Dear Hillary,
One of the girls at work has told me that she wants to be a “pretty”, one of these girls in strange outfits that are seen at shows round the place. She isn’t a very beautiful girl but she says a friend of hers says she will get the job for her. Then she tells me she has to pay 20,000 baht to this woman to get the job. This sounds like a con to me. What do you think?
Gregory
Dear Gregory,
You are asking the wrong person, Petal. I didn’t even get second prize in the beauty contest, they wouldn’t even let me enter. It is, however, an ambition for many girls, so does leave itself open to fraudsters. With our government trying to stamp out corruption, these finder’s fees are just another type of ‘tea money’ but where the girls get enormous daily rates of pay it can (and will) happen. Of course they can only work for about five years if they are lucky. Not my cup of tea (money)!
