Becoming a Bride: Negotiating Material Desire, Sexuality, and Ones Fate Patcharin Lapanun PhD Candidate, VU University Amsterdam

Lecturer, Khon Kaen University; RCSD fellow

ANRC Workshop Human Security and Religious Certainty in Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 15-17 January, 2010.

Marriage between Thai women and Western men is a striking social phenomenon in current Thai society, especially in the Northeast (locally know as Isan). The increase in such marriages is part of global massive mobility in which Asian countries have become popular places of origin of migrant brides as well as migrant women (Basch et al. 2003; Sassen 2000; Wang and Chang 2007; Cohen 1996 Tolentino 1996). During the past few decades, the phenomenon of these marriages has received attention both from the media and academic scholarship. Since the marriage represents a common pattern of women from less developed countries marrying men from richer and more industrialized countries, it has been assumed to be based on economic incentives, not on love. A number of scholars have debated on the normative perceptions and how the marriage has been conceptualized. For example, the common way in which this marriage has been viewed within the framework of binary opposition between love and economic motivations (Cabezas 2009; Brennan 2004; Constable 2003, Constable ed. 2005). The common idea, as Constable (2005a: 10) pointed out, is that the marriage might aptly labeled global hypergamywomen marry and move up to a higher socioeconomic location of the global hierarchy (Constable 2003; Suzuki 2005; Suriya 2007; Thai 2008; Panitee 2009). The on-going debates also include criticism of the feminists and activists views regarding women who involve in the marriage as docile victims who married out of economic difficulties while ignoring their agency (Nakamatsu 2005; Costable 2003; Pattaya 1999; Ratana 2005). In this paper, I do not set out to contribute to the debate in these areas. Instead, my primary concern here is to provide some empirical data and ethnographic analysis on the processes and tactics of spatial negotiation exercised by women in order to allow them to meet and make connections with Western men, expecting that the associations would finally lead to marriage. The paper is based on data collected in Pattaya, one of the most famous tourist destinations in Thailand, especially for foreign sex tourists. I undertook fieldwork in Pattaya, an extended field site of my on-going PhD research on transnational marriage of rural women in Isan, during the period of two weeks in November 2008 and another 8 days in January and February 2009. This field research is a part of my extensive 14 months fieldwork in Thailand in 2008-2009. In addition to the data collected in Pattaya, an ethnographic and historical account of 1 the lives of village women in the primary research site, Sri Isan , a rural village in Udon Thani province is also used to provide important background to explain womens motivations and desires which link to their spatial negotiation. The paper begins by discussing various marriage routes women in Sri Isan have taken thus far. Then it goes on to look at a tourist site, Pattaya, the major destination where the majority of women in the village met their
1

The villages name and all names quoted in this paper are pseudonyms.

Western husbands, and some have been attempting to make connections with Western men at the site. The last two sections prior to conclusion discuss womens negotiation. I contend that in their daily lives these women have negotiated not only material desire and sexuality, but also ones fate. The latter was performed in various ways particularly through ritual practices and fortune tellers. It is this negotiation that transforms womens lives and challenges the limitations of their existence.

Routes to Marry a Western Husband Ggenerally, in Thai society, there are two groups of women who married Western men; one group are middle class women who meet their partners while studying abroad or career women working with Western partners in various fields of occupation. The other group is made up of those involved in the entertainment sector and service industry. Most of these women have a rural background (Ratana 2005). My findings and those of others (NESDB 2004; Buapan et al. 2006; Suphawathanakorn et al. 2005; Panitee 2009; Pataya 1999; Supang et al. 1999) indicate various paths in which women of the latter group met and married their Western husbands. These paths include: first, transnational networks that link women to the family, kin and friends in their homes of origin; second, places of employment particularly entertainment settings and tourist destinations including bars, night clubs, coffee shops and massage parlors; third, match-making agents and self introduction via internet; and finally, some women met their husbands through travels and personal contacts. The common route women in each study took is varied. For example, the majority of women in the Isan village where Ratana (2005) conducted her research met their Western partners through a network of family and friends. Based on this recruitment network, many women from the village have lived in the same cities in Switzerland2. Similarly, Panitees work (2009) also indicates that the Dutch men also met their Thai wives through the networks of Thai women marrying their Dutch friends; and these women are a female relative or fellow villager of their friends. The two surveys conducted in Isan villages, NESDB (2004) and Suphawatanakorn et al. (2005), show a different pattern of routes the women involved in the studies took. These studies reveal that working in the service industry in various tourist destinations was the major path which more than half of village women 3 engaged as a means to look for their Western husbands/partners . My findings demonstrate a similar pattern to the surveys. The majority of 183 women in Sri Isan who were married or have been married to a Western man met their husbands in
2

Through the networks, 96% of 84 village women who married Western men have Swiss husbands; only 2% of the husbands are from Germany, 1% from England and 1% from France. A large number of Western men from Switzerland have presented a distinctive identity of the village. It is known as Muu Baan Swiss (Swiss village) (Ratana 2005:11-12). 3 The NESDB conducted in 5 provinces in Isan reveals that 54% of a total 219 rural women in Isan villages who have married Western men met their husbands while working in the service industry in various tourist destinations while 20% established contact with a husband through a circle of family and friends; and 26% met their husbands through travels and personal contacts (NESDB 2004). Another survey conducted in four Isan provinces (Suphawathanakorn et al. 2005) indicates that 58% of 231 women having a Western husband met their husband through working at tourist sites; 38% through networks of friends and family; and 4% through match-making agents and self introduction via internet.

the tourist sites, especially in Pattaya, while they engaged in service work; serving as bar girls 4 is the most common occupation among these women . There are also substantial numbers of village women who have been attempting to meet and make connections with the Western 5 men at these sites. The second large group of mia farang in Sri Isan is those who are connected to the Western men through an introduction and with assistance of women married to a Western husband. This connection was normally facilitated by a network of family, kin, and friends. There are also mia farang who used match-making agents as well as those who met their husbands through internet chat. The latter is limited to only those with certain English and computer skills. Life stories of these women reflect that many of them had engaged in multiple routes in order to achieve their desire. Match-making service is a common means which many women have thought about and tried prior to engaging in the service industry in the tourist destinations. For example, Nisa, age 34, a divorced mother with a daughter, who married a Danish man in his early fifties, recalled that she had worked with one of the agents in the village for 9 months at great cost. However, it did not result in any serious prospect for a long term relationship. Then she decided to follow a female fellow villager to work in Phuket. In her second week in Phuket, she met her husband, who she has lived with for 5 years. Similarly, Sa, age 44, a divorced mother with two sons, had also worked with an agent in the city of Udon for a few months before heading to Pattaya where she met her Swedish husband, who she has lived with for 10 years. Also, Kanda, age 36, a nurse who has been seeing a doctorate English man in his late fifties for 3 years, recounted that she had worked with an agent in the village for a year and had met with some Western men through the agent. However, she did not find the right man with whom she wanted to establish a long term relationship. Unlike Nisa and Sa, Kanda did not head to tourist destinations. Rather, she has used internet chat herself as a means to make connections with Western men. After she had remained in touch with her English partner for almost three years, they decided to get married at the end of 2009. Based on experience of women in Sri Isan, employing match-making service is a time consuming and costly processes. The conditions limited many women particularly those who have to take care of the children after separation from a local 6 husband . Working in the tourist sites, on the other hand, provided women with certain income enabling them to support themselves as well as their children while attempting to make connections with Western men.

This route allowed the women in Sri Isan to associate with and marry men from various parts of the world; most of whom were tourists. The majority are European, accounting for 80% of the foreign husbands; the first three highest groups are from Germany, Sweden and UK comprising half of the European husbands. American and Canadian as well as Asian men account for 10% and 7% respectively. There are also 1.5% of Australian men. 5 The Thai term mia farang means Westerners wife. To villagers of Sri Isan, women living together with and receiving financial support from their Western partners regardless of whether they officially registered their marriage or not are referred to as mia farang. In Sri Isan three-fourths of 183 mai farang have lived with a husband in his country. Most of these women registered their marriage to get a marriage visa. Similar to some whose husbands live in the community, they also registered their marriage so as to allow the husband to get a marriage visa to live in Thailand.

For a local couple, it is common that after separation a mother is the one who takes care of the child. It is also likely that women have to support the children without any support from the father.

Generally, women working in the tourist sites are questioned about their involvement in commercial sex. This suspicion has contributed to a rather negative image of women 7 associated with or married to a Western man . Among mia farang in Sri Isan as well as women working in Pattaya whom I came to know, they were well aware of this attitude. However, some of these women emphasized that engaging in service work at the sites allowed them to meet Western men face-to-face, not through the intermediaries. In this way, they knew how the men looked and got a sense of how they were. Based on an association, women had evaluated whether they wanted to develop long term relationships with particular men or whether they should limit or end the relationships. Many women talked about valuing this because it increased their freedom for choosing the partners. Other women as well as some parents in Sri Isan viewed this path as the most possible way for female villages to marry a foreign husband under the limitations of their existence. This path has therefore become a common pragmatic means for most village women to achieve the desired end even though not all mia farang in the village took this path.

Pattaya: A Space of Hope At only a two hour-drive from Bangkok, Pattaya beach resort is located off the Gulf of Thailand. Pattaya is one of the most foreign towns in Thailand. It is compact and has everything foreign tourists could possibly want. The development of service and entertainment industries in the 1960s when Pattaya served as a Rest and Recreation (R&R) market for American military, together with the promotion of a tourist industry geared to sex tourism in the later decade (Truong 1990; Cohen 2003; Pasuk 1981) has allowed the city to become the countrys premier sex resort where a huge variety of settings and wide range of entertainment services are available. It is this place where connections between Western men from various countries and local women, especially those from rural Northeastern and the North, have been initiated; and, in many cases, resulted in long term relationships (Schemmann 2005, 2007; Thistlewaite 2006). Walking along the beach and the narrow lanes connecting to the beach road in Central Pattaya area, I witnessed bars, clubs, restaurants, discos, escort agencies, massage parlors, hotels, and apartments situated along the sides of the road and lanes. The signage of these places and the stores had English written above Thai. On the streets and the beach, I had heard English, Thai and other languages spoken. The bar girls as well as staff of the entertainment businesses greeted the tourists passing by in English. Frequently, I was also greeted in English and not Thai. Among the variety of entertainment sites, bars are the most

A rather negative attitude towards women married to Western husbands has developed since the middle of the 1960s. During the Vietnam War period, many parts of Thailand, including the town of Udon as well as Pattaya, served as Rest and Recreation (R&R) sites for American servicemen. The association between the servicemen and local women, particularly those involved in the entertainment and sex industries, in some cases, went beyond a brief and temporary to a permanent onea woman living with an American soldier during the period of his stay in Thailand. This kind of relationship is known as rented wife or hired wife (mia chao). Consequently, women having a Western husband, especially those with a rural background, have often been questioned about their involvement in commercial sex.

common. Some bars are big, well decorated and have a number of bar girls entertaining the clients or trying to attract those passing by; some are small with only a few staff. When I visited the bar where Da, age 38; Dao, age 38; and Noi, age 27, three good friendsDa and Dao are from Sri Isan; Noi is from the village next to Sri Isanhave worked I observed about 10 women working at the bar, most of these girls are from various provinces of Isan. The bar is situated in the complex where another dozen of bars are also located. During my time in Pattaya, I observed that this area was relatively busy; whenever passing by I always noticed some women in each bar entertaining the customers. Despite that, most of the girls I talked to mentioned that it was not a good year (2008) and they did not get as many customers as they had before. As a bar girl, normally women earn a certain salary plus an extra income from drinks the customers purchase for them. However, these earnings are only minimal compared to income gained from the punters who rent their time. In addition to the organized entertainment places where women have worked and where the connections with foreign male tourists have been initiated, there are also freelance women who hang around and approach tourists at the beach. Most of these women had a certain amount of experience of working at the bars or other entertainment and service businesses. Some of the freelancers worked only in the evening and at night while involved in other jobs, such as shop helpers, sales staff, and house maid, during the day. Others go out on the beach from noon or early afternoon to two oclock in the morning. Jum, age 29, a woman from Isan province who has been working at Pattaya beach for almost two years, identified this job as her fulltime occupation. Normally, Jum started her work at noon and hung around on the beach until two oclock the next day. After being rented for short-time (a few hours), she usually returned to the beach and looked for another client if it was not too late. 8 But if the deals were long-time she stayed overnight with the clients. Compared to working at the discos and bars with which she was previously involved, Jum preferred the freelance job, for it provided her with flexibility and freedom in terms of time and choices of clients. At the same time, she emphasized that this job requires certain experience and English ability to communicate and negotiate with the customers. There is no Mamasana woman working at the bars to promote new and inexperienced girls who do not speak English to the clients. Unlike Jum, Tuk, age 39, a woman from Udon who had started her first week of work at a bar when I met her in November 2008, said that she wants to ensure her income. Thus she decided to work at a bar rather than on the beach. Freelancers, for Tuk, rather involve uncertainty especially in terms of income; as she put it: to attract a customer on the beach is risky. One might earn nothing or get some thousands of baht in one day. I cannot take the risk. I am inexperienced and I have only a few hundred baht left after paying my first months rent and bus fare to Pattaya. I want to have regular income at least to cover my rent and food. Tuk, like Dao, returned to Pattaya and engaged in a bar job for the second time. She had been involved in this occupation five years ago and met an English man in his fifties who she had been associated with during 2004-2005. After the relationship ended, Tuk engaged in
8

The English words short-time and long-time are commonly used by both bar girls and freelancers. Longtime normally refers to overnight deals. It also means deals that last for weeks or months.

selling cooked food in the village. However, she could not live her life the same way as she had when being with her English partner. Finally Tuk decided to return to Pattaya. Her hope is to a establish relationship with a Western man who can support her and who she likes as well. Similarly, Dao met a retired German man in Pattaya in 1999. Then she left her work and returned to Sri Isan after a serious relationship was developed. The German partner sent money to help with her expenses and he also came to Thailand to be with her a few months every year. After they had been together for seven years, he was passed away. Both Tuk and Dao spoke of their passion for their Western partners as well as the generosity of these men and how they had supported them. These women also talked about the comfortable and joyful life they had experienced while living with their Western partners as motivation propelling them to Pattaya again. In February 2008, Dao returned to Pattaya with two of her friends, Da and Noi. These women have worked at the same bar and lived in the same apartment with two other girls from Udon. All three women as well as their two roommates share similar hopes regarding the possibility to develop serious relationships with the Western men they have solicited in Pattaya. This imagining is common for most women engaging in entertainment and service industries in Pattaya who I came to know. Both bar girls and freelancers working in Pattaya talked about their work as temporary and as a means to their desired endmarrying or having serious relationships with the Western men, not as their permanent occupation. However, most of them realized that some women working in Pattaya and other tourist destinations have been in this occupation for many years; yet their wishes have not been achieved. In Sri Isan, Pattaya is not only a space of hope for the women who aspire to make connections with Western men, but also for the parents and elders who want their daughters and female relatives to marry a Western husband. The parents desire is motivated by the comfortable lives mia farang have lived, compared to other women in the village, which they hope their daughters can enjoy. During my time in the village, I had heard villagers mention about the parents who supported their daughters to go to Pattaya to look for a Western husband quite often. However, there were only a few parents and elder relatives who admitted to and talked about their encouragement openly.

Negotiating Material Desire and Sexuality: Womens Choice of Sexual Partners Thus far, encounters between male foreigners and local women taking place within tourist destinations have been portrayed, on the one hand, as inherently exploitative involving inequal exchange across gendered, racial and national distinctions in which the privilege is placed onto white men from the first world (Brennan 2004; Davidson 1995). On the other hand, the current scholarship also points to the fact that these encounters have developed mutual advantages for the parties concerned and provided opportunity for the participants to negotiate and extend the meaning of the exchange (Cabezas 2009). As with the recent work, in this section I address how women involved in the sex industry in tourist sites, specifically in Pattaya, have negotiated material desire and sexuality through the ways they made their choice of sexual partner. To illustrate the processes in which women made connections and negotiated with foreign clients/partners, I present story of Jum. This case is focused on her not only because she is among those whom I knew best, but also because her story reflects complexity and tensions which are shared by many freelancers and bar girls at Pattaya; as well as by those mia farang in Sri Isan who worked and met their husband at the tourist sites.

Jum, like Dao, Da and most of mia farang in Sri Isan, had left her rural village to engage in wage-based employment in the cities soon after finishing six years of compulsory schooling. She had worked as a house maid, babysitter and shop helper for various employers in different cities. Her last job before heading to Pattaya was as a helper in a wholesale shop selling readymade clothes and shoes in Bangkok. After the shop was closed in 2006, her life at Pattaya began. With the assistance of her friends sister, Jum got a job as a cashier in a disco. She also managed to work at a department store during the day, though the job lasted only for a few months. To obtain a higher income, Jum moved from the disco to a few bars within a year. Unfortunately, the last bar she joined was quiet so she resigned and started hanging around on the beach. On her first day as a freelancer, she met an Italian man who she took care of for three weeks during the period of his stay in Pattaya. It provided her with satisfying earnings. Thereafter she has continued on. However, Jum clearly stated that she does not want to remain in this occupation for too long, and she wants to get married before the age of 32. She also emphasized that she will marry a Western, not a Thai man. Like most women working in Pattaya, Jum talked about her work as a means to marry a Western husband. She explained that being with the clients under long-time deals especially when the period of agreement lasts for weeks or months, there are more to the associations than simply sexual services. She often acted as companion and interpreter, did the shopping, tidied and cleaned the clients room as well as providing such services as massages and serving coffee or drinks. The more the customers are pleased, the more possibilities that they might return again. Providing these services, she also learned whether particular clients were fair, generous, picky, or stingy, as well as whether they treated their woman well. At this point Mai, age 47, a widow from Sri Isan who returned to Pattaya after her second Dutch husband died, shared that some men did not care about their women, but some did. Then, she further explained: the Dutch man who I am taking care of often asked me where I want to go. He was also concerned whether I was happy with the place. When we went to the bar and I told him it was too noisy, we went to other bars. In the past two days, we went to the Island (Koh Lan) with a group of his friends. He often checked on whether or not I was happy. He said that he would be glad if I was cheerful with his friend. Mai admitted that she liked this Dutch man very much and that she anticipated a long term relationship. Long-time deals have provided spaces of negotiations in which long term obligations were built upon regardless of whether the commitment would lead to the desired end or not. In September 2008, Jum got a five-day deal with a Belgian man in his forties working in Malaysia. After a few associations, he asked her to leave the job and return to her home in the village. He promised to take care of her expenses and had remitted her money. Jum could not keep the promise; she returned to Pattaya. She explained: I have nothing to do at home. It was not yet a rice harvesting season. I could not just stay home without doing anythingI am worried that my parents and neighbors would ask about my work. They did not know that I work in Pattay. I havent yet told my mother what I have been doing, but I always sent her money in times of need I left badly; I could not do what I promised. Soon after arriving in Pattaya, Jum ran into her partner with another woman. Expecting that he was in Malaysia working, not enjoying with women at Pattaya; she was disappointed and asked him to end the relationship. He admitted that he did not keep his premise, but he wanted to marry her. However, Jum declined, though he had asked her to re-think a few times, and returned to work on the beach.

While settling the relationship with her Belgian partner, Jum had seen Rob, a retired Dutch man who she met every weekend at his house. Rob has resided in Pattaya for a few years. Unlike most of the Western men Jum had associated with, Rob did not like going out everyday. Rather, he stayed home watching television, using the computer, working in the garden and sometimes cooking. On the weekend, Jum joined the activities and cleaned the house for him. Rob is generous and had helped her in times of need eg. when going home he always gave her pocket money; he also paid for her parents healthcare costs, unlike the Belgian man who neither helped with her financial needs nor gave her a gift. When going out or shopping with the clients, Jum said that she sometimes expressed her interest in such items as clothes, shoes, or jewelry. It is the way to try out whether the men would offer to pay for the gifts. If a man did not pay even for a small gift, it raised the question of whether she could expect support and care taking from him. During my second trip to Pattaya in February 2009, Jum told me that she had stopped working on the beach and had lived with Rob for almost a month. He provided her with a certain amount of salary while she had to pay for house expenses and kept the money left over which she was satisfied with. He also supported her to take computer lessons which she wanted to learn. However, she was suspicious about his relationship with a teenaged girl who he had supported and who moved in a few days after her. Later, she informed me by phone in a month after my second trip to Pattaya that the girl returned to work at the restaurant. In April 2009, I called Jum; she was in the village, not Pattaya, taking care of house renovations. Rob agreed to pay for the cost. I gathered from our conversation that Jum seemed to be pleased and felt more certain about her long term relationship with Rob. To my surprise, in June 2009, a few days before my trip to Amsterdam, she phoned me telling that she had had a big fight with Rob. It involved another woman who he had been seeing lately. Then, she left him and returned to work on the beach. Although Jums story does not end up like a Cinderellas dream come true as many mia farang in Sri Isan experienced, her story, like many stories I had heard form mia farang in the village, reflects how the connections and negotiations created in a space of hope revolved around material desire and sexuality. In addition, the story also indicates that transactions developed in this space do not involve only sexual services as might normally been imagined, though sexuality is a common aspect of the relationships. That misguided idea would be revealed only if participants experiences are taken into account. It is also important to note that while Jums story has not much to do with intimate relations that mingle sexuality and material support, mia farangs accounts clearly reflect this aspect. Many mia farang in Sri Isan admitted that their relationship did not begin with passionate ties, but passion and affection have developed along the way as they have lived together. Sa, age 44, a mother of two, who has lived with a Swedish husband whom she met in Pattaya 10 years ago, affirmed that it [relationship between Sa and her Swedish husband] starts with money I need to pay debt and to support my children, but ends up with love. The assertion is shared by her husband. Jums story also points to limitations and uncertainty she had dealt with. As a rural woman with only compulsory education and un-skilled work experience, she does not have much chance in terms of occupation and marriage opportunity. The situation becomes even more critical for women like Tuk and Sa who are divorced and have children to support. In the meantime, engaging in service and sex industries, women have also faced certain risk. To deal with the limitations of their existence and the uncertain nature of their occupation, many women turned to ritual practices and fortune tellers as a means to cope with their fate.

Negotiation ones Fate: Ritual Practices and Fortune Tellers Ritual Practices After the first interview I had with Jum in the late afternoon of November 14, 2009, I invited her for dinner but she refused. She told me that she wanted to go South Pattaya to worship the statue of Sadet Phoh Krom Luang Chumporn (locally called Krom Luang), as she had often done. She allowed me to join her therefore instead of having dinner; we went up to the cliff beach where the statue is located. On the way, Jum mentioned that she had also worshiped Chao Phoh Kad Ngam at the spirit house in Pattaya which most women working at Pattaya, have often done, especially when they started their career in the area. Arriving at the cliff beach, the life-size statue of Sadet Phoh Krom Luang Chumpor facing the ocean, is situated on the two-meter concrete pad. At the side and the back of the base of the statue there are thousands of small sculptures of horses, elephants, and women the worshippers have presented the statue. It is believed that these animals and women provide the services to Krom Luang. Jum did not take any sculpture, but bought flowers, candles and incense, the common offerings, at the entrance, to present to Krom Luang. I followed her. Jum told me that she and her best friend, a freelancer working in South Pattaya, have often come up to worship Krom Luaug asking for help to get customers, especially those who are good and generous. She also asked for help when she was in critical circumstances such as when her parents were sick or she was in need of money. I observed people coming up to worship Krom Luang continuously. There were also girls accompanied by the Western men. Jum greeted a few people who she knew. I was told later that all of them were working at the beach. On the way back, Jum offered to take me to see Pattaya before I left. She said that Pattaya has several beautiful and interesting places. Some of her clients wanted to experience this area beyond the usual entertainment sites and she had taken these men to visit different places. During the following two evenings, Jum called me telling me that she might not be able to be my guide; she was on a bus heading to her home village. I suddenly asked if anything serious was going on at home. She replied that she just took money to her parents and would help them in harvesting rice for a few days before returning to Pattaya. Jum explained that she wanted to give money to her parents to pay the cost of rice harvesting which she had regularly done and that she had mentioned this to Rob, but he did not respond. Then on the day we went to worship at Krom Luang, she asked him to help her out. When I dropped her off, she got a call from Rob requesting she meet him in the following day and to bring her bank book with her as well. Then he wired her 27,000 baht (US$ 771). She said Krom Luang is Saksit (sacred); he has helped me. I will present him Pluu (rockets usually fired as a salute) when I return to Pattaya. When I met her again in February 2009 in Pattaya, Jum encouraged me to revere Krom Luang and ask for what I wished for. Knowing that apparently I do not want to marry a Western man, she suggested me to ask Krom Luang for help with completing my PhD study. Jums account emphasized to me the importance of the spiritual deliverance she had experienced. My observation at the spirit house of Chao Phoh Kad Ngam on the beach, as Jum gave a clue, showed an involvement of the women in ritual practices which validate Jums behaviour and belief. When passing by the spirit house, most women stopped to Wai

a Thai way of expressing respect. Some stopped by with an intension to worship and, more often than not, express their wishes. These women normally bought garlands, candles and joss sticks sold in front of the spirit house for worshipping. Sometimes they also donated money. My conversation with the women reflected major themes of the wishes they made. Among others were the desires to get customers, to maintain good relations with their regular clients, and to reach their ultimate goal, marrying a Western husband or to have a long term relationship with a Western man. When their wishes came through, the women often returned to venerate and express their gratitude to Chao Phoh Kad Ngam, Wilai and Wanna: the two cousins are cases in point. On the evening of February 1, 2009, I met Wilai and Wanna at the beach while they were heading to the spirit house with a big basket of fruits. Wilai, a divorced mother aged 27 whose son passed away last year, started her career in Pattaya at a massage shop three weeks ago; Wanna joined her a few days later. The two girls could not get along with their peers working in the shop, so they resigned and began hanging out at the beach. Unfortunately, they did not get any clients while they were broke since most of their savings had spent on rent. On the day the girls spent their last twenty baht left, they met a woman who took them to worship Chao Phoh Kad Ngam (locally called Chao Phoh) and suggested they to make their wishes by asking for help. That night, Wilai got a Swedish customer; he saved our [her and her sister] lives, Wilia said. Thereafter, the two sisters have gotten clients. However, two days before I met them, Wanna was robbed by her customer. Not only he did not pay her, but he also took her cell phone. Encountering this problem, the two sisters came to worship and ask for the protection from bad guys, and help in getting only good clients. Wilai said that she also expressed her gratitude to Chao Phoh for helping her and her sister. In addition, Wilia talked about her desire to marry a Western man who can also support her to open a massage shop. This is another wish Wilia has always made. A woman in her forties selling worship offerings in front of the spirit house told me that Chao Phoh has helped many women to get customers and that some got the Western husbands they wanted. This is why the women kept coming to worship. She further explained that Chao Phoh Kad Ngam is the spirit watching over the area and he has compassion (metta) for those living and running businesses in the area. Therefore, not only the women, but the business owners have also venerated him. Regardless of whether or not the magical powers and compassion of Chao Phoh has helped people living in Pattaya, particularly women working in entertainment and sex industrieswho are the core of (sex) tourism economy (Davidson 1995)as the woman claimed, many of the womens narratives showed how they had been involved in ritual practices to ensure their good fortune and their desired goal, as with Jums, Wilias, and Wannas stories. Life histories of mia farang in Sri Isan also indicated that many of them had been engaged in ritual practices before departing from the village to Pattaya. It is common for these women to worship the ancestor spirits of village (Tapubaan) so as to ensure that they would be able to make connections with Western men and the association would finally result in marriage. As bar girls and freelancers, encounters and negotiations with the clients are of major concern to women. However, there is no guarantee whether the associations will lead to their expected goal. Women cannot anticipate whether they will be able to attract and finally get the customers, whether the agreement would be short-time or long-time deals, whether they would get a good client or have a troublesome one, like Wanna experienced, and whether or not they would be able to reach their ultimate goal, marrying a Western man. These womens daily lives have revolved around uncertainty and risk. Ritual practices have provided them

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with spaces to negotiate insecure circumstances. The spiritual deliverance also allows women to challenge the limitation of their existence. For many women, spirituality exercised through ritual practices became a part of spatial negotiations to transform their lives. It should be noted that ritual practices are not uncommon for Thai ways of life, both for rural residents and the middle class (Stengs 2009, Akin 1996), though the practices have been embedded in different contexts. In Sri Isan, not only mia farang and women who are attempting to marry a Western husband are involved in such practices, but villagers who are under various circumstances associated with uncertainty and risk have also engaged in ritual rites. During my time in the village, there was an annual military procurement. The number of parents who wanted their sons to join the military worshipped the village ancestor spirits and asked for help. Also, when villagers applied for overseas contract employment, they worshipped the ancestor spirits to ensure their expected goal. It is believed that the spirits have the power to grant a positive benevolence and rewarding as well as punishment. In agricultural production, this crucial power ensures agricultural abundance in the village, which is the most vital preoccupation of the villagers. The connections with the ancestor spirits are made through ritual rites (Tambiah 1970: 263-269). The stories of Jum, Wilai and Wanna illustrated how the beliefs and practices were extended to transnational spaces where women have engaged in the emerging risks and uncertainties created through their encounters and associations with Western men. Fortune Tellers At the beach in Central Pattaya where the main road from the city meets the road running along the beach, there is a concrete space where dolphin carvings are located. This is a large area where both women and male tourists hang out. Some often stop by while walking along the beach. This site is normally busy from noon until after midnight. The women passing by sometimes stopped to greet those who they knew and, in some cases, who used to be their clients. Some often took advantage of services provided at the site such as nail painting, massage, and/or eating, as well as buying clothes, shoes and jewelry from the peddlers who often stopped to sell their goods. Frequently, women dropped by to see fortune tellers at the site. As freelancers, women have lived their daily lives on the beach most of the time. They normally purchased their meals from food sellers on the beach. Many women had specific places where they usually hung out with certain friends. At the same time, they also wandered around to attract tourists. After going with a client for a short-time deal, women normally returned to the beach to approach other customers. While attempting to attract clients, some women went to see a fortune teller asking about the possibility of finding other clients. Others who were not able to get any customers also consulted the fortune tellers. On the afternoon of February 3, 2009, I observed one of the fortune tellers at the dolphin-carving space who was quite busy compared to others in the area. This woman used eggs as a means to make predictions. She put a few eggs in a plate with flowers and candles and asked the client, an Isan woman in her late twenties who has worked at a bar for a few months, to make her wishes. Then, the client was asked to address with her what she wants to know about. After the question was posed the fortune teller opened an egg and made her predictions. The same procedure was repeated after the following questions were put forward. The questions asked by the client, in this case, reflected her concern and oppression because she had hardly obtained any customers compared to other women working at the

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same bar. The woman wanted to remit money to her parents at home, yet she was not able to do so thus far. She also asked whether she would be able to find a Western man who can support her and be good to her as well. The fortune teller said that she had good fortune (wassana di), and will have a bright future. Her desires will be ultimately obtained. For the moment, however, she has had bad luck (duang maidi) and has to be patient. The obstacles will be over in the next few months. Another client is a woman in her thirties. Gathering from conversations she had with the fortune teller, this woman has worked in Pattaya for some years. The questions she posed related to a few Western men with whom she has been associating. Her concern was whether the men would keep the promises they made to her. She asked whether the English man who she has met a few times and who gave his word to meet her again would do so since the period during which he planned to come to Pattaya had already passed; yet she did not hear from him. This woman also asked about the German who had wired her money, but stopped his support lately. Like many women, she was curious whether the associations she currently has with the Western men would lead to a long term relationship. Unsurprisingly, the fortune teller told her to be patient, not too hasty. She had to wait; then things would get better. If she does not receive support from the German man; she will get a man who is even better-off than him, and who is generous, too. The fortune teller also asked the woman about her friend who used to come with her. She asked whether the friend got a Western man to support her and whether she still worked or had left Pattaya. In this case, unlike the first women, their conversations emphasized to me that the woman and the fortune teller seemed to know each other well and that the woman might have seen this fortune teller several times already. My conversation with a woman selling flowers at Chao Phoh Kad Ngam spirit housenext to the fortune teller located in front of the spirit housevalidated the fact that many women kept coming back to consult the fortune teller. The women said that when [women working on the beach are] having problems; when they do not get clients or when their farang do not send them money; they often come to see a fortune teller or to worship Chao Phoh asking for help. Some women do both. She also mentioned that this is why there are so many fortune tellers at the beach. Regardless of whether the predictions were corrected and came through or not, many women kept seeing the fortune tellers. This practice, on the one hand, provides women with mental and emotional support as well as hope for their desired future. On the other hand, it has also created spaces allowing women to negotiate uncertainties and risks inherent in their occupation and in the transnational relations they have encountered in their daily lives. Frequently, women connected their associations with the Western men as a part of their fate. In this light, fortune tellers as well as ritual practices have served as a means to cope with unpredictable circumstances and to ensure good fortune. Conclusion The existing works (Pataya 2002; Supang et al. 1999) indicate that marriage between Thai women and Western menin this case both studies focused on German menis a means for women to engage in sex work in the Western countries; however, my research suggests the counter-logic. Most, if not all, women involved in commercial sex in Pattaya, as well as mia farang in Sri Isan who met their husbands while participating in this occupation in Pattaya and other tourist destinations, perceived their work as a pragmatic means to marry a Western

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husband. To become a bride, the women have negotiated not only sexuality and material desire, but they have also contested their fate. Engaging in ritual practices and consulting with fortune tellers provided women with spaces to negotiate risks and uncertainties they have encountered in their daily lives. These practices are, for many women, central to the transformation of their lives. Life stories of these women unveil the fact that associations and negotiations between local women and Western men do not simply involve sexuality and commodification as suggested by the binary opposition discourse of analysis. Spirituality also opens the path for women to challenge the limitations of their existences and engage in transnational relations with Western men; and in many cases the relations lead to marriage.

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