Sympathy For You

I read with interest the submission from 'a voice from a Thai' and all I can say that as a farang married to a lovely Thai lady I can fully sympathize with her comments. It is very sad that certain elements of society worldwide view Thailand in terms of being one large brothel, but let us not forget these are very narrow minded people who judge others before they know the facts.

It is of course true that in Thailand, as everywhere else in the world, one can procure the services of prostitutes, I have no moral or other problems with prostitution between two or more consenting adults, and the only reason people maybe would not consider using these services in other areas of the world is I guess usually purely a legal question should they get caught.

For my own story, before my now wife and I got together, we were friends for a year or so, having worked together, and so from time to time would go out as friends, on various occasions I have had 'the look' from people, and at one time, whilst chatting to my friend in a department store, I nearly went up to a farang woman who gave me a disgusted look, and told her not to judge people until she knows the facts, since we were at that time just friends out shopping together.

Since we have been married the same has happened on numerous occasions for example, my wife and I were going out for a drink, I decided to drop my car off at our apartment so she decided to wait outside the bar for me, when I got back she said that a Thai man on a motorbike had stopped to ask her if she knew where he could get a woman for 3,000 baht, all I can say is that has it really come to that stage when a girl cannot wait on a street for somebody without being approached for sex? It is very sad if that is the case.

Also on numerous occasions, since we live in the centre of Bangkok, she has been approached by farang men trying to 'chat' her up for going to a hotel with her, even during the daytime.

I would just like to say that we should never assume that all women are for sale! We should always treat any woman, no matter what their profession, with the greatest of respect since they are after all the ones that can bring so many good things into our lives.

So please treat the bar girls with a little dignity and respect for they are often doing a very tough job, in difficult circumstances, yes there are those who will cheat you, the same as there are garage mechanics who will cheat you, remember there are good and bad people in all situations.

And if you do come to visit the wonderful kingdom of Thailand, please look at all it's many
wonderful features and enjoy everything it has to offer.

As for my wife and myself, we will have to put up with the looks people give us worldwide, the same as many other mixed marriages have to, and laugh it off in the knowledge that it is only small minded people who give us those looks. And should I really care if anybody thinks my wife is an ex bargirl, not really, because to be honest it wouldn't really matter if she was, would it?

Stickman says:

That a Thai man approached your wife in the street shows that it is not just outside of Thailand that many men see Thai women as “approachable” – but inside the country as well. On one hand it is sad, but on the other hand, it is the Thais who have allowed things to get to this stage. It is now up to them to take measures to fix the ugly stereotype that many people have of Thailand, or more specifically, Thai women.