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Originally Posted by ProfCrash
Especially if the man doesn't leave something for the woman in his will. That is plain bullshit.
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Very true, but doesn't happen often. It's all too common that the man chose to retire here because his pension wasn't sufficient to live in his home country. Living 'Thai Style,' a single man can live comfortably for $8,000-$10,000 a year. Try that in the US or Canada... So it's common that there is nothing in the bank when he dies.
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In many ways it is a form of prostitution, he is paying for companionship and sex. You hope that there are some genuine feelings there but who knows.
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That is precisely what it is, and the main form of commerce for so many people here. And, actually, in both directions. He's paying cash for companionship and she's paying with her body for financial security.
Although technically illegal, it's the ONLY way an uneducated woman can earn enough to support a family,
and as common as sand. A bar girl isn't looked down upon in Thailand the way she would be in Western cultures. She isn't selling herself for drugs or jewelery. She's doing it for the
survival of her extended family. In some cases, survival of her entire village (in the case of Hill tribe women working the bars.) When she goes back to her village, she's respected for her sacrifice although people won't talk about just what she's doing as that sacrifice. The MAJORITY of men who marry Thai women met them when the women were working the bars.
Stitchawl