PC's In Peril!

With the World Wide Web abuzz with the jubilant news of UdonTalk's new look released today it is perhaps easy to forget that a darker side to the web is still very much in existence.

From Bangkok to Buriram poor countryside computers are forced to ply their trade in Thailand's notorious internet café's, working many hours to service the needs of their numerous clients with little hope of ever escaping the life which they now lead.

We spoke to one such PC, who wishing to remain anonymous is known only by her Thai nickname "Apple", here's her story.

"I came from a good family in a village called Nong Wua So in the North East of Thailand, I had been networked to an IBM notebook for over two years and we dreamed of getting our own 22" touch-pad flat screen and maybe some nice speakers and a laser printer but then IB got sick with a virus and never got better but by this time I already had a new cordless mouse to take care off. When IB was taken away after a massive CPU failure I could not find a new network partner in the village, in Thai culture I am considered 'used goods' so my only option was the internet café's. I left 'Mouse' with my ageing Playstation 2 grandmother and headed for the bright lights of Nong Bua Lam Phu."

"Now I spend my days 'taking care' of clients paying sometimes as little as 10 baht an hour of which I will often receive nothing, the boss keeps it all" said a disgruntled Apple. "I spend up to 18 hours a day connected to Thailovelinks chatting with foreign men from all over the world, I am forced to cut and paste the same email up to 50 times a day and send it to these men, if I have to process the word 'darling' one more time I think my hard drive will explode" said Apple angrily.

"I think I could just about cope with this" said Apple "but the boss he likes us to have our side panels off when at work. He says its because he doesn't want us overheating but can you imagine just sitting there with your motherboard on show for anyone to look at before they use it, its very embarrassing. Don't get me wrong my motherboard is in quite good condition and good for a plug-in or two yet but that does not mean I want to show it to the world!"

Apple concludes her story with a statement of despair "All my dreams are gone, I never see my little 'Mousey' sometimes I just feel like blue screening"

A sad tale indeed but one that is heard all over Thailand with ever increasing frequency.