Entries Tagged 'Letters from the readers' ↓
February 14th, 2010 — Letters from the readers, Thai Dating
It’s so easy for us Westerners to criticize isn’t it?. We have our safeguards like government welfare programmes that protect us should we lose our jobs. We have our pensions when we grow old and retire. We need never find ourselves without a roof over our heads if things really get that bad even.
We also enjoy free education and advanced healthcare. We can afford to go abroad for our annual holidays to tropical destinations if we want to and we can enjoy the luxury of our own homes if that’s what we desire.
But for most Thais, society offers none of the things considered normal in our part of the world. If Thais don’t work, they don’t eat. It’s that simple. Nobody will provide them with shelter and welfare institutions simply don’t exist. What’s more, children are expected to provide for their parents from a very early age even though wage levels are abysmal by Western standards.
Look around you the next time you go to Thailand. How many Thais do you see dining in even cheap restaurants? And by cheap, I mean around 100 Baht for a main course. At current exchange rates, that’s about 2 Euros or US$3. I’ll tell you: that figure is a big zero. Why? because 100 Baht is too expensive when the minimum wage is only 280 Baht a day. That’s what the Thais you see working as chambermaids in hotels earn, as do farmers and factory workers.
So before you criticize Thai women, place yourself in their shoes for a moment. Bar girls earn on average 8000 Baht a month for a 48 hour working week. They can supplement their income further by selling so called “Lady drinks” for which they receive 40 Baht a time on average. During the peak season, they might sell 10 drinks a night, but even then, their monthly income is still only 18,000 Baht. Divide that by 45 to convert to Euros, or by 33.1900 for US$. So how does the idea of living on 400 Euros a month grab you?
In addition, out of that final figure, they’re expected to give a substantial proportion of their income to their parents. Family ties are very strong in Thai culture and children are taught; brainwashed even if you like, to feel indebted to their parents for bringing them into the world and caring from them until they reach the age when they can begin to repay that debt. The fewer children in the family, the more the unfortunate individuals are expected to cough up.
Since it costs 5000 Baht a month to rent a room in places like Patong Beach, these girls will exist on little more than subsistence level if they don’t find an alternative source of income. They will never go abroad on holiday and most of them won’t even have a passport.
Prostitution provides a means of bringing them in contact with affluent men whom they are otherwise unlikely to meet. Their primary goal is to try and develop a relationship with someone who will provide for them for the future. Also, more often than not, they will have children of their own who have been left without a father after he skipped the nest as soon as he discovered his girlfriend was pregnant.
Most of the girls who work in the sex industry were born in the northern Province called Isaan. Isaan is farming country and the source of Thailand’s biggest export which is rice. There isn’t any other prominent industry in the region which offers an alternative means of employment.
So the girls come south to Bangkok, Pattaya and beyond and are attracted to men who they perceive to be wealthy and therefore potential partners.
Men in the 18-30 age group who flock to Thailand every year view these women as little more than sex objects to be enjoyed and then left to fend for themselves. And preferably for as little outlay as possible.
From the girls point of view, the 50+ age group is a much more attractive proposition since these men are perceived to have accumulated sufficient wealth by that age. That’s the main reason you see older men with younger women in the main tourist resorts like Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. Older men are also likely to be a lot more caring since they will have passed the wham, bang, thank you ma’am era of their youth.
Yes there are a few bad eggs among them in the same way as there are men who will exploit them, but given their circumstances, I for one would never criticize them in the manner of some of the comments I’ve read in this thread. Their lot in life is a pitiful one with very few prospects for the future especially if they’re single parents themselves already. Yet they will always project that warm smile towards everyone they meet.
I love each and every one of them, bless their little hearts, Terry
This was a comment to “Do Thai girls really like older men?” but we posted as a post since it was very well written and fun. Please comment of your view on this never ending subject.
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February 13th, 2010 — Letters from the readers
It is strange on the face of it, but maybe not so strange when you consider that sex, generally, is viewed much differently in the west than in Asia.
In the west we have this idea that sex shouldn’t happen without love to go with it – and preferably marriage to sanctify the whole dirty business.
I chose the terms “sanctify” and “dirty business” quite intentionally, because although Buddhism may have something to say about sex, it doesn’t begin to proscribe it, except under certain prescribed circumstances, like Christianity does. And of course, that’s where the real difference comes in, in the difference between Christianity and Buddhism.
Everything that is addressed by Christianity is, or should be, a serious business in the west, if you buy into the theology. Because Christianity is a one shot deal – you either get it right the first time or you burn in the lake of fire for eternity, at least in the classical version. Now there are all kinds of kinder, gentler variants that deny that there is such an entity as Satan (another Christian creation that bears on this discussion), or even Jesus in a historical sense, asserting that all this is just metaphorical, but nonetheless true.
I think that no matter how they slice and dice it to try to appeal to modern consuming western man though, the old beliefs are still there beneath the surface, deep in the psyche of not just those who practice the new Christianity “lite”, but also in those westerners who claim to be atheists. It’s our mythology, you see.
We believe that life is a one shot deal. Whether you go to heaven or hell or rot in the ground may be up for discussion but essentially that’s it. You’re dead. No passing go again, no get out of jail free, no collecting $200. Whatever happens is what happens and it’s over.
So it’s pretty important to get it all right that first time around the Monopoly board.
The doctrine of forgiveness of sins mucks this up a little bit, since virtually all the variants of Christianity allow that, since this is a one shot deal, if you just say the magic words under the right conditions you can have all your sins forgiven before you die, no matter how abominable they might be, and go collect your heavenly reward. Following this logic if Adolf Hitler were Protestant and confessed his sins to Jesus Christ before he shot himself in his bunker then his fellow Christians can expect to meet up with him when they get to heaven. Martin Luther King, on the other hand, may not have had time to make his confession before he got shot in the head, so he is most probably burning somewhere down in the pits of hell.
The rationality of Christianity aside, every Christian needs to avoid sin because you never know, you might get hit by a car or shot like MLK and have to suffer the consequences of hell.
So when god rails against fornicators and perverts in the Bible, or turns people into a brick of salt for even turning around to look back at the city of fornicators that he’s getting ready to destroy, after being told specifically not to, you better believe he means not to do any fornicating. You want to have sex, you need to get married.
That’s part of it. The other part is the strong tradition of monogamy in the west. There’s just no tradition of any sort that includes acceptable extra-marital relations in the west, if you leave out deviants like the Mormons.
Undoubtedly this second condition flows from the first to a large extent. So we’ve got a bunch of people running around over here who, whether they overtly acknowledge it or not, believe that sex is a dangerous affair that their god doesn’t like very much except under certain special conditions, i.e. marriage, which pretty much implies that it’s not for fun. It’s not even for relief. It’s for procreation, and if you’re smart you’ll avoid having too much fun even when you’re married and doing it just to have children, to be on the safe side.
You don’t have to look just to Asia to see the contrast. Look at the heathens in Africa. It drives the good Christians here in America bonkers that they are all running around having sex without a care, so much so that they’d rather see them die of the diseases that result (AIDS) rather than even recommend the use of condoms to prevent it. The condoms might save their lives, but they’d still lose their immortal souls, see. Besides, if we don’t get to have fun here, those savages we’re sending ‘aid’ to shouldn’t get any either.
So it’s all much more serious over here. The Swedes can claim to be all liberal and enlightened and not to care about this sort of thing since it’s religiously inspired morality that has no place in the modern world, but that’s what they say. They’ve still got the collective unconscious of the west animating what they believe, and a couple hundred years of enlightened liberality is not going to snuff that out.
In addition to that I am guessing (and here you’ll have to set me straight if I’m wrong) that since you have to go through thousands (?) of lifetimes before you get released from the cycle of rebirths, as long as you don’t do anything that’s real bad, like maybe turn into an Adolf Hitler, it’s really not going to make a whole lot of difference if you slip up a little bit on something like having sex.
It may mean a couple more lives, but hey, what’s a few lives when you’ve got a few thousand to go through?
Besides, you can always give some money to the monks and get some merit, or do some good deeds for others and get the same deal.
What do you think?
This was comment but i change it to a post since it was so long.
nietzches_dog
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December 1st, 2009 — Internet, Letters from the readers
What Do You Think About Thailand?
Dj Nakadia of all people told us yesterday that our blog had some problems with the comments but that problem is now fixed. We really want to see you comment on our blogs it means so much to us to hear from our readers. It inspires us to write about your kind of subjects.
The more comments we find on a post the more we know people want to hear more about this subject. Now when we fixed the comment system you can comment away on anything on our blog.
After New Year some exiting things will happen here on Personal Thailand you will like it for sure. Personal Thailand will get bigger and better than ever but we cannot do it without our readers.
Keep writing to us and send us your stories and keep them comments coming, we just love them!
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July 25th, 2009 — Government, Letters from the readers
The Thai government has once more denied the reports from Washington that secret prison with torture chambers exists in Thailand. The questions was brought up on the Asean meeting since Hillary Clinton is there.
But according to reports that was released by ALRC to the UN torture do take place in Thailand to make them confess to a crime or punishment in prison.
This report was published in 2005 and not much have changed since then
http://www.alrc.net/pr/mainfile.php/2005pr/109/
THAILAND: Torture rife in Thailand, U.N. told
PRESS RELEASE
ALRC-PL-42-2005
Torture rife in Thailand, U.N. told
(Geneva, April 19, 2005) Torture is widespread in Thailand and extremely brutal practices are used to extract confessions in ordinary criminal cases, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) told the United Nations today.
Speaking before the annual session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the Hong Kong-based rights group pointed to the case of Anek Yingnuek as an example.
Anek was allegedly tortured on September 9, 2004 at the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police station.
“To have him admit to robbery and implicate some others, the police allegedly beat him with pipes and suffocated him with plastic bags,” ALRC spokesperson Michael Anthony said.
“Then they covered his penis and testicles with ice and electrocuted him through it,” he said.
Torturers in Thailand escape punishment, the ALRC said, because there is no law making torture a criminal offence and the country has not ratified the U.N. Convention against Torture.
“There is also no avenue by which a complaint can be made directly to the high courts on a human rights violation under the constitution, which prohibits torture,” Anthony said.
No institution exists in Thailand to investigate torture and other serious human rights violations by the police.
On the contrary, a widespread attitude prevails that torture is acceptable and necessary.
In a written statement submitted earlier to the U.N., the ALRC pointed to the immigration bureau chief Pol. Lt-Gen. Amarin Niamsakul an example of a senior official who had endorsed the use torture on national television.
The ALRC said that for the government to have not dismissed the officer for his remarks was “a blot on the country’s international reputation and an affront to both domestic and international law”.
In its oral statement the ALRC said that Thailand had failed to fulfil its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a party, by not doing anything to prevent torture.
It called for Thailand to introduce a criminal law against torture, and a channel for receipt and investigation of complaints.
The ALRC also urged the government to ratify the Convention against Torture without delay.
Full text of the today’s statement follows.
UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 61st SESSION
ITEM 18: EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Torture in Thailand and the role of national and international human rights mechanisms
Statement read by Mr Michael Anthony, of the Asian Legal Resource Centre
Mr Chairperson
I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre.
Anek Yingnuek alleges that on September 9 of last year he was tortured at the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police station, north of Bangkok, Thailand. To have him admit to robbery and implicate some others, the police allegedly beat him with pipes and suffocated him with plastic bags. Then they covered his penis and testicles with ice and electrocuted him through it. Anek confessed and named three friends: enough to raise the charge to gang robbery.
Anek and his friends are all standing trial [Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Provincial Court black nos 1621/2547, 1675/2547 and 38/2548]. They are in jail. None of the accused police are known to have lost their jobs, despite having been named in a number of other similarly brutal cases. None have faced criminal investigations over the alleged torture.
This pattern is repeated at police stations throughout Thailand. Torture is widespread. Beatings and ‘roughing up’ are the routine; extremely grave torture is also applied in ordinary criminal cases. Victims are held in custody until scars have faded and all evidence is lost. Most are poor persons, unable to afford lawyers, ignorant of the legal system and their basic rights, and easily intimidated by the police.
Torturers in Thailand escape proper enquiry or sanction because there is no law making torture a criminal offence. Thailand has not ratified the Convention against Torture. There is also no avenue by which a complaint can be made directly to the high courts on a human rights violation under the constitution, which prohibits torture.
Under these circumstances, the existing national and international human rights mechanisms can do little to deal with this grievous and widespread abuse.
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand does not have the authority to pursue such cases; it can only refer them to the relevant government authorities. However, there is no institution established to investigate torture and other serious human rights violations by the police. And a widespread attitude prevails, as recently articulated by the immigration police chief on national television, that torture is acceptable and necessary.
Internationally, Thailand is a party to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which also prohibits torture. Article 2 of the Covenant stipulates that state parties must establish the means by which rights are to be enforced and remedies obtained when they are breached. But Thailand has not fulfilled this practical and integral obligation: the Asian Legal Resource Centre has pointed to this failure in its report to the Human Rights Committee to coincide with the considering of Thailand’s initial report under the Covenant this July.
Anek Yingnuek wants the abuse he has suffered at the hands of the police to be recognised and investigated, but he has no way to achieve this. The National Human Rights Commission lacks the means to afford an effective remedy. No domestic law exists to address torture, and there is no way to take his case to the superior courts. Nor can he approach the Human Rights Committee, as Thailand has not ratified the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
Effective functioning human rights mechanisms mean effective remedies. In Thailand, to eliminate the practice of torture and afford redress to the victims there must be a criminal law against torture and a channel for receipt and investigation of complaints. An avenue should be opened up by which complaints of serious rights violations under the constitution can be brought directly to the high courts. Finally, to afford a greater role for treaty bodies, Thailand should ratify the Convention against Torture and the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant without delay.
With these measures in place, Anek Yingnuek and other people like him might have a fighting chance to protect their rights, and in so doing, protect those of all people in Thailand.
Thank you, Mr Chairperson
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