times. Know-how and knowledge put food on the table and clean clothes on the bed.

Pattaya is the sex capital of the world, and anyone who has been there will know that temptation is only one bar away. Some Western tourists thrive on that fact and fail to see, or don’t want to, the other side of the coin. Most bar girls are merely trying to make a living and doing their best for their family and trying to raise their standard of life.

Below are the type of Western characters you always see in Pattaya and how Thai bar girls might view them.

Typical Pattaya Bar Punters

• Johnny Cash – Johnny’s been hanging around Pattaya’s bars for a couple of months now. Big drinker, a heavy smoker and not that old. He’s always got money, but where’s his endless supply of cash coming from and when will it run out?. If he’s splashing big baht in the bars and living like there’s no tomorrow, he’s either a rich man or maxing-out credit cards. People with big money in Pattaya often settle for the quiet life. Take him for what you can, but don’t give him your heart.

• Johnny Nightlife – Johnny visits Pattaya twice every year for three weeks at a time, and is out every night. He’s bedded many bar girls, but only at hand-picked hotels or the girl’s apartment. You never see him in a bar during the day. Johnny’s probably a married man and spends the daytime with his overweight western wife. Go with Johnny and clean him for all you can.

• Johnny No Johnnie – When it comes to safe sex, Johnny doesn’t give a damn. He doesn’t care about HIV, or himself, and he won’t care about you. When Johnny’s in the bar, the only bell ringing should be one worn around his neck. All the single clubs and nightclubs in his home town have barred him from entry. Avoid like the plague.

• Fat Johnny – The only time Johnny gets off his bar stool is when his bladder is full or to straddle the back of his rented motorbike to whisk a girl back to his room. Johnny’s fat for a reason, and you’ll soon find out why. Every time he wants a takeaway, a pack of cheap cigarettes, or a beer from the fridge, you’ll be the one fetching it. And always, girls on top. Johnny’s simple but hard work.

• Johnny Rotten – He personifies all the qualities the Thai’s dislike. Johnny’s loud, rude and disrespectful. He’ll think nothing of swapping girls from the same bar night after night. You’re going nowhere with this one, so it’s best to shun him. Either that or hike up your price.

The Brains of a Buffalo

Most newbie bar girls soon realize a good percentage of Western men have less common sense than uncle Somchai’s buffaloes. And for some, it’s a money-making opportunity too good to miss. Unfortunately, it takes some bar girls years, and considerable heartache to switch on the warning lights.

Some bar girls who fall in ‘love’ with holiday tourists head back to hometowns and villages with a bundle of cash – also, with the promise of more to come. For many, their monthly ‘salaries’ dry up because the falang realizes his hard work is paying for buffaloes and a motorbike he can ill afford to see. When the paycheques stop, the girl’s return to Pattaya with a wiser and more hardened outlook toward western men. Rinse and repeat.

Street-wise Pattaya bar girls view most tourists and expats as honest, good-hearted people. However, they soon learn most Western men are easy prey for a good-looking girl. Regrettably, the Johnny’s, among those westerners, have over the years, soured and disillusioned too many girls and some are now wise to Johnny’s game. Now mistrust, dishonesty and jealousy are birthmarked on too many minds – both, Sout-East Asian and Western.

Pattaya’s apple has churned into cider and gout, but don’t always blame the bar girl.

Credits

Photograph Two Thai girls   by mark_karasek/Webshots

Photograph Thai girl   by mark_karasek/Webshots

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