Drained by her anger, Lek throws herself on the floor. Then, after two years, she was sold again. She worked every day, there were many men, Thai men, foreign men. She cried a lot.' The words pour out louder and faster. 'This girl had a lot of pains,' she yells. Lek grabs a stick and begins striking the air with every new point. 'This girl was 10 and she was sold to a woman called Auntie. 'This girl was sold by her mother,' Lek shouts. She has never told her life story, but now she belts it out. She jumps up and pokes wildly at her image. It is hard to imagine that not long ago these children, aged 11 to 14, worked as prostitutes, used by men three and four times their age.Īs soon as Lek sees her photograph, the quiet 12-year-old girl is transformed. The pictures make the girls look like small, spindly birds, rather than sex objects.
This day, a visitor is taking Polaroid pictures and passing them around. But in a nearby shelter for former prostitutes the scene is demure, as girls settle down for group therapy.
The Home of Body Building exudes a sour sweat from the hall where older men are eyeing prancing young boys. The massage parlor is already swallowing clients through its dark doorway cheap perfume hangs in the air. IT IS BARELY MIDDAY AND THE THEATER OF THE flesh is well under way in one of Thailand's notorious red-light districts.
