Discrimination Outrage At Bangkok Airport!

[Phil Conners]

Totster,

How come the "good natured majority of muslim people" never stand up and denounce the "small minority of fanatical Muslims"?

Yes I know, I am not allowed to ask and you'll sensor my post.

[Weho]

I was recently at Bangkok's new airport, and I noticed the sign "Muslim Prayer Room

Somehow, I don't remember that "Muslim".

I thought it says "Prayer Room".

Can somebody second it? Or I have mixed many other airports that have just that - "Prayer Room" with BKK airport?

I'll second it myself. The signs says "MUSLIM". And they are all over the place.

[Ulysses G.]

Totster,

How come the "good natured majority of muslim people" never stand up and denounce the "small minority of fanatical Muslims".

This is the exact same question that I was thinking.

[cdnvic]

this complaint coming from a man who has problems with figuring out that trolleys aren't supposed to be used on escalators.

Future News Clipping;

"Man Sues Airport Authority after out of control baggage trolley crashes into prayer room"

[Totster]

It's a fair question, but not one for this topic or forum.

Totster

[Who, me ?]

this complaint coming from a man who has problems with figuring out that trolleys aren't supposed to be used on escalators.

Future News Clipping;

"Man Sues Airport Authority after out of control baggage trolley crashes into prayer room"

[chinthee]

Totster,

How come the "good natured majority of muslim people" never stand up and denounce the "small minority of fanatical Muslims".

This is the exact same question that I was thinking.

There has finally been [some] of this happening in India, due to the recent events in the U.K. and that several of the doctors were from India.

[Ulysses G.]

this complaint coming from a man who has problems with figuring out that trolleys aren't supposed to be used on escalators.

Future News Clipping;

"Man Sues Airport Authority after out of control baggage trolley crashes into prayer room"

With Weho riding shotgun!

[cdnvic]

Totster,

How come the "good natured majority of muslim people" never stand up and denounce the "small minority of fanatical Muslims"?

Yes I know, I am not allowed to ask and you'll sensor my post.

While you're at it, can you clean up his spelling too?

[sjaak327]

I'm still stewing about the airport nicotine rooms I've now realized I've been subsidizing... and the special air ventilation systems required... I'm not happy about this. I pay the same airport fees as nicotine fiends... honestly, since nicotine IS a drug, and they are drug addicts, if they can't keep away from their addiciton for a few hours, they are unfit to travel on a public conveyence.

I was once on an Air Canada flight, nonsmoking flight, where one of the restrooms was used as a smoking room at least 50 times during the flight... I reported this to the stewardi (that's plural for stewardess, a sexist term), but they didn't seem all that interested.

Since smoking earns the government tax, you could argue that the smoking rooms have already been paid for, in fact I'm sure that they could build several airports from tax earned from tobacco. Therefore I would suggest turning the airport into one big smoking zone, and use the smoking rooms for people who want to pray, or want to be free of tobacco smoke. Free of charge, we are not so bad after all

[Totster]

Anyway.. to get back on topic, I'm sure that last time I was in Suvarnabhumi Airport I saw what looked like a Christian or multi denomination prayer area/chapel set up on the observation deck.

totster

[Weho]

And I would like to add that I too have seen these so-called "muslim prayer rooms" used basically as sleeping rooms, and socializing rooms for their social group. It's not fair... can there be a group for homosexuals to socialize in at the airport, or for homosexuals to sleep in? Afterall, they are a social group, just like Muslims are. How about a Christian sleeping room? How about a Jewish diaper changing room? The list is endless....

Maybe a better solution would be to have NONE of these special rooms, and if you don't like it, you LUMP it, and dont' go to the airport. You stay at home, or you build your own damm airport, and put in whatever rooms you want to pay for yourself.

Discrimination and special treatment is so wrong. Is it any wonder the world continues to deteriorate? And this is not the fault of muslims at all... they didn't build the airport. It is the fault of stupid people that don't think about others.

[chinthee]

There was a huge flap recently at the Kansas City Airport in the USA. The airport added special foot basins so the many Muslim cabbies could wash their feet.

Quoting the article briefly:

"Why are we constructing places of worship for them inside our airports?" said an airport official who requested anonymity. "Why are we catering to their rituals? We don't do it for any other religion."

Airport installs foot basins

[bendix]

I can't believe you guys are all falling for another Weho classic. Seriously people . . it's a wind-up.

Still it does have some value; it's clearly identified all the bigots and Fox News non-thinkers on the forum.

[mrbojangles]

any more than I am offended about paying for a room for nicotine drug addicts at the airport.

The difference is you and anybody else, can use the smoking room. It is OPEN to all and we welcome all with open arms, why don't you pop in some time? If you don't it was YOUR choice not too.

The Airports also make money out of smokers buying ciggies, so they are probably self funding really.

[Jingthing]

I can't believe you guys are all falling for another Weho classic. Seriously people . . it's a wind-up.

Still it does have some value; it's clearly identified all the bigots and Fox News non-thinkers on the forum.

I don't think this is a windup. I think Weho is sincere and has argued his side well. I admit I was being flippant to suggest that the prayer rooms be wire tapped. I don't really support that, it was a joke of sorts.

BTW, if you classify me with the Fox news crowd just because I provided evidence that a large chunk of world Muslims support suicide bombing against innocent civilians, you are very mistaken. You would hard pressed to find a more anti-Bush American than myself. Of course, Fox news is right wing Bush propaganda. However, it doesn't follow that there isn't a problem of violent Muslims and the large chunk of Muslims that support them. Both realities can exist and both can be true at the same time, bad Bush and too many bad Muslims. If Muslims are offended by this, go ahead and curse me, but why don't you curse your fellow religionists first, the murdering portion?

[bino]

However, you miss the point about my desire to END discrimination.

And you believe that posting your concern in your classic style (read: whinging) in the Thaivisa forum is an effective way to do that?

[jackspratt]

I can't believe you guys are all falling for another Weho classic. Seriously people . . it's a wind-up.

Maybe not - could this be the reason for the OP

"It's not fair... can there be a group for homosexuals to socialize in at the airport, or for homosexuals to sleep in?"

[samran]

Totster,

How come the "good natured majority of muslim people" never stand up and denounce the "small minority of fanatical Muslims"?

Yes I know, I am not allowed to ask and you'll sensor my post.

They do, but it ain't news worthy is it?

[lotus eater]

I will not get into an argument with islamophobic elements here - it's depressing and an inevitable waste of time to do it with someone who is apparently in a vituperative frame of mind. (And by the way I'm an atheist.) But a few other points seem to me simple and logical.

Dossing out in the prayer room is indeed wrong and I join in deploring that as a misuse.

I repeat that Thailand is a buddhist and islamic country which therefore can be expected to favour these religions over others. Those who pick out the islamic aspect to criticize reveal only their strong dislike of islam. Moreover they reveal for comment the fact that on the one hand they live in thailand and on the other implicitly criticise the thais for their muslim aspects (i.e. their muslim citizens, and their wish to have a muslim prayer room in their airport.)

The 'why should I have to subsidize it' argument is not a serious one. All taxes (and everyone pays sales tax every day) pays for lots of things that the tax payer may not like. This is a basic feature of a social and democratic system.

I usually don't like to contribute to this category of thread and I'll revert to that policy now.

[Jingthing]

Reducing people who are concerned about Islam-inspired violence by calling them islamophobic elements is really rather rich, considering that is the expressed purpose of such terrorism, to make people afraid. I feel people who don't see that this is a threat to western values and world peace have their heads in the sand. The Bush/Blair response to this was an outrageous mistake, but the threats still exist. And in Thailand too. Read the news.

Again, I agree, Muslims are a sizable minority in Thailand and in America for that matter. No problem with prayer rooms. Their religion requires them to do more frequent and visible praying than others, so if special rooms is what they want, doesn't seem like a big deal at all.

[Naam]

Each to their own but I always thought muslims don't have to pray when they travel so no need really to have a prayer room in an airport.

wrong thinking mate. muslims are not required to fast during the islamic month of Ramadan but they still have to pray.

[Naam]

any more than I am offended about paying for a room for nicotine drug addicts at the airport.

The difference is you and anybody else, can use the smoking room. It is OPEN to all and we welcome all with open arms, why don't you pop in some time? If you don't it was YOUR choice not too.

The Airports also make money out of smokers buying ciggies, so they are probably self funding really.

yeah Weho! and rest assured we smokers neither serve you the wrong sauce nor can you take your trolley into the smoking room.

[pattayadave]

I'm almost speechless at the intolerance and ignorance of some people. Your world is a very small place...considering that a sixth of the world's entire population practice this religion, you act as though everyone should share your "hate and intolerance" towards people who have faith in something beyond your narrow scope. The need for strict observers of the Muslim faith to pray 5 times a day and face the direction of what they consider the holiest place on earth, might have something to do with the need for a room where they can do this without creating a scene...airports being busy places, the scene of hundreds of people bowing down would cause havoc with walking around them all and people stopping to stare in fascination. People that display your level of "hate and intolerance" are the reason this world is in trouble...muslims get all the flack because a very small percentage of the religion have branched off in the name of the same prophet, but predominantly the Muslim faith abhor the terrorism. Out of a billion people the small percentage of one's who get all the attention are on the news every day killing people and have become the representatives of this faith.

I don't practice any religion myself, but who are we to judge what others hold sacred.

i think if you read the post correctly weho is just stating fact ! why should we all pay for special services to a select group of people. if you can read hate and intolerance in to that your one sick puppy my friend

[Humphrey Bear]

WeHo - just remember that every day that we were building Suvarnabhumi Airport we had pork for lunch - thousands of us (20 baht for the main meal - you wou;ld have been impressed).

And all the bits and pieces that were left over for teeth-picking, spitting and other Thai construction worker habits are now incorporated in the concrete - even in the prayer room.

A careful, that chip on your shoulder could cause you to stoop in your old age

No chip - bloody great plank.

For more than twenty of the past thirty years I have been working in Muslim-majority countries. The Middle Eastern countries are completely contemtuous of Western 'culture', morals and moraes. North African (Mahgreb) countries are more tolerant and places like Indonesia and Malaysia almost welcome us - on the surface.

But the Islamic bond is present in all and will unite 'them' aginst 'us' always.

From the Palestinian medical staff dancing in the corridors of the NOC Hospital in Tripoli at 9/11 to the worldwide refusal to openly condemn that and other acts of terorism.

(paragraph deleted)

A tourist visiting Dubai will remember the gold souks and excellent food, the shopping malls, the sea and going out in a dhow. Looking at the Burg Al Arab (I was with the company that put up the 'sail') and going falcon-hunting in the desert. Fine. But behind that is the greatest money-laundering market in the world, assisting in the cancers that beset open societies in the West.

The Muslim faith is more than 1425 years old.

What were the Christians doing when Christianity was 1430 years old? Heading towards the forcible conversions in the Americas. About to burn Jews in Spain. Conducting wars all over the known world. All Jews had been expelled from UK in the 1200s and were under pressure throughout Europe.

Plus ca change .....

As I said in an earlier post - there are only a limited number of actual terrorists, but there is an 800 million support group. And for that we should all be very wary.

[Humphrey Bear]

Just to pour oil on the fire - has anyone noticed that the Tesco-Lotus supermarket chain (British franchise) also has muslim prayer rooms (near the toilets) at least here in Phuket?

But Phuket has a fairly large Muslim Thai population - it is understandable.

There are two mosques that I know of in Pattaya, plus a Sikh Temple, but I don't think the population is large enough for TL to consider a prayer-room for shoppers.

[Humphrey Bear]

There has been many discussion in Europe over moslims wanting to have mosques there. My opinion is - sure, as long as you can have churches in moslim countries.

In most muslim countries churchhes are tolerated.

Not in Saudi - one can be expelled for having a Bible. Several of my Filipinos were expelled a few years ago for holding a Bible-reading study group.

In Libya (Benghazi) the Catholic church was used by other denominations on days other than Sunday. The nursing nuns were very welcome by the population (well, they dress the same, don't they?). The War Graves were mostly well preserved, although there was a big incident with the German memorial.

Indonesia and Malaysia - tolerance for all.

Iran during the Shah's time - even Bahai were allowed. Most were slaughtered as apostates during the revolution though. Armenians still there, but I don't know if their churches / cathedrals are still open. Most of the Jews left, those that remained are under constant pressure of being thought of as spies. Don't know about the Zoroastrians there. Used to be free to worship (Towers of Silence and so on) but again I have no current contact.

United Arab Emirates are tolerant, but not encouraging. Do your own thing in private, no problem. Go out and try to gather people together, could be trouble. (Unless it's for a golf tournament)

But the tolerance shown in the West (even by and to me) is absent from the culture of all these countries. You are 'different'. In UK and Thailand I judge people on their own individual merits, not from religious, national or ethnic roots. But regrettably this has changed in the past few years - I sometimes start with a preconceived idea based on one religion and one ethnic background. And the preconception ain't good.

[taxexile]

wrong thinking mate. muslims are not required to fast during the islamic month of Ramadan but they still have to pray.

quite so

and the two bozos who tried to blow up glasgow airport by trying to drive their jeep through the main concourse were merely celebrating the not very well known , but increasingly popular muslim holy day of Ramavan.

[0x22b]

Guys,

Posts that are disrespectful to muslim people and their beliefs are not welcome. Anyone continuing on this path will be warned and suspended.

There is no need for us to follow the lead of a small minority of fanatical Muslims, whose only aim it is to drive wedge between the good natured majority of muslim people and the rest of the world.

Thankyou

totster

AMAZING! Time after time I see posts that are very disrespectful to Christian people, yet I've never seen you nor any other moderators say anything about it. Someone makes a post about Muslim people not speaking out against terrorists and you come back with this sort of a reply? Is this what this board is all about? Christianity bashing is acceptable but say the slightest thing negative about a Muslim and a moderator threatens to suspend you? If this is the policy here on Thai Visa then I guess I you'll need to ban me because there is no way I can accept such blatant religious bias.

[Ulysses G.]

and the two bozos who tried to blow up glasgow airport by trying to drive their jeep through the main concourse

Those two bozos are trained medical doctors who also tried to blow up car bombs in England in the middle of population centers.

Where are the "moderate" Moslems we hear so much about?