Miss Bangkok: Memoirs of a Thai Prostitute Read Online Free

for her intelligence; she received A’s in all her assignments. Of course she got a lot of extra tutoring at home from her mother, who was a teacher. Somsri was more like me; poor and ignorant. The three of us got on very well and hardly ever argued.
    It was certainly an innocent time for me, and our amusements were simple. Our favourite game was where we flicked tamarind seeds at each other.
    During the twice-yearly school holidays, my brother, sister, and I were sent away separately to stay with our aunt and uncle on their farm in another province in Isan. We always enjoyed these visits, but I was a bit puzzled as to why we couldn’t ever stay at home. It is obvious to me now that it was for economic reasons. My mother’s gambling debts were increasing, and getting through a few months without having to feed us was a mercy on my parents’ meagre finances.
    Meanwhile, we were having the time of our lives and being spoilt rotten by our doting relatives. They delighted in surprising us with sweets and ice-cream, and could never refuse us. We also got to play and run riot with our numerous cousins, finding dung beetles, frogs, and grasshoppers, all of which would be deepfried for dinner.
    This arrangement seemed to be mutually beneficial for all the family. When we arrived home to the base, everyone seemed pleased enough to see one another.
    I would have loved it if, just once, our parents could have come away with us too. There were plenty of places near my uncle’s cassava farm where por and I could have fished together, and I’m sure my mother would have enjoyed gossiping and cooking with her sisters. Poverty severely limits your choices. During the last semester of ninth grade the debates started about who would stay in school and who couldn’t afford to. The bright kids from relatively financially stable backgrounds, including my friend Veena, were planning to attend a well-known school in Bangkok, while the rest of us, more than half of the class, knew that we were coming to the end of our school days. My older brother had also given up school in ninth grade because the government doesn’t fund your education after this point.
    I was completely indifferent, however, as school had long since bored me. My homework was constantly incomplete since I had gotten into the habit of just leaving the parts I couldn’t do instead of asking for help. My contributions in class were at an all-time low because I felt marginalised by my lack of academic know-how. I must have given up on myself. I believed that I was good for nothing and, therefore, couldn’t see the point in continuing the struggle to learn.
    I was tired of getting up early to sit on the green army bus every morning and then arrive home to an empty house while mae was out gambling. And so, I left school without any qualms or interest at just 15 years of age—I have a lot of regrets in my life, but this remains my biggest one to date.

Chapter 2
     
As time passed, my mother’s daily absences became longer and longer, often leaving my siblings and I to fend for ourselves.
    There were times when we were forced to go to the gambling house to beg her for money to buy food; other times I would just plead with her to cook. Mae ’s answer never varied—a wave of the hand and a casual promise to follow me home in a few minutes. If we persisted, she would tell us to go away by shouting ‘ pai pai !’ and raise her hand to scare us.
    My pleas fell on deaf ears each time I asked for her help. She never took notice of us children because she was too wrapped up in her gambling compulsion, a habit as addictive as heroin.
    My younger sister and I were the ones who suffered. My brother Nop had by this time moved to Bangkok in search of work, but also to escape the troubles that overwhelmed our lives.
    We had never been that close; however, I did miss his affection. Nop had played mother to me, cooking kai dao (fried egg) for me when I was young, while mae spent her time