Only 13: The True Story of Lon

by Julia Manzanares, Derek Kent

From a child runaway, to a top earner in Thailand's prolific sex industry, comes the true story of a little girl from an impoverished land where girls aren�t valuable enough to educate, yet are expected to become the primary income earners--responsible for the basic needs and welfare of their families. By the time Lon was 18, she had been responsible for the sole support of her family for five years. After suffering a childhood filled with beatings, blamed for her fathers death, and denied further education at the age of 12, she ran away and soon sold the only item of value she possessed--her young and supple body. The more she earned by agreeing to the most perverted and degrading acts demanded by her foreign customers, the more money her mother demanded. An abortion at 15, followed by a suicide attempt, hundreds upon hundreds of clients, and the discovery and loss of her first love--all before she was 18--are only a part of her story. Her relentless determination to save her sisters from the same fate gave her the strength to endure, and to tell the unknowing world how the "Daughters of Isaan" must honor their family obligations, regardless of the cost to themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Womens, Memoir, Biography, Autobiography, Biography Memoir, History

366 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jeannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very hard review to write due to my conflicting feelings about this book.

I'm giving it 2 stars ONLY due to the horrible writing involved. The topic of this book is very interesting and deserves to be not only exposed but explored deeper, I only wish someone with writing talents had written it. Someone was obviously not paying attention to her style of writing, every other sentence (and most were fragments) had an exclamation point, that got old very quickly. She also repeated and repeated herself over and over saying the same thing. I fear that was to make this book much longer than it needed to be. On top of that, this has to be one of the most unlikable persons I've ever had the misfortune to read about. Between lies and cheating, she justifies all of her actions due to her culture. I was amazed at how she used people for her own benefit and then would laugh about it. That did not endear her to my heart!

Now that said, if I could I would give the TOPIC of this book 5 stars. I did enjoy reading all the statistics on the sex-tourist industry and the reasons why these girls become involved in it. Horrible living conditions, no hope for a future in a country where women are treated like the lowest of the low. I had no idea Thailand was this way! I for one will never venture over there as a tourist now that I know about the horrible human rights abuses perpetrated by not only the government of this country but by the people themselves upon each other! I fear this is one industry that will never be eliminated when so many benefit from it.

HUGE THANKS TO SABRINA FOR ALLOWING ME TO BORROW THIS BOOK!!

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read and reviewed this years ago, but I happened upon my review just now and thought it was a bit too indelicately written, so I've decided to clean it up. Nevertheless, I don't like the book any more than I did back then, when I was an angsty little person. Much as I detest the sex trade in Thailand, this book is not the indictment it thinks it is. Terribly written, confused as "Lon" can't seem to work out whether she's tortured or proud of all her sexual escapades, cynical and self-indulgent, my smug sense of moral superiority in buying this soon morphed into a grimace of determination to finish the bloody thing and move on, while feeling like an unsympathetic prick to boot.

[Soosuen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Repetitive, almost as if she's constantly singing her own praises. Poor writing, annoying lines like constantly reminding you on how gorgeous , young and petite Lon was. Doesn't even deserve a star, was annoyed throughout the whole book.

[Jen Bieck · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really scary book to read especially after living in Thailand. It's easy to turn a blind eye to the prostitution in thailand because it is so ugly to look at day after day--this book really painted a very real picture about how and why women from Isaan end up as bar-girls, and how desperately they will need societies help with their mental health issues after their career has ended. It also paints a picture of the cultural/family importance & connections that clearly most westerners do not and cannot understand.

[Mariaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me to read as i went on holiday to Thailand ... very very sad. Everywhere in Thailand i saw young beautiful girls with old men .. This is a gripping read to give you a bit of background about the lives of the girls and that everything is not just about smiles .. Thailand is so poor and i can understand why some girls have to do this.

[Enzo Pollifroni · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read, amazing story, just can't believe what this girl went through and how she ended up.

i picked this book up at Bangkok Airport a few years ago, finally read it.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a honest and heart breaking true story. Tell the story of this young girl that see only prostitution is the only way to survive and to gain back her family love. Born in the worst poverty condition making their culture worshiping money over everything. She's too young to explore and taking the responsibility on her own with nobody to guide and direct her to 'right' direction.

This is one true example how our experience, surrounding and culture make who we are. She do everything for money, lies become norm, and marrying a 'money-making' husband is a goal. At the time she wanted to leave the profession, she even marry 'wrong guy' just to get out of Thailand. We are nobody to judge them, everyone have their own reason...or making a reason to justified their own action.

I just feel really bad that she didn't save any money no matter how much she making. If only someone teach them financial planning**sigh**. This have cause great difficulty after she leave the profession.

Her condition after leaving the profession is so bad, i cry so bad for her. Perhaps this is to remind us, after all, we will get the punishment of all the bad thing that we do.

But i sincerely thankful to people like Dave and Ken that always by her side, supporting and protecting her as much as they could. I wish all the best to Lon...hope that you will live a better life now.

[Danial Tanvir · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book told me a lot about thailand.
i actually bought it from a book shop in pattaya,thailand.
i read it in 3 to 4 days and i liked it,
it is actually about a 13 years old girl living in a village in the north of thailand and about how she lives in misery and in poverty.
she tries to run away to bangkok and her father is very loving,her brothers are allowed to study but she is treated badly because she is a girl.
she is then sent away to other cities in thailand such as bangkok and pattaya where she becomes a prostitute and she has to sell her body to survive and so that she can send money back home and support her family.


she has to do the worst things just to survive and make a living.

the book is actually all about sex and about prostitutes.
it tells the reader a lot about thailand.
it is based in many cities of thailand like bangkok , pattaya and phuket.
she has an abortion at the age of 15 and tries to commit suicide at the age of 18.
she then starts having affairs with many men from abroad and she gets hundreds of clients.
she then travels to many countries in europe like england and sweden,

she comes back to thailand and her life continues,
this is what her life is all about.

this book tells us alot about the lives of these women and about what they do to survive,


she then becomes depressed but continues to live.

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book I thought that it was only going to be another book full of statistics on human trafficking. I was getting a little disappointed as I had thought I was going to read a personal story about someone in the sex trade in Thailand. I'm so glad that I kept reading!
At the beginning of the book Boontah a village girl from Isaan in Thailand tells a little about her childhood and then she explains the economics of her country allowing us to better understand why someone in her country would turn to prostitution. After this explanation she tells the story of how she stopped being Boontah the poor village girl and became Lon the sex worker at the age of thirteen.
This is one of the saddest life stories I have ever read. The damage that is done to these young Thai women is beyond heartbreaking.

[Josie Crimp · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times it's a very frustrating read, but this is one of the better and more honest books I've read about the sex trade in Thailand. I found myself getting upset with Lon at times in the later part of that book, but that in itself suggests that she's been up-front about her decisions and actions. It did help me to understand how difficult it can be to leave prostitution - whilst it's a job that leads you to have no self-value whatsoever, if it's the way you've made money it's also the way you've seen yourself as successful. How about that for a contradiction...

As one caveat though - please don't read this and think this tells you all about Thailand - it's just one small part of it! If you want to find out more about the many other aspects of Thailand's culture and history, there's a great list of "books set in Thailand" in listopia.

[Diana Šakauskis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about a darker and not so beautiful side of Thailand.

Definitely an eye-opener and an interesting topic to read. Also realised how much your life is written for you depending on just which part of the world you were born in.

Not a pretty story but a true and a very tragic story of a young Thai girl who becomes a prostitute. The book writes about the reasons of why Thai women and girls take such a path in their life.

Not the biggest fan of the writing style and I believe that such a story deserves a better writing. Often I also felt that the book was repeating a lot and a little confusing from time to time.

But overall the topic was interesting.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

To get an idea of how terrible this book is I would suggest reading the May 18, 2013 review by Benjamin Stahl. He described exactly what I wanted to say, but I would not have been able to word it quite as well as he.

[Bookcrazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

War interessant, man erfährt mehr über eine andere Kultur, mit der ich nicht wirklich klar kommen würde, vor allem was den Stellenwert von Mädchen/Frauen betrifft. Enttäuscht war ich ein wenig vom Ende, denn Lon lernt nicht wirklich aus ihrer Situation, gibt ihrer Mutter immer wieder Geld, dass diese für andere Dinge benützt. Lon selbst wird mit der Zeit zunehmend depressiver, aggressiver und wurde sogar als schiziophren diagnostiziert.
Zuerst erfährt man allerdings über ihre Kindheit, worüber ich gerne mehr gelesen hätte, dann bezeichnet sich das Mächen als Lon, da für sie mit dem Leben mit dem Eintritt ins Nachtleben/Prostitution beginnt.
Manche Sachen sind schon sehr erschreckend, interessant fand ich die Dinge was das Gesundheitswesen betrifft, schade dass es in der Hinsicht keine weiteren Lektüren gibt (zumindest hab ich nichts gefunden). Jedoch hat das Buch schon ein paar Jährchen auf dem Rücken (12 Jahre), von denen es einige auch in meinem Bücherregal verbracht hat und sich deshalb sicher auch einiges geändet hat und nicht mehr auf dem aktuellen Stand ist. So wird auch das thailändische 3. Geschlecht gar nicht erwähnt, die ja auch zum Nachtleben gehören. Auch was das Erinnerungsvermögen der Autorin selbst betrifft mit ihrer Schizophrenität etc. werden sich wohl auch einige nicht 100% zuverlässige Informationen eingeschlichen haben.
Wie gesagt, hat mich das Ende schon ein wenig enttäuscht, wobei Lon noch immer erst war, wahnsinn was sie alles hinter sich hat, und schon noch viele Möglichkeiten hatte trotz alldem.


Eigentlich mag ich ja Biografien nicht gern bewerten, aber
ich hab versehentlich auf die Sterne geklickt. Und da es ja doch einige interessante Infos über das Leben im Isan und wie diese Frauen von ihren Familien oft ausgenützt werden wenn sie reich heiraten oder sich prostituieren und viel Geld verdienen. Auch hab ich das Buch an einem Tag durchgelesen, nachdem ich die ersten 10 Seiten Einführung in die Personen ihrer Vergangenheit überwunden habe, die teilweise doch ein wenig trocken beschrieben wurden.

3,5 Sterne, wobei das Buch mein Bücherregal verlassen wird, nochmal lesen werde ich es sicher nicht

[jer · Rating 2 out of 5]

เรื่องนี้บอกเล่าชีวิตของลอนโดยเฉพาะ แทบทั้งหมดคือความคิดและความเป็นไปของเธอ ภายในเล่มแทบไม่ได้ลงลึกบริบทสังคมไทยจึงรู้สึกว่าเหมาะกับไทยมากกว่าชาวต่างชาติเพราะเรื่องนี้ไม่ใช่เรื่องที่จะมาอธิบายให้คุณเข้าใจว่าทุกสิ่งนั้นเกิดขึ้นจากอะไรเพียงแต่ทำให้คุณเห็นในสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้น คุณไม่ควรอ่านหนังสือเล่มนี้โดยไม่รู้บริบทของไทยเลยเพราะคุณจะไม่ได้อะไรกลับไปจากมันจริง ๆ

ลอนอาจไม่ใช่เหยื่อที่น่าสงสารในแบบที่หลายคนคาดหวัง แต่เธอคือเหยื่อของความยากจนและความแร้นแค้นของประเทศอย่างปฏิเสธไม่ได้ ไม่แปลกที่คนอ่านหลายคนอาจไม่เข้าใจการกระทำของเธอหรือไม่เห็นใจเธอ เพราะแม้แต่ฉันเองก็รู้สึกว่าเธอกำลังเสียสติจริง ๆ แต่มันก็ไม่ได้เป็นแบบนั้นโดยไร้เหตุผล นั่นคือผลสะสมจากสภาพสังคมที่กดทับเธอมาตลอดชีวิต นี่คือเรื่องราวของเด็กสาวที่โตในสภาพสังคมเลวร้ายจนป่วยทางจิตจนความคิดและการแสดงออกบิดเบี้ยว


หลายคนวิจารณ์ว่าการเขียนเรื่องนี้ออกจะวกวน ซ้ำไปซากและยาวเกินจำเป็น ซึ่งก็เห็นด้วยในระดับหนึ่งแต่นั่นก็กลับเป็นจุดที่ชอบเหมือนกัน เหมือนได้เสียสติไปพร้อมกับลอนจริง ๆ 555555
แน่นอนว่าเรื่องนี้เขียนได้ห่วยจริง ๆ แต่ก็ใช่ว่ามันจะไร้แก่นสาร

[Björn Seidel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic is seriously interesting and compelling enough that I finished this in 2 days. It's a very sad book with very simple writing and unfortunately a lot of mistakes. If you do want to read about the sex industry in Thailand then this is definitely a good starting point. Nothing more and nothing less. It's also very revealing about Thai culture and people from Usan (North Thailand). Sad, not particularly well written but something to go through fast if you are interested in the topics discussed. I found it on a book exchange shelf and am glad I got it that way for free.

[Dulguun Battulga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her life is the victim of a poor countries. She didn’t have a chance to study and play like a child. Poor countries’s population divided into a rich and a poor. Mostly average layers reduced than other good economic country. Thats why families have not enough salary to live and survive. Maybe only chance is teenagers become a machine of money for the families. A scary thing is government and parents know that and to allow...

[etvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of the book was made me read it. I am giving 2 stars. Maybe, I was expected too much from this book. Lon's story have represented thousand of girls. Poor girl born in just wrong place. It was difficult to read because all this things happened in real life. Lon's mother blamed her for her father's death which pushed her to live sorrowful life.

[Lu Cy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The name should be "deluded mind of a prostitute" no offence. But from the ay its written, since most of the book is by the character, it doest add up, amd i thought lon was a victim of sex trafficing,instead she chose prostitution by choice. Many comes from poor. Anyone in the right mind would agree. Kuat bullshit to market this book. Waste of time.

[Guðlaug Erlendsdóttir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illa skrifuð bók, kaotisk uppsett og mikið um endurtekningar.

Ömurleg saga sem varð samt enn ahrifarikari að lesa a hennar sloðum i Chiang Mai - eftir að hafa lesið hana sa eg mun fleiri gamla a vappi með allt of unglegum stelpum.


Fann hana a hosteli og tok hana þvi hun var a frönsku, glöð að raða við hana

[Ashley Vinther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredible story — incredibly sad and frustrating in so many ways. I was frustrated with Lon and for Lon. Unfortunately I found the book quite repetitive and poorly written, and there were many questions — many of them obvious — that I never found the answer to. Worth reading though, for sure. I’m hoping Lon is in a better place now, doing well.

[Franziska Leitner]

Honestly i don't want to give this books any stars because i don't think it's my right to judge a true story it feels not okay. But i think it is a good book that gives behind the scenes in thailand and it's important to listen to people who tell their story.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book,which demonstrates the missery of a rural life in Thailand and the sexual exposion of teens in the country. This is definitely a must read.

[Yee · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the beginning until the ending of the story, my hatred feeling to her family only increased and never decreased. I can’t believe there is such family exists in the world. The mother just asking money from her continuously and doesn’t bother about her daughter’s involvement in prostitution. What she only cares is the money and she asking more and more from her daughter. When one of the daughters decided to further her studies, she disagreed with the idea because she hopes to get more money if both daughters working at the same time and she doesn’t like the delay. It seems she doesn’t feel anything wrong with the daughter selling her body to earn for the income and worse is, she never appreciate all the things that her daughter has done for her and she still loves her worthless son the most. I doubt she will ever feel guilty or regret in the future.

Although Lon never got the chance to have a proper education but she always believe that education can change a person’s life. She tried very hard to save up her money to support her sisters’ education. Comparing to my country where I often heard of kids being scolded by their parents of not putting enough effort in their studies and lots of school dropouts in these recent years, you can just imagine how huge is the difference of these two neighbouring countries.

When Lon started to have problems with her mental health, I wasn’t surprised with it. Who wouldn’t if they have such greedy and lazy family plus with several disastrous marriages. It’s not everyone can handle all these in a good way.

This is really a good story for us to understand the poverty life in another part of the world and how they strive for their living. We might think 1 Baht doesn’t cost much too us especially for people that comes from richer countries but for them, every baht comes from their hard work which probably to the extent involving of selling their bodies for a living.

https://chyneyee.com/2013/11/05/only-...

[Stephanie Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I do not agree to the decisions that Lon made, it made me understand the rationale behind her actions. While she is criticized for inflicting upon herself the hardship especially when she was in England because her loyalty has always been with her family no matter how much they exploited her, we should still learn to respect her loyalty for her family. If we were to blame, I'd blame her family members instead who did not appreciate her. She wanted to provide her sister with education, how is that bad ?

Anyway, I'd still recommend this book for everyone to read as it give you an insight to reality - Thailand's prostitution industry, how society behaves. It isn't a fairy tale story to make you feel dreamy as many love fiction stories does or like movies that you watch which you need to realize that it's just a movie, made to entertain for profit.

Upon finishing this book, I appreciate more the basic things in life that we often forget to appreciate during our chase to much better things in life. These basic things include food for sustenance, money , a roof to live under, a straight job, education and the wonderful parents I have.

I believe there will always be strengths and weaknesses to everything and I'd much rather look at the strengths of this book and I'd recommend it for a good read which expands your knowledge on life lessons as compared to vocabulary, scientific knowledge and so on.

[Georgiana Chelmu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book, easy to read and very well anchored in today’s reality. A good insight into Thai culture and values.
At first, I didn’t know how to feel about this book. It gave me contradictory feelings of compassion and revulsion at the same time. I always disliked prostitutes as I always thought there is another choice. You always had and you will always have another choice. But this girl, so young, so afflicted and she’s only 13. What do you know when you are 13 and have nothing? Neither material nor emotional. I do appreciate Lon’s honesty, her courage to tell her story, her courage to judge herself, her family, her culture and the world.
But on the other hand I disliked how she talks about herself, about being irresistible. Irresistible to whom? To twisted, sick men. Why would you take pride in that? Pride in money you’ve earned selling your body, when you know is so wrong. And I am wondering, does she uses her culture as an excuse? By telling she had no other choice?
And then all those bad relationships and her unwillingness to adapt. Draining all the money she can and then complaining that she’s not loved and she’s abandoned. What do you expect? You take back what you give. You can’t expect to be treated nice when you behave opposite. Even though I feel bad of saying it, I think she deserve her faith.

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book during a trip to Pattaya. So, the writing is terrible. Just acknowledge that and move on. The writing is that of an uneducated person speaking in another language. It reads as an account told verbally, and parts of it are very repetitive. Look past that. The story is important. While we all know the sex trade exists and is prevalent in Thailand, Lon offers us a view into the lives of women who choose that lifestyle, why they do, and why they stay. You have to wonder a bit about how true everything is (is this a play for fame and money?), but even so it's eye opening and worth a read.

[Yuvarani Yuva · Rating 3 out of 5]

A touching and heart-wrecking story. The pain of a 13-year old being forced into prostitution by poverty and society norm of discrimination towards female can be immensely felt. The sacrifice Lon had to make to feed her mother's greed and to keep her sisters from having same fate as hers is something to look up to. A worthy read to learn the journey of Lon.
However, this book could have been made better. The read was easy and repetitive. The author should have spent more time in elaborating the storyline and could have gave Lon a better voice.

[Patricia Doty · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read but very sad story of an all too common occurrence in Thailand. This honest portrayal of the sex-tourist industry gives the reader an insight to not only what these young girls endure but also an understanding of the conditions under which they live giving them no other alternative for survival. I came away with a whole array of emotions and empathy for the plight of Lon and the thousands of other young girls who find themselves in her same situation.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

My sister picked this book up at the Phukett airport on our way home from our trip to Thailand. I was only able to read about half of it before I returned home. It is an autobiography of a young Thai girl who runs away at the age of 13 from her poor rural upbringing and becomes a child prostitute. Very disturbing and sad!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deeply disturbing and a story that needs to be told. That being said I think the writing was horrific. Although I was very interested in the story, I almost couldn't finish reading the book. I wish someone else had written Lon's story, so more people would hear it.
Although the writing is terrible, I would still recommend reading this book. It's a real eye opener.