Article In Todays Observer (17 August) Re Farangs And Bar Girls

[Jeddah Jo]

From Isan's desperately poor, rice farming villages, where hunger is the norm, the bars of Bangkok or Pattaya are a welcome escape.

LOL, when I see some of the porkers hanging around in freelancer joints! Doesn't look like finding a square meal proves too much of a problem for them

[lomatopo]

Jeepers, I thought it was an interesting article. Thanks for posting it.

[Travel2003]

The shittiness of this article has caused me to send my first ever letter to a newspaper editor;

And here is my mail to that paper.

Maybe not as well written as your, but still.

Dear Sir/Madam

Having just read your article Bar girl and the expat: a killing foretold

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/1...ndrelationships

I must admit that Your paper just add to the impression we non-UK people have about the news papers in Your country.

I am nothing less than shocked to see all the inaccuracies in this article.

If this reporter represents the standard of Your paper, then shame on you for allowing him to stereotype all your countrymen in Thailand, and for Your total lack of respect for another country (Thailand).

I have always read Your paper, due to its sports section.

Never again.

PS. This mail will also be sent to other papers.

rgds

Signed

[grantbkk]

I sent mine to The Observer for all the good it will do.

Re: Bar girl and the expat: a killing foretold (Thailand) Word New, August 17th.

You’re telling me it takes two English, so called journalists, to produce this tripe. Stylized foreign intrigue for a good Sunday Morning read. They expanded a few facts into an article in which they say that the older English guys that come here and even some of the younger ones are ugly. Thai girls and women are predisposed to cheat their husbands and boyfriends but we should feel sorry for them because they are poor. Well to me this piece was done with a full five minutes of research based on the fading memories of two aging freelance (unemployed) journalists over a few beers in a Thai bar.

Change the players names and country of residence, find a publication that is hungry for some sensationalized news then print it again for some spending money. This is journalism at its finest. I suggest they change the country name to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, the Philippines, etc. You get the idea. No country is crime free. I think the description of the nightlife areas in Bangkok and Pattaya were lifted directly from fiction I've read. Has anyone actually observed newly mated coupes skipping down the streets of Bangkok in the daytime? The Observer has been taken for a ride.

[sylviex]

Honestly, I think some of you are over-reacting. I think you fear friends and relatives viewing your own relationships in this light, which may be understandable but is perhaps not entirely rational.

The article does not purport to be about all British males or all Thai females. It is largely about the recent murder of a British man married to a much younger woman he met in a bar, to whom he handed all his financial resources. It then discusses the dangers inherent in *these* relationships -- lonely, older man and much younger woman with few options but the bar or marriage to someone who will provide for her and her family.

You can't deny the murder happened and you can't deny knowing of many relationships with this particular dynamic. Some of these chaps really do seem to need a warning.

I think your letters make you look overly defensive, perhaps even as though you "protest too much".

[Travel2003]

I sent mine to The Observer for all the good it will do.

Good.

With so many active members here that actually care for this country. And with all spending just a few minutes each, we can actually make articles like that backfire by sending one single mail each.

Easy as that. Only thing is that one need to care of course.

[think_too_mut]

I sent mine to The Observer for all the good it will do.

You could have practiced first - with my reply to your earlier post.

BTW, I would not sign any of 3 (so far ) letters to the editor.

For someone who got things so wrong about "hunger as a norm" in Isan, the guys have done a bit of a job to put some meat around the fact (that the guy was killed).

Why is it so easy to stereotype about foreigners in Thailand and women they marry?

Does it come out of the blue? Out of nowhere for no reason?

That's what 3 forementioned "letter to the editor" are trying to say, like nobody else knows what is going on.

Edited August 17, 2008 by think_too_mut

[petitechevre]

You guys realise that it always appears in UK newspaper because most of the sex tourist and sex expats are UK residents

After that its german/australians/americans then canadians

Stereotypes exist for one single reason, because the majority confirms it.

and what did we learn in kindergarten. Majority passes the motion.

[garro]

Honestly, I think some of you are over-reacting. I think you fear friends and relatives viewing your own relationships in this light, which may be understandable but is perhaps not entirely rational.

The article does not purport to be about all British males or all Thai females. It is largely about the recent murder of a British man married to a much younger woman he met in a bar, to whom he handed all his financial resources. It then discusses the dangers inherent in *these* relationships -- lonely, older man and much younger woman with few options but the bar or marriage to someone who will provide for her and her family.

You can't deny the murder happened and you can't deny knowing of many relationships with this particular dynamic. Some of these chaps really do seem to need a warning.

I think your letters make you look overly defensive, perhaps even as though you "protest too much".

Perhaps you missed all the cliched inaccuracies in the article?

The Guardian/Observer previously had a reputation for fairness and honesty. Even though I no longer live there I still listen daily to the Guardian podcast. I felt the need to point out that they were being unfair with this article and misinforming their readers.

[garro]

You guys realise that it always appears in UK newspaper because most of the sex tourist and sex expats are UK residents

After that its german/australians/americans then canadians

Stereotypes exist for one single reason, because the majority confirms it.

and what did we learn in kindergarten. Majority passes the motion.

Yes of course they do. That is why all black men are violent criminals, all Irish are stupid, and all Jews are trying to take over the world.

[sylviex]

Perhaps you missed all the cliched inaccuracies in the article?

Perhaps I did. Please list them here.

If you wish to write a letter, I recommend making concrete, specific points. Wait one week and reflect on what you have written. At the moment, you guys just sound all hot and huffy .

[mrcheshire]

The only problem i have with the article is its writers describing the bar girls as pretty. My god, they are anything but pretty.

A bar owner in NaNa once said somewhere barang and fargirl relationship work 1 out of 100 times. What goof would want to buck those odds?

[Travel2003]

Honestly, I think some of you are over-reacting. I think you fear friends and relatives viewing your own relationships in this light, which may be understandable but is perhaps not entirely rational.

The article does not purport to be about all British males or all Thai females. It is largely about the recent murder of a British man married to a much younger woman he met in a bar, to whom he handed all his financial resources. It then discusses the dangers inherent in *these* relationships -- lonely, older man and much younger woman with few options but the bar or marriage to someone who will provide for her and her family.

You can't deny the murder happened and you can't deny knowing of many relationships with this particular dynamic. Some of these chaps really do seem to need a warning.

I think your letters make you look overly defensive, perhaps even as though you "protest too much".

Nobody denies that the murder happened. It was a terrible case.

You are right, I am overly defensive now, and I feel the right to be so.

I have met loads of decent people settled down in this country.

The article uses a tragic incident, and then keep spinning around it.

Im getting a bit tired of being looked at as a sleazy man that abuses young poor innocent girls.

[grantbkk]

Perhaps you missed all the cliched inaccuracies in the article?

Perhaps I did. Please list them here.

If you wish to write a letter, I recommend making concrete, specific points. Wait one week and reflect on what you have written. At the moment, you guys just sound all hot and huffy .

I get it. You want us to be like the the authors of the sh*t piece. Thorough, factual, hard hitting and at the same time interesting. Maybe you could help.

Dateline Thailand. Old, unattractive Englishman predicts his own death! In a country of only slightly more than 65 million people domestic troubles escalate which results in the death of the old guy at the hands of his younger wife and her lover. The woman, unique in all the world, ran the old guy out of money. He told people that it was only a matter of time before his wife would kill him.

Tragic? Yes. World news? Not.

[think_too_mut]

Im getting a bit tired of being looked at as a sleazy man that abuses young poor innocent girls.

Wait, wait.....the list is not getting any shorter....as of yesterday, add "rothweiler breeder" to the list.

[garro]

Perhaps you missed all the cliched inaccuracies in the article?

Perhaps I did. Please list them here.

If you wish to write a letter, I recommend making concrete, specific points. Wait one week and reflect on what you have written. At the moment, you guys just sound all hot and huffy .

Examples of these cliches are easy to find.

'Nearly all of the girls have flocked to the cities and resorts to escape their own prison'

'From Isan's desperately poor, rice farming villages, where hunger is the norm'

'Like so many Britons and other expatriates living in rural Thailand who are unable to converse in Thai, it appears Beeston may have been the unwitting victim of a sting his wife had been waiting for years to bring off.'

Where is this information coming from? How could the reporter possible know that there are many Britions whose wives are planning a sting operation. Did he do a census? Maybe the fiction writer he interviewed provided this information.

It is not only what this article says about Thailand it is also how the story is presented and what is left out of the story that is most important.

[petitechevre]

You guys realise that it always appears in UK newspaper because most of the sex tourist and sex expats are UK residents

After that its german/australians/americans then canadians

Stereotypes exist for one single reason, because the majority confirms it.

and what did we learn in kindergarten. Majority passes the motion.

Yes of course they do. That is why all black men are violent criminals, all Irish are stupid, and all Jews are trying to take over the world.

Seriously what kind of education did you get.

Those are not stereotype, those are your personal thought because you are a racist.

The stereotype for black people is that they are more prone to violent behaviour, which is true for most of them.. having higher testosterone levels prones you to violence, doesnt mean you succomb to it. this stereotype is 100% true.

The irish one, i have nebver heard of it, definately one of your racist ideas.

Jews are trying to take over the world, the rich and powerfull ones, its not a stereotype. People are not talking about the jew that live next door and drives a 10k car.

and i see nothing wrong with that, every top of every culture tries to take over the world.

Also we are talking about OLD uk expats. Most of them ARE sex tourist. its a sad reality that you have to get used to.

Most that are not sex tourist usualy end up in domincan republic with the french

It's sad that a grown man cannot understand a simple world.. 'MOST' .. if you are so ashamed of it, is it because you started as one? or married a bar girl?

[mrcheshire]

Los i s one giant whoreshouse. These kind of things are gonna happen if you play with fire. Happens over and over again. Not once every now and then , but regularly. Its what los is about to non natives.

You guys need to appreciate bargirls, have fun with them, dont marry them. Is this too hard to understand?

Edited August 17, 2008 by mrcheshire

[garro]

You guys realise that it always appears in UK newspaper because most of the sex tourist and sex expats are UK residents

After that its german/australians/americans then canadians

Stereotypes exist for one single reason, because the majority confirms it.

and what did we learn in kindergarten. Majority passes the motion.

Yes of course they do. That is why all black men are violent criminals, all Irish are stupid, and all Jews are trying to take over the world.

Seriously what kind of education did you get.

Those are not stereotype, those are your personal thought because you are a racist.

The stereotype for black people is that they are more prone to violent behaviour, which is true for most of them.. having higher testosterone levels prones you to violence, doesnt mean you succomb to it. this stereotype is 100% true.

The irish one, i have nebver heard of it, definately one of your racist ideas.

Jews are trying to take over the world, the rich and powerfull ones, its not a stereotype. People are not talking about the jew that live next door and drives a 10k car.

and i see nothing wrong with that, every top of every culture tries to take over the world.

Also we are talking about OLD uk expats. Most of them ARE sex tourist. its a sad reality that you have to get used to.

Most that are not sex tourist usualy end up in domincan republic with the french

It's sad that a grown man cannot understand a simple world.. 'MOST' .. if you are so ashamed of it, is it because you started as one? or married a bar girl?

Well your high level of education certainly shines through in your posts.

Anyway, I enjoy a debate with most posters but guys like yourself provide no interest for me.

Good luck

[Travel2003]

Los i s one giant whoreshouse. These kind of things are gonna happen if you play with fire. Happens over and over again. Not once every now and then , but regularly. Its what los is about to non natives.

You guys need to appreciate bargirls, have fun with them, dont marry them. Is this too hard to understand?

Who are you?

You also state: The only problem i have with the article is its writers describing the bar girls as pretty.

Well if that is your only problem, then lucky you.

[MiG16]

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