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| Motorcycle mayhem |
She is 16, and started mixing with motorcycle racers when she was 13.
She has been selling her body at Sanam Luang for the last seven months, earning B2,000 a night. She sees only three customers in that time.
She charges B600 to B1,000 a time, though she will price herself according to how much competition she faces from other girls in a night, and how many customers turn up. She normally starts work at 8pm. Any earlier, there are fewer dek skoi around, so she can charge more: B800.
Later in the evening, as the other girls arrive, she cuts her price. On a quiet night, when few customers are around, she can drop her price to B400. That doesn't include the B250-B400 tariff for a hotel. She normally takes customers to a hotel behind the Ministry of Defence, or in Thon Buri.
Most dek skoi come out from midnight to 2am, when up to 50-60 girls may be selling themselves.
If she sold herself every night of the month, she could make B60,000. But Fa normally comes out only twice a month, on the 15th day of the month, and at the end of the month, when Thais get paid. More customers are likely to turn up when they are flush with pay.
The money goes on rent, food, going out, and - most importantly - doing up her boyfriend's motorbike.
The life of a dek skoi sounds nasty. Some girls sell themselves to buy drugs. Teen motorcyclists also gamble on who will win races, and their girls sleep around. A girl who is brave enough to offer herself as a stake in a bet - a trophy, for whichever boy wins a race - is viewed favourably.
The arrival of dek skoi and their pushy motorcyclist boyfriends at Sanam Luang - a traditional haunt for women and gays who want to sell themselves - has forced the established trade to move elsewhere, to Thong Lor.
Kom Chad Leuk newspaper spoke to Yay, a prostitute who used to work at Sanam Luang, but found she could not compete with the youth and beauty of dek skoi.
Yay, 38, says she cut her price to B300 to stay in the trade. But in the end, she and her friends were forced to move, after the new arrivals took over the territory. They threatened to lay a complaint with police, chase her out, or even use physical force.
The teens liked to tease, calling her 'Aunty Yay', even though she was just 38.
Police despair of making a difference. Even if they can catch dek waen and their girlfriends, the fine is only B1000. A dek skoi on the game can make twice that in one night.
Senator Montri Sintawichai, head of the Child Protection Foundation, says Thai society has reached a sorry state when Thai males will let their girlfriends sell themselves for the sake of doing up a motorcycle. What happened to the age of chivalry, when boys would want to keep their girlfriends for themselves?
He says most dek waen are not vagrants, but have families, who buy motorbikes for them.
He is also disappointed in the girls: 'At first, I thought they wouldn't be game to sell themselves, but the lure of money is too great. In agreeing to their boyfriends' demands, they become their victims. And when they see the money rolling in, they get used to it.'
Message to parents: Don't let your children grow too distant. And don't let them get carried away with money, either.
Ahh, the sorry state of Thai society...it really is horrible. I hate the fact that these youths are bringing down the country instead of helping to make it better.
ReplyDeleteThe females are like Goths on wheels.
ReplyDeleteWe can't expect too much from them, yet. They are too young.