Book Review: Thailand Joy
Thailand Joy, published by DK Books, is the latest book from David Young, whose previous credits include The Scribe. I was interested at once in this book, being in some ways looking like a modern day version of the book reviewed last week (The Prostitute), which had been written 65 years previously.
The similarity began with the tale of an impoverished girl from the North. A chilling start to the book was in the quote from the heroine Mantana, “When did poverty end? Mantana knew the answer. Poverty never ended, at least not honestly.”
The books are actually similar in content, country girl in the city gets tricked and goes downwards in society from there on, but totally different in the way the story is presented. Thailand Joy is very much written in today's style - descriptive and racy with some of the hallmarks of a thriller. Thailand Joy also looks beyond the trappings of prostitution, the lipsticks, powder, and vodka and drugs.
Mantana begins in a department store where she is attacked by her employer. Running away she finds work in a cabaret restaurant where the salary is so small that she has to find a second job, just to make ends meet. From there the slippery slide begins, ending up with a kidnapping and acceptance of a job in a new bar in Pattaya, because by that stage there was nowhere else to go - or to do.
The bar scene in Pattaya (or what used to be the bar scene in Pattaya after the MOI crackdown) is described, with Mantana, the central character, watching with wide-open amazed eyes as training classes were held for the balloon dart ladies. It might not be an art form, but there is a certain level of technical expertise required! It was also somewhat chilling to read the conversation between two girls, about to become “working girls” for the first time, where one was exhorting the other not to spend her last night alone, or she could change her mind about joining the oldest profession. “What's wrong with changing my mind?” said Mantana. “Nothing. If you can afford to change it,” was the reply. Those of us with choices should remember this.
The review copy came from Bookazine with an RRP is 280 baht, which makes it a very inexpensive read these days, and should be available at all good bookstores. The subject matter is one that has been dealt with by numerous authors, viewing from all sides of the spectrum. I liked this book as it was non-judgmental, but informative enough for the reader to make his or her own judgments. Author Young shows a more than superficial knowledge of the innermost workings of the country girl in the big city. This is no gloss-over or pseudo-romantic imagery, but a much more down to earth example of real life. You may not like to read something that is much closer to the truth than that put forward by the pulp press. It may destroy you own 'romantic' notions. Don't be blinded by the neon lights. Read this book.
