Miss Bangkok: Memoirs of a Thai Prostitute

This book tells the tale of a Thai prostitute. It covers her early life and the dysfunctional family life that saw her end up in Bangkok with her mother in the first place, it speaks of her relationship with each of her parents, how she came to be married to a fellow who ended up being abusive, her marriage break up and her gradual move into the sex industry. We hear some anecdotes about this occupation and they provide an interesting perspective when juxtaposed against some of the more celebratory sexpat style books out there.As the book moves on we learn how Bua (her pen name so to speak) went from working as more of a hostess to ending up working as a more full service provider. She lays open a lot of her choices which the average reader may shake their head at, how she had a rich Japanese guy sponsor her for years and how she led him on the whole time and when he finally wanted to consummate things she wouldn't go down that path (which cost her his sponsorship). She also is brutally honest throughout the book about some of the violence perpetrated against her by her first husband and also by the Thai man she later took up with.Throughout the book we get a peppering of stories of things that happened to other girls and you will get somewhat of an insight into how these go-go bars work and their various business models. The language used is flowing and the book has a generous font and at not even 250 pages it is a very brisk read. The book is credited to the lady in question 'with Nicola Pierce' and it's really this latter person who probably deserves the credit for the readability of the book (Nicola Pierce has also written other books in English for Thai people).I found it a somewhat addictive read in the same way watching an accident unfold is fascinating. After all the almost deliberately stupid choices this woman has made in her life seems almost guaranteed to lead to a dark pit of despair. If any psychologist wanted a perfect example of self sabotage to show their students this would be a good book to direct them to. Moronic decision after moronic decision is made with the author seemingly quite happy to pass it all off as fate. Can't be bothered at school - meh, just fate she wasn't academically gifted. Marries a bloke her mother wants her to - meh, girls of her class don't get choices in these things. Screws up the rich Japanese meal ticket bloke - meh, she knew he'd not be interested anyway once he found out she had a child. After blowing the potential meal ticket she takes up with a no-hoper local guy and quite happily consummates THAT relationship with the instant production of children in quick succession - meh, what else was she supposed to do? Stuffs up another western meal ticket - meh, she didn't like how he was controlling. Again and again she scuppers her chances, always finding another excuse for having done so. Yet all the while wanting to be saved from her situation (yeah right).Quite honestly given how annoying her stupidity is you start to wonder just how painful she would be to live with. And if it's really that surprising therefore that she was always getting belted by her partners. I'm not condoning it mind you, but living with someone who seems to actively and deliberately choose wrong every single time it's hardly surprising.But for all that I found it an interesting story, a rather sad tale and yet one that you can't but help to feel is pretty common across the worlds red light districts. It certainly puts some things into perspective when she is talking about the sort of coping mechanisms girls employ and the sort of headspace they inhabit while on the job. Certainly an interesting read on a certain level.

Relatively unvarnished and shocking honesty. She tells the story of her life growing up as a child of poverty in Thailand and her eventual departure from Thai Society for the life of a prostitute.Mostly told as a tragic tale... it is obvious that her belief in karma and her inculturation as a child of poverty have had drastic effects on her ability to believe that she could Escape, combined with the tendency toward fatalistic perception of her environment that many Thais have. While her sister got an education and succeeded, she says education "is not for her" She also talked herself out of relationships with men who were not abusive to her who were willing to sponsor her and pay for her for lengthy periods... obviously because she engages in self-defeating and self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors.Nonetheless the book is a very compelling read of a life of struggle and survival through the vehicle of prostitution.This is a very poignant work, and one of my favorite books in my library as a character study of how choices determine your life both positive and negative.

Born to an army sergeant major in Isan (Northeastern Thailand), the author Bua had a happy childhood growing up among military tanks and trucks. She had no money for toys or even colour pencils while her mother gambled away her allowance and her father squandered money at watering holes on payday.Before long, her parents were fighting and she would hide in her neighbour’s house. Her mother’s gambling habit grew worse. When she was 17, her father found a lover and her mother decided to leave him and take her and her sister to Bangkok. Her mother sold som tam (papaya salad) on the streets. A bartender by the name of Chai tried to hit on Bua. Her mother opened doors for him and urged Bua to marry him even though she had no feelings for him.Bua and Chai got married and she only found out that he was a nut case who was very loving one moment and downright abusive the very next minute when she was pregnant with his child. Bua was beaten up whenever he suspected that she was having an affair. Bua decided to leave him and she left her son with her father in Khorat.Bua went to work as a bartender, then a hostess at an upmarket nightclub. An wealthy Japanese businessman by the name of Hiroshi became enamoured with her. He showered her with money and gifts, hoping that she would agree to be his mistress. She rejected him, but he patiently courted her, thinking that she was a shy virgin playing hard to get. After three years, he gave up. Bua had to abandon her classy apartment and move into a shanty in a slum.Then, she met a motorcycle courier by the name of Yuth who was “more attractive than Chai”. She found him “sweet” and “affectionate”. In spite of the tremendous restraint she showed in rejecting the wealthy and mature Hiroshi’s advances, she wasted no time in jumping into bed with the vocal and showy Yuth. Shockingly yet predictably, he turned out to be another wife-beater. She wanted to leave him but discovered that she was pregnant. She gave birth to two of his children and while he doted on them, he refused to work and the family drifted into financial dire straits.Bua tried to work as a hostess again, but at 29, she was deemed too old for the upmarket establishments catering to wealthy Asians. Realising that her “market value” had plummeted, she was recruited into a Patpong gogo bar by another Isan girl by the name of Nok. Yuth was agreeable to her prostituting herself as long as she only slept with Farangs and not Thais. Bua received her thong bikini and started dancing on stage, trying to get horny Farang men to bring her back to their hotel rooms.Nhim, the mamasan at the gogo bar, ran a tight ship with strict house rules. Bua was regularly subjected to the indignity of having regular blood tests and her vagina douched at a VD clinic.Before long, the inevitable happened. Bua met a then 35-year-old engineer from California by the name of Jack. He not only gave her orgasms, he even took her shopping. Bua was in the habit of telling her clients about an abusive ex-spouse to gain sympathy. She lied to Jack that she was a single parent. After Jack left Thailand, he sent her a long love email. She looked forward to the day Jack would book her on the next flight to California.Jack visited Thailand frequently, but he seemed contented to remain a regular customer in spite of their apparently romantic relationship. As expected, Bua’s mother welcomed Jack with open arms but discreetly warned her not to get emotionally involved. Bua did not tell him that she was still living with an abusive husband and two children. She was also having conflicting feelings about Jack. One moment, she was doubting his sincerity when he didn’t seem to mind her sleeping with other men in his absence and yet another moment, she was hating him for being possessive when he wanted her for himself only.One day, Bua received an email from a certain Sarah – Jack’s fiancee! Emails from Jack stopped after that. She realised that she was not the only liar in the relationship.Bua’s sister Nang found herself a Norwegian boyfriend and married him. She was instantly inundated with requests for money from family members to distant relatives. Nang offered Bua a means of escape from her unhappy marriage, but she couldn’t bear to leave her children. Seeing that the two of them were so attached to their father, they would hate her if she took them away. Bua ends the book with hope that she would one day meet a Farang who could rescue her from prostitution. Ironically, prostitution is her only way of finding him.I finished reading this book in a couple of hours. It’s really very “light” compared to the classics that I often have to pore over word for word. I’m not sure if Bua had used a ghostwriter, but the language is simple, fluent and unpretentious. I can’t say that I’ve learned anything new from this book, but it does offer a complete story with an insider’s view of how a bargirl came to be.However, I take issue with Bua’s understanding of the Buddhist concept of karma. She wrote: “I have come to the conclusion that I must have done some terrible deeds in a past life to warrant such a terrible present”. It seems pretty obvious to me that the mess she found herself in was largely the result of her imprudence in this life. Suffice to say that she has not won my sympathy.

Very good insight into the other side of the sex industry. One side is pretty girls and all partying. The other side is woman trying to take care of her kids and husbands who treat her miserably. Touching story. Well written.

The author has a simple writing style that manages to captivate the reader, I felt that I was right next to her listening to her words or seeing her daily life. There are many tragic events happening in the book and her resilience and ability to pick herself up every time are admirable. If you have been in the sex industry too, you will relate to a lot of things she describes. I definitely recommend her book and I hope she found the happy ending she deserved in her real life!

Very interesting and fast paced. Page turner. Very well written.Thailand bar scene- A utopia for farangs/a hell for these girls.Definately recommended.

This is a very interesting read, about a young Thai women who - in order to support herself and her children - ends up in prostitution. She finds herself effectively abandoned by her parents and her husband. And, through desperation, takes a job as a 'dancer' at a bar in a Thai city. This basically means that she's regularly used and abused by an endless series of men who pay her for sex. The money she earns is sufficient to pay her way - and she becomes essentially trapped in these circumstances, unable to afford a way out and therefore year after year repeating what she does, caught-up in a cycle of sexual exploitation.This is a very personal story - written from a first person perspective. It's quite short, and very clearly written. It's heart wrenching to read, as this young woman expresses her pain and suffering in full detail. She hates what she's forced to do, doesn't enjoy it at all, and dreams of a different life. As a prostitute, she considers herself worthless. And the fact that some men are willing to cause such suffering does impact on her view of the human condition. At times, she seems to long for death - in the hope that "in her next life" things will be different!This is one woman's story. Yet it's a life story that's experienced by many, many thousands of Thai women, as well as countless millions of women around the world. It shouldn't happen. Hopefully by reading this book, and others like it, more and more people will contribute to changing things - to ultimately abolish the horror that is prostitution.

Sono contenta di aver acquistato questo libro.L'ho letto i un giorno....E una storia vera che mi ha fatto capire un po della vita di una prostituta thai

Ein thailändisches Drama,die Geschichte von Bua, die sich aus finanzieller Not in die Prostitution begab um ihre Famile durchzubringen. Die Erzählweise aus ihrer Perspektive ist sehr ergreiffend. und nimmt dem Sextourismus wirklich jede Illusion.

Reasonable read yes read it