Nick and Gary are on a boys-only holiday with a difference. Their girlfriends think they're on a golfing trip, when in fact they have come to Thailand solely to have sex with prostitutes.
The young men, both 21 and chefs, are in the beach resort of Pattaya for the first time on a two-week break. Good-looking, with decent jobs and gorgeous girlfriends at home, they are not the sort of guys you expect to see paying for sex on the seedy streets of Thailand. But in the 24 hours since they landed, they've already handed over cash to two prostitutes.
Unashamedly, they compare it to trying to secure a one-night stand. While they might buy girls drinks all night only to get blown out in Tenerife, here they know if they fork out money, they're guaranteed sex at the end of the night.
"I wouldn't go to a prostitute in the UK - they spend their cash on drugs and I wouldn't want to fund their habit," Gary says. "It's different here."
"Here the girls send money back to their families in their villages. They're doing a good thing," Gary says. "They're so nice and sweet, it's easy to forget what they are."
As they head into a bar, wallets bulging with Thai bhat, girls swarm around them. It's clear the new sleazy sex tourists are more likely to be your boyfriend, your husband, your brother or even your son.
Despite prostitution being illegal, the country's sex industry's annual turnover is estimated at $4.3billion - making a significant contribution to the country's economy. Which perhaps explains why the law is so easily flouted. Sex here is incredibly cheap, too. A guy will pay just £5 for a sexual act, or anything up to £50 to spend the whole evening with a girl.
Whether they're graduates on their gap year or groups of lads on their annual holiday, young British sex hunters are joining the 500,000 men flocking to the country every year in search of cheap thrills with poor girls.
But while the go-go bars are glitzy and the women beautiful, the industry has a dark underbelly. Many of the women working in the bars have been trafficked across the country and forced into selling sex. Of the estimated 50,000 prostitutes working in Pattaya, a notorious hot spot just two hours from Bangkok, a staggering 40 per cent are believed to be HIV-positive.
Capitalising on the burgeoning sex trade, the prostitutes - many of whom appear to be very young, despite the legal age for sex workers being 18 - are forced by pimps, poverty and desperation to go to extremes to extricate money from their punters. It's not just sex they're offering to sell, but love and the promise of a happy-ever-after, too. Perhaps driven by the fact that bagging a Brit is often their only escape plan.
To help them make more money, the girls have recently started using a phrasebook entitled Get Rich Quick For Thai Bar Girls. The book teaches them how to say: "You're the man of my dreams," followed by: "My brother needs books for school," or: "I've got toothache and can't afford to get treatment."
In fact, the prostitute experience in Thailand is becoming blurred, with many men buying a 'girlfriend', taking them to their hotel for the entire holiday and paying for their services. Some arrange to meet the same prostitutes on a return trip. They email and maintain a cyber relationship once they return home.
Western male tourists have exploited these women for years, and now the need for more prostitutes to meet demand means ever-younger girls are being brought into the industry. They're encouraged to have unprotected sex in return for more money from punters with no regard for their health, or that of the men's unsuspecting British girlfriends back home.
Rachel Davies, prostitution and trafficking officer at CARE, a charity working to end prostitution, says there are several reasons why young British men have started travelling to Thailand for sex.
"Thai women won't seem anything like their girlfriends, so it's easier for them to be treated in a way that these lads would never dream of doing in the UK. When young men are away from their jobs and their families, they feel comfortable doing things that they'd never consider doing at home," she says. "In Thailand, there's an element of disassociation."
That's certainly the case for Nick and Gary - they're already planning their next sex holiday to Pattaya. No doubt Nick will tell his girlfriend it's another golfing trip. She's at home in Huddersfield, blissfully unaware of his holiday antics. "She doesn't need to know," he admits. "What happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand."
Where sex sells
Young Thai girls in lacy bikinis and miniscule miniskirts or PVC hot pants strut up and down, touting for business from the throngs of Western tourists.
"I'll be your girlfriend," they shout, as men paw and grope their exposed flesh.
Flashing signs scream sex and strip shows, all on tap for less than a round of drinks. For 400 baht (£9) men can take a girl out of the bar she works in, then negotiate the fee for 'extras'.
The girls charge between just £5 and £50 for a night, bizarrely throwing in a manicure for free. And no, that's not code for anything else
At a bar on Beach Road, 24-year-old Em (pictured below), from Udon Thani near the Laos-Thailand border, dances and smiles from 2pm to 4am every day, waiting for a customer to pay to have sex with her.
Her Thai husband left her after she gave birth to twin boys, who are now four years old, so she works as a prostitute to support them while her parents care for the children at home in their village.
They know how she earns the money she sends to them every month. She's not the only girl from her village to have turned to prostitution - it's simply not spoken about.
Em says she'd like a farang (a foreign husband) of any age, as long as he is jai dee (has a good heart) to care for her and her sons.
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| Left: Pattaya's notorious Walking Street, Right: Em earns money to care for her two sons |
She laughs and jokes, but when asked about the young men who've started to come to the bar, she begins to cry.
"They just want sex," she weeps. "They want it quickly, and they don't take me to nice places. They just want as many girls as they can. We don't mean anything to them."
Back on Walking Street, 19-year-old Ling from Sisaket, north-east Thailand, has been working at a bar for three months. She sends home around £100 a month to pay for her eight-year-old sister to go to school.
"The men here have changed," she says. "It used to only be middle-aged or old men coming for sex, but now more and more younger men are, too."
Ling explains that while they're easier on the eye, many girls actually prefer the older clients.
"With young men, it's non-stop boom boom," she frowns. "Old men are better. They're not as demanding."
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| The streets of Thailand are paved with young women |
'Thai girls left me broke'
Justin Dunn, 40, a PR from Liverpool, says:
I should know. I went on a lads' holiday to the Thai island of Koh Samui in 2005, and I ended up staying on for 10 months. After losing my job in PR and breaking up with my girlfriend, I wanted some fun, and at first I got it - in spades.
Girls threw themselves at me and I fell for the compliments and the flattery, thinking they genuinely wanted to go out with me. But they were as scheming as hell, fleecing me out of a fortune by claiming they needed money to send back to their sick grandmother, or to fix their bike. One girl even stole £150 from my wallet while I slept, another threatened to cut my penis off if I cheated on her, and pretty much all of them had some gangster connections.
Before long, I was broke and forced to get a bar job to survive. Luckily, I always practised safe sex - but there was one thing a condom couldn't protect me from. The first and only time I ever paid for sex, I ended up back at my bungalow with a gorgeous girl who called herself Nadia.
Just as things were getting hot and heavy, I discovered she was actually a he! Horrified and degraded, I gave him the money and told him to leave.
After 10 months of life in Thailand, I'd had enough. I didn't want to end up like those men you see there - tramps with tans, who've lost all their money to girls. Blokes going over to Thailand need to realise that the girls aren't interested in them. They just want their money - and they'll say or do anything to get it."
'I can have any girl that I want'
"When I go out in Manchester and meet a girl, I have to buy her drinks all night, chat to her and put a lot of effort in. In Thailand, I just click my fingers and any girl I want is mine, for a small price. It's too easy.
I first visited Pattaya in 2006, on a golfing holiday with friends. I knew Thailand had a sex industry, but I had no idea how public and accepted it was. It's so open it feels normal. Everywhere I looked, there were beautiful women. And when I learned you could pick one, pay less than £50 and she was yours for the night, it was too tempting not to. It's cheaper than wining and dining a girl, and she'll definitely sleep with you.
In three weeks, I slept with 15 girls. I was nervous at first, but then I really enjoyed myself. My friends didn't get involved with any of the bar girls, but they all knew what I was up to and didn't mind.
Since then, I've gone back to Thailand every year and have slept with prostitutes every time. My mum thinks I'm there to play golf and have a nice holiday.
On that first trip I met a bar girl called Summer and that year, and for the next two years, I paid her to stay with me for one week at my hotel and be mine exclusively. I knew when I left Thailand she'd sleep with other guys, and that did bother me a bit, but I looked at it like a holiday romance - with a difference.
Last year, she called me and asked for money and I sent her £100. But a month later she called asking for more money and I refused. She was angry and I knew I had to end any contact I had with her. I didn't want to be one of those guys who gets duped into sending all his money to a Thai prostitute.
I think my holidays to Thailand are almost exactly the same as other lads' holidays to places like Magaluf and Ibiza, where they meet girls and sleep with them. The only difference is that I pay the girls I sleep with.
I'm single, and although I've had a few casual relationships in the past, I've never been in one while I've been out in Thailand. And I've never told a girl what I get up to on my blokes-only breaks there - I really don't know how they would react, so I think it's best not to say anything.
I have safe sex so I'm not worried about STDs. If I meet a girl I want to settle down with, I'll stop my holidays to Thailand. But for now, I'm young and enjoying myself."
This article has 21 comments
If the women in the UK didn't get so fat and moan at us guys incessantly, we probably wouldn't go to Thailand. Take note British women, loose the flab and quiet your nagging! Gotta go, my flight to Bangkok leaves in 3 hours.
By Bitter and Twisted.. Posted August 1 2010 at 5:12 PM.
If the women in the UK didn't get so fat and moan at us guys incessantly, we probably wouldn't go to Thailand. Take note British women, loose the flab and quiet your nagging! Gotta go, my flight to Bangkok leaves in 3 hours.
By Bitter and Twisted.. Posted August 1 2010 at 5:11 PM.
Ah Thailand the land of two smiles, the country where very single foreigner has NO RIGHTS WHAT SO EVER - You are aware that random drug testing is allowed in Thailand even without your permission the police can stop you in the middle of the street ask you to produce a Urine sample and if that is not good enough they can take a blood sample - what you say in court is not permissible but what the Police officers tell the court is - so the word of one Thai police officer outweighs that of a dozen foreigners combined. Believe me folks the place is a toilet (Pattaya) ask any normal Thai women and they are ashamed of the place, Thai's tend to visit out of the tourist season. The bar girls in Pattaya the majority of them are out of the Issan provinces located in the North east of Thailand, these people take no prisoners, to them foreigners are nick named ATM man. A poor article basically tarring all Thai women with the same brush and that is not very fair as there are millions of beautiful Thai women not involved in the sex industry. The highest number of Brits killed abroad every year - the highest is in Thailand proportionally compared to the number of British tourists. This is in a country where it is ILLEGAL to bring in a copy of playboy magazine - sentence 2 years in prison.
By hammerharry.. Posted August 1 2010 at 9:49 AM.
So, 40% are HIV positive, huh?! It is common practice among 'sensible' Thai girls to ask that you wear a condom for boom-boom. However, this is after 'smoking' without a condom and is always a prelude to boom-boom. I have two questions.. (1) Can one get any STD from smoking, & (2) I have NEVER seen a bar girl's health clearance report even after asking for one. Is this report a myth to fool farangs? Do all bar girls have enforced regular (how regular) checkups? If not, what the heck is the difference between a bar girl & a Beach Rd. Freelancer? Apart from the cost, that is...
By cautious.. Posted July 30 2010 at 11:30 AM.
I have lived in Pattya for 3 years .... I now live 600km north east (sisaket) for the last 7 years. I visit Pattaya many times each year (with and with out my wife). Most of what you read here is ture but every one who travels there will have a different view on what they see. Life is short make the best of what you got.
By gavin.. Posted July 30 2010 at 8:07 AM.
As a "real life" prostitute in the UK, I accept that drug use is not unusual amongst sex workers.
However, it is unfair to say that we all spend our money on drugs, as it simply isn't true.
However, it is unfair to say that we all spend our money on drugs, as it simply isn't true.
By Christina.. Posted July 29 2010 at 11:36 PM.
I read with interest your piece on Pattaya and sex tourism. In the interest of journalistic integrity and balanced reporting it would be nice to see a similar report published about the middle-aged British and Irish ladies who travel to Turkey and sleep with Turkish (Kurdish) waiters and barmen, and pay them by buying them drink, cigarettes and presents. Of course these women don't see themselves as sex tourists and look down upon the men you highlighted in your piece, which was a tad sensationalised (but I suppose mundane has never sold newspapers). I've been to Turkey 20 times in the last 6 years and have seen this phenomenon at first hand so I sincerely hope you'll redress the balance and highlight the double standards shown by these ladies who travel to resorts like Kusadasi, Marmaris, and Altinkum with the sole purpose of bedding a Turk.
By padraig seasnain.. Posted July 29 2010 at 11:12 PM.
This is not fair for a good thaiwomen to who or whom married with western mans ( not all the same) whos sitll have a intelligent mine, Ofcause, you can saied about this shame about you too guys.P:).
By cat.. Posted July 29 2010 at 7:51 PM.
Hi dear? Hav noting to say, ok! is life it can happy to anyboby,
By Johnson.. Posted July 28 2010 at 2:21 PM.
Yes I've been to Thailand and paid ladies for sex. I am now 65. When I went to Bangkok the first time I new where to go. In a certain street every bar is a girlie bar. I learnt that nearly all the girls sell them selves to pay for thier babies or family back home. A lot of Thai men make babies and leave. The only way for the mothers to feed thier babies is to go with tourists. It is only certain areas where the girls work, if you don't know where they are you won't see them, so families can still go and not get hassled
By Colin Hardy.. Posted July 28 2010 at 1:48 PM.
Again, another article on some foreign land which the author does a walk around.
Sure there is a sex industry there, just like the UK, US, and anywhere else. People just have an issue with it being open.
Maybe men go there because it makes them happy? Maybe women at home should take notice.
Take the single male and remove him from Thailand. The economy would go belly up and poverty would get even worse.
Maybe if the average woman would go on a diet and not be suck a, well, you know.
Sure there is a sex industry there, just like the UK, US, and anywhere else. People just have an issue with it being open.
Maybe men go there because it makes them happy? Maybe women at home should take notice.
Take the single male and remove him from Thailand. The economy would go belly up and poverty would get even worse.
Maybe if the average woman would go on a diet and not be suck a, well, you know.
By A visitor.. Posted July 28 2010 at 2:12 AM.
Thai bargirls forced to work in bars and gogos by pimps? The writer of the article has never been to Thailand, it seems. Thai girls do not work for pimps, they work for themselves, their families and/or their boyfriends/husbands.
A "farmfresh" girl coming to Pattaya, Phuket or Bangkok to work in a bar dreaming of meeting a western man who will take care of her and her family, easily believes the lies told to her by western men who are married at home and have no intention whatsoever to engage in a serious relation with her. Thai girls are quick learners and the new girls are taught by the veterans and the they are hardened fast. The next customer could in fact be who she was dreaming about but she won't take any more chances. And she learns that lying and giving the man what he wants and what he wants to hear, will make him more willing to give her more money. These are working girls. If you want to find your love in Thailand, you can, and there is an abundance of that available all over the country, but a bar is not the place for it.
A "farmfresh" girl coming to Pattaya, Phuket or Bangkok to work in a bar dreaming of meeting a western man who will take care of her and her family, easily believes the lies told to her by western men who are married at home and have no intention whatsoever to engage in a serious relation with her. Thai girls are quick learners and the new girls are taught by the veterans and the they are hardened fast. The next customer could in fact be who she was dreaming about but she won't take any more chances. And she learns that lying and giving the man what he wants and what he wants to hear, will make him more willing to give her more money. These are working girls. If you want to find your love in Thailand, you can, and there is an abundance of that available all over the country, but a bar is not the place for it.
By TingTong.. Posted July 27 2010 at 4:46 PM.
40 percent H.I.V.positive?a recent survey of prostitutes on the notorious beach road found the figure 7percent, these girls go with multiple clients daily and many practice unsafe sex ,bar girls maybe 3 men a week & have to be tested monthly to keep their jobs.
By phil.. Posted July 27 2010 at 7:41 AM.
hahaha!!!!
its funny man..just u click your fingers only..?
n that girl be yours?...pround of your self...
i think not every girl...u r fail sometime but u
not show what happen... i think if u like u dont have to come do not talk bad about thai...
u know what thai people respect your country..dont be bad talk bad n do bad with us..
thanks...
its funny man..just u click your fingers only..?
n that girl be yours?...pround of your self...
i think not every girl...u r fail sometime but u
not show what happen... i think if u like u dont have to come do not talk bad about thai...
u know what thai people respect your country..dont be bad talk bad n do bad with us..
thanks...
By Purple RabbiT.. Posted July 26 2010 at 9:34 AM.
poorley researched ,
By wayne.. Posted July 26 2010 at 4:54 AM.
This article is so badly written and full of cliches...it's so easy to go and see this situation the way it's been written but every country has a sex industry and this article just gives Thailand a bad name, my husband is Thai and I feel this is insulting to him and my inlaws and all the other Thai people I know. It's basically saying 2 people from other countries can meet and it's true and love but if someone who is a foreigner meets a Thai person, they are only after your money.....how racist is that?!
By Get real!.. Posted July 26 2010 at 2:32 AM.
after my ex husband of 30 years went to thailand on holiday he came back wanting a divorce and thinking he was brad pitt he now goes 5 times a year for a month at a time and sends money over to at least two sex workers if not more hes very happy but hes destroyed our family
By anom.. Posted July 26 2010 at 2:23 AM.
" Justin got broke and got a job in a bar " .Seeing as though your not allowed to work there he's done rather well.Badly researched and poorly written.
By Amos.. Posted July 26 2010 at 12:44 AM.
Sorry, but the authors dont even know what the word "farang" really means!
if they dont know a word every single thailand tourist knows after 1 day staing there..
i doubt that this article is written fom someone who did enough research.
if they dont know a word every single thailand tourist knows after 1 day staing there..
i doubt that this article is written fom someone who did enough research.
By SoWhat.. Posted July 25 2010 at 11:10 PM.
It's extremely common for not only British men but for tons and tons of western men all over Europe to go to Thailand and pay for sex, that's why they bring up this topic.
The first time I was in Thailand all I could see was Western men and their Thai girls. It shocked me at first but now I'm pretty used to it.
I do know that many western women travel to Gambia (western Africa) to buy sex from african gigolos
The first time I was in Thailand all I could see was Western men and their Thai girls. It shocked me at first but now I'm pretty used to it.
I do know that many western women travel to Gambia (western Africa) to buy sex from african gigolos
By Lisa.. Posted July 25 2010 at 2:31 AM.
Interesting , people behave differently when away from home , why not a tackle a few other things . Like the thousands of female western backpackers who have been paying handsome young Thai men on Samui for sex for years . Or even something about what the Thai girls spend their money on , paying for sex with Thai men in the boy bars .
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