ashbee

Prostitution is not embarrassing. It is a fact of life. Deal with it. Buck up, and be a man. What is embarrassing are tiny minded men like Mr. Sonthaya Khunpluem from Thailand’s Ministry of Culture. He is a 13 year old in a man's body, with the mindset of a quaker, from the 17th century. A false puritan. A man without any sense of self. He is simply attempting to but a tiny band aid, on what is essentially a severed artery. I am not saying Thailand is in need of repair. All I am saying is that what he is doing is the opposite of addressing, this, or any other problem. Yak, yak yak. All talk, and no action, which in reality is probably a good thing. LOL.

But that's exactly the point! Feign concern until people stop paying attention! Then go back to business as usual.

There's a joke people used to say around my parts. How are fat girls and mopeds the same? They are both fun to ride until someone sees you! I think is really the same case in Thailand regarding this issue. Nobody has a problem until people on the outside start taking a closer look at Thai society, and there are many facets that the good government representative don't want to face, let alone address.

Namely, the reason why the prostitution game is tolerated in the kingdom is because Thai society is inherently, at its very core, an unequal society. Exploitation in whatever form of the lowly minions by societal members on the top of the sakdina chain is and always has been totally acceptable in Thai society. It only becomes embarrassing when outside viewers see it and actually mock you for it.

Changing the underlying problem would require a sea change which isn't happening anytime soon.

True, but not the whole story. Exploitation in the likes of Pattaya in this paradox of a country, is almost always about Thai girls exploiting foreign men. If you explained this idea of foreign men exploiting the girls in Pattaya to a Pattaya working girl she would fall off her stool laughing.

You're slightly missing the point. Johns wouldn't even get a chance to be duped if it wasn't for societal acceptance of the lower classes working as sex workers in the first place. It's almost as if there is no will to address rural poverty because hey, you can always go sell your ass and get a dumb farang for all this loot in the process!

Am I making sense?

Other than pulling out a pistol and shooting her, this was arguably the most extreme reaction the guy could have done. I'm going to have to say he had mental issues.

I lived in Phuket over 10 years ago and this was a huge problem even back then. Ultimately, until the government is willing to provide incentives to private industry to jumpstart local employment they can't really do anything. After all, what viable alternatives exist?

You're probably thinking work right? Phuket is full of hotels and other ancillary business related to the tourism industry. SURELY the tuk tuk boys could find a paycheck in an more honest manner. Therein lies the problem. Because the local authorities have turned a blind eye to these corrupt practices the locals no longer view them as corrupt. To them it is completely legitimate since they don't see the economic trickle down they think they deserve (read: the whole pot).

Corruption is a funny thing.

Mine got a 10 year mutli-entry visa on the first try all by herself. All she did was take a letter from her work and a bank statement I think. She also got a 5 year EU visa on the first go as well.

As a farang graduate of a Thai university i can emphatically say that nothing is going to make this problem go away save for banning certain skirt lengths and tightness. But really, where there is a will there is a way and people will always find a way to express themselves. You can only hope to contain it.

Thanks alot! Shes a flight attendant so i'm sure she can get the time off whenever that comes along. I was just really worried that I would have to move back home in order to do this.

If me and my fiance work in Dubai (she's Thai and we met at school in bkk), can start the K1 process while outside of the US? Or do I need to be living in the country in order to make this happen?

Thanks in advance for your help!