Chapter 3: How They Met (Betrayal)

It was Saturday afternoon, Summer of 1997; Piseth is enjoying beers on a floating house along the Mekong River in a town called Kep Thmey.  Kep Thmey is situated just about 30 minutes from the capital city of Phnom Penh.  It is known as the men’s paradise where exotic and rare animals are readily available and ready to be cooked to the acquired taste of men; Cambodians and foreigners alike.  These rare animals such as cobra, tortoise, and others are known to be sexual stimulant of some sort.

Piseth was introduced to Kep Thmey by a couple of local friends and friends from America who regularly frequented the place.  Scenes of young girls serving beer seemed as though they may not be old enough to be in that profession…Yet because of the economic hardship and the lack of education, these young girls are forced to work in these kind of condition where they are manipulated to provide sexual favor and become enslave to the Cambodian nouveau riche and foreigners known as sex tourists.

Piseth, an ex-Marine from America was always conscious of his surroundings.  He came to the floating house to enjoy the foods and also the river view.  He did not expect what he saw.  Row of floating houses packed with clientele from the city made the small town of Kep Thmey a bustling little town. 

After lunch, the older men would negotiate with the young girls for sexual favor.  For Piseth, it was a scene that he was beginning to understand.  A friend initiated by calling a couple of young girl over to service their table.  One girl in particular showed great interest in Piseth and came close to him.  For a typical Cambodian girl, Sopheap was ordinary yet very approachable.  Sopheap and Piseth carried their conversation at length about their lives.  In doing so, Piseth began to have feelings for Sopheap as she began to tell her story to Piseth of how she ended up in the floating house.

Sopheap  came from a poor family, Battambang province.  Her father, a battle hardened soldier died when she was only 10 years old.  In a family of two siblings; the father was always there as the bread winner.  Her father’s death crippled Sopheap’s family where their sources of incomes were virtually gone.  Sopheap’s mother struggled to make ends meet by working in the wood factory nearby to her home in Battambang.  Sopheap’s mother also has an addiction for Yama, a drug introduced from Thailand.  Sopheap became addicted and dependent on the drug whilst she was living by the border of Thailand when her husband was serving in the military. 

Due to economic hardship and drug addiction; Sopheap’s mother decided to sell  Sopheap in to prostitution as a mean for quick bucks.  By 16 years of age, Sopheap has already been in sexual slavery for 4 years.  Serving up to six men per day at a cost of $10 per head.  She has been raped numerous times by clienteles whom she refused to have sex with.

Piseth having heard of Sopheap emotional story begins to think of ways to rescue this poor girl from the inhumane condition that she was in.  Piseth approached the owner to buy time so that Sopheap can leave the floating house and go to the city with him.  Piseth ended up paying $100 for an overnight just to have Sopheap close to him.   One thing lead to another, compassion led to love. 

After one month, Piseth has already spent $1,000 to the owner of the floating house so that Sopheap can spend time with him.  They were inseparable despite the facts that many of Piseth’s friends disapproved of his action of trying to be too cordial with a prostitute.  For Piseth, it was compassion that led to love.  A love that he had never fell before.