'Sometimes I wonder was I born to be unfortunate; is
this life my destiny? I pray to Buddha that this not be
the case. My life seems to be that of a country girl who
has spent her days escaping from a tiger, only to be
eaten by a crocodile. Mine is an ever worsening tale
with no end in sight.
'You
see, I am a prostitute, though farangs prefer to call
women like me "bar girls". I believe the term is more
acceptable to westerners’ ears. But to a girl like me,
it is all the same.
'You can buy me for 2,000 baht a night. In return, I will
do anything that is asked of me, but I won’t kiss
customers—some things are just too intimate to do with a
stranger. Kissing is for a wife or girlfriend; sex is
for Thai girls like me. '
Miss Bangkok
is a vivid, powerful and moving memoir of a life
spent in prostitution in Thailand. Poor and uneducated, Bua Boonmee
escaped an abusive marriage only to end up in the go-go bars of Patpong.
There, in the notorious red-light district of Bangkok, she succumbed to
prostitution in an effort to support her family.
Bua’s story is one of resilience and courage in the face of abuse and
poverty. Her confessions will make you laugh and cry, cringe and
applaud. She will change your perception of prostitution forever.
