Ping pong show

refer to caption
Neon sign outside the Super Pussy bar, Bangkok, which features a ping pong show

A ping pong show is a form of stage entertainment that takes place in strip clubs, most often in Thailand. The show consists of women using their pelvic muscles to either hold, eject, or blow objects from their vaginal cavity. Ping pong balls are the most iconic objects used, but others include long strings, whistles, pens, cigarettes, candles, darts, spinning tops, bottles, firecrackers, razor blades, and chopsticks. A male member of the audience may be brought onto the dance platform to hold a balloon while a dart is shot at it, or the girl may do a shoot around the table at balloons tied to each customer's chair. Another activity is the shooting of goldfish into a bowl, or stuffing a rather large frog inside to see how long she can keep it in.[1]

In Thailand

Under Thai law, ping pong shows are officially prohibited under obscenity legislation. Nevertheless, demand from foreign tourists and local police corruption usually results in the practice being implicitly condoned by Thai officials.[2] Many women working at ping pong shows are also prostitutes.[1] Although Prostitution in Thailand is not strictly illegal, publicly soliciting and creating a nuisance is.[3][4]

During the late evening tourists are brought in by employees working in streets such as Bangkok's Khaosan Road. Passers-by are asked if they want to see a show and are frequently shown pictures of the show in a booklet. The shows take place in bars and strip clubs in locations such as Bangkok's entertainment district Patpong, with scantily clad girls dancing during the breaks between shows. Once customers are inside, instead of a cover charge, the drinks are priced 3–4 times higher than usual and a purchase is required. It has also been reported that there may be an arbitrary "exit fee" if not enough was spent. This is in line with the tactics of the usual ping pong show, where customers are borderline coerced for "tips" at least once every minute.

An article in 2009 described an example of the working conditions of women at ping pong shows. The employees arrived at 18:00 and left at daybreak. They stamped a time card and were penalized 5 baht (US$0.14) for every minute they were late. Each month, they received two nights of leave and, if they did not miss any additional nights, they earned a salary of 6,000 baht (US$181), supplemented by tips.[1] In 2015 the average monthly income in Thailand was $489, according to the International Labour Organization.[5]

In Laos

The Laotian capital Vientiane was once famous for its brothels and ping-pong-show bars during the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the country's involvement in the Vietnam War.[6] Travel writer Paul Theroux described a bar in 1973 Vientiane thus: “Your eyes get accustomed to the dark and you see the waitress is naked. Without warning she jumps on the chair, pokes a cigarette into her vagina and lights it, puffing it by contracting her uterine lungs."[7] British journalist Christopher Robbins wrote that The White Rose, a famous Vientiane bar during the war, featured floor shows in which women used their vaginas to smoke cigarettes and fling ping pong balls.[8] Such shows have since disappeared and brothels are now prohibited by Lao law.[9]

Human rights concerns

Some human rights organizations (such as Not For Sale) denounce ping pong shows as inherently misogynistic. "The attitude that [sex work in places like ping pong shows] is empowering gives a green light to traffickers. We're trying to fight the commercial sex trade, not empower the sex trade," says Taina Bien-Aime of Equality Now.[10] Performers in ping pong shows are often trafficked from poorer neighbouring countries such as Myanmar and Laos.[1] Thai women who work in the shows had often worked in factories before being laid off during an economic downturn. "Working 14 hours [a day] in a factory or blowing ping pong balls out of your vagina should not be a person's only choices in life," says Bien-Aime.[10] Performers have, in some cases, been seriously and irreparably injured.[1] The inclusion of a ping pong show scene in the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert led to the film being criticised on the grounds of sexism.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Guzder, Deena (2009-08-18). "The Price of Sexual Torture? US$181/month". Thailand: Sex Tourism, Exploited Women. Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
  2. ↑ Jake Scobey-Thal (14 Oct 2013). "Thai Police are Shocked, Shocked after Rihanna Exposes their Country's Sex Shows". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 19 Sep 2014.
  3. ↑ "Thailand Prostitution Laws: Prevention And Suppression Of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996)". http://ilo-phuket.com. International Law Office, Phuket. Retrieved 26 February 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  4. ↑ Francoeur, Robert T., ed. (1997). The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: Thailand. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company. Retrieved 24 Feb 2015.
  5. ↑ Siam Voices. "Thailand’s trans sex workers seek empowerment, not pity". Asian Correspondent. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Jeffrey Hays (2008). "Sex in Laos". Facts and Details. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Theroux, Paul (1975). The Great Railway Bazaar. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0141189147.
  8. ↑ Robbins, Christopher (1978). Air America. ISBN 978-1908059017.
  9. ↑ "Vientiane, Laos 2015 – City Nightlife, Clubs, Sex and Lao Family Life". www.retire-asia.com. Retire Asia. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  10. 1 2 Guzder, Deena (2009-08-25). "The Economics of Commercial Sexual Exploitation". Thailand: Sex Tourism, Exploited Women. Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Further reading

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