Nuang's bus arrived at the Pattaya terminal at seven o'clock in the morning. She collected her box of clothes and followed the other passengers to the street outside the terminal.
The sky had grown light with the new day. Already, cars and motorcycles and trucks were zipping up and down the road toward scattered destinations.
This was the first time she had been to Pattaya without someone being there to meet her, and she wasn't sure what to do. She stood and watched as the others hailed baht-buses and motorcycle taxis to wherever they were going. Before long she was one of the few people left standing at the curb.
Her box of clothes wasn't very heavy, but she figured it was too awkward to carry on the back of a motorcycle taxi. There were no tuk-tuks. She flagged down the first empty baht-bus that passed by.
"I need a place to stay for a night or two," she told the driver. "Can you take me to the cheapest hotel in Pattaya?"
The driver smiled and nodded. "Ten baht," was his answer.
The sun had topped the horizon by the time the baht-bus stopped in front a seedy looking hotel. The driver waited while Nuang exited the bed of the truck.
"Ten baht, please," he repeated his fare, holding his hand through the open window.
She fished a coin from her pocket and handed it to the man. "Is this place clean?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I've never been inside. I only know that it's cheap."
He drove away leaving Nuang with no choice except to find out for herself.
The lobby was dimly lit and smelled of old wood and cigarette smoke. Two white painted wicker chairs sat against the wall opposite the reception desk. The boy on duty was asleep.
"Kaw thort, ka," she said, loud enough to awaken him.
He sat up with a start and smiled sheepishly. "May I help you?"
"How much for a room?" she asked.
The boy looked around. "Are you alone or will a farang be joining you?"
Nuang blushed at his insinuation. Her smile didn't fade but her voice became terse, "I am alone."
"The cost is one hundred fifty baht. It's our special rate for Thais only. I'll give you our best room. It's on the fourth floor and has a very nice view."
She filled out the short registration form with false names, addresses, and phone numbers. She didn't want anyone to know who she was, and she didn't want to run the risk of someone, somehow, finding her. As remote as that possibility seemed, she couldn't take any chances. She had already made one mistake at the Phitsanulok bus terminal; she wouldn't make another.
She took the key, walked to the elevator, and pushed the button. After a minute or two of mechanical groans and clanking, the door opened. The car dropped a few millimeters more as she stepped inside. Her better judgment told her to take the stairs, but she pressed the fourth floor button anyway. The motor whirled for a moment before the elevator jerked upwards. A heavy burning odor reached her nose. The clanking and groaning intensified as the car moved up the shaft. She was relieved when it stopped and the door slid open.
In the hallway stood a slender young lady dressed in a bright colored blouse and tight black jeans. Thick gold chains dangled from her wrist and neck. A layer of heavy make-up covered what Nuang could see was a beautiful face. She figured the girl to be in her early twenties. Her body was what men referred to as very sexy.
"Sawasdee ka," Nuang said politely as she exited the elevator.
"Sawasdee, ka," the girl replied, smiling.
"I think the elevator has a problem," Nuang said. "If I were you, I would take the stairs. That would be safer."
"I'm not worried," the girl responded and stepped into the waiting car. "I have taken it many times. It likes to growl like an old man's stomach." The door squeaked shut and the elevator clanged downward.
Nuang's "special" room was small and dingy, but at 150 baht it fit her limited budget. The wonderful view turned out to be of a window in another building less than three meters away. If she leaned her head out far enough, she could catch the slightest glimmer of Pattaya Bay. The TV didn't work, but that wasn't important. She would be here only a day or two and would be too busy to watch TV anyway.
The water was cold and more like an anemic trickle than a shower. Getting clean turned into a twenty minute ordeal. Afterwards, she put on fresh make-up and clean clothes, and then walked down the four flights of stairs to the lobby.
"Sawasdee ka," Nuang said to the girl who was now working the front desk.
"Good morning," the young girl smiled. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I need a map of Pattaya. I'm looking for the best hotels in town."
The girl's smile faded. A worried look crossed her face. "Is there a problem with your room? I can move you, if it's not okay."
Nuang was too polite to tell the truth, and the next room might be even worse than the first. She decided it best not to complain.
"I'm looking for a job. I hope some of the hotels are hiring for the tourist season. My English is good and I am a hard worker. I want to work at the best hotel in Pattaya."
The girl relaxed a little but her smile seemed uncertain. She pointed at a stack of thin magazines at the end of the counter. "Unless someone has taken them out, those magazines have a map of Pattaya in the center. They show all of the hotels."
Nuang took the one from the top. The date she noticed was two months old. It didn't matter, the hotels would still be the same. She flipped it open to the middle, the map was still there. "Can I borrow it? I promise I will bring it back later."
"Sure, go ahead,. Keep it if you want. It's an old one anyway."
"Khop khun mahk, ka," Nuang thanked her.
"Mai pen rai," the girl replied, hesitated, and then added. "It's not easy to find work in Pattaya, unless you know someone. My sister and I came here a few months ago and looked everywhere. Most of the better jobs go to friends and relatives. Come back and see me if you don't have any luck with your job hunting. Maybe I can help."
"Thank you, I will." Nuang smiled.
Outside, the sun had baked the city into a sweltering inferno. It wasn't yet nine but already it was suffocating. Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok were never this hot so early in the morning. Nuang studied the map of Pattaya for a minute. It was all in English but that was okay. Like she had told the girl, her English was pretty good.
She walked to the end of the street and looked at the signs to get her bearings. She located Soi 6 on the map, and then counted the number of nearby hotels. There were fifteen within a few blocks. With so many hotels, surely one of them would need extra help through the high season. Her hotel, she noted, was not listed on the map; she was not surprised. She set off north up the street toward the heavy concentration of hotels.
In a moment she crossed the road and walked in the shadow of the buildings. Nuang, like most Thai women, preferred her skin to be as white as possible. White was beautiful and the color of the rich. Brown was the color of farm workers and common laborers. The hotels would want to hire light skinned girls. She was sure of that.
As she walked, she thought she recognized things from the last time she was in Pattaya. But that had been a long time ago, so she wasn't really sure. She kept her pace slow but steady. She didn't want to waste any time, but she didn't want to sweat either.
Fifteen minutes later she arrived at a circular intersection with two top hotels within a block of each other. She picked the most expensive looking one and walked through the front gates. The security guard gave her a sidelong stare, but said nothing except a polite hello.
Nuang had never been in a place so luxurious. The dark marble floors were spotless and the heavy woodwork was carved with such fine detail it must have been done by the best craftsmen in Thailand. A fountain with multicolored fish and lotus flowers filled the center of the lobby. Farangs, acting rich and confident, ambled casually to and from the restaurant at the far side of the room. The hotel employees wore uniforms reminiscent of traditional Thai dress. She was intimidated by the scene. Everything looked so perfect.
She looked down at her clothes. They were someone else's castoffs, clothes she had been given at the temple. They didn't even fit right. She took a deep breath and approached one of the girls working at the reception counter. "Excuse me. May I see the manager?"
The girl behind the counter looked up and smiled. "The manager isn't here at the moment." Her eyes inspected Nuang in a single glance. "May I help you with something?"
Nuang was so nervous it was all she could do to maintain her composure. She hadn't thought what she would say if the manager was out. "I want to apply for a job. I can cook and I can clean. My English is very good."
"Oh, I can help you with that," the girl smiled. "I don't know if the hotel is hiring or not, but you can fill out an application and leave a copy of your curriculum vitae for the manager."
Nuang stared dumfounded. "Leave my what?" She wondered if the girl meant a copy of her I.D.
"Your curriculum vitae. You know, the story of your life, your resume. Where you went to college, where you have worked, and things like that. It must be in English because the manager doesn't read Thai."
Nuang could feel her smile dropping despite her efforts to keep it in place. She didn't have a curriculum, much less a vitae. She reached out and took the application the girl pushed in her direction. "Yes, of course," she said as sophisticated as possible. "I just didn't hear what you said. I will take the application with me and bring it back later with a copy of my curriculum vitae."
Nuang thought she saw a look of smugness in the girl's eyes. Even with her lighter than normal complexion and her better than average English, the girl had somehow identified her as someone too low class to work in this hotel.
"Thank you for your time," she said in the best English she could muster, then turned and strode out of the lobby. She kept her back straight and her head erect. Once through the gates of the hotel, she sat at the edge of the sidewalk and cried.
In a few minutes she composed herself and walked to the next hotel. After that she went to the next hotel and the next. Every place was the same, except she did get a chance to actually talk to the manager at a few of them.
No place was hiring. Everyone would keep her application on file and call if anything came up. That wasn't likely since she was leaving fictitious names and phone numbers everywhere she went. When anyone asked for her I.D. or a resume, she said she would bring them back later.
By noon she had been to all of the best hotels in north Pattaya. Then she started stopping at every hotel she passed, whether they were on the map or not. If anything, the people at those hotels were even worse than the employees at the classier places. One farang manager politely told her he had a job for her, if she was willing to do something for him. The way he ogled her body left little doubt as to his meaning. Politely, Nuang told him to fuck himself in both English and Thai.
By five o'clock she was tired, sweaty, and starving. She hadn't found a job and she had wasted the whole day doing it. Nuang had experienced plenty of rejection in her life, but never so much in such a short time. She was close to her own hotel and decided to go there to get clean, put on dry clothes, and then get something to eat. Her shoulders slumped forward with defeat as she entered the hotel lobby.
The morning girl was still at the front desk. "Sawasdee ka," the girl said, very soft and very polite. "Pattaya is a cruel town."
Nuang looked up at the young woman who had just spoken with wisdom far beyond her age, or perhaps from lessons hard learned. Whichever it was, it was the cold truth. "Yes it is," she answered.
"It's none of my business, but your face resembles that of a man I have seen in Pattaya. Do you have relatives here?"
Nuang's heart did a quick summersault that took her breath away. "No, I don't know anyone in Pattaya. My family is from near Laos." It was a lie, but she had told so many lies today that one more wouldn't make any difference.
"Don't mind me," the girl smiled, "I'm just being nosy. I can tell by your mood that you didn't find a job. I'm glad you came back before I left for the day. My sister came by earlier and said the bar where she works needs more girls. They are paying 2,500 baht per month plus tips. I think it must be easy work, if you're interested."
Nuang mentally recounted the money in her purse. "What do I have to do?"
"My sister says all she has to do is smile and be nice." The girl didn't mention the other things her sister did to make money. She knew the bar owners expected the girls to go with the farang tourists, but they didn't make them do it. If a girl didn't go with the farangs, she would be treated less than fair by the owners, but she wouldn't be fired unless someone complained loud enough. "Go to Soi 2 tonight at eight o'clock and ask for Lek; she and her sister own Toy's Bar. That's where they need more girls."
"Thank you for your help," Nuang replied, "but I'm sure I can't do that. I think right now I will just get clean and go for something to eat."
"I can recommend a nice outdoor restaurant near the Big C Shopping Center. It's very cheap and it's just across the street from Soi 2. Who knows, maybe you'll change your mind about working at Toy's Bar."
"Or maybe not," Nuang replied as she walked away from the reception desk.
She bypassed the elevator in favor of the stairs. The four flights her floor seemed higher than tallest skyscraper in Bangkok.
The shower hadn't improved any during the day. If anything, it had become worse. Eventually, she had washed away the sweat and grime from her job search and was ready for food. Her conversation with the girl replayed itself. If she wasn't forced to go with a man, maybe working in a beer bar wouldn't be so bad. She could still use her days to look for a real job, and the evening work would help stretch her small supply of money.
She pulled a pair of jeans from her clothes box and wiggled her way into them. They were tight—real tight. She looked herself up and down as best as she could without a full length mirror. Probably what the farangs would call sexy, she thought, amused by the idea. She put on new make-up, a colorful blouse, and a pair of well worn high heels. After combing her hair and inspecting herself one last time, she left the room.
The young girl was gone and the boy she had seen that morning was back on duty. He gave her a casual glance but said nothing. Nuang wasn't sure he even recognized her. He probably thought she was just another lady of Pattaya. At the age of 36, it seemed like a compliment.
Outside, the evening sun had slipped over the horizon leaving an orange glow in its wake. Nuang headed in the direction of the Soi 2. She saw the outdoor restaurants as she neared the Big C. She hoped the food was as good as the girl said.
She ordered a simple fish and noodle soup for dinner and a Coke to drink. She took in the surroundings while she waited for her food to arrive. To her left was the Big C Shopping Center, to her right were more sidewalk restaurants. Across Second Road and a little south of where she sat were the beer bars of Soi 2.
It was still early, but already there were foreigners sitting at the bars. She watched the men as they drank their beers and put their hands on the bar-girls. Nuang wondered how those girls could do that every night, never knowing who or what they were going home with.
A sharp memory pierced her self-righteous bubble. Not so long ago she, too, had gone home with a farang, so who was she to judge? But that had been different, she struggled to convince herself. That farang had been her sister's lover, so he wasn't a total stranger. And she had done it just once and only because she had promised her sister she would. But it had been exciting, thrilling, romantic, exhilarating. That day she had experienced a climax with a man for the only time in her entire life.
Nuang's food arrived and she turned her attention to her stomach. For the moment she lost interest in the bars, the farangs, and the bar-girls. Either the food was exceptionally good or she was exceptionally hungry. It was delicious. She finished the soup and ordered a second Coke. Then she sat, deciding what she should do.
She was certainly dressed for a bar-girl job, and she doubted anyone would care who she was or where she was from or if she had ever gone to school. She could start making money tonight.
She glanced back across Second Road at the open-air bars. They didn't look like much. Tin roofs held up by steel poles provided cover for rectangular shaped bars that were lined with well worn stools. Inside the bars were coolers, a cashier, and the ever present bar-girls. Nuang noticed a small sign hanging from the eave of one bar. Help wanted, it read in Thai, 80 baht per day. It wasn't much, barely enough for food, but more than she was making now. She wasn't sure she was ready for sleeping with a different stranger every night, but she wasn't ready for starvation either.
At that moment she made up her mind. She would work as a bar-girl for one night, and if it was okay she would work there every night. Maybe she would even find a farang who would give her another climax. The thought excited her.