This title refers to the first trilogy I ever wrote and sel-published and ‘Behind The Smile – The Story of Lek, a Bar Girl in Pattaya’ refers to the fact that Thailand is called ‘The Land of Smiles’.
‘Behind The Smile’ is a category used on our blog Megan Publishing Services http://meganthemisconception.com to identify posts relating to the series Behind The Smile by Owen Jones
Pattaya Red Light District girls are not in only one area or district as they are in many cities. That is to say that there is no one specific district for Red Light girls or boys, for that matter. Although, there is a ‘gay soi’ in Pattaya called Soi Cowboy (soi means lane). However, there are ladyboys among the hostesses in many bars, if not most.
Rather, Pattaya is organised, or even disorganised, around the theme of pleasure, and much of that has a sexual nature. I doubt that many of the Pattaya girls in the so-called ‘girly bars’ consider that they are actually working in the Thai sex tourism industry. Most would say that they are merely looking for a (rich – read foreign) husband.
Red Light Girls.
And you know what? I actually believe them. However, while waiting for Mr. Right to come along, Pattaya girls have to earn enough money to live. After all, they do not enjoy the privilege of social security in Thailand. Anyway, no one would expect a Western girl not to play the field in her search for a partner, so why do we get so indignant about young people from other continents?
It is hypocritical.
Pattaya Red Light District.
So, although you could say that the Pattaya Red Light District girls work or are mostly on or around the sea front, they are in almost every place that sells alcohol over a bar. However, even in places where they don’t have in-house hostesses, there are usually Pattaya girls and boys willing to show you the city, or go for a meal with you. This includes waitresses and the staff at hotels, restaurants and shops.
Much the same as in the West.
The main difference is that in Asia, the young are not quite as ageist as their Western counterparts.
Behind The Smile.
If you would like to read a book or series that features Pattaya Red Light district girls, the series Behind The Smile by Welsh author Owen Jones is excellent. Many expats living in Pattaya agree. The title of the first volume is Daddy’s Hobby, which is the name of the bar where Lek, a Pattaya bar girl, works. I’ll tell you no more 🙂
Read the first chapter of Daddy’s Hobby here on this blog at Megan Publishing Services:
Soi Nana is located in the heart of what most foreign tourists would call Bangkok’s Red Light District. It has a long history.
Sukhumvit Soi 4.
This famous street is well-known as Soi Nana, but it is officially Sukhumvit Soi 4, which means that it is the fourth side-street off Sukhumvit Road. Originally, it was just an alley, a shortcut between two main roads. It is in the old Chinatown of Bangkok
Soi Nana.
It has a rich history. For example, Thailand’s first ever gin bar is located there and still open. However, Soi Nana now has scores, if not hundreds, of bars, hotels and restaurants. The variety is stunning and is the main reason for its popularity.
Chinatown.
In fact, Nana has always been able to ‘move with the times’. The gangs that fought over the streets in Chinatown in the Fifties and Sixties probably still exist, but they have learned not to frighten the tourists. If the turf wars of that period still continue, then they are invisible to the average visitor.
The Sukhumvit Soi 4 that you see now took form during the first decade of the new millennium. Despite its new image, it is the same as any well-organised nightlife area in any major city. If you are the kind of person who causes trouble when drunk, you had better stick to country pubs, where landlords are typically more forgiving of troublemakers.
Tourist Attraction.
My wife, my daughter and I have stayed in Soi Nana many times, and have never witnessed any problems, but given how drunk many of the young tourists get, I am certain that this is because of the staff rather than that it does not occur. When I visit Soi Nana, I expect to have a great time, and trouble is never on my list of expectations. So, visit the area with confidence – I’m sure that you will have a lot of fun ?
Pattaya Beach Road: photo by Fernanda Araujo on Pexels.com
Pattaya’s Most Famous Street?
Pattaya Beach Road is one of the most famous streets in Thailand. It is located on the eastern side of Pattaya Bay and The Gulf of Thailand.
Pattaya Beach Road
ป้ายบนพัทยาคมวินสตีเฟนต์ (Pattaya Beach Road in Thai) is a street in Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand. The street runs along the shoreline of Pattaya Bay. It is famous for its many bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels. In fact, the road has been dubbed “Pattaya’s most famous street” since it was built in the 1970s. However, Walking Street might fairly lay claim to that title too. In recent years, the area has become more popular with tourists than locals. Many people visit the area because of its golden sand and peaceful sea views, although also for its nightlife, shopping, and entertainment options.
However, some residents complain about noise pollution, litter, and crime.
Pattaya’s Strip
The road has many nicknames, depending on where the visitor has come from. It has been known as “Pattaya’s Main Street” since it was first built. It is also called “First Road”, “The Strip”, “The Avenue”, and “The Boulevard”. Nevertheless, most people refer to it as “Pattaya Beach Road” or simply “Beach Road”. The road runs along the beach front for about 3.5 km from near The Dolphin Roundabout in the north to Walking Street in the south. This is the place where tourists come to enjoy the nightlife and shopping. There are plenty of bars, restaurants, clubs, and shops along the road. This is the area to investigate if you are looking for a hotel near a beach in Pattaya.
Why Is This Street So Popular?
Many people visit Pattaya because of its beautiful beaches. However, there are also other reasons why Beach Road is so popular. One reason is that it has a lot of entertainment options. While the area is ‘perfectly’ safe during daylight hours, the actual beach, and even the beach-side pavement is a no-go area at night. It has a reputation for male prostitution after dark and many men have experienced problems there.
Behind The Smile on Pattaya Beach Road
Behind The Smile volume 1
The Welsh author Owen Jones has written a very popular seven-part series called ‘Behind The Smile – The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya’, which features a bar just off Pattaya Beach Road and the girls who work in it. Many visitors praise the story for being true to life, and several Pattaya bar girls have thanked the author for portraying them honestly.
Click the link below to find out more about the series.
Behind The Smile – but what else could be lingering there? A genuine smile is often contagious… it makes people feel good about themselves. However, is there something else behind the smile like sadness, deceit, or even danger? Have you ever wondered why someone smiles when they’re happy, but frowns when they’re sad? The answer lies in the coding of our brains, and some people have learned how to use smiling to affect us on this neurological level for their own purposes. Astute people can usually read warning signs, but that doesn’t always work.
Is it really just a smile?
If you’re wondering why some people seem to have an easy time smiling while others struggle with it, here are some things to consider:
1. People who smile often tend to have a positive outlook on life. They see the glass as half full rather than half empty.
2. Smiles are contagious. So when you smile, you’re likely to make other people react in the same way.
3. Smiling releases endorphins into our brains. Endorphins are natural painkillers that help reduce stress and improve mood.
What could be lingering behind the smile?
Smiling is one of the easiest ways to make others feel better about themselves. In fact, research shows that a smile can actually affect the brain’s reward system, making us happier than we would otherwise be. However, not everyone smiles at every appropriate situation. Some people smile in order to hide what they don’t want you to see. Think of the magicians and their distraction techniques, or the shopkeeper with the happy face, or the con-artist trying to sell you a pup.
Are You Smiling Because You’re Happy or Sad?
If you find yourself smiling when you aren’t feeling happy, then you might be suffering from a condition called “smile disorder”. This is a common problem among children and teens, but adults also sometimes develop this condition. Smiling is an automatic response to positive emotions. People who suffer from these disorders often have trouble controlling their facial muscles, so that they appear to be smiling even though they’re not. They may also have difficulty recognizing other people’s smiles because they don’t feel as genuine.
Behind The Smile – The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl In Pattaya
The theme of what can be behind a smile is central to Welsh writer Owen Jones’ epic series about a bar girl in Pattaya. Lek had been a happy child and adolescent growing up in a peaceful, not-poor, rice-farming village in northern Thailand. She had expected nothing more out of life than all the other girls born there for generations. That is, to work on the family smallholding, get married have children, work some more and then to retire to look after the grandchildren. So, had it been for hundreds of years.
However, Lek’s father had borrowed money from the bank – a new phenomenon, that he hadn’t completely understood. When he died suddenly from diabetes, the family was told to pay up or get out. It had been a shock, because they hadn’t known about the loan.
There had been only one solution. Lek, as the eldest child of four, had had to go to Pattaya to work in a bar. She missed her family tremendously, but worked in the bar smiling at the punters. However, she was there for ten long years, and all that time, there was something else going on behind the smile.
You can read Owen Jones’ fascinatingly poignant series here:
Daddy’s Hobby by Owen Jones is the first novel from this Welsh writer. It explores why so many girls work in Pattaya and how they fare. It is his best-selling book.
Daddy’s Hobby by Owen Jones is an insightful look at why tens of thousands of young women choose to enter the Pattaya sex tourism industry, and how many of them get on. They and other attractions bring more than a million tourists to Pattaya every year. Most of them are men with money looking for a good time.
Daddy’s Hobby by Owen Jones – Origins.
In the mid-to late Seventies, Owen Jones was working in the south Netherland’s city of s’Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) in Noord Brabant. One day, a popular new bar opened up at the bottom of the street he lived in. It was a ‘Relax Bar’, a concept he didn’t understand, but he liked the sound of the music. One afternoon, he ventured inside. The bar was practically empty despite the fact that the landlord was very friendly and played lots of Heavy Metal, which was very popular at the time.
After a while he noticed a few scantily-clad young ladies looking at him from the darker recesses at the back of the room. When he went to the toilet, he was left in no doubt what a relax bar was. The owner/barman, whose name was Rick, I think, played the Meatloaf album ‘Like A Bat Out of Hell’ from cover to cover three or four times a day and sold marijuana, which had been decriminalised. This record more than any other brought the ‘house dancing girls’ out onto the floor.
The bar was called ‘Daddy’s Hobby’. I liked everything about it including the name, which I thought was very clever. Within a month or two, it was the busiest bar in the city. However, sadly, within a year, Rick had been murdered and his bar burned down. We all thought that it had to do with drugs.
Daddy’s Hobby by Owen Jones – Development.
In the early 2,000’s Owen Jones moved to Pattaya, and started going out with the cashier of the first bar he had a drink in. It put him in a ‘trusted position’ with ‘the girls’. Soon most of the thirty-odd girls who worked there were seeking his advice. Their favourite topic was how best to write saucy texts and emails to their ‘boyfriends’. Most of these had already returned home to their wives or girlfriends in Europe and elsewhere, but mostly the UK. That bar was a more flagrant example of Rick’s Daddy’s Hobby, but without the drugs.
After a few weeks, he had inadvertently collected many scraps of paper with translated messages on them. So, he sought the girls’ permission to write them into a book. No-one disapproved when he promised to use false names. It was funny, he said, because all the girls and most of the clients were already doing that anyway. Everybody was lying, especially the men. He recalls that he had never met so many navy SEALS, SAS, commandos, MI5 and CIA operatives in his life before. Not a one of them was a carpenter or civil servant, and they were all single, looking for a wife!!
There was no other name for the book than Daddy’s Hobby, subtitled Behind The Smile but for various reasons, it took him eight years to self-publish it.
Daddy’s Hobby by Owen Jones – Sequels.
Owen Jones used the name of Lek for his lead female character. She was also the life and soul of the bar, and didn’t mind the author using her real name. She too is sadly long dead. He used the Welsh name Craig for the main male, although there are many other dramatis personae in the novel. When he was writing the book, it was the Lek character that dictated to him in his head what he must write. He had already determined that the book should be 100,000 words long, but when he reached that level, it was clear that Lek hadn’t finished her story. So, Owen closed book one, published it, and started a sequel.
You may be wondering why it took eight years to bring Daddy’s Hobby to market, if it was being dictated.
“Well, when I looked at Craig’s character I could see too much of myself… I just was not prepared to share it at that point”, he says. “I nearly gave up several times, but Lek and I stuck with it and produced a result”.
He did not like the idea of calling the second volume Daddy’s Hobby 2, so he gave it the name of a significant chapter in volume one, An Exciting Future. It now needed a series title to bind them together and that became Behind The Smile. The books are frequently referred to as Behind The Smile.
Lek kept up the pressure for several more years until Behind The Smile consisted of seven volumes, of 720,000 words.
Daddy’s Hobby – the Future.
“Although the Lek in my head was the inspiration of the actual stories, encouragement came from elsewhere. It was also more important”, he says.
“My stepmother hated the book, and two of my three brothers have never mentioned any of my fifty-odd novels. However, one thought it was fantastic though, and asked me to write a sequel. I had also run a competition for a free copy. Coincidentally, the woman who won it was a student journalist, who wrote an encouraging review. I opened the door to Lek again, and started volume two.
“Suddenly, I started to receive encouragement from complete strangers all around the world. Unfortunately, I have still heard nothing from friends and family from my home town. It used to upset me a lot, until I learned that that was quite common in the UK. People seem to resent someone improving themselves”.
He claims to know three readers, who hadn’t read a book since leaving school – one of them being eighty-four! Two others have since written novels, and one has moved to Thailand to see it ‘for himself’! Many readers have sought him out for a drink when they are visiting Thailand, and others went to Spain and Wales to meet him.
Owen says that he hasn’t been back to Pattaya for several years. However, when he was last there tourists and expats knew of his books, and some had read them all. Its particularly affected him when a young Thai woman ran up to him, kissed him on the cheek, and said: “You’re the lovely man who writes nice things about Pattaya bar girls, aren’t you. Thank you very much”.
Every month, he sells several box sets of seven, who can only be going off reviews or recommendation.
Behind The Smile by Owen Jones – Narrations and Translations.
In these days of Covid, it has been difficult to find further inspiration for what he calls the Lek Series. Between 2016 and 2018, he and his Thai wife (that first girl, the cashier, that he met in Pattaya) lived in Andalucía, Spain. From 2018 to 2020, the tried living in Wales. However, Pritti Patel and the Tories made it too difficult for his wife to obtain a residency permit. He says that he will never forgive them for that.
However, while in Spain, Owen started to have his books translated and narrated. Principally in Spanish so that he could sell them to the local Spanish as well as the expats. He soon started to receive offers of collaboration from all over the world in fifteen languages. Since living back in Thailand, and he has been in lockdown in the village because of Covid-related travel restrictions. So, he has been concentrating on these narrations and translations. He now has more than one thousand books in thirty-eight languages registered in his name in the British Library.
“I still would prefer to be writing fresh material though”, he adds with a hint of sadness.
Today, some friends suggested that I should consider republishing books from my flagship series Behind The Smile. However, I find it almost impossible to contemplate.
That is a huge concept to get my head around.
It has produced most of my sales for the last decade!
Republishing
Their suggestion was made because we were talking about my book sales, which have been slowing down for about a year. So, they thought that it might be worth rebranding, and then republishing the books in this series.
I am not completely sure what they mean by that. I think that it probably has to do with altering the titles, the blurbs and the genre, and then encapsulating all that in new covers in order to make the series more selectable by a new readership. In fact, a large part of this proposed rebranding would be to create new covers to reflect the new genre.
On the face of it, I like the idea. But when you dig down into what republishing books entails, it involves a massive amount of time and work. After all, I have spent ten years building up a readership for the series as it is and looks now. It is recognisable as it is.
If I change everything, I will have to unpublish the existing series of seven volumes, thereby losing all possible sales on them, and republish the new ones… Effectively starting from scratch again.
Rebranding Books
It is a big gamble.
In an attempt to find out more, I did a search on ‘rebranding books’, and came up with several very interesting articles. These authors didn’t actually go the whole hog of ‘rebranding and then republishing books, but they talked about cover make-overs.
One article was about the legendary Dune by Frank Herbert. I think I remember rightly that it was first published in 1965. Anyway, the interesting bit is that the whole series of five books has had completely new covers every five years ever since!
Rewriting?
Look the article up, it opened my eyes. I have always written and published books, slapped a cover on them and that was it. However, apparently cover design is also prey to fashion, which is very difficult to pin down, as we all know – look at clothing!
So, I will start with new covers, but I will keep rebranding and republishing open in my mind as an option.
What do readers think of this marketing tactic, and have any authors who come here any experience with rebranding and/or republishing books?
Regards,
Owen
If you like vampire stories but are a bit bored with the old model, try this humorous, even funny vampire story set in a remote village.
Covid 19 has been with us for more than two years already. However, I have not heard any predictions over that period that have come true. It was a new phenomenon for most of us. In fact, for all of us when it is seen as a global plague. So, there is little wonder that no-one could foresee any outcomes accurately.
Nevertheless, we all know that there have been consequences to the pandemic. Most people will point to the negative aspects like sickness, death, lockdowns and job loss. Nevertheless, there have also been positive outcomes too.
Unforeseen Consequences of Covid
They are probably different depending on where you live and what you used to do for a living. I live in a small, remote mainly rice-farming village in northern Thailand, so I will tell you about that. Most working people here are farmers or farm labourers. It is a hard life with the long hours and lack of holidays that most farmers around the world are aware of.
Very few of the boys and none of the girls want to become farmers like their parents. University is a more realistic expectation now than ever before. However, otherwise the youth has been flocking to the tourist destinations for decades.
Improved Job Status
Many ended up as shop or factory workers. However, those who could handle it, and were pretty enough, often dabbled in the sex-tourism industry in the hope of meeting a ‘rich foreigner’, who would rescue them.
However, the constant flow of foreigners has dried up because of the Covid 19 restrictions on travel… You see, most ‘rich foreigners’ came from Europe or America. Consequently, the vast majority of the pretty girls in the tourist traps have lost their jobs. Most have had to return to their villages, where many of them have young children. This means that because of Covid 19, many children will enjoy the constant presence of their mother, which they would otherwise have missed out on.
This often means that the former bar girl (yes, and some boys) have to go back to school to learn a skill. This is great for their self-esteem and great for their children too, because it gives them a better role model.
Covid-19 Family Benefits
Covid 19 has given many sex workers, several hundred thousand of them, and their families a new chance, and that has to be a good thing.
Behind The Smile vol 1
You can read a series of books that I wrote about a sex-worker. She, Lek, also returned home to her daughter, family and village.
Click the link below. It has nothing to do with Covid-19 as I wrote it many years before the outbreak. However, the principle is the same.
My Thai wife will not eat my food every time that I cook because it is cooked according to whimsy. In other words, I cook what I fancy without regards to my body’s needs whereas she does the cooking in our house according to needs of health, basically of me, day by day.
That will sound strange, even unbelievable, to most European’s, but, please allow me to explain.
Thai food
Thai mothers, who know how to cook old style, do not only cook for flavour, they also cook for the specific health needs of their families. The mother is a kind of shaman. Someone who used to be known as a Wise Woman in Europe, before the established churches cast them as witches. A person who uses food to keep her family at the peak of health. Sure, if someone in her care has a problem that she cannot handle, then they have to go to see the doctor, but don’t forget that that luxury only became accessible to most Thais because of Prime Minister Thaksin in the early part of the 21st Century… less than twenty years ago.
He introduced a system of a nurse in every village and a consultation fee, including basic medicine, of $1 a visit.
Before that, Mum, Wise Women (and men), was all there was.
So, my wife cooks my food according to her judgement of my body’s needs.
Thai Food in Our House
Two consequences of that are that we don’t always eat the same food, and that she will rarely eat what I prepare, because my preparations are random… based on whimsy, not bodily requirement. I’ll cook a steak solely because I fancy one, whereas she will give me a stew of vegetables that she perceives I need at that time.
This obviously means that someone can only cook for you in this way, if they know you intimately. Just picking Thai dishes from a menu according to whimsy will not necessarily benefit your needs, although, in general, they will always be better than junk food.
Owen
If you are interested in the old notion of Wise Women, you might like Fate Twister by Owen Jones. It is available from this blog, or from most online book retailers including Amazon. Spanish, Swedish and Portuguese editions are available.
This blog post, Daddy’s Hobby‘s Previews contains previews on Amazon of BEHIND THE SMILE – The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya” volume 1: Daddy’s Hobby in all the languages I currently have available: English, German and Portuguese. In some cases, there will be special offers and free audiobooks, while stocks last.
Lek was born the eldest child of four in a typical rice farming family. She did not expect to do anything any different from the other girls in her class in the northern rice belt of Thailand.
Typically that would be: work in the fields for a few years; have a few babies; give them to mum to take care of and back to work until her kids had their own children and she could stop working to take care of them.
One day a catastrophe occurred out of the blue – her father died young and with huge debts that the family knew nothing about. Lek was twenty and she was the only one who could prevent foreclosure. However, the only way she knew was to go to work in her cousin’s bar in Pattaya.
She went as a waitress-cum-cashier, but when she realised that she was pregnant by her worthless, estranged husband, things had to change. She had the baby, gave it to her mother to look after and went back to work. However, now she needed real money to provide a better life for her child and to make up for spending its whole youth 500 miles away. She drifted into the tourist sex industry.
The book relates some of her ‘adventures’, her dreams and nightmares and her ‘modus operandi’. It tries to show, from Lek’s point of view, what it really is like to be a Thai bar girl – the hopes and frustrations, the hopes and the let-downs, the hopes and the lies and deceit that are part of her every day life.
One day she meets a man she likes and he likes her too. Nothing new there, it had happened hundreds of times, but she feels that it is different. They have a wonderful four weeks together and then he goes home – as they all had, leaving more promises and more hopes.
This one returns, but real life with a real boyfriend is not as easy as she had dreamed it would be. They go through good and bad times, but will they stay together and for how long?
After all she has been through, will she be able to be a regular girlfriend or even a wife again? Will she ever really be able to trust a man enough again either? Or would she be better off giving up her dreams and carrying on working in the bar?
Lek begins to find out that getting what you wish for is not always as good as you thought it would be.
‘Behind The Smile’ refers to the fact that Thailand is known the world over as ‘The Land of Smiles’.
Die Geschichte von Lek, einem Barmädchen in Pattaya
von
Owen Jones
Übersetzt von
Patricia Stroleny
Lek ist als Älteste von vier Geschwistern in eine typische Familie von Reisbauern hineingeboren worden. Sie hatte nie erwartet, dass sich ihr Leben anders entwickeln würde als das ihrer Klassenkameradinnen in ihrem Dorf im Norden Thailands. Normalerwise hätte dies bedeutet, ein paar Jahre lang auf dem Feld zu arbeiten, ein paar Kinder zu bekommen, sie dann zu ihrer Mutter zu geben, um weiter auf dem Feld zu arbeiten, bis ihre Kinder eines Tages selbst Kinder bekommen würden und sie an der Reihe wäre, auf diese aufzupassen.
Katastrophe
Eines Tages passierte jedoch aus heiterem Himmel eine Katastrophe: Ihr Vater starb jung und hinterließ einen Schuldenberg, von dem seine Familie bis dahin nichts gewusst hatte. Lek war zu der Zeit zwanzig Jahre alt und die Einzige in ihrer Familie, die eine Zwangsvollstreckung abwenden konnte. Jedoch war ihre einzige Option, nach Pattaya zu gehen, um dort in der Bar ihrer Cousine zu arbeiten. Sie fing als Kellnerin an und merkte bald, dass sie von ihrem Ehemann, mit dem sie sich zu der Zeit schon längst auseinandergelebt hatte, schwanger war. Nun musste sich einiges ändern. Sie bekam ihre Tochter, ließ sie bei ihrer Mutter, um auf sie aufzupassen und kehrte nach Pattaya zurück, um weiter zu arbeiten. Nun musste sie mehr Geld verdienen, um ihrer Tochter ein gutes Leben zu ermöglichen und die Tatsache, dass sie fast 1000 Kilometer trennten, wiedergutzumachen. So driftete sie in die Sexindustrie ab.
Daddy’s Hobby
In diesem Buch geht es um ihre Abenteuer, ihre Träume und Alpträume, sowie ihren Modus Operandi. Es soll aus Leks Sicht erzählen, wie es wirklich ist, ein Barmädchen in Thailand zu sein – mit allen Hoffnungen und Enttäuschungen, die damit einhergehen und zum Alltag gehören.
Eines Tages lernt sie einen Mann kennen, den sie wirklich mag und der ihre Gefühle erwiedert. Das allein ist nichts Neues, es ist ihr schon viele Male zuvor passiert, doch diesmal fühlt es sich anders an als sonst. Sie verbringen vier wundervolle Wochen zusammen, doch dann muss er zurück in seine Heimat – und wie so viele Männer vor ihm hinterlässt er eine Menge Versprechen und Hoffnungen. Und er kommt zurück. Aber das wirkliche Leben mit einem wirklichen Partner ist nicht so einfach, wie Lek es sich erträumt hatte.
Träume
Sie machen gute und shclechte Zeiten zusammen durch, aber werden sie zusammenbleiben und wenn ja, wie lange? Wird sie nach allem, was sie durchgemacht hat, überhaupt in der Lage sein, wieder eine ganz normale Feundin und Ehefrau zu sein? Wird sie wieder in der Lage sein, einem Mann wirklich zu vertrauen? Oder wäre es das Beste, ihre Träume übe Bord zu werfen und einfach weiter in der Bar zu arbeiten? Lek lernt nach und nach, dass zu bekommen, was man sich gewünscht hat, nicht immer so ist, wie man es sich vorgestellt hatte.
Der Titel “Hinter ihrem Lächeln” bezieht sich darauf, dass Thailand auf der ganzen Welt als das Land des Lächelns bekannt ist.
Lek was born the eldest child of four in a typical rice farming family. She did not expect to do anything any different from the other girls in her class in the northern rice belt of Thailand.
Typically that would be: work in the fields for a few years; have a few babies; give them to mum to take care of and back to work until her kids had their own children and she could stop working to take care of them.
One day a catastrophe occurred out of the blue – her father died young and with huge debts that the family knew nothing about. Lek was twenty and she was the only one who could prevent foreclosure. However, the only way she knew was to go to work in her cousin’s bar in Pattaya.
Daddy’s Hobby
She went as a waitress-cum-cashier to Pattaya, but when she realised that she was pregnant by her worthless, estranged husband, things had to change. She had the baby, gave it to her mother to look after and went back to work. However, now she needed real money to provide a better life for her child and to make up for spending its whole youth 500 miles away. She drifted into the tourist sex industry.
The book relates some of her ‘adventures’, her dreams and nightmares and her ‘modus operandi’. It tries to show, from Lek’s point of view, what it really is like to be a Pattaya Thai bar girl – the hopes and frustrations, the hopes and the let-downs, the hopes and the lies and deceit that are part of her every day life.
One day she meets a man she likes and he likes her too. Nothing new there, it had happened hundreds of times, but she feels that it is different. They have a wonderful four weeks together and then he goes home… as they all had, leaving more promises and more hopes.
This one returns. However, real life with a real boyfriend is not as easy as she had dreamed it would be. They go through good and bad times, but will they stay together and for how long?
Behind The Smile
After all she has been through, will she be able to be a regular girlfriend or even a wife again? Will she ever really be able to trust a man enough again either? Or would she be better off giving up her dreams and carrying on working in the bar?
Lek begins to find out that getting what you wish for is not always as good as you thought it would be.
Behind The Smile – Daddy’s Hobby: ‘Behind The Smile’ refers to the fact that Thailand is known the world over as ‘The Land of Smiles’, and Daddy’s Hobby was the bar where Lek worked.
Behind The Smile – Daddy’s Hobby audiobook link: Tektime
Those of my regular readers who have followed the five-year saga of my trying to get my Thai wife into the UK will recognize the reference, because Getting My Thai Wife to the UK has been my biggest problem for a decade.
Well, I have had some good news today. An acquaintance of mine has successfully taken his Thai wife from Spain to the UK with very little hassle. This is exceptionally good news for me because our circumstances are almost identical.
We have both been married to a Thai woman for more than ten years, been married in Thailand, and lived in Spain for more than two years.
When my friend took his Thai wife to the UK, he went through the Channel Tunnel. They were stopped and questioned, but after providing the necessary evidence that they were married, were admitted with a visa ‘without end’ – in other words, there was an entry date, but no required exit date – an open-ended right to stay.
This is much more than I would ever have hoped for!
It gives one plenty of time to apply for a residency card. This is fantastic, because one of the requirements of a residency card for a Asian wife is a six-month tenancy agreement, and I am just learning how difficult it is to find accommodation.
Brexiteers’ Lies
In fact, it is horrendous, no matter how easy the Brexiteers say getting into this country is! Pure lies – the UK is famous for being VERY tough on immigration – the rest is lies. I have been married for more than ten years – if it is so easy, why am I struggling and have I been for more than five years to get her in?
Answer me that Brexiteers! You have been hoodwinked…
Now, we are in the UK, but the quest did not stop when we arrive. It gives us a chance to recoup though, and to be honest, we are in need of another victory, as the last were obtaining a Spanish residency card for my Thai wife and a UK visa for her. Next we will need somewhere permanent to lay our heads, and after that the big one – a UK Residency Card…
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This is the month I have tried to take off every year since I left school. August falls in the school summer holidays in the UK. When my father remarried, it was my sister’s birthday on the first, my dog’s on the fourth, my brother’s on the seventh, mine on the fourteenth, my real mother’s on the twenty-second and a good friend’s on the twenty-sixth.
It was easier to take the month off than keep making up excuses!
There are two weeks left, and I don’t see those I used to know who had/have birthdays in August any more.
I wish I did.
We don’t have any real friends here in Spain, no long-term ones anyway. So has it been for most of my life, but my wife is used to more. She has always had loving friends and family around her… I wish I could say the same since I first left home, but I am more than willing to accept the blame for that.
I’m tired now though; I’m fed up with fighting. I would happily give up my life tomorrow, if I could be certain that my wife would be all right, although I suppose that I know that she would be, because she is Thai, and Thais take care of their families.
I have fought with most of the people I know this year and made a tit of myself, but I am not happy and will not be until this struggle to get Neem to the UK is over. I am sorry if you got caught up in my turmoil. I have learned such a lot about why people did the things they have done in the last year.
I am tired of all the hassle, but sleep will not put it right. Death is the only answer I can see and I don’t sodding care any longer. If that upsets you, well, like I said above, I have already pissed most people I know off, so what is another one?
Although I do care about my friends and family… it is just a rotten situation that we are in… and I didn’t bring my wife to Europe so that I could literally worry myself sick and so my wife would worry off ten kilos that she didn’t need to lose.
I hope that you are doing better than we are.
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The Beginning – volume 7 in the series Behind The Smile – my NaNoWriMo 2017 entry
NaNoWriMo 2017
I just finished NaNoWriMo 2017, my fifth consecutive NaNoWriMo and I still enjoy it enormously. I overheard a few people talking about it a while ago, and all three of them had written their entry during the year, so that their annual novel would get a sticker. That’s really sad, because the race to produce 50,000 words in thirty days is what it is all about. Pushing yourself, and having a good time with others, tens of thousands around the world, who are in the same boat.
I normally write my 50k within a fortnight, and I have a friend who often writes two books during the month, but you can take the whole month to finish your novel, if you like. Then it has earned it a badge to go on its cover.
Other Nano Entries
After that, you can take as long as you like to add to, edit and publish it. In fact, I still haven’t published my 2016 entry, Daisy’s Chain, yet, although it is now 80,000 and fully edited.
My latest entry, for NaNoWriMo 2017, entitled Lek – The Beginning, is still languishing on my desktop at 50,500 words, but it is the seventh in my series called ‘Behind The Smile‘ and fans are waiting for it. Some have even pre-ordered it already, because I have promised to deliver it on Boxing Day – 26th. December, 2017. You can pre-order it too here:
In the first three years I took part, there were considerable incentives to accept and complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. However, they were pretty poor this year, like 2016. Before, you got things like a free hardback, or two paperbacks of your work, but now the ‘prizes’ are ‘a month’s trial’ or ’10-20% a year’s subscription’.
I didn’t see anything in the list that was worth having, which is a shame, but I suspect that it is a reflection of the poor state of the book market, which is also a symptom of the disaster our so-called betters have made of our economies around the world.
NaNo staff would deny that these gifts are incentives, probably calling them rewards, and they are right. NaNoWriMo is a personal challenge to authors to write those 50k words in November, and successfully completing it and obtaining the NanoWriMo Sticker, should be reward enough. However, it is always nice to get something for nothing even if it is not called ‘winning’.
Nanowrimo Sticker
If you have always wanted to write a book, do it. Nevertheless, if you would like the moral support of thousands near you and worldwide, try NaNoWriMo 2022 next November. It is free to enter and even if you do not succeed, you will have made a start, which you can finish at your leisure until the next NaNo starts.
If you do it, look me (owenjones) up on their website, and we can be writing buddies.
I hope to meet you there!
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I have been with Amazon for a relatively very long time – since a few weeks after it started, I think, but I can’t help thinking the the people at the top – the ones running the firm (that might not include Jeff Bezos, the guy who set it up) are buffoons. Why? Well, let’s start with the question of reviews of books on Amazon.
They tried to fix the problem of sham reviews of books on Amazon, but all they ended up doing was punishing small authors by hunting through their friends’ lists to see whether somebody on one of those lists had written a favourable review and then deleting it. This does not stop more affluent or well-known authors from having fake reviews of books on Amazon posted, because they have access to a larger group of reviewers.
Please don’t get me wrong, fake reviews are not good – they are often called ‘sock puppet’ reviews. However, many readers become pen-pal friends of their favourite writers these days, and what is wrong with that for Heaven’s Sake?
Having said that, Amazon is quite happy to let Trolls leave ten-word shyte reviews without ever having proved that they have read the book (by having purchased it – called ‘a verified purchase review’).
No, they’re fine!
But why are they? I don’t understand…
The current Reviews of Books on Amazon policy stinks because it favours famous authors with representation in the form of an agent or and publisher, so it should be changed, but that is unlikely… just look at how Amazon rewards their top Kindle Unlimited authors with tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses leaving most people with an income under $20.
Another problem with reviews concern series. ONE woman didn’t like ONE book in a 24-part series but her review is attached to all of those books!
Is that mind-blowingly bonkers or what!
The other issue that they fall down on is taxation. Amazon is the only on-line company that I know of that makes the vendor, writer, in my case, work out the tax and add it to the cost of the item, book, for each country the item is sold in!
This is Stone-age lunacy!
I do all my own work myself, and am expected to work out the various taxes for fifteen countries for each of my 140 books?!
Aren’t repetitive mundane tasks what computers are supposed to be good at?
Put it this way: Amazon is by far the biggest on-line retailer of books, but it is the only retailer who forces its authors (and every other vendor) to do this.
I think that the CEO of Amazon should pack it in and grow sweetcorn. Let them head-hunt someone who really knows about taxation and fairness.
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The Bangkok Red Light District is a magnet for visitors to Thailand, similar to Amsterdam of The Netherlands. However, I lived in Thailand for eighteen years, and have visited Bangkok scores of times. My wife has family there and most visa work is carried out In the capital too. However, I’m not completely sure that there is a designated Red Light District as such in Bangkok.
Bangkok Red Light District
To put it simply, tourists often ask: ‘Where is the Bangkok Red Light District?’
The point is though that there are sex bars and non-sex bars all over the city. Then there are the hybrids – ie, those which are respectable by day, but turn into sex bars after dark. Lots of these bars have a microphone stand in a corner, so they can play Karaoke songs later on. Many of the girls who come to sing will be on stage to draw attention to themselves. However, they are not hoping that a talent scout will spot them for a career in music.
If there is such a thing as a dedicated Red Light District in the capital, then I suppose that it is around Sukhumvit Soi 4. This area is more popularly known as Soi Nana, after the first and largest hotel in the street. However, many of the most popular sex venues are around, not necessarily in, that street
Great Nightlife
I know that many tourists to Bangkok head for the famous sex bars and nightclubs in Soi Nana. Nevertheless, if you are staying in Bangkok for more than one night, check out the bars around your hotel first. You will find some pleasant surprises that are not overfull and not overpriced. Thais, other Asians and foreign residents use these places. They are more typical of Bangkok than what you probably think of as a dedicated Red Light District.
One thing to remember when looking for typical examples of Bangkok sex bars, is that it is not like what you have seen on the films of American soldiers in Saigon, Tokyo, or even Bangkok. In general, the signs are not so flashy, and the girls promoting the bar on the street will be wearing more modest clothing, although schoolgirl uniform is popular.
If the Bangkok Red Light District is on your list of sights to see, don’t worry about checking it out. You are not obliged to do anything you don’t want to, and you will probably have a lot of fun. Millions of visitors to Bangkok have tremendous fun in the popular girly bars. So, don’t allow preconceived Western ideas of morality to spoil your adventure.
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The Beginning – volume 7 in the series Behind The Smile
The Beginning
Behind The Smile – The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya
(volume 7)
by Owen Jones
Review by Barry Boy
The Beginning is volume seven in the much-liked series Behind The Smile – The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya by Owen Jones.
Volume One in the series began when Lek was twenty-two and already working in Daddy’s Hobby in Pattaya, Volume Seven goes back to before she was even born – just before, to the days when her mother was young and working in the ‘na’ or rice fields.
Even nowadays, life as a Thai rice-farmer is hard, but for many, there is some mechanisation, but, then, in the early Seventies, it was mostly manual labour.
Pang and her husband, Maar, lived with Pang’s parents and worked their land. They all got on well, and worked for a better future for their family. One day, Pang announces that she is pregnant with their first child, and their lives change, as it always has done in all families around the world.
Lek has a happy childhood on the exterior, but she has her internal dialogue about her fears and insecurities. Ayr and Goong, her best friends, are there to help, but they drift apart for a while when Lek is forced to leave school at the age of twelve.
The stigma is to remain with her all her life.
The Beginning is written in the third person and the cover is apposite, being the same, except in title and colour, as the previous six. It is instantly recognisable in pink, being a diluted form of the colour of Volume One, which is red.
The Beginning: Behind The Smile -The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya (volume 7) will be published on December 26th, 2017 for $3.99, but the price will rice on January 1st to $4.99. However, you can pre-order it now for $2.99 at a discount of up to 45% and have it delivered to your device on Boxing Day, while you are recovering from a hectic Christmas Day.
**UPDATE** There are no Thais working here now and the owner still owes wages from August 2017 – AVOID!!!
The Thai-Lanna Restaurant is situated at Calle Francisco Cano 80, which is the third street back from the sea in Los Boliches, a suburb of Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in south-eastern Spain. It is open Monday to Saturday from seven until eleven p.m. but the closing time is flexible (and the staff arrive at six) and if you ring +34 952 587 139, ask for Jose before Sunday, he may open for you on their day off.
The decor in the Thai-Lanna is exquisite – there is no other word for it. When I took my homesick Thai wife there, she kept touching the woodwork and artefacts murmuring: “Oh, this is real Thai!’ She must have said it twenty times before our food arrived.
There is a wide selection of food and I can vouch for the fact that it is authentic Thai too, because I know the two chefs. They are both middle-aged Thai ladies who grew up in Thailand, and in Thailand, ALL females (and most men) learn to cook from a very early age. In addition to that, I lived in a northern Thai village for thirteen years.
Needless to say, but I will anyway, as this is a review, the food was superb.
The name of the restaurant needs some explanation, but I will jump to the second word first, ‘Lanna’, which is actually two words, but Thai does not leave spaces between words. “Lan” means a million, and ‘Na” means rice field(s), since Thai does not use plurals. So, Lanna means “The Land of a Million Rice Fields”, which was a kingdom stretching across northern Thailand and beyond between about 1292 and 1607. “Thai” means free, so Thailand is the land of the free, and Thais are “The Free People’.
Give the Thai-Lanna Restaurant a try, you will not find a better or more authentic northern-Thai style, which is not as hot as the food from Isaan or the south west, although if you want it hot, just tell the waitress. Those ladies in the kitchen can cook anything Thai.
Five Stars out of Five.
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