The reality of the “dekasegi ladyboys” from Thailand who “make 900,000 yen in two weeks” and are rapidly increasing in number.

Earning a little less than 1 million yen per visit to Japan

Two weeks in Japan is 900,000 yen. That’s big money. But from there, I pay hotel, plane ticket, and 60,000 yen (brokerage fee) to the boss.

One of the Thai GOGO girls, “ladyboy” Ohm (pseudonym, in her 30s), reveals the reality of her “job” in fluent Japanese. She usually works at the “GOGO Bar,” a sex store in Nana Plaza, an entertainment district in Bangkok, Thailand. Nana Plaza is an area where women entertain customers with pole dancing in swimsuits, and Aum is a GOGO girl who earns money while dancing at the GOGO bar.

In recent years, the number of ladyboys coming to Japan to work has been increasing. The main reason is that with the spread of smartphones, more and more customers in Thailand are using dating and matching apps, and the number of customers at GOGO bars is decreasing. Furthermore, as part of Japan’s visa waiver program for Thai nationals, they can stay in Japan without a visa for up to 15 days. With the support of this system, the number of Thai visitors to Japan in 2011 was 995,500, approximately five times the number of visitors in 2010. This is one of the highest levels including those before Corona.

We asked Ohm how these women, who are now flocking to Japan in droves, work and live during their short stays in Japan. When we spoke to Ohm, she told us how much they earn, as shown at the beginning of this article. The amount of money is almost deafening.

I can’t make a living like this [in Thailand],” Ohm said with a laugh.

Aum laughs. She comes to Japan only a few times a year. She comes to Japan under the arrangement of a ladyboy in Bangkok, and earns a large sum of money in a short period of time.

Why does he say Japan is heaven?

Compared to Korea and Hong Kong, Japan is heaven. In Korea and Hong Kong, ladyboys in particular are cold and their stares are painful. In Japan, there is no visa for 15 days. Two weeks is just right. If you stay too long, the police and immigration officials will take notice of you.

How Ohm perceives the “kindness of Japan” is up to the individual, but for these women, it is certainly “kindness. In other words, it is easy for them to earn money. In China, one can stay for a month with no visa, but restrictions on prostitution are quite strict. Immigration authorities in Korea and Hong Kong often give them the cold shoulder even on the streets. Furthermore, the working environment is not easy, he says.

Ohm shrugged his shoulders when he said this. He said that although there are customers in every country, Japan is an easy place to work.

There are 11 of us here this time,” he said. We are staying in a cheap hotel, 6,000 to 8,000 yen per night. There are two separate hotels, one for three people and one for two people. （There is no check (for overcrowding), so I feel safe.

The girls come to Japan in groups and work with Japanese clients under the direction of their bosses, taking in dozens of customers and earning close to one million yen during their short two-week stay.

The Japanese clients are quick and easy, but not in Korea or Hong Kong,” she said. They ask for extra massages and other services, and to be honest, it’s a hassle (laughs).

They work smoothly, earn money, and leave without incident. This is their style. On the other hand, one of Ohm’s friends has been overstaying in Saitama for more than a year.

The police are very noisy in Shinjuku, but I’m still fine in Saitama (laughs),” says Ohm with a cool expression on her face. She herself is of the opinion that she should not overstay and return home with a good income, but she is strangely knowledgeable about the loopholes her friends have taken. Saitama is the last frontier?　I was tempted to ask her if Saitama was the last frontier, but it seems that she has a good grasp of the loose ends. He seems to be doing things at random, but he has a good grasp of where the loose ends are and where to keep an eye on them. Overstaying is not just a random act, but a way to expand their territory.

The “other work” he is doing in Japan

Ohm is from a rural village in northeastern Thailand, 600 km from Bangkok. From an early age, he felt he was a woman, and in his teens he underwent gender reassignment surgery and began a new life as a ladyboy. At a young age, he began working at a GOGO bar in Nana Plaza, Bangkok’s entertainment district, to support his family living in the countryside.

I send my family 50,000 yen every month,” he said. When my brother was a student, I used to send 80,000 yen, but I have reduced the amount (since he started working).

Considering that the average monthly income in Thailand is about 100,000 yen, this is not a small amount by any means. However, an event occurred that completely changed this environment. It was the spread of a new type of coronavirus.

It was COVID-19, and all the GOGO bars were closed. I had no choice but to return to the countryside. （I worked at a café near my parents’ house, but I made no money at all.

He then opened a nail salon, but “I still didn’t have much money, so I quit right away. So I quit right away,” he recalls lightly. Still, he did not feel particularly depressed because the coronavirus was over and there was talk of going to Japan. She put her dreams of nailing nails aside for the moment, but the neon lights of Kabukicho were calling her.

For Ohm and her friends, there is another way to earn money besides working at night. That is “sedori. This is a small side job in which they resell stuffed toys purchased cheaply in Japan in Thailand.

In Bangkok, Monchichi (a monkey) is very popular. I can buy one for 600 yen in Japan and sell it for 1,600 yen in Thailand. My trunk on the way home is full of stuffed toys (laughs).”

Prostitution and sedori…… work these women do in Japan is often gray, just barely breaking the law. That in itself is not a compliment, but on the other hand, there is so much poverty in Thailand that they cannot even make a living for themselves, let alone their families.

In Japan, the food is good and fun. And as long as you make money, you’re fine.

For Ohm and his colleagues, the “place to earn money” can be anywhere. For Ohm, the “place to earn money” can be anywhere. They just need to earn what they need and move on to the next town.

The girls are living up to the Thai saying “Mai Pen Rai,” which expresses the generosity of the Thai people. They go wherever they need to go to make as much money as they want. Perhaps this is the way of life of the GOGO girls.