“Miss Bangkok” uncovers the hidden world of a go-go dancer in Thailand’s vice city, Bangkok. Bua Boonmee gives us an insight into the life of one of the capital’s bar girls and exposes the ‘Sometimes I wonder was I born to be unfortunate; is this life my destiny? I pray to Buddha that this not be the case. My life seems to be that of a country girl who has spent her days escaping from a tiger, only to be eaten by a crocodile. Mine is an ever worsening tale with no end in sight.’ You see, I am a prostitute, though farangs prefer to call women like me ‘bar girls’. I believe the term is more acceptable to westerners’ ears. But to a girl like me, it is all the same. ‘You can buy me for 2,000 baht a night. In return, I will do anything that is asked of me, but I won’t kiss customers – some things are just too intimate to do with a stranger. Kissing is for a wife or girlfriend; sex is for Thai girls like me. “Miss Bangkok” is a vivid, powerful and moving memoir of a life spent in prostitution in Thailand. Poor and uneducated, Bua Boonmee escaped an abusive marriage only to end up in the go-go bars of Patpong. There, in the notorious red-light district of Bangkok, she succumbed to prostitution in an effort to support her family. Bua’s story is one of resilience and courage in the face of abuse and poverty. Her confessions will make you laugh and cry, cringe and applaud. She will change your perception of prostitution forever.
