The Dark Little Secret In The Corner That Only Comes Out At Night

May 6th 2011
Adriana Morillo

Photo: David Alan Harvey. THAILAND. Bangkok. 1989. Thai prostitutes.

The Dark Little Secret in the Corner That Only Comes Out at Night

Trapped in the fuzziness,these women can’t remember when they last lived a normal life. Generally, their day’s routine begins little later than that of others. Unlike other professionals, they don’t have to get up early inthe morning and prepare for office. For obvious reasons, they don’t prefer to come out in broad daylight. Only after the dusk enters in, does their day begin. Their service hours commence from theevening up to almost the early hours of the next morning. They work without any leave. Unlike others, holidays make their work schedule even more hectic.

They work like anyone else but they don’t haveany reporting boss, month and date is no criterion for their salaries, it’s all instant for these women. All these girls are not as high-salaried as the call centre employees, who also work throughoutthe night in air-conditioned office and serve for their foreign clients. But girls like these serve for both the Thai and foreign nationals. Every night, they toil hard to please their customers sothat they can get good tips after the service. They have only one identity, the civilized society refers to them as “prostitutes”.

Trying to place myself in their shoes, I just imagine waking up oneday needing some extra cash and having no way of getting it. There’s no food in the fridge, I have bills to pay, I have a job, but it doesn’t pay nearly enough for my costs and each breathe I take isaccompanied with the worry and the realization that I might not make it through another day. Getting an extra job is just a bandage on a situation that is getting worse, considering that because ofmy lack of education or networking skills I’ll most likely be stuck flipping burgers or asking some shopper at the super market if they are paying cash or credit. Or I imagine for a minute I’ve been...