Despite the fact that there are so many apparently similar books on the market, I doubt there are any quite as captivating as this one. I disagree with your reviewer in as much as he fails to mention that Lon is a very intelligent, extrovert and brave woman and this was evident from a very early age. To say that people should not be manipulated by the Lons of this world misses the point. Lon’s mother and family, and a whole culture, have manipulated her for most of her short life. Too many of the sex tourists she despises fail to recognise that the Lons of this world are real people and deserve respect as such.

The only criticism I have of this book is that it needs to be properly edited and punctuated, but I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the root causes of the problem. Most bar girls in Pattaya go there by choice, but Lon reminds us that there are many who are mere children and who are abused by men best described as heartless thugs. Lon also constantly reminds us that there are many many more child prostitutes that westerners never see - serving Thai men. Most bar girls are not as savvy as Lon, but it would be great achievement if some of them could read her story before leaving home - if, that is, any of them had the necessary education in Isaan to read a book in English.

I agree to a degree with both the writer of the review and the respondent.

The book does need to be gone over by a competent copy editor first, then by an editor prepared to massage the manuscript. The end notes are virtually useful relative to the text, since there are no cross-links. In the latter instance I have in mind in particular the sometimes excessive quoting of entire other stories from the media etc. and the increasingly tiresome repititions of why so many Isaan girls end up involved in the trade anyway.

Does it really become a *sordid* diary, overall? There is the description of the customer who urinate’s in her face during their sexual encounters, but it does appear there is some justification for the graphic nature of the passage: to help the unitiated understand the behavior of some of this sick people who, psychologists friends have told me, are on power trips, often with a specific goal of degrading women.

By the way, I’m not a Goody Two-Shoes, crusader, or apologists for any aspect of the *adult* sex trade; I observe. (Child prostitution is a whol other kettle of fish on my moral compass.)

I intend to review the book after thinking about it some more — I finished it less than 36 hours ago after finishing it in 2 sessions, and feel reflection is required both for fairness and accuracy. That said, I suspect I’ll end up recommending it, warts and all.

I do hope Bangkok Books gets editors on it if there is another edition contemplated.

It also would be nice to know if this really is a true story or a “diary novel” and whether Arrerut Sudha is the Lon of the title. I just did a Google search and came up empty for Lon’s supposed Coalition Against Sex Terrorists. If she is a real person, then one has to wonder if she’s still alive, since she is very frank in her criticisms of segments of Thai society that don’t take kindly to such bluntness.

Editing required, YES! Lon is real. She is not fond of the Thai government or culture. She had it worse than most. Instead of forming CAST she will work with other up-and-running NGOs. Lon’s favorite movie is Lilja 4-ever. Her favorite singer is J. Lo. She lives in Stoke on Trent, England where she works at a fish ‘n’ chips shop. The book sold about 500 copies per month during high season. Her mother is a parasite. Her sister, Ying expects everything to come to her. Her adopted sister, Sai is thankful for what she receives. Lon takes a lot of very strong medication. Without it, she is certifiably nuts. Since her arrival in England, she stopped taking her medicine for a couple of weeks. That led to another 3 weeks in the mental ward. A few weeks after her release, she tried suicide once again, but failed. Thanks for buying the book. Oh, and the medication that she takes fattens her up. The slender 38 kilo girl in the pictures is now at about 48 kilos–which is rather heavy for a 145cm Thai girl.

I hope you post a short summary of the story here in your website.

I really need it as much as possible. I would just like to copy it and then print.

Thanks.

I think this would help other student who study cases like this, and whose purpose is to tell whether cases like this are moral or not.

How can I go abouts finding more information on Lon’s work? Does she have any kind of contact posting in England? I’m a law student in the USA who is interested in learning more about the NGO’s that work to prevent the lifestyle that she endured.

I bought this book when leaving Thailand after my first visit. I was spell bound by it and if Lon and what she says is true then this girl is quite astonishing and has shown remarkable courage. As a result of my visit and this book using the skills I have I am looking to return to Thailand and do voluntary work. If Lon or the author can give me some advice on this I would be grateful. This has really made me realise how much I have.

I bought this book during my stay in Thailand. I’ve read it in one w-e while I spend most of my time visiting the countryside. This book really touched me. I couln’t put it down. I never doubt that this was a real story and that Lon really existed. Thanks for the comments from “eljeque”. I really hope that Lon can recover from her mental problems. The fact that the book end up sadly just represents in my view the harsh reality. Most of the gogo girls in Thailand dream about a nice life afterwards; very very few will have that chance. I’ve giving this book to a Thai friend after finishing it. She also couln’t put it down. Great book and thanks to Lon for telling her story.

It’s a captivating story but full of inconsistencies. Lon spends a lot of time talking up the virtues of her high-paying job and then will drop back to victim mode. She is a lying swindler to many men, some who she admits are just naive and kind travellers rather than seedy perverted tourists. She has a vicious racism towards her own culture, based partly on her quest for gold. Everything she does is for money, including marriage. She has no qualms about deceiving one and all for a buck and does not quit her job as respectable jobs don’t pay her enough. It doesn’t follow that one who is so heartlessly mercenary is a victim of her mother. I bet her family has another side to the story. She shows no compassion for other bar girls throughout the story - in fact, constantly boasting of how they jealous they could be because she was so petite and pretty - and then claims she will retire to help their cause. Only because she sees a buck in it, one suspects. Money has motivated every move in her life. She has plenty of opportunities to escape this prostitution and stripping in other countries but gave them all up in her greedy search for more money. She had a despicable background but that doesn’t change the fact she is a truly selfish, deceitful, despicable person herself. A whore in every sense of the word.

This book should be called “My Name Lon, Show Me The Money”. This woman who claims to want to help other bargirls has quite a dubious resume in that area, including brokering the sale of another girl’s virginity and convincing other bargirls to move into pornography, all to receive a cut herself, of course. She was never forced into prostitution, she opted for it for the money. She is cold and calculating throughout the book but bemoans her mother and society in general as the cause of it all, when it suits. Her reasons for opting for bigger bucks in prostitution are no different to some Western girls who might choose the same life for the same reasons. They don’t like harder work for less pay in duller, more “respectable” jobs available to them, such as retail or reception work. Every man she follows to Europe she hopes will bring more money and she bails whenever this doesn’t bear fruit. She expects her husbands to continue to pay her for sex, forever the ambitious prostitute governed by the desire for money rather than love. There is never any discussion of what she might emotionally or financially provide to them in a partnership, beyond her “prettiness” and sex. They are never a partnership in her eyes, just a prospective financial opportunity. But even her economic pilgrimages to other country end not in gratitude to the nation that accepts her but with her seeking better destinations that might bring even more cash. Her stated aim is to get to Las Vegas. That about sums up her character. She does Thailand and its women a disservice by defaming their entire character and culture. She claims all her countrymen are as deceptive by nature as she is and devalues the simple agricultural life that some Thai people might find preferable to her seedy materialistic pursuits. I don’t doubt the hardships of poverty in her native region but deplore her justifications for her chosen field and manipulative ways. Early in the book, she is offered the choice of a nanny job or a working in a bar and her choice sums up all later decisions. And yes, they are personal choices. I’m sure not all women in Thailand are as money-grubbing, sleazy, deceitful and heartless as she is.

While there are some financial opportunists who choose to swindle foreigners, I might clarify that there are thousands of exploited sex workers in Thailand, many who are literally held as prisoners and forced to work in unbearable conditions. They deserve our pity and our help. Lon is not one of them.

I read it once and i suspect it is also book about Thai economics, the nature of Thai culture, and human nature.

Not Convinced wrote

“She was never forced into prostitution, she opted for it for the money.”

According to the narrative Lon was abducted by a Thai man within days of arriving in Bangkok where she was initially gang raped by four men and then forced to perform sexual acts until she managed to escape, which took two attempts.

She was a 13 year old child when this happened. I think there is some connection between this brutal treatment and her behaviour thereafter.

For once I feel proud to be British in that Britain has offered a refugee some solace from a life that is difficult for any Westerner to comprehend fully.

I’m inclined to believe what she says about Thai society, which is profoundly shocking.

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