Behind the Smile - the Story of Lek, a Bar Girl In Pattaya: Book Three: Maya - Illusion Owen Jones Author

Lek was born the eldest child of four in a typical rice farming family and she did not expect to do anything any different from the other girls in her class. One day a catastrophe occurred out of the blue – her father died young but with huge d... Read more

Lek was born the eldest child of four in a typical rice farming family and she did not expect to do anything any different from the other girls in her class. One day a catastrophe occurred out of the blue – her father died young but with huge debts. 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 drifted into the sex industry. Book three picks up the story of Lek's life six or seven years further on. At forty-ish, it is time to take stock of her life. She looks back on her life and wonders whether it was all worth it. Should she feel bitter about what has happened to her or should she move on and try to forget her past? Should she just try to erase it, whitewash it out, like so many women did or should she feel proud of what she has accomplished? Lek is plagued by mixed emotions and tries to seek an explanation that she can live with for the rest of her life. Less