spidermike007

I agree the industry is vast here. But I am not so sure about that it is the largest. The sex industry in the US is huge. There are likely millions of women who sell their bodies for a price. Very difficult to find real numbers, as it is so far underground in the US. I have a good friend who is a very reliable and informative source, as she was deeply involved running an NGO in Bangkok for 10 years, that dealt with sex workers. So, I take her at her word, but do not expect others to. She claimed the industry was at least twice as large in the US, than in Thailand. I believe her. If you account for freelancers, there are a ridiculous number who give it up, for the right amount of cash. Is that the same as prostitution? I think so. Many here are also freelancers, some part time, some not. How about this, as a place to start? And any study is going to underestimate, rather than over estimate the number of sex workers in the US. And of course, they are not going to include the "really good local gals" who will bang for a month's rent. Stephanie Chen, former Writer-Producer for CNN, stated in her Aug. 28, 2009 CNN.com article titled “‘John Schools’ Try to Change Attitudes about Paid Sex”: “No comprehensive effort has been made to track the numbers, but experts estimate 1 million to 2 million prostitutes work in the United States. https://prostitution.procon.org/questions/how-many-prostitutes-are-in-the-united-states-and-the-rest-of-the-world/ The State Department releases an annual report on human trafficking with breakdowns for individual countries, though it is largely focused on government actions to address the trafficking and does not estimate the total number of victims. However, in its 2019 report, the State Department found the top three nations of origin for human trafficking victims were the United States, Mexico and the Philippines. It does not break that figure down for sex trafficking alone. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/07/29/12-trafficking-statistics-enormity-global-sex-trade/1755192001/ The prostitution trade is estimated to generate over $14 billion a year in the US (Havoscope, 2013). Different data sources suggest that anywhere between 16 to 30 percent of men have paid for sex in the US (General Social Surveys, 1992-2010; Langer, Arnedt and Sussman, 2004). https://www.restud.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MS21721manuscript.pdf And there is NO justification for criminalizing the industry, either here or in the US. None. It only increases the danger for women. There is "considerable evidence from public health researchers that criminalization of sex work contributes to community violence, propagates crime, blocks access to public health resources, is an ineffective deterrent to participation in sex work, and is deeply harmful to sex workers." https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-01-11/calls-mount-to-decriminalize-sex-work-in-the-interest-of-public-health

Good one. Always believe your own eyes, and never believe promises from politicians. Especially greasy ones, with an $800,000,000 smile. Respect has to be earned, and should never, ever be freely given.

I could not agree more. You are right. Most men in the US, Europe, and NZ, or Australia are no longer real men, when it comes to dealing with their women. Their women have made their lives so difficult, and alot of women have gotten so far away from their innate femininity, and have become so dominant, and super controlling, and men just go along with it. Most men have become so hungry for love, or emotionally desperate for some kindness, and TLC. And most are so desirous of being around a real woman, who knows how to act like a woman, and manifest the dignity, within femininity. So, it is easy for con artists, to take advantage of emotionally wounded men, who seem to be willing to do anything to regain a semblance of normality in their lives, with a decent woman. So, what is the answer? Take your time. Time allows clarity. Never, ever move too quickly. That is the undoing of most of these guys. Lastly, do not get hung up on them, emotionally. Have some fun. Get to know them. Always remember, if it is good, it is only going to get better. If there are problems, they will reveal themselves over time. Time is your ally. It is rarely their ally. They are usually trying to step up the timetable. We need to push back. We need to assert control. We need to be honest, and let them know we are not interested in an immediate relationship. Something might develop, but if you are in a hurry, I am NOT YOUR GUY. An environment like this allows us to set boundaries, and take our time. She starts saying I love you, and you respond by saying that's nice. I like you too. What, you do not love me? Of course not. I have only known you a few months. I have barely gotten to know you yet. Be a man. Step up. Pay tribute to the gender. Refuse to lay down anymore. Refuse to be a doormat. Refuse to check your cajones at the door.

This really comes down to men behaving like men. Real men act. Adolescent minds talk, make policy declarations, proclamations about safety, etc., then do nothing. Absolutely nothing. That is NOT leadership, Mr. Sretta. Nowhere else in the world have I seen people consistency take the kinds of chances and risks in the road, that they take here, with their families in the car. Nowhere. When they could have waited four seconds to make the u-turn or turn onto the highway, and have a completely clear path, they instead choose to take a tremendous risk. It is beyond comprehension. I see it all the time. My eyes do not lie to me. This rarely ever happens to me in the US. If I decide to cut you off on a highway, when you are going 120kph, and I am making a u-turn, and there was plenty of room behind you for me to make a safe turn, is that an error, if it results in a horrific, fatal accident, and I take the lives of you and your family? I don't make the kind of errors that result in bad accidents, much less fatalities. Why? Because I am very, very careful on the road, and very, very respectful of other drivers, their lives, and those of their families. That is a choice that results in NOT making very many terrible mistakes. Sometimes an error is wearing white after Labor day in New York City. And sometimes an error is invading Russia before the oncoming winter. If the authorities cared, they would make sure nearly all the highway patrol, were actually patrolling the highways and finding reckless drivers. In all the years I have been here, I have never seen anyone pulled over for speeding or recklessness. Get the useless highway patrol to actually patrol the highway. How about 30 days in jail, for any highway patrolman found in an office, instead of out there on the highway? Roadblocks accomplish very little, except clog the highways. It is a lazy approach.

Many of the gals online seem to do it full time. That is their life, they know every trick in the book, they hop from one to the other, until they find a guy who is willing to spill, bit time. And with the neediness of many Western men, you will have alot of competition for the pretty, younger ones. I blame alot of it on social media. And Western style desperation. Alot of people just do not understand how corrosive, damaging, degrading and nasty social media can be. There are an infinite number of scammers, predators and fraudsters out there. Most of us have the good sense to avoid them, and not get taken in by their unwillingness to do actual work for a living. What gives? Where are the survival instincts? I hear some men or women talk about being in love with someone after knowing them two weeks. All that is, is anxiety, impatience, and the intense desire to be in love. Some are more in love with the idea of being in love, than with the person they are with. I think for most of us who are emotionally healthy, the idea of taking one's time to really get to know someone, is alot more informative and desirable, than just losing oneself in the moment.

The high quality tourists Thailand is seeking are putting in quite a show. Perhaps these hooligans think it is the set of a Bollywood film? Lock them up in a Thai prison, where they will be sure to make alot of friends.

That used to be the case. It has not been a sex destination for a decade. More of a couples or family destination these days, and the industry is fading. Far fewer punters than in previous decades. But, sex is part of life here. Less prudishness than in the West, except with the fake puritan army and govt.

Will they be able to get the highway patrol off their lazy butts to actually go out and patrol the highways and look for reckless drivers, or will they strictly depend on the roadblocks as a lazy approach to finding drunk drivers?

In general, Westerners spend more than 95% of the Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Arab, and Russian tourists that comprise the vast majority of what Thailand is left with after 3 ugly years of the Prayuth Decimation. But, they won't come back, for a dozen good reasons. Including the distance.

Total nonsense. Likely 20x that. The fake narrative begins. And this does not even account for the ridiculous wealth of his family. Before his political debut this year, Srettha helped build a family real-estate business into an empire called Sansiri Development, worth $880 million in market capitalization. Srettha positioned his company to attract upper-income home buyers and dialed up its posh image by completing construction on an uber-lux Bangkok condominium project, 98 Wireless, seven years ago at a prime location — next door to the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Thailand. https://www.voanews.com/a/ex-property-mogul-wants-to-be-thailand-s-next-pm-on-his-own-terms/7086531.html

An accident is something that typically happens due to unforeseen circumstances. In this particular case the weather forecast was poor, and they decided to go out anyway, so this was not an accident on the part of the captain. This was willful malfeasance, and likely an unwillingness to refund ticket prices and cancel the trip.

It is more and more apparent by the day, that the destruction and sabotage of Thailand's tourism industry was likely deliberate, and planned out. Nothing else makes sense. The prudish, false quaker army has been wanting to get rid of the nightlife for as long as they have been in power. What better way to do this, than use the cover of covid? Reduce the entire industry to ashes, then rebuild it, in their own pure as snow image. Without a trace of nightlife, or a hint of a sex industry. Of course we know that effort would be a total failure. They did hurt nightlife, bars and clubs. Bit try to stop the industry, and oppress it, and what happens? It just grows. When you have a nation that pays 3,000 to 5,000 baht a month more for a college graduate with a 4 year degree (after a very expensive education) than an unskilled laborer, what choice do some women have? Just "say not to sex" is as stupid and misguided as "just say no to drugs". But stupid barely even begins to describe the current and previous leadership. Anytime the army gets involved, you have fake intentions and false morality. The army leadership is moronic, fake, misguided, arrogant, out of touch, pathological, lacking one iota of compassion, black hearted, misled, ill informed, and incapable of leadership. Was "The Prayuth Decimation" extreme cowardice or willful sabotage? I belive it was the latter. You choose. Woe is Thailand under these fools.

This is very serious business, the public stands at risk of being morally corrupted by this woman. Who knows what kind of deviant acts people could engage in while watching a video like this? It is imperative that the authorities crack down on this kind of perversion so as to keep the society pure, morally righteous, and thinking only of wonderful thoughts, and how they can benefit mankind. Sex is bad. Don't allow it. Just say no to sex.

In the related article. Kittpong revealed to Channel 7 that he received a friend request from a LINE account, 474boing, at about 8.38pm that day. The account later sent the threatening messages to Kittipong, saying… “Hey, what are you saying about the hospital? Be careful. Do not be too brave. You might have to pay for it with your life.” So now we have a hospital mafia too? It doesn't surprise me, it's big business and they don't like egg on the face, which they richly deserve.

Obviously just another example of them not doing what they need to do to attract more tourism and higher quality tourism. Going after foreign criminals is not the answer, perhaps addressing a dozen or so of the issues that existed long before covid might be a good place to start, and then lowering luxury taxes and wine taxes so that they can attract the much coveted wealthy tourists that they've drone on and on about, who want a reasonable price for a great bottle of wine at dinner and have a wife who wants to spend $5,000 for a handbag, but won't buy that same handbag that's $13,000 in Thailand but $5,000 everywhere else in the world. Make some sacrifices you fools, and if you are going to blame anyone, blame yourselves for a change.

I've tried it before and it worked. I just kind of flashed them my boarding card and they didn't really look at it, once they saw the gold card. Some have not even asked for the boarding card once they saw the gold card. It's always worth to try, what's the worst that could happen? They'll send you over to the normal line.

I read the article and I must say I found it very unconvincing. Number one they focused only on covid, and number two they talked about the transmission rates as opposed to the fatality factors, so the transmission rates really don't mean anything, if a virus becomes more virulent but less deadly, than it's becoming weaker, it's that simple. Another may have been instances in the last century where a virus has become more deadly over time I think it is very hard to prove that scientifically and in the vast majority of cases with virtually every virus and flu that we've come in contact with each subsequent strain has been weaker and less deadly. So the big question remains why get all worried about a hypothetical? For many of us covid is in the rear view. I am much more concerned about getting a flu than I am covid.

The story is so far out and so bizarre that one is almost led to believe that it might be true. The only part that is not believable is that he didn't surrender the bag at the first airport, before leaving. That was a real mistake, and it is unlikely somebody in that position would continue to hold on to the bag. The second question that comes to mind is how was he caught? The police are not usually that effective.

Well you make a good point, and I really don't have a valid argument other than to say that I will add hypocrisy to my list of character flaws!

Well admittedly that particular situation was quite a marine abomination, not sure why they captain of that ship did not lose his job and get his license to pilot a ship revoked, but it is fairly difficult for the armed forces here to take responsibility for their actions. I'm sure there was an awful lot of denial and obfuscation that went on, over that so-called accident. Negligence is likely more like it.

I wonder if it's a requirement for getting a captain's license to pilot a boat which (carries members of the public), to take courses in life-saving techniques and emergency management? It sounds like that's not the case and if not, why not? Why the negligence? The great thing about Thailand is that egg on the face sometimes leads to an improvement in standards, unfortunately that seems to be the only time it happens, is when there's sufficient loss of face and humiliation in the international press. So kudos to the press for shaming the Thais, you just know that this is being printed and posted all over the world and it's just another black eye for Thailand. For me, I don't really care if tourism drops, but I'm sure it's going to negatively affect a lot of people who make a living in the business. Perhaps just another example of failed leadership on the part of Sretta and the ridiculous Thai army?

I've been told that in Italy the Hawaiian pizza is illegal and one can get arrested for ordering this type of pizza. I've never understood the addition of pineapple to a pizza, it's counterintuitive if you ask me. Great pizza is not hard to make, my woman makes amazing pizza at home. It's all about the dough, high quality Italian flour, the quality of the cheese, and a great pizza sauce. And of course the toppings. Putting a little bit of olive oil on the crust before baking it also helps a lot.

Okay then, you've done a very good job of explaining why you can get an immigration agent to do just about anything for you. After all the police are the ultimate franchisees within the nation, so why shouldn't the same apply to immigration, border patrol, and customs?

I really don't think so, I spoke to an epidemiologist and an internist about this and they both agreed that the history of flu and viruses transmission, is that subsequent mutations are almost always weaker and result in less fatalities, not more. So this is not the zombie apocalypse after all.

Yes I do complain about corruption in Thailand and yes I do support corruption occasionally. What can I say, if I was a saint the Catholic Church would be looking to canonize me. If you were looking for perfection in a human being you're looking on the wrong planet.