Chinatown

So, all of this actually happened last thursday. But hopefully you can step up to the better late than never plate with me this week! So, Thursday was the chinese new year! Happy 2554! Thursday is also the evening we go to chinatown for outreach. Needless to say, it was PACKED!

Chinatown is a poor and dirty part of Bangkok. It is mainly inhabited by Chinese immigrants. The prostitution in Chinatown is very different from the bars. Here are the economics - Thailand benefits greatly from the sex trade in two ways: 1. sex tourism. The economy is supported by tourists - most of whom engage in the sex trade. I have seen statistics that claim 60-70% of the men who come to Thailand engage in the sex trade while they are here. So, if the sex trade was truly eliminated, what would happen to the economy? It would plummet! 2. The Thai government can get political brownie points for being moral and "cracking down" on the sex trade and maintain good business relations which keeps the business men coming in which keeps the sex trade booming. So, how does the country keep the sex trade booming and show that they are working hard to eradicate it all at the same time? They keep the bars open and running for westerners and arrest the prostitutes that serve locals. The chinatown prostitutes fall in the latter category. There are two main ways they go "under cover." 1. Many of them have mats with a small basket presenting cucumbers and alcohol drinks for sale. To the unknowing eye - their merchandise is inside the basket. 2. Other women will rent a stool outside of a shop for about 50 cents. She just sits, looking like a lazy customer of the shop and is extra friendly to the men who pass by. When the police come and question her, she hands over a pink envelope with some of her earnings and hopes he will turn a blind eye. When the ladies and johns agree on a price, they step into one of the many hotels. The hotels must do a lot of washing because they only rent out rooms in 30 minute or one hour increments. Then the girls return to their posts and the men continue on their way.

So, we went to the streets that night - two westerners, two Thais. As a non-Thai speaker, I was not very helpful. Most of my interaction was in the beginning with introducing myself and trying to understand and repeat the girl's name. The rest was too Thai for me to understand. But I'm glad for the going for my learning. Even thought I don't understand what's being said, I can see how it works. It's not so hard to walk up to one of these women and start talking. Hey! where are you from? How long have you been in Bangkok? - It's easy to talk about The Well. "We work for a group that helps people get off the streets an get other jobs if they want to." But last night we talked to one lady about how she makes her skin so white (the ultimate beauty in Thailand) with a special soap from the corner store. She told us that the night was going well because she had already had one customer and the police hadn't come by yet. After a while we said goodbye and moved on.

We saw a woman I recognized. She and her 12 year old son had been to The Well a week before for a visit. She was very loud and clingy and sat visiting with other rough characters with her son in a back alley. She was excited to see us. We sat and talked a while. She said she was doing okay. She had a japanese customer for a few days last week which was good for her financially. She explained to us that she lives with her boyfriend sometimes, but he doesn't want her son around, so the boy is homeless. She said a few years ago she couldn't find the boy. He had been picked up by a group that taught him to steal - he was good at it for a while, but eventually got caught and went to jail for a few months. When he got out again, she found him. The boy has never been to school. If he doesn't steal, how else does he eat when his mom is away for days at a time with her boyfriend or a customer?

This lady had been introduced to Jub (my housemate) by a friend who also lived and worked on the street with her eleven year old son. Jub asked where her friend was tonight. We never saw the friend and her son, but Jub explained to me that the mother works as a prostitute and hit the jackpot one week when she found a foreigner to sell her son to for a few days. He brought back 1,000 Bhat (about $30) and they bought all new clothes. She was very excited for her boy to be contributing to them so generously. The boy said he really liked the foreigner - he was so nice to him and made him feel so loved and cared for. When the ladies I work with Jub and Pada heard these stories they got very upset with the mother and said please don't do this to your son, it is not good for him. But she wouldn't hear it. The next week Jub and Pada saw the little boy. When he recognized them, he ran away - they haven't seen him since.

Before we left for home, we walked down the main drag to see the festivities. There were people everywhere! Street vendors were selling everything from flip-flops to ice cream. People were pushing and shoving. Crazy! We walked around (more accurately - we were shoved around) for 10 or 20 minutes before we decided it was late and enough and headed home. We were too tired to stay for the dragon show or the parade with the Thai princess.

I got home in time to take advantage of living 12 hours in the future and was the first to wish my boyfriend Liam a happy birthday!