Mongering in Bangkok as an Asian during Covid-19
I would like to summarise my recent experience mongering in Bangkok during the virus outbreak. I am of East Asian descent, but was born and raised in a North American country. For privacy reasons I will not disclose my specific ethnicity. But when I come to Thailand, girls tend to guess I am Korean, Chinese, Hong Konger, or Singaporean. Given I often pass for Chinese, I was unsure what sort of treatment I would get.
I stayed for 2 weeks during late Jan / early Feb and had girls from a variety of sources, including gogos (Nana), escorts (BGE and Smooci), BJ salons, nurus, and freelancers from various apps. I have written several reports in their respective sections on the Thailand forum.
To my relief, girls weren't really fazed by me at all. My fluent English and Western personality / mannerisms certainly helped, and I was never turned down by providers. I got a lot of jokes from the girls, who would ask me if I'm from Wuhan and laugh, but I was prepared for this. The mamasans in the gogos would point at me and scream "Wuhan!" jokingly which was kind of annoying, but it was all in good fun. For the escorts who came to my room, the first thing I did was show them my passport and say "I'm not from China, don't worry" to which they responded with laughter. I would also make them wash their hands thoroughly first thing as well as gargle with Listerine, which made them realize I am serious about cleanliness. But overall, I was never treated with suspicion or paranoia, nor was refused service during my time here. I did however receive some judgey stares from a white couple at a a restaurant when I sat down next to them.
I did see several venues restrict customers from China though:
- The Pimp: if you have traveled to China in the last 30 days, you are not allowed entry. They will inspect every page in your passport to check the entry / exit stamps.
- Doki Doki: sign posted at front desk that says they cannot serve customers who have traveled to China in the last 30 days, but they did not check my passport when I went.
Overall, the Thais are still very welcoming of Chinese despite rising cases here (33 as of today). Most people are wearing masks in public. Thailand remains one of the few countries in Asia who have not imposed travel restrictions on travelers from China, and many Chinese are desperate to escape the bleak situation are coming to Thailand in droves, even after the CNY holiday.
Happy mongering and stay safe everyone!