4. The Koh Samui Matchmaker

It is five in the afternoon. The sun is already setting and tourists are beginning to check into their bungalows on the beach of Lamai. It is time to shower off the sand and get ready for the night’s entertainment.

Around the same time, Thai girls begin to arrive to work at the bars on the beach promenade. They fix each other’s hair, apply makeup, play games and giggle. We tour around the cluster of open-air pubs and come across a blond, sympathetic looking man hanging around among the Thai girls. It’s been two years since we lived here – we’ve returned to find out more about the bar life.

“Are you a customer or do you work here?” we ask.

“I am working. I own this bar,” he replies and gestures towards the nearest bar. He has a thick British accent. His name is Tex, and he tells us he has had the bar for two years.

“How did a guy like you end up as a bar owner in Koh Samui?”

“Well, my wife doesn’t actually want me to do this, but at the moment this is the only way I am able to support my family,” Tex says.

He is married to a Thai woman and they have a three-year-old daughter. Tex reveals that he bought the bar for $6000. Now he runs it with his wife.

Like other bar owners, Tex has hired a group of Thai girls to work in his bar. The work is compensated by free accommodation, a daily dinner and a small amount of cash. The girls’ job is to lure customers into the bar and entertain them. If a customer wants to take a girl out for a night, and she wants to in order to earn extra money from the customer outside the bar, he can do so by paying Tex a bar fine of 200 Baht ($5) - The bulk of his income comes from selling drinks, mostly beer...

(Sample, more in the book.......)