The Price of Love
Assignment for VG Helg magazine (NO), 2016
For some women in Thailand, marriage to a Western man represents the dream of a better future, with love and material security. For Pimsiri (37), the dream of a new life in Norway ended when her husband killed her and her son Petchngam (12). For VG Helg, i traveled to Bangkok to attend the funeral ceremony for Pimsiri and Petchngam. And I visited the bars and streets of Pattaya, where Western men are looking for love or intimacy.
The bodies of Pimsiri and Bel were transported back to Bangkok. According to traditions, family and friends can visit the coffins in a Buddhistic tempel in the days before the funeral.
Pattaya, Thailand.
Walking Street in Pattaya is the main destination for strip bars and brothels.
«Vanida»(32) fell in love with an older Norwegian man who was visiting Thailand. But shortly after she moved to Norway, she realized her new husband was an alcoholic, he was violent and he started to abusing her sexually.
Yenit is married to a Norwegian man who lives in Pattaya, and they own a bar called Kaares Party-bar.
Chindarat and Kjell with their nephew Great outside their home in Pattaya. The couple has been happily married for ten years.
Buddhist prayer flags in the breeze in Pattaya.
«Pahilin» has a son with a Norwegian man. She hasn't been allowed to see the son in more than a year.
A young woman rests on the stairs of the room she rents in Pattaya, after a long night working in a bar. Her dream is to find a Norwegian man and move abroad.
The bodies of Pimsiri and her son have been cremated. The Norwegian husband was sentenced to 21 years in prison.