"Escorts?" Please Give Me A Break
Actually this week I wanted to write a complimentary story to Woofer's tragic epic, obviously not as long, but as an Aussie that has been in a similar situation (I think most of us, if honest have all done our balls over a girl) in regards to time frame, money spent and inability to just snap out of it. Then I read this week's column and I had to comment. Now I don't wish to take Stick to task as I agree with almost all of what he says. Truth be told he asked some great questions and it was funny to read the reactions of the girls when he had them stumped. It's more how they think of themselves that I find interesting. I also realise being an astute businessman he has to be favourable towards his sponsors. This week however I have to make some observations. I think the term "escort" is somewhat of a misnomer anywhere in the world but for me in Thailand it is particularly incongruous. Some would argue that an "escort" is a somewhat more classy, better-educated, refined or just more "better" for want of a better word than her cousins that work in a brothel, gogo bar, strip joint or walk the streets. I could save 800 words here and just say a slut is a slut is a slut but that would be crude and unimaginative. Instead I will attempt to be a bit more definitive.
Now if Stick were honest he would be the first to admit that most "escort" agencies in Bangkok are just cheap fronts set up by managers, owners, mamasans and others that have access to girls on the game or in the bar industry. That set up a 2 bob website and list their girls as "escorts". I know this to be true because I know some owners and managers myself and a few years ago had a mia noi who does work for a bar (won't mention which one but is also a sponsor of Stick's) and also an escort agency run by the same bar. Who's agency price was 20,000 baht a night but who I got for 4 originally and who I have repeatedly had to refuse her advances at marriage. Who after a while was going with me for free when I was in town (guess I was a gik) and frequently laughs about getting paid 20,000 for something she did before for 5 or 6 at the most. There is no denying that Bangkok is a very transient city and that the agencies are booming but only because people for a religious, business, social or other reason don't wish to be seen around Soi 4, Cowboy or Patpong. So privacy and inability to frequent these places costs. It has very little to do with exclusivity. Certainly doesn't make them better, cleaner or more respectable than anyone else (girls and customers) and the thought that the customers are all "businessmen" is hilarious. I am an offshore construction worker in the oil and gas industry and my wages are on par with all but the most elite managers, doctors and lawyers to name a few. What this says about my savouriness I have no idea but I guess I could be classed as an "elite" customer. I would just say I am well paid. Given the time you can find girls, especially in Thailand equally smart, worldly and certainly better looking than can be found on these so-called "exclusive escort" providers. Could also be argued that "escort" is just a term to lure suckers. Not too long ago a congressman or senator in the U.S (can't remember which) got caught with his pants down. Turns out the agency he used had silver, gold and platinum level girls… the difference? None! it depended on who requested what particular level of girl at the time. It was all the same girls. Which was a difference of 1000, 3000 and 5000 dollars U.S. an hour respectively. Another thing, "escorts" in some countries Australia and the U.S for example. The reason certain girls have reached "escort" status was because of their notoriety as "faces" in the stripping or porn industry or for appearing in a Playboy or Penthouse magazine. I can name one in Vegas whose top price "escorts" are all known porn stars who make the majority of their money on the stripping circuit. So if your idea of high class is her ability to deep throat or cop 2 up the Khyber at once, then best of British I say. So escort is a very loose term that really has not much to do with class or breeding.
Not to take anything away from these fine ladies. I have the utmost respect for any woman, but let's be honest, they are all selling gash for cash. So I am happy to be more than a little bit critical of those who would look down on their sisters in exactly the same industry. They way these 3 talk about "those girls" like they are different or beneath them is astonishing. Now I will freely admit I think Stick's taste in girls of the week, generally, is pretty ordinary, but this week I thought "Muay" was a bit of a cracker. Now give me her to me for a couple of months (no really, please!) on her sister at Bangkok Escort's salary put her in a nice dress and take her to the best restaurant in Bangkok and I believe she would pass muster. Let's bypass the Pretty Woman fantasies for the moment…. Outside of "Bonnie" I think those other 2 birds were downright horrors and me personally would not give either the time of day little lone pay the prices their employers charge. On the flip side Bonnie, it has to be said, is very attractive. Call me cynical, call me jaded, call me what you will but you can't tell me she has never cracked it outside the "escort" industry before (or all 3 if I am really going to be honest). Stick claims to know all 3 girls well <Not well, but have met and photographed them before – Stick> but I wouldn't say he has known them for their whole working life and knowing Thai's propensity for saving face and telling the truth why would they bother to tell him everything about themselves? Let's take Bonnie, good English, self proclaimed farang ex, covered in tatts (and as someone that has a few I just can't wear "it's all about the art" argument) to me she SCREAMS ex bar girl regardless of what she may say and to take it one step further, if me as a "businessman" were to take her in a strapless dress to the best restaurant at the best hotel in Bangkok, with all the ink on show I posit many would think the same. Unfair? Yes. True? Undoubtedly. That's the problem with Thailand. I have a 5000 dollar Omega watch my old man bought me. I have yet to meet one person in Thailand who thinks it is real. Anywhere else in the world people will comment on what a stunning watch I posses. Which is why I would say the concept of an "escort" in Bangkok is an overpriced an ridiculous one. Everybody thinks everything here is fake to some extent. Find a nice, pretty girl somewhere in a bar with a decent command of English and she will be happy to show you the sites, travel around Thailand and accompany you to the best of hotels or noodles on a plastic chair in the street. At a fraction of the cost. The difference between levels of working girls is their intelligence, business acumen, ability to stay away from drugs, alcohol and the other pitfalls of the industry and her ability to have well defined goals and a reason to get out (sorry forgot I was talking about Thailand). Not the price you pay for them. The rest is just window dressing. I have met just as many of those working behind a bar as I have those that would like you to believe in someway that they are exclusive. Yeah, well, Paris Hilton is apparently exclusive but she has no qualms about sucking a prick on camera for the world to see. So the question then remains what is high class or exclusive? I would say they are some pretty dirty, slutty Hi-So girls trotting around Bangkok. Just because you say or believe you are better than everyone else does not mean that you are. I would put it in the same vein as what is happening in the gogos with "Dancers", "Showgirls", "Superstars" and of course the flavour of the month "Coyotes". I have said before put most of them in a line up and you be hard pressed to tell between them. It's just some think they are in a class of their own. I have yet to meet a so called "Coyote" that knocked me back when I offered to take her for a run. It's just that they have an over inflated sense of their worth. Now here again I am with Stick and it is good to see these girls doing better for themselves because for a long long time they had few options and basically even the cream of the crop had to put up with whatever they were given. So I say good luck to them and grab it while you can.
Having said all that and to be fair to Bangkok Escorts their prices are fairly reasonable to some others I have seen. Truth is for what a big night on the tiles costs in the Gogos these days, I would consider 12,000 for an all-nighter more than reasonable. If you want to get clinical that's 3,000 a shot. In hindsight then if you were looking for a quiet night and a bit of a change might be a terrific night in….. Fuck it, got to go. I am going to book Bonnie now…. see ya…. Shit, that's right, I'm married damn.
Play Safe,
Starky
Stickman's thoughts:
For sure, escorts are not for everyone and many will balk at the asking price, just as a steak at the New York Steakhouse is not for everyone and again, the price will make some scream.
The 3 interviewed girls are excusive to BangkokEscort.com – meaning they don't work for any other agency nor are they available at any bars. The benefit of this to the ladies is that in return for being exclusive to the agency, they have a guaranteed minimum amount they will be paid every month, regardless of how many customers they get. So even in the depths of the low season, if business is bad, they know they will get x baht at the end of the month.
You're absolutely right saying that many agencies just feature photos of ladies who work the Spasso's, Mixx, Sukhumvit soi 11 circuit. The owner of the agency gets high quality photos of ladies taken, creates a website and waits for the phone to ring.
And then there are the massage houses and gogo bars which offer their ladies as escorts or outcall at typically twice the rate a guy would pay if he were to go to the massage house / bar and meet her directly. There is huge growth in this type of website right now.
Escorting is just another sector of the industry. Clearly many like the format as is evidenced by the huge growth in escort services. At the same time there are others who feel the prices are unreasonable or the ladies aren't really what they think of as escorts. The great thing is that in Bangkok there is so much choice. Whatever you want it is out there.