Filipplenoir Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) Remember Hans Andersen's story, 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' weall read as children? Remember how we laughed at the stupidity of the crowd that kept up the pretense until it was absolutely certain that theywould lose face by keeping the secret any longer. Recent news stemming from the Thailand, could make one think ofthe Anderson's story again. Some of the officials here are trying to censorYouTube video that ridicules Thailand's notorious well-deserved reputation forbeing a Mecca for sex tourists. This video was made by the American televisionprogram, Saturday Night Live, and was destined for the Western audience. And many in the Western world surely laughed. Not directly at Thais, but at weird lookingWestern men trying to learn Thai phrases that deal with buying sexual services,although there were implications against Thailand’sgeneral acceptance of such activities. But Thais were not laughing. In fact many officials took thispun quite seriously. According to the Global Post, the Thai Ministry of Culture"is aghast that the video depicts Thailand as "a source for sexualservices”. And according to Thailand’slargest newspaper (Thai Rath), "the ministry plans to file a complaintwith the U.S. embassy with hopes that the American government will rid thissketch from the Web". Surely, some Western viewers might think that perhaps SNL wenttoo far by trying to make fun of the problem Thailand might have. Surely, manyThai citizens might find it insulting for the foreigners to make fun of theircountry. But the prevalance of sexworkers is obvious in Thailand. I will not discuss here the cultural roots ofthe prostitution and 'mia chao' (wifefor hire) in Thailand. I will also not argue whether prostitution is good orevil. But prostitution is certainly an indicator of the economical and socialdevelopment of any society. When one sees manyyoung Thai women and teens selling theirbodies to men one cannot but wonder. Does the government care? Does the societycare? Do these girls care? Do these men care? The men must care! The flocks of males that inundate thenumerous massage parlors, striptease bars and clubs in Bangkok are as diverseas they currencies they use: some are Thai, some are foreign, some are rich,some are poor, some are married and some are single. And if one travels southwestof Bangkok to the town of Pattaya he or she will immediately understand that basicallyonly the Russian families come to Pattaya for the beaches. Certainly prostitution has existed in Thailand for centuries,but no one before has dared to shovel the problem into Thai faces, [not true,really, there have been plenty of movies, punch lines from comedians, etc.]that they are so scared to lose. Over the centuries Thais and other Asiansocieties have coexisted with this cultural phenomenon, letting some members oftheir society to be engaged in selling and others in buying sex. Sex for saleand family structure were regarded as independent and not obstructing, perhapseven complementing each other. Only in the 1930s was polygamy legally abolished in Thailand, but many men stillhave 'second wives' at present. But the puritanical Americans [not justAmericans, come on!] whose men for lack of options at home are flocking toPattaya do see a problem with prostitution for that matter the whole societywhere women are subservient to men (even though current Thai Prime Minister isa woman). Americans whose righteous political leaders regularly plead with thepublic and their wives for the sin of adultery certainly see a problem with sexfor sale and want to expose countries that harbor it. Henceforth it is onlynatural for the Thais to be "aghast" that the Western media decidedto expose elements of Thai society that are not supposed to be discussed inpublic. For Thais, it is just bad taste. As it is to criticize those in power,even though they might be wrong or corrupt. As it was elegantly put by oneAsian leader (whose country is also on the itinerary of many sex seekingwesterners) "You call it corruption, but we call it family values". Willthe Thai government succeed in blocking the video from YouTube? certainly not!Has the government lost face because of the ridiculous comments? You bet they have! In this respect SNL was like theyoung boy in Andersen's story who said what everyone knew but never dared tosay. Did the government have a choice of not reacting to the pun [it wasn’t apun]? They did not. They had to appear shocked and appalled that Thailand waspresented in such a bad light. But doing their duty they lost face even moresince now we, the Westerners know thatthe Thai know, that we know that many tourists come to Thailand not for beautiful beaches but for other more intimatepurposes . This year Thailand boasted of hosting 23 million foreign tourists. Iwonder - how much money did the sex industry get? There are estimates you couldhave looked up. And who is in charge of that 'Disneyland' for adult men? Thiscontinues to lose focus. Perhaps there is no need to delve into Thai history and culturewhen discussing this topic. Perhaps weonly need to study family ties of certain Thais. Suffice to say that the Mayorof Pattaya, Khun Itipon is a younger brother of Khun Sontaya, the Thailand'snew Minister for Culture. Edited March 8, 2013 by Filipplenoir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topt Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 This was done to death already here over a month ago - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/616846-thai-govt-wants-youtube-sex-spoof-removed/?hl=%20rosetta%20%20stone Whats new? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krisb Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Sorry my attention spans way too short for that much reading. Next........... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filipplenoir Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 Sorry my attention spans way too short for that much reading. Next........... take a pill), next.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradavarius37 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Sorry my attention spans way too short for that much reading. Next........... take a pill), next.. This topic is old news.... Move on 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisdead Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 As mentioned by topt, there is already a topic running regarding this SNL parody, we don't need a duplicate topic running on this. Please continue discussion in the topic already running here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/616846-thai-govt-wants-youtube-sex-spoof-removed/ Closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts