Her deft delicate arms swirl in circular motions over the ‘up’ escalator railing as she rides the moving stairs cleaning its glass sides. When she reaches the top, I watch as she crosses to the ‘down’ escalator on the other side and repeats the cleaning motion.
Dressed in the mall’s pale yellow service uniform with a white frilly apron, the graceful young Thai woman---shining black hair in pony tail---wears orange rubber gloves. She uses dark blue felt cleaning cloths to continue her escalator cleaning routine: sanitizing each moving railing while standing, holding the cloth firm against the constant motion; placing the cleaning cloth on a pole, wiping the moving parts as she rides again to the top then crosses over and repeats the same cleaning riding the down escalator.
Dressed in the mall’s pale yellow service uniform with a white frilly apron, the graceful young Thai woman---shining black hair in pony tail---wears orange rubber gloves. She uses dark blue felt cleaning cloths to continue her escalator cleaning routine: sanitizing each moving railing while standing, holding the cloth firm against the constant motion; placing the cleaning cloth on a pole, wiping the moving parts as she rides again to the top then crosses over and repeats the same cleaning riding the down escalator.
All part of the people-watching as I sit in this modern beach side city mall in Hua Hin, Thailand. Watching couples stroll by, I am struck by the inordinate number of ‘mixed’ ones: white males with nubile Thai women. The men: Caucasian, mostly older, overweight, and unattractive, followed by pert and pretty Thai girls who could be their daughters.
The tiny women lag behind because they can’t keep up with the long strides of their male counterparts who seem to ignore their distress. They dress provocatively, small breasts showing hard nipples through gauzy tops. They trip behind in four-inch-high heels, determined to be No. 1 Girl. Maybe get an offer they desperately want: get out of Thailand for a better life with a doting Sugar Daddy or, if they’re lucky, a husband. Their sing song sound language is delightful to the ear. At least, at first. Maybe after a steady diet or angry discourse of same, the melodic chimes could become annoyingly grating.
The tiny women lag behind because they can’t keep up with the long strides of their male counterparts who seem to ignore their distress. They dress provocatively, small breasts showing hard nipples through gauzy tops. They trip behind in four-inch-high heels, determined to be No. 1 Girl. Maybe get an offer they desperately want: get out of Thailand for a better life with a doting Sugar Daddy or, if they’re lucky, a husband. Their sing song sound language is delightful to the ear. At least, at first. Maybe after a steady diet or angry discourse of same, the melodic chimes could become annoyingly grating.
It’s no secret it’s open season on the farang (a person of white race) male here. But he knows he is hunted and as long as both know the unwritten rules, it’s a game as old as prostitution. Online stories reveal ‘sad, sleazy, desperate men paying for love with Thai girls’ detailing the lonely lives of wealthy British, American, European and Asian males who pay well for a romance tour to Bangkok. Apparently, such tours are also popular in Colombia and the Ukraine.
Then there’s the entrepreneurial and maligned/lauded Thai woman who offers online advice (for a price, about $545Cdn for VIP membership) to her readers on how to catch and hold the rich white man of her dreams.
It’s easy once you know how. VIP members are coached on: how to ask for money, what to ask for (trip/accommodation/favours), the language of love and/or commerce, irresistible sexual practices….
It’s easy once you know how. VIP members are coached on: how to ask for money, what to ask for (trip/accommodation/favours), the language of love and/or commerce, irresistible sexual practices….
Which brings me back to Phil, the 50-year-old divorced Californian, father of two, who sat next to us on our flight to Bangkok. On his way to meet his Thai woman, whom he said he met at an American banking conference, Phil was antsy and anxious to get to her. Before our astonished eyes, he opened a small jewel box and brought out the exquisite diamond ring he planned to give her as a marriage gift. I choked. Of course, they had gotten to know each other, he said. Of course, he will bring her back to the States to live, he said. Of course, he had not met her parents and family yet, he said; he admitted some trepidation on his part: “they eat different things, you know.”
And so begins our three month education in Thailand.
And so begins our three month education in Thailand.
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