EN4241 Critical & Analytical Reading 2021

Reading Passage 1
Young students find lure of the ‘good life’ irresistible "materialism"
Irony By Anucha Charoenpo
Im sies
evident come from the
diction ‘The money was so easily earned’

Mp
Jubjaeng and Cindy are just two out of the many college students who have fallen victim
to the lure of the “good life”.
The small allowance their poor parents send them from their upcountry homes is far from
adequate to suit their preferred lifestyle so they sell their bodies occasionally to realize their dream. mp
For these girls, brand name products such as a Prada or Louis Vuitton shoulder bag are not
just luxury items but a symbol of status. They cannot bear the thought of seeing other students 2
clutching one of these bags in one hand and a cell phone in the other, while they have nothing.
Jubjaeng (an assumed name) can be described as a good student. She goes to her university
every morning. She studies hard, looks for books in the library and does her homework.
But some evenings she becomes a working woman, out to meet customers at luxury hotels
Mp
and make some quick money. prostitution
mp
Jubjaeng, 23, entered the flesh trade three years ago when she was a freshman. Her life
changed when she defied her parents and went to live with her boyfriend at a rented house while
fallen out they were still attending a commercial college.
of love broke up Love ran sour and her boyfriend found a new lover. Leaving him, she needed to find a job

so that she could pay for a place to live and for her education.
personification But she had no working skills and the jobs available to her would not have been enough
for her monthly expenses.
“One day I had no money left and I borrowed some from a friend studying with me at the
university. I told her that I wanted to work but didn’t know how to apply for a job since I am not
from Bangkok.”
“She was working as an escort girl and asked if I would be interested. I had never heard
of such a job at the time and didn’t know what it was, but said ‘okay’ because I wanted the money.”
She was given the telephone number of an agent who procured female university students
for businessmen. The agent made an appointment to meet with her at a hotel to see her face and
figure and discuss the job.
“I remember that day, she said ‘excellent’ when she saw me. Then she told me what the
job would entail and if I would be willing. I decided to do it when I learned how much money I
would get,” Jubjaeng said with her sweet smile. happy
mp
Jubjaeng received 5,000 baht for sleeping with her first customer. When she first started
she worked almost every day, because she always thought that she had to save money for the
future. But the more money she made the more she spent “because money was so easily earned”. irony
situation
“When I wanted something expensive, I would just buy it. And when I had no money left,
Levidents
I just called up my agent and took on some customers,” she said.
Her agent deducted about a thousand baht per client. Each month Jubjaeng would make
up to 20,000 baht. The money covered her apartment rent, educational fees and daily spending.
Lately, she has given up the job because she found a rich businessman willing to pay for
her upkeep. He pays her rent and education fees, has bought her a new car, and gives her 20,000-
40,000 baht spending money each month
“This man loves me so much, he asked me to give up the job and sleep only with him, and
he would take care of me. I think this is perfect life, which I have never touched on before,”
Jubjeaeng said. because he pays her everything
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 EN4241 Critical & Analytical Reading 2021
She dreams of working in the marketing field after she completes her education.
Cindy (not her real name) is slender and fair and in her second year at university. She
became a prostitute because she spent all the money her mother had given her for her education in
her first year.
“I come from upcountry. My mother works in the rice fields.”
“I felt too guilty to tell her that I had spent all the money. I didn’t know where to get money
for the school fees. A friend said she knew a woman who could help and took me to meet her.
The woman told me that I had to go with men and sleep with them.”
“I need a lot of money to continue my education, so I agreed. At the time I thought I’d do
it just once, but that proved to be impossible.”
“The money is easily earned. I started a life of buying luxury goods, brand name products,
frequently visiting pubs and befriending rich colleagues”
“I admit that sometimes I spent money on drugs, but not often,” said Cindy.
She still leads an expensive lifestyle supported by her fee of 3,000-5,000 baht for sleeping
with a customer. Most of the customers are businessmen and senior state officers. She said she
will not give up the job until she can find a man to support her life.
he use Both girls are aware of the dangers of sexual diseases, such as Aids. They insist that all
the money their customers use condoms and ask them to take a bath before sex.
mp
to get A One businessman who is supporting a female university student he met through a “date”
said he has been paying her 20,000 baht a month for several months now.
everything
“It’s cheaper and it’s safe from sexual diseases. It’s exciting to make love to a young
he want
university student. In the past I went to massage parlous for sex. That was very expensive.”
“Each time I had to pay about 3,000 baht. It’s better this way,” said the 42-year-old
businessman.
His conditions are that the girl stop sleeping with other customers.
More university students will turn to prostitution because they want to maintain their
expensive lifestyles to keep up with students from rich families, he predicted.

Going gay after classes

“Necessity forcing male students to sell bodies”
Phakphum spends his weekends at a gay bar on Silom road, where he moonlights as a
“male sex worker” after attending classes at a university during the day.
The 20-year-old from Ubon Ratchathani is a third-year student at a state university in
Bangkok. Phakphum is not his real name.
He took on the job because he needed the money to complete his education, and plans to
give it up next year when he finishes his studies.
Phakphum, who lives at a temple, entered the trade a year ago after his father died of heart
failure. His mother, a food vendor, is too old to support his education and monthly living costs.
She already has the burden of bringing up his two young sisters who are studying at a secondary
school.
While his father was still alive, Phakphum was given a monthly allowance of 20,000 baht
to cover all expenses.
“Since my father died, my mother has sent me no more than 5,000 baht altogether. I have
to pay for education fees, clothes, daily food and transport, as well as social activities with friends.”
“I don’t know what to do. I know the job I’m doing is despised and not acceptable to most
people, but I am not doing anything wrong. I just sell my body, but not my heart. I don’t beg
anyone for food, for money; I’m standing on my own feet.”

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 EN4241 Critical & Analytical Reading 2021
Young, good looking and charming, Phakphum is popular with gay customers. He is
always in demand and gets 1,500 baht or more each time he sleeps with them. On a weekend he
can make 5,000 baht or more.
“I’m not gay, I’m a man who can sleep with a man. I have a girlfriend. She is studying at
the university. She doesn’t know what work I do.
“I want to marry, I want to have children. But the cost of living is really high and I have
to do this,” he said in his soft voice.
Phakphum started the job when he called a telephone number published in a fashionable
magazine. The advertisement wanted good-looking young men to work as waiters in the bar,
offering a good salary and high benefits.
He was told to walk in and apply at the bar on the following day. He went as directed and
met many young men. All were handsome and with muscular bodies.
“The man who interviewed me told me what the work was and asked me to take off my
shirt to see my body before offering me a job.”
“I knew what the job was, but it can make me a lot of money to support my personal
expenses and education fees.”
“I know many university colleagues who are from poor families and from the country who
are working in this field. I think everyone is satisfied with the easy money,” Phakphum said
confidently.
He said many male university students were turning to prostitution, most of them working
in gay bars on Silom, Suriwong, Pradiphat and Sukhumvi roads.
Others worked as “street boys” at Saranrom park, Sanam Luang and Lumpini park. These
young men were independent, they waited for their gay customers. Sometimes women also picked
them up.
Phakphum said he sends some of the money he earns to his mother to help support the
family. His mother used to ask him about his extra job.
“I told her that I’m working as a waiter at a luxury bar after classes. Of course she doesn’t
know what I actually do.”
Phakphum is just one example of what some male university students are willing to do to
support their education and a lifestyle they have come to expect.

Pupils need moral studies

Universities could best keep students from turnings to prostitution by promoting moral
values in addition to academic excellence, rights campaigners and an out spoken education lecturer
said.
Universities were teaching students to be concerned only about academic excellence and
overlooking morality.
Lack of appropriate extracurricular activities has driven students to materialism and widened
the gap between them and their teachers. As a result, some students would do anything to obtain luxury
items and valuables just to show off.
Montree Sinthavichai, secretary-general of the children’s Protection Foundation, said
university administrators should encourage constructive student activities and avoid interfering with
them. Universities had to accept the fact that prostitution among students exists and try to extend help
to those in trouble.
Campuses should exchange information to keep themselves updated on the situation and
come up with prompt measures to prevent more students from turning to prostitution.

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Wallop Tangkhananurak of the children’s Creation Foundation, said universities should not
focus on academic excellence alone, but also on morality and social responsibility.
Mr. Wallop said universities should give importance and direct more funds to student
activities.
Students from poor families should be helped to find respectable part-time jobs.
Sompong Chitradub, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education who is
working with under-privileged students, said lecturers should pay more attention to students’
private lives, in addition to teaching in classes.
He urged universities to play a role in changing students’ attitudes from a desire for luxury
items to concentrating on essential items. If they did this, the number of students moonlighting as
prostitutes would fall, he said.

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Reference: The Bangkok Post