These days, it is more true than ever that if you don't have a blueprint for success, then you have a default blueprint for failure. After all, there are very few paths to the top nowadays that begin with a menial job. Those days are long gone!
The biggest problem with a low-paid job (amongst others) is that it is hard to save, so that when a crisis comes, there are no reserves to tide you over.
This is what happened to Lek and her family in the new book "Behind The Smile". Lek left school early and got married, just like most young girls in her school class in the village, but when her father died unexpectedly leaving large debts, the family was in danger of losing the farm to the bank.
As the eldest child at the age of 22, it was up to her to pull a rabbit out of the hat. She had no education to speak of and was only any good at being a farmer's daughter or a wife.
The other option was to go 500 km south to Pattaya and work in her cousin's bar. When she realised that she was pregnant by her estranged husband, she drifted into the sex tourism industry because she needed the extra money for her daughter.
Lek was devastated. She had never expected to have bright lights in her life, but she had not expected to work under red lights either. How could she ever cope with her friends, family and daughter knowing what she was doing for a living?
However, although the reason why Lek went into the sex tourism industry was 90%+ for the money, she also enjoyed male company and the loneliness just would not leave her alone.
'Behind The Smile' tells the story of Lek, a bar girl in Pattaya and of some of her exploits 'on the game' from her point of view. The book tells what it's like to do her job; how she is treated and how she tries to get out of the sex industry for 10 years.
Lek knows that she descended into prostitution because of her lack of education and she is determined that her baby daughter will not fall into the same poverty trap through a lack of education.
To find out more about how Lek got into the sex tourism industry and why she went to Pattaya, visit the web site.
