Can Burma Avoid The Curse Of Sex Tourism?

[blackion]

Agree, why to call it a curse?

Absolutely natural thing. It has been in this world since the days of creation. So like in Myanmar it's a curse, but in any other country in the world it's not. Hehe

I think what they are implying is that the sex trade is a curse, due to the many shady and even dangerous elements that go along with it. Other countries, very much open to mass tourism, such as Laos and Vietnam have largely been able to prevent a large scale sex industry from emerging unlike in the case of Thailand. This has resulted in some strange laws being applied, some of which may seem discriminatory, but overall they have managed to avoid being associated with sex unlike Thailand.

I wouldn't say that Laos failed in this aspect. It is just that it is less centralized, the beer shops with girls are scattered all around the country. But though Lao population is smaller than Thai's, in could have rather a similar percentage of working girls.

What Laws do you have in mind?

Regarding the shady/dangerous elements, it might not be so. The very pimps, mamasans, and other people involved are in many cases are not aggressive, bad or violent. Majority of the working girls consider it just a job either, they are not considering themselves victims, and take it easy. When a girl is married or staying with a bf, she does it free. So many girls consider themselves "as clever", because she gets money for what otherwise would be free.

Other girls get in the trade because of their elder sisters, or friends who are already in the job. They mostly get the situation normally too.

What I'm saying is according to my experience in Laos. The situation could be different in Mnyanmar.

For example, in Cambodia, where mothers used to/are selling their virgin daughters everything might be more rough. But in Laos I haven't observed such situations. (Not that I assume there aren't - it is just I never seen, so perhaps could be in isolated cases.)

[Briggsy]

George Orwell Burmese Days

[bluetortilla]

Agree, why to call it a curse?

Absolutely natural thing. It has been in this world since the days of creation. So like in Myanmar it's a curse, but in any other country in the world it's not. Hehe

Prostitution seems pretty d*** abusive to me. How might you feel as a woman after years of having sex with strangers every day? Like it was fun? Healthy? Good occupation?

A lot of these sweet seeming ladies just end up traumatized and hating men. If they ever do get married the chance for divorce is extremely high.

I figure if I can't find a lady I like and that likes me I probably need to look at my self-esteem and think about the harm I am doing getting laid for cash, no matter how mutually 'fun' it seems. Very deceptive stuff.

Finally, I don't think tribal people have a notion of prostitution as such. They have taboos, and undoubtedly break them (with consequences if caught), and concubines or polygamy are probably pretty common. It's only since 'civilization' began that prostitution began, and they have always been looked down upon, scorned, and even put to death at times by greater society. Don't fool yourselves.

I imagine the Thai situation for farang is a product of the Vietnam War. There will always be prostitution, and more Myanmar prostitutes will become available to foreigners, but it will never be like Pattaya (the one city I've never been to and never want to go).

[blackion]

Prostitution is mostly not abusive. How would you feel a woman after years of having sex with one man every day? Or sharing one man with 4 other wives if you are a Masai? Or being happy-go-lucky teenager in a western world changing bf every two months? Or being clad in black with only eyes visible as in some Muslim societies? Or being a wife to a poor husband in a Kenyan village of the beaten track - collecting firewood and water 1km away from your broken image of a house every day, having 6-8 kids with 2 who died from malaria/other diseases. (And those 6-8 are hungry and crying for food, everything is dirty, everyone wearing worn clothes with holes everywhere?)

Fun? Some girls are actually having fun.

The girls who are traumatized are mostly those who came into the prostitution at a young age and being forced. Though those cases are making headlines, they are normally localized to specific countries and probably hold less than 1% overall. Furthermore, we are not discussing it here. There are wives that being beaten by their husbands, it doesn't mean we should say that people shouldn't marry.

I think prostitution appeared there as soon as the idea of ownership has appeared. I'm not sure how people lived in caves before that, but I'm pretty sure "rape" was the replacement of prostitution, however it wasn't rape in our sense, because most probably the girls of that time even wouldn't think to say no. I believe they were very promiscuous. If you think that in pre-civilization time there was a free and pure love between one man and one woman - I would doubt it.

Agree, why to call it a curse?

Absolutely natural thing. It has been in this world since the days of creation. So like in Myanmar it's a curse, but in any other country in the world it's not. Hehe

Prostitution seems pretty d*** abusive to me. How might you feel as a woman after years of having sex with strangers every day? Like it was fun? Healthy? Good occupation?

A lot of these sweet seeming ladies just end up traumatized and hating men. If they ever do get married the chance for divorce is extremely high.

I figure if I can't find a lady I like and that likes me I probably need to look at my self-esteem and think about the harm I am doing getting laid for cash, no matter how mutually 'fun' it seems. Very deceptive stuff.

Finally, I don't think tribal people have a notion of prostitution as such. They have taboos, and undoubtedly break them (with consequences if caught), and concubines or polygamy are probably pretty common. It's only since 'civilization' began that prostitution began, and they have always been looked down upon, scorned, and even put to death at times by greater society. Don't fool yourselves.

I imagine the Thai situation for farang is a product of the Vietnam War. There will always be prostitution, and more Myanmar prostitutes will become available to foreigners, but it will never be like Pattaya (the one city I've never been to and never want to go).