The Cost Of Living Adjustment

Bananas here have a unique tanginess you cannot find with the fruit picked too early and shipped in from South America. A Myanmar banana can be mostly brown and still not too sweet or over ripe to eat. There are two kinds: one similar in shape/size to what you see in the US and one about 2/3 the length and 1.5” in diameter with a grainier texture. Papaya is out every morning for breakfast. The buttery taste is not my favorite, but it does offer energy and water that is safe to consume. That’s less bottled water to consume and less plastic in the landfill or on the street.

Much of the food here is excessively oily so I have taken to eating 3 Chinese buns and 2 slices of bread each morning to balance things out. Grazing has also become necessary. If I don’t eat something at morning tea and in the afternoon, I find my stomach revolting with hunger pangs. Hot tea has been revived again as an obsession. Every restaurant offers it before a meal. Good to know there will be a reliable source of water. Just make sure to ask for Chinese tea at breakfast or you will end up with coffee colored tea that is far to bitter to consume without sugar.

Morning conversation centered around women and feminist theology. Anna May came in wearing a bright pink shirt reading “This is what a feminist looks like” to lead our session. Ruth 3.1-5 paralleled conversation on human trafficking along the Thai and Chinese borders. When the young girls arrive, they are given clothes and makeup, told not to talk or leave the bed before a man and are locked in the room. Some girls sleep with an average of 5-10 men per night. Half of the money is promised to the girls, but with fees for police and electricity they barely end up with enough to buy a bowl of noodles for a meal. When they die their bodies are burned on piles of tires to prevent further disease from spreading. If they are lucky enough to buy their freedom and return home, no one associates with them for they are damaged women. Some are followed in the evenings into the fields or woods where bad monks and other men force them to have sex. Some girls stay at the brothels and keep working to send money home. Once they reach 20-25 they are too old, make little money and are forced to take other jobs. Here is the story of one young girl who looked to be about 15 or 16.

As she recounted her story, she said she had sex with about 1000 men in a year. She had been in Thailand for 6 years. Having not stayed in school, she couldn’t do the math to figure out how many men that was. The first time a man has sex with her she bled so much she passed out. Two more men had sex with her before she was allowed to recover. The first paid $1000, the second $800 and the third $600. After a few years she got pregnant, but did not know until she went to a doctor because she felt so tired. She was 6 months pregnant when she asked the doctor for an abortion. Without a large amount of money, she was told it was too late to get rid of the baby. Returning to the brothel she asked the house mother for money and she refused saying it wasn’t her problem. The girl returned to her room and took some pills. The next day she passed out. When she awoke to feel her abdomen, the baby was gone. They told her she had a baby girl who she said “would have sinned when she got older like her mother had. This is not the life I want for my kids.” Men take a few minutes and give you money, but planting rice takes a few hours while you wait for the harvest.

Anywhere from 30-80K girls are trafficked each year in Thailand.