Thailand’s Policy On Quality Tourism

[Maigo6]

The problem is that "prostitution" describes several situations that have very little in common with each other. I have friends in Thailand who are "freelance" hookers on the gay scene. They make a lot of money for very little sex, sometimes receiving ridiculous sums from farang men abroad who are after them like puppy dogs. On the other side of things, you have country brothels for Thai truck drivers and construction workers, and the equivalent in neighboring countries, where women trafficked from the hilltribes, Burma, Cambodia, and China labor in what is effectively slavery, with no choice as to their customers, working conditions or price.

Good post Canadiangirl........point taken.

[qwertz]

Germany has quality tourism.

It also has pro rata (no pun intended) probably as many, if not more, prostitutes than Thailand.

But all we see here on the box are documentaries about sleazy Thailand, mostly the same old tired archive footage of Pat Pong, Pattaya etc..

We seldom see the nice side, and then only when it's aired by the holiday channels.

Blame the power of the media and its one sided reportage.

Anyway, on a brighter note, quality tourism is on the way - I'll be there in September.

[otton]

I acknowledged that a few posts ago

Then why you wrote "Never mind wanting one's country to be considered as something more than a giant brothel for Westerners in search of cheap p*."?

Westerners aren't the only foreign customers, FYI Thailand has the same reputation in Japan, S. Korea, Singapore etc. and attracts many sextourists from those places as well.

But one hardly needs to be "neo-puritain", "prudish" or "victorian" to find certain aspects of it distasteful.

If you knew anything about Thailand you would rather find "distasteful" the situation of many of the girls in the lower sector of the (much bigger) side of the market catering to Thais than lower Suk or "Had Rin beach".

It's also possible that you do know a lot about Thailand and have gone native to the point of being concerned about "face" and appearance (public displays of "misbehaving") over substance...

Sure, Thailand has a long way to go. But how are they going to get there if they don't start by setting the direction?

Where have you read that they are going to tackle the huge part of the industry which caters to Thais?

I guess I'm biased, because I personally can't stand tourists who come to my city and behave like idiots, have giant senses of entitlement, complain about everything and don't bother to learn a few phrases in the local language.

What does it make you so sure that richer folks wouldn't "behave like idiots", wouldn't "have giant senses of entitlement", wouldn't "complain about everything" and will "bother to learn a few phrases in the local language"?

[JR Texas]

The problem is that "prostitution" describes several situations that have very little in common with each other. I have friends in Thailand who are "freelance" hookers on the gay scene. They make a lot of money for very little sex, sometimes receiving ridiculous sums from farang men abroad who are after them like puppy dogs. On the other side of things, you have country brothels for Thai truck drivers and construction workers, and the equivalent in neighboring countries, where women trafficked from the hilltribes, Burma, Cambodia, and China labor in what is effectively slavery, with no choice as to their customers, working conditions or price.

Good post Canadiangirl........point taken.

Thanks for pointing out the flaws in what I said. I should not have used the word "rid." Prostitution will likely never go away. But, I think it is clear that the majority of girls engaged in prostitution are driven to it via dire economic circumstances. Little girls do not naturally grow up dreaming of becoming prostitutes when they get older (not in any sane world). If we give them an education and opportunity to better their lives, the majority will take it.

Now, when they fall under bad economic times, they take a look around at alternatives.........a good job pays 200 baht a day.........even one "trick" can earn a girl 500 baht. Still, many girls will choose to earn less in order to avoid the lifestyle of a prostitute. Others do what is necessary to "marry a farang."

[otton]

Please cut and paste my exact quote that says 'deeply influenced' and 'heavily influenced'. Learn to read, then learn how to summarise and quote. Feel free to keep putting words into my mouth BAF, it seems to occur simultaneously when you have your foot in yours.

"money spent say in sex tourism encourages sectors of the economy to develop which are like a cancer; as anyone with a brain can see the money going into the sex industry in Thailand feeds a lot of cash into a money spiral including drugs, booze, gambling and other vice; much of the money does not go into economically viable projects at all - YES it is a necessary part of any country's economy, but overreliance on this is part of the reason that Isaan is now a total mess -by earning relatively easy money many people in that region have not developed any other skills, leaving them working as service providers on their backs, meea farang or similar, and not forcing the region to develop areas of core competence of greater value. Tourism and the sex industry are a nice crutch, but the longer one leans on it, the more reliant one becomes on it. And of course, the negative impact on the family tourism market is part of that mutually exclusive issue; that's merely marketing 101; basic market segmentation"

So, rendering the biggest region of Thailand a "total mess" and making "many people in that region not develop any other skills, leaving them working as service providers on their backs, meea farang or similar, and not forcing the region to develop areas of core competence of greater value" isn't what you would call a deep, heavy influence?

A lot of cash is relative to the overall country; tourism is documented to be significantly less than 10% of GDP, and yes, sex tourism is a minor subset of that.

The Great Depression of the 1930s was the economic event of the 20th century and real GDP fell in the US by 29%. Keep this in mind to putthe numbers in perspective.

That said, sex-tourism is a subset of that much significant number and that number refers mainly to traceable expenditures and in minor part to "weighed" survey-based (if Thailand does it well) estimates. Money spent by sex-tourists gets spent for the most part in non-traceable services (they have no way to know how much money a sex-tourist spends in the sex industry and with prostitutes during his stay and sex-tourists are also the ones who come for the semi-pros and non-pros i.e. outside of the industry proper) and goods (for example, do you think that the vet bills for the sick buffalos and the houses being built upcountry by sex-tourists sending money from the West get computed?).

Moreover, wouldn't you call the huge remittance of money coming into the country by Thai women living abroad "sex-tourism money" (you would be surprised by how much money it is)?

Thai women make up the vast majority of the Thais living abroad, in some countries there are 4 adult Thai female for every adult Thai male. Ask yourself why...

The sex industry for you might be Thailand's biggest attraction. For many Thai people, it is not somethign they wish to see or have, and many would love it if it was a whole lot smaller

They could destroy the sex industry literally overnight if so they wanted. That wouldn't stop the sex-tourism but would greatly reduce it and, with it, would greatly reduce the sex-tourism income.

If face is so important to the Thais (and it is) and sex-tourism income isn't so important for the country, why aren't they doing it?

Edited August 15, 2007 by otton

[canadiangirl]

I acknowledged that a few posts ago

Then why you wrote "Never mind wanting one's country to be considered as something more than a giant brothel for Westerners in search of cheap p*."?

Westerners aren't the only foreign customers, FYI Thailand has the same reputation in Japan, S. Korea, Singapore etc. and attracts many sextourists from those places as well.

Most people on this forum are aware that farang-Thai prostitution is just a drop in the bucket. In this particular case, I was speaking about the attitude of some posters on this topic who find Thailand's status as a giant brothel to their advantage, and seem to be personally offended at the idea of Thailand trying to be anything better that a cheap place for them to get laid.

Farangs didn't invent prostitution in Thailand. But how long can farang use this as an excuse to justify their own bad behavior?

[OlRedEyes]

Any country attracts the visitors it deserves. Only way to change the profile of the visitors is to change the country and it's people first. Marketing may induce one-off visits, but if there is no substance behind the marketing it will fail in the medium to long term. You have to start at home.

This debate will rage for decades to come, simply because of the Thai trait of wanting something without first doing the hard work required to achieve success.

This issue generates the most hot air I have ever witnessed.

[Ulysses G.]

Farangs didn't invent prostitution in Thailand. But how long can farang use this as an excuse to justify their own bad behavior?

"Bad behavior"? Didn't you adamantly deny being a puritan?

No one but the worst kind of prude denies two consenting adults the right to do anything they want with their own bodies.

[otton]

Most people on this forum are aware that farang-Thai prostitution is just a drop in the bucket. In this particular case, I was speaking about the attitude of some posters on this topic who find Thailand's status as a giant brothel to their advantage, and seem to be personally offended at the idea of Thailand trying to be anything better that a cheap place for them to get laid.

I think that you will find that the most offended replies come from (what you would call) the "better" kind of folks: the genuine non-sex-tourists. The less wealthy amongst them (rightly) take policies like these, the explanations the Thai officials give and their wording as very insulting.

Sex-tourists are amongst all income brackets (and spend certainly more than, for example, "quality" mass family tourists) so they aren't particularly afraid of policies like these.

Farangs didn't invent prostitution in Thailand. But how long can farang use this as an excuse to justify their own bad behavior?

Real sex-tourists could give two sheets about justifying their behaviour which is "bad" only in your puritanical and moralistic eyes anyway.

Most likely they are just pointing out how the industry is Thai, the workers are Thai, the laws and police are Thai and the country is Thailand.

There is little to no exploitation in the "farang" side of the market so you bigots better turn your attention to the other...

[canadiangirl]

Farangs didn't invent prostitution in Thailand. But how long can farang use this as an excuse to justify their own bad behavior?

"Bad behavior"? Didn't you adamantly deny being a puritan?

No one but the worst kind of prude denies two consenting adults the right to do anything they want with their own bodies.

The bad behavior I'm referring to isn't prostitution, it's the exploitation and disrespectful attitudes that often accompany it.

Surely one who upholds the right of two consenting adults to do what they want with their bodies must recognize the right of sovereign nations to arrange their affairs in a way that might put the interests of their own people ahead of the interests of foreigners seeking favorable exchange rates for their blowjobs?

[steveromagnino]

If face is so important to the Thais (and it is) and sex-tourism income isn't so important for the country, why aren't they doing it?

the rest we can to and fro about semantics but I think this is the key question. And I wish I had an answer, but i don't think anyone does.

For the tourist market they are now making noises about how to promote the country. That's one part of targeting demand. The other part is the much larger local market and of course addressing supply side issues.

I guess in the country's defence....

- The TAT/tourism minister and the people who run the sex industry are for the most part, very different groups and the TAT has little power to control the sex industry, gem scams or taxi mafia without getting support of the police and other civil service/govt departments

- some senior police, politicians and other civil service departments make a lot of money from the illicit industries, so have no real incentive to eliminate them (Guns Girls and Ganja I think explains some of the economics). There are ample rumours flying around regarding why the previous PM eliminated issuing new licenses for ahp op nuets in BKK as he alledgely had ensured that a number of the existing establishments were under his friends' control, for instance

- the rural poor who supply the most of the estimated 300,000 prostitutes to this trade seem to have no desire to stop, it has become almost a cultural norm in parts of Isaan and the north that so that there is no shame in going to the city to work; without major changes to education, economic development and some of the other stuff JR alluded to, this isn't going to change; in fact worldwide it seems like part of the trend is that there isn't as much shame in choosing to work as a stripper/adult entertainer/hooker - Japan for instance for foreigners

It would take a very strong PM to take action on this, and the change would be far from immediate -while politically popular with voters, I suspect that it would run hard up against some a few very powerful people; my guess is many of those people have been part of most of the coalition governments I can think of since 1992. One even ran for governor against Apirak! (no, not Chuwit). Exactly like the underground lottery and so on. I doubt the economic impact overall on the Thai economy would be particularly great. However, for individual families and certain villages....they don't have any other high value product so huge?!

My own opinion is the trend for younger Bangkok Thais is more promiscuity while single and yet more faithful relationships - the women I know would not tolerate a guy sleeping around on them - this is perhaps reducing the local demand slowly and I think there is some NESDB study on ahp op nuets reflecting that regarding the reduction in massage parlor workers plus reduced work per worker following years of growth. Up country....no idea. The focus on quality tourism has been ongoing for a while now (growth in med tourism etc is well documented) - maybe there will be a gradual decrease there too.

So....easier for everyone to just complain about it, ignore it and hope it will decrease on its own. If you have any doubt how the majority of voters feel, there was a reason why Purachai was so popular a few years back. But easier to make a song and dance than do the concrete difficult things that need to be done, which is what most politicians have been doing.

No doubt a bit like eliminating the yakuza in Japan or the Mafia in Italy - both are happening (you can correct me if I am wrong on Italy, but that is the impression) but takes a lot of time.

Good question - like I said....no easy answer.

[canadiangirl]

Sex-tourists are amongst all income brackets (and spend certainly more than, for example, "quality" mass family tourists) so they aren't particularly afraid of policies like these.

Real sex-tourists could give two sheets about justifying their behaviour which is "bad" only in your puritanical and moralistic eyes anyway.

There is little to no exploitation in the "farang" side of the market so you bigots better turn your attention to the other...

Hit a nerve, did I?

My apologies, Mr. 12 posts. I guess I'm just not the Thailand expert you are.

[kat]

If face is so important to the Thais (and it is) and sex-tourism income isn't so important for the country, why aren't they doing it?

the rest we can to and fro about semantics but I think this is the key question. And I wish I had an answer, but i don't think anyone does.

For the tourist market they are now making noises about how to promote the country. That's one part of targeting demand. The other part is the much larger local market and of course addressing supply side issues.

I guess in the country's defence....

- The TAT/tourism minister and the people who run the sex industry are for the most part, very different groups and the TAT has little power to control the sex industry, gem scams or taxi mafia without getting support of the police and other civil service/govt departments

- some senior police, politicians and other civil service departments make a lot of money from the illicit industries, so have no real incentive to eliminate them (Guns Girls and Ganja I think explains some of the economics). There are ample rumours flying around regarding why the previous PM eliminated issuing new licenses for ahp op nuets in BKK as he alledgely had ensured that a number of the existing establishments were under his friends' control, for instance

- the rural poor who supply the most of the estimated 300,000 prostitutes to this trade seem to have no desire to stop, it has become almost a cultural norm in parts of Isaan and the north that so that there is no shame in going to the city to work; without major changes to education, economic development and some of the other stuff JR alluded to, this isn't going to change; in fact worldwide it seems like part of the trend is that there isn't as much shame in choosing to work as a stripper/adult entertainer/hooker - Japan for instance for foreigners

It would take a very strong PM to take action on this, and the change would be far from immediate -while politically popular with voters, I suspect that it would run hard up against some a few very powerful people; my guess is many of those people have been part of most of the coalition governments I can think of since 1992. One even ran for governor against Apirak! (no, not Chuwit). Exactly like the underground lottery and so on. I doubt the economic impact overall on the Thai economy would be particularly great. However, for individual families and certain villages....they don't have any other high value product so huge?!

My own opinion is the trend for younger Bangkok Thais is more promiscuity while single and yet more faithful relationships - the women I know would not tolerate a guy sleeping around on them - this is perhaps reducing the local demand slowly and I think there is some NESDB study on ahp op nuets reflecting that regarding the reduction in massage parlor workers plus reduced work per worker following years of growth. Up country....no idea. The focus on quality tourism has been ongoing for a while now (growth in med tourism etc is well documented) - maybe there will be a gradual decrease there too.

So....easier for everyone to just complain about it, ignore it and hope it will decrease on its own. If you have any doubt how the majority of voters feel, there was a reason why Purachai was so popular a few years back. But easier to make a song and dance than do the concrete difficult things that need to be done, which is what most politicians have been doing.

No doubt a bit like eliminating the yakuza in Japan or the Mafia in Italy - both are happening (you can correct me if I am wrong on Italy, but that is the impression) but takes a lot of time.

Good question - like I said....no easy answer.

Oh my gosh, I think I agree with you .... what is happening to me?

[otton]

Hit a nerve, did I?

Apparently I did it to you, you haven't answered ANY of my points...

My apologies, Mr. 12 posts. I guess I'm just not the Thailand expert you are.

So I must have arrived in Thailand 12 posts ago, right?

[otton]

The bad behavior I'm referring to isn't prostitution, it's the exploitation and disrespectful attitudes that often accompany it.

You have already been asked: what does it make you so sure that richer folks wouldn't "behave like idiots", wouldn't "have giant senses of entitlement", wouldn't "complain about everything" and will "bother to learn a few phrases in the local language"?

[think_too_mut]

The press always loves salacious stories. I was astounded how some of the US TV reported the John Marc Karr story. I happened to be visiting the US at the time. First, they reported that he was picked up living in a sex tourist apartment building in a "seedy" part of Bangkok. They then cut to file footage of rows of beer bars with Thai girls in bikinis dancing on the bars, etc..

What B.S. I know that area well, and often drive through there. Sure that area is not the best, but there are expensive condos just up the road and more being built as the area is undergoing urban renewal. And, it's certainly not a beer bar or a go go area.

They then went on to cover not only prostitution, but the underage element as well, which again gave the impression it was rampant. From just viewing those reports, your immediate impression is that Thailand is little more than a sex destination. And, from what I hear, in Europe there are also occasional "documentaries" or reports on this. This has been going on for a long time.

Thailand will need to work very hard to overcome this long-standing impression in the world. Even last week, when I was in Sri Lanka, of all places, on a business trip, the subject of where I live came up in a meeting. Of course, it drew some wisecracks, smiles, and innuendo among the men. I'm personally sick of this. It happens in every country I visit (and I visit a lot of them), when they ask where I live. The first crack is that they all want to come and visit me, as they go wink, wink..

What Thailand has to do with moronic western media? Rubbish like CNN and Fox News, I find them plain irritating no matter what they report about, can't stand them for a minute.

Look what they have done to the western civilization - those skunks will be remembered in history as "GW Bush enablers".

False reporting (as if they knew any better than that) about Thailand is a small fry.

[Ulysses G.]

Farangs didn't invent prostitution in Thailand. But how long can farang use this as an excuse to justify their own bad behavior?

"Bad behavior"? Didn't you adamantly deny being a puritan?

No one but the worst kind of prude denies two consenting adults the right to do anything they want with their own bodies.

The bad behavior I'm referring to isn't prostitution, it's the exploitation and disrespectful attitudes that often accompany it.

Surely one who upholds the right of two consenting adults to do what they want with their bodies must recognize the right of sovereign nations to arrange their affairs in a way that might put the interests of their own people ahead of the interests of foreigners seeking favorable exchange rates for their blowjobs?

Most of the "exploiting" is done by Thais against other Thais and I don't see the "sovereign nation" of Thailand doing doodley squat about it, so - as otton asked - why aren't you whining about that?

[otton]

the rest we can to and fro about semantics but I think this is the key question. And I wish I had an answer, but i don't think anyone does.

You haven't offered any argument which disproves the one you have been given.

They don't because they depend too much on it and for the most part the ones who count know it.

[chinthee]

Any country attracts the visitors it deserves. Only way to change the profile of the visitors is to change the country and it's people first. Marketing may induce one-off visits, but if there is no substance behind the marketing it will fail in the medium to long term. You have to start at home.

This debate will rage for decades to come, simply because of the Thai trait of wanting something without first doing the hard work required to achieve success.

This issue generates the most hot air I have ever witnessed.

I agree with your post mostly. This has been the point that I have taken early in the thread and that JR has taken I believe, citing examples of Las Vegas, Caribbean; with further examples added by Stevero too.

That is, "build it and they will come." If you build beer bars with hookers, hoe monging beer drinkers will come. If you build nice golf courses, resorts, casinos, high rollers will come. If you build all of the above, all of the above will come. And, sometimes when the high roller finishes his round of golf, he might often go slumming too, BTW.

And, to this point, there has been a lot of growth in the upscale facilities built for higher end tourists, particularly in Phuket. Furthermore, the 5-star hotels in Bangkok with spas, etc., are a better value for money than Singapore or Hong Kong for example. Thailand is a good destination in any tourist's book. How to squeeze more money out of tourists and attract richer tourists I think is the point. You don't do that by "declaring you want quality tourists." You do it by showing what you have to offer them.

[Ulysses G.]

How to squeeze more money out of tourists and attract richer tourists I think is the point. You don't do that by "declaring you want quality tourists." You do it by showing what you have to offer them.

Hear, Hear!

[soundman]

How to squeeze more money out of tourists and attract richer tourists I think is the point. You don't do that by "declaring you want quality tourists." You do it by showing what you have to offer them.

Hear, Hear!

Exactly. Build the infrastructure & attractions and let people from your target audience choose.

I get the feeling that the TAT feel they have the right to tell people what to enjoy, not let them make up their own minds.

[highdiver]

Hit a nerve, did I?

Apparently I did it to you, you haven't answered ANY of my points...

My apologies, Mr. 12 posts. I guess I'm just not the Thailand expert you are.

So I must have arrived in Thailand 12 posts ago, right?

No.. but you sure sound like one.

your grasp of the Thai culture or the Thai language is amazing....

Thank you. We are all refreshed and challanged by your unique point of view

please do continue.

[otton]

No.. but you sure sound like one.

your grasp of the Thai culture or the Thai language is amazing....

Thank you. We are all refreshed and challanged by your unique point of view

please do continue.

Shifting the focus from the message to the messanger, like canadiangirl just did, is the best proof that you have nothing to attack my arguments.

The losers' last resort of attacking one's persona is the pathetic mark of those who have nothing to say.

P.S. I hope you at least learned some Thai in the "Tourists Attacked On Koh Samui" thread. Doubt it...

[Ulysses G.]

All in all, his grasp of the Thai language and culture seem pretty advanced if you don't have another axe to grind.

Edited August 15, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[WaiWai]

I was reading an article earlier today about South Africa being at risk of attracting paedophiles when it hosts the 2010 World Cup (sex tourism to many parts of Africa reportedly being on the increase).

The following phrase appeared therein :

"Africa could become the new Thailand, there is a big risk, a big threat," said Jennifer Seif, the executive director of Fair Trade in Tourism SA, during a media briefing in Cape Town.

South Africa and other countries are being urged to sign a code of conduct, under which the countries agree to train staff working in the tourism industry on measures that will help prevent the exploitation of children (funded by United Nations children's agency UNICEF and supported by the World Tourism Organisation). Wonder if Thailand will sign and how successful such a program might be here ?

(Don't believe I am allowed to link to the article but if you google Reuters + "South Africa warned on World Cup child sex tourism" you should find it.)

Some great ideas and images of how Thailand might develop being put foward in this thread .

[mellow1]

Any country attracts the visitors it deserves. Only way to change the profile of the visitors is to change the country and it's people first. Marketing may induce one-off visits, but if there is no substance behind the marketing it will fail in the medium to long term. You have to start at home.

This debate will rage for decades to come, simply because of the Thai trait of wanting something without first doing the hard work required to achieve success.

This issue generates the most hot air I have ever witnessed.

I agree with your post mostly. This has been the point that I have taken early in the thread and that JR has taken I believe, citing examples of Las Vegas, Caribbean; with further examples added by Stevero too.

That is, "build it and they will come." If you build beer bars with hookers, hoe monging beer drinkers will come. If you build nice golf courses, resorts, casinos, high rollers will come. If you build all of the above, all of the above will come. And, sometimes when the high roller finishes his round of golf, he might often go slumming too, BTW.

And, to this point, there has been a lot of growth in the upscale facilities built for higher end tourists, particularly in Phuket. Furthermore, the 5-star hotels in Bangkok with spas, etc., are a better value for money than Singapore or Hong Kong for example. Thailand is a good destination in any tourist's book. How to squeeze more money out of tourists and attract richer tourists I think is the point. You don't do that by "declaring you want quality tourists." You do it by showing what you have to offer them.

They can built as many attractions as they want.They still will not get certain people to come here.There are many negative aspects about Thailand, which may come to mind, to many westerners.Prostitution is probably low on such a list.As long as the country follows no rule of law,except what is convenient, is politically unstable(one only has to read the forum),corrupt police,army,etc...Many "quality" tourists will refrain from coming here.Why should they?There are many better and safer places to go.Blaming "low class" Farangs,for the many ills found here is easier,than working,and fighting to better ones own country.

[WaiWai]

So....easier for everyone to just complain about it, ignore it and hope it will decrease on its own. If you have any doubt how the majority of voters feel, there was a reason why Purachai was so popular a few years back. But easier to make a song and dance than do the concrete difficult things that need to be done, which is what most politicians have been doing.

Right. Better education & better job options for everyone are clearly the way forward. Sadly, though, that might interfere with the interests of a small section of the population. Sometimes I wonder if, simply, nobody really knows how to move forward.

[WaiWai]

Some excerpts from an interesting article, "Prostitution in Thailand: Facing Hard Facts" (written in 1994, but still very relevant):

Bangkok, the capital or Thailand ... often mentioned as a place where there are a lot of prostitutes.

When this admittedly off-beat description of the humid, grid-locked, vibrant hel_l that is Thailand's capital city appeared in the 1993 edition of Longman's English Language and Culture Dictionary, most Thais were incensed.

Demonstrations were held outside the British Embassy, copies of the book were publicly burned, and the publishers rapidly agreed to withdraw the edition from circulation.

When, a few weeks later, `Time' featured a lurid cover shot of a half- naked Thai bar girl next to the caption "Sex for Sale", Thais were even angrier.

....

Of course, it is easy to understand why Thais become irritated -- nobody enjoys having their dirty linen washed in public. The Thais, a people renowned for their good humour, hospitality and sense of fun, are genuinely distressed. Surely, they ask, there are prostitutes in Europe and America?

Sex is for sale just about everywhere except (perhaps) in North Korea, so why does Thailand always get singled out for more than its fair share of the blame?

The trouble, is, Thailand really does have a larger sex entertainment industry than most other countries. A lot of Thais simply don't know this -- relatively few travel abroad -- and the idea that Patpong is larger, more vibrant and more user-friendly than London's dingy Soho or San Francisco's sleazy and dangerous Tenderloin may not occur to them. But it is also a fact that a lot of Thais simply don't want to know

...

In the meantime, under the scrutiny of the outside world and faced with the unwelcome moral dilemma of explaining just why this country has attained international notoriety as a sex centre, many Thais perhaps understandably try to place the blame on the outside world, and more particularly on the USA.

To give just one example, Sappasit Kumprapan, a committee member of the Children's Foundation and a well-known human rights activist, claimed in an interview earlier this year that "American soldiers created the prostitution boom in Thailand some 20 years ago and now America has brought a consumer view to the Thai mind".

...

...

Today most informed Thais would probably agree that the domestic sex industry is big, dangerous, corrupt and responsible for seriously damaging Thailand's image abroad. Fewer, perhaps, realise just how old Thailand's tradition of prostitution is, how deeply grained and therefore how difficult to reform.

...

To bear this out from an early Thai source, we know that in the 1680s a particular Thai official was licensed by the state to run a monopoly of the prostitution business in Ayutthaya, using 600 women bought or enslaved for various offences. As Anthony Reid, a distinguished Australian scholar of Southeast Asian history has indicated, this appears to have been the origin of Thai tradition of deriving significant state revenue from prostitution.

...

Unfortunately, it may prove difficult to break this link between sex and commerce.

...

Yet, even as these measures begin to bear fruit, thousands of young, uneducated and impoverished females from Burma and South China are streaming across the borders to "man" the brothels of Bangkok and the provinces. The draw of Bangkok's booming economy is powerful magnet, and Thailand, in attending NIC status, has also become a net importer of sexually-exploitable women. Under such circumstances, breaking a prostitution habit that goes back many centuries will undoubtedly prove hard. For many Thais, and especially for many Thai men, openly recognising that such a tradition exists must be a positive albeit painful, first step.

by Donald Wilson and David Henley

The response from a Thai:

We all love our country. No one denies that. We are mad when the country is adversely portrayed. The love of the country alone may not count for such anger. Deep down in our mind, IMO, we are EMBARRASSED that where on earth we have been during these days. Why haven't we done anything to alleviate the problem if not get rid of it. That's probably why we are angry. Go ahead keeping angry up but don't simply point it the those who firstly brought the issue up. Point at yourselves!

Edited August 15, 2007 by WaiWai

[stateman]

- Transportation to the resorts is often very cumbersome. After arriving at Suvannaphum airport, the trip to, say Kho Chang or Krabi is often so difficult, elder people renounce to the trip altogether.

Suvannaphum is really not ready for showtime when they opened it.

Infrastructure for transportation to/fro are not there yet, except the roads adjacent to the airport. Mass transit by rail is still marred by corruption and may be abandoned (just like the Hopewell case).

Internal transportation is still lacking. Local media reported that passengers from the domestic flights have to walk in kilometers.

For foreigners, taxi seems to be the only choice. Then there were news reporting that the airport taxis/limousines were controlled by mafia in uniform. This means added charges to the passengers.

Sigh!