Thailand is beginning to open up to foreigners now so the tourists will begin to return to Patpong and the bars are beginning to open up again in readiness. Those women who have been home in their villages for the last 2 years will now have to decide if they are going to return to Patpong to work in the sex bars and the bars are looking at how a post pandemic Patpong looks.
I wonder how the last 2 years has been for those women back in their villages. Some of them have worked in Patpong for many years and have known no other life. In Patpong, you can make a lot of money. You can pay off your family’s debts, you can provide for your parents and children, and you can buy nice things for yourself and your family. Your family may have a new house and a nice vehicle giving them some status in the village. You have nice clothes and the latest phone, but at what cost?
How have they managed for 2 years without that money coming in? Have their families learned to make do without? Will the pressure on them to provide have been reduced while the bars were closed? Now the bars are opening, will the family pressure begin to weigh them down again?
I imagine it’s been nice being home with their children and not having to leave them behind; not going months without seeing them. They’ve had a welcome break from the shame of selling their bodies and not having to pretend they work in a restaurant or something more acceptable. How many are still in debt to their bar?
How much do they remember of what they've learned of Jesus at Rahab? How many have been receiving the encouraging texts each day? Will their new found faith help them make a decision? How many have changed their identity from a Patpong bar girl to a Child of God?
The bars have been closed for 2 years, yet we know while there is a demand for sex tourism, some will come back.
