Thai PM questions if 'tourists in bikinis' safe after Koh Tao murders

[chuang]

Oh general...

[rickirs]

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The limitations of removing accountable democracy are becoming very apparent.

This has absolutely nothing to do with democracy... Unless there was a vote on to just to rape... or to rape and kill. Perhaps there was a vote on which instrument of death they were to use?

Looks like democracy won out on this one if one followed you're idiotic post.In an accountable democracy there are accountable politicians.

Well it wasn't a politician that committed this crime...

Elected officials are accountable to their electorate. In the case of elected Ministers they can be subject to accountability for insensitive or ridiculous remarks by recall, vote of confidence, and censorship depending on that nation's constitution. Democratically elected Prime Ministers in other nations have even had to dissolve their governments because of personal misconduct and public insensitivites. However, the a Junta-coup leader having absolute power over the government and the electorate is insulated from any such accountable actions, particularly when backed by martial law.

[fab4]

Thirty million Thais have been raped for their democratic institutions. But it is kind of the General to be concerned about the Koh Tao murders because of the bad publicity it gives Thailand.

Oh come on, no one needs these theatrics. Even the fanatic posters try to avoid mentioning the "respect a vote till it's counted" rhetoric.

The reasons any posters avoid mentioning the "respect a vote till it's counted" (sic) rhetoric are

1) it doesn't exist and is just a product of your fevered imagination

2) you've been flogging that line to death over numerous posts (think "brown nosed acolytes") and people are just bored sick of it.

[dotpoom]

No murders if no bikinis.... Hmm

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Wrong....you are safe in a bikini if you are... "not beautiful"

[Triplebank999]

What is all this bullshit about Thais being ultra conservative against nudity?

What's all your bullshit suggesting Thais are not conservative about nudity then posting a video showing clothed girls dancing?

[Jasun]

Straight out of the Dr Mahathir playbook.

[SaamBaht]

No bikinis means no happiness! I think the good General needs to rethink this.

[Radar501]

".......they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere."

The PM forgot to mention that Western girls in skimpy clothing who get raped "NO means YES".

[wilcopops]

This is going to go down well with the feminists!

...and rape victims!

[Time Traveller]

What is wrong with the Farang press? All criticizing Supreme Great Leader General Prime Minister Prayuth for tell the truth and refuse to offer condolences to the 2 Brits. Many people die in Thailand everyday, and if the great leader need to send condolences to everyone, it is going to take too much time to do trival things. Time better spend on ruling the country, stop corruption and return happiness to Thai people.

Please take a look in the Thai press. No one criticizing Supreme Great Leader General Prime Minister Prayuth for tell the truth. In fact, most Thai press praise him for being straight and thanks him for reminding Thai people of Thai culture and values about not exposing Thai naked flash to the public, which can be misinterpreted as asking for sexual engagement.

And how does murder factor into your "Thai culture" sexual engagement theory?

[BirdsandBooze]

Having listened to the General's weekly television broadcasts since he came to power, the first ones were rather austere and brow beating and then in later addresses he tried to lighten up and inject a little humour. I believe his inappropriate remark about girls in bikinis being in danger unless they weren't beautiful was his rather ill timed and clumsy attempt at humour. My advice to him is get a sensible, Western savvy PR advisor to avoid embarrassing himself further.

[Triplebank999]

Koh Tao is not very large, and has been hosting tourists for decades.

I'm sure that there have been thousands of bikini-wearers (pretty or otherwise), people have had sex in secluded spots before, and some skinny-dipping.

So this incident is an anomaly.

It's like the south of France - the locals do not batter an E at the topless sunbathers, but newcomers do take a second glance.

"...batter an E..."

That sounds delicious, have you got the full recipe?

[Mr Yim]

General Prayuth, there MIGHT be a time for those reflections/observations. However, now is the time for expressing regret/sympathy/horror rather than some lame, half-arsed "blame the victim" approach. Not nice.

He isn't really a politician, now is he ?

Don't get me wrong, I admire and applaud what he is trying to do for the country. BUT, how does being the prime minister not make him a politician?

Oh come on, you dont really need that spelling out to you, do you?

[Kabula]

I no longer feel safe alone on any beach on planet earth, after midnight, in the dark and this 67 year old male, war vet does not wear a bikini!

When the horny, downtrodden, are hungry for food and sex, they have nothing to lose.

Women are getting more independent, bulking up, hungry for money and sex, so a time will come they will be cruising the dark beaches with a taser and rope after midnight looking for Me! Ha ha ha

[Fat Haggis]

Chotthee is a troll, don't bother feeding it

[zaZa9]

I was unaware the Koh Tao victims were wearing bikinis at 3am in the morning.

[chotthee]

All these women wore bikini.

They all asked to be raped?

I don't think so.

http://www.funonthenet.in/forums/index.php?topic=186088.0

I still like Thailand most.

[Mr Yim]

General P needs to just sit back, keep quiet and bide his time. He has been set one objective and once that has been achieved he can let Thailand get back to being a democracy again.

[ClutchClark]

This is disgusting. Putting any part of the blame for a rape onto the victim for how she dresses is the kind of logic to be expected from the Taliban or Saudi Arabia. My opinion of Prayuth has just sunk even lower.

Maybe it is time for Thailand to have a slutwalk.

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yes thats certainly very PC of you.

However, there is a rather large gap between the world you dream where everyone is safe to walk the streets in bikinis and the world we live in where doing such a thing can result in violence. A woman who fails to recognize such risks does contribute to the outcome of events in the same manner that someone with a big fat wallet sticking out of their back pocket contributes to the likelihood it will be stolen.

I realize I will suffer tremendous criticism and name calling for saying that because its a very unpopular thing to say in our PC world; however, that makes it no less true.

[Triplebank999]

So, does he mean than many Thai uni girls in uniform as asked to be raped? Please google see Thai uni uniform.

http://www.google.com/search?q=thai+uni+uniform&espv=2&biw=986&bih=558&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&gws_rd=ssl

What are you talking about? The real Thai university uniform, which does appears on the link you give, is conservative and understated, anything else is not and has been specifically altered from the standard or worn several sizes too small for reasons best known to the wearer.

[falangjim]

What is wrong with the Farang press? All criticizing Supreme Great Leader General Prime Minister Prayuth for tell the truth and refuse to offer condolences to the 2 Brits. Many people die in Thailand everyday, and if the great leader need to send condolences to everyone, it is going to take too much time to do trival things. Time better spend on ruling the country, stop corruption and return happiness to Thai people.

Please take a look in the Thai press. No one criticizing Supreme Great Leader General Prime Minister Prayuth for tell the truth. In fact, most Thai press praise him for being straight and thanks him for reminding Thai people of Thai culture and values about not exposing Thai naked flash to the public, which can be misinterpreted as asking for sexual engagement.

BTW, Since Supreme Great Leader General Prime Minister Prayuth took over, all corruption stop, all gambling close down, all illegal workers returning to their counties, all lottery not over priced, all drug abuser receive medical treatment, all commercial sex halted, all taxi mafia disappears, all beaches clean up, all vice removed from the face of Thailand. ALL THAIS GETS THEIR HAPPINESS BACK.

He's coarse, not "straight." No one criticizes him because he's ordered them not to.

[PhilipCook]

A piece of advice for the PM from a Clint Eastwood film, "A Man's Got To Know His Limitations". Bikini wearing aside, speaking in such a way to imply its not safe for tourists here is a threat to the tourism industry and he should be advised to let the TAT handle tourism advisories. Even Dirty Harry knows his limitations...

[jpeg]

He has been set one objective and once that has been achieved he can let Thailand get back to being a democracy again.

[Songlaw]

Seems to me that the General is running out of rope. At least as far as directing the onus of this event onto the Farang Community goes. It is looking more and more like this was a homegrown assault and anything other than a perfunctory investigation is likely to reveal this in short order. I immediately got the sense from the General's statements that he is scrambling to perhaps lessen the consequences for whomever (perhaps already known) winds up being assigned blame for this crime. Unfortunately, by ill-advisedly implying that "bikini-ware" might somehow have been able to provoke it, he has let slip into the purview of the public some pretty outmoded thinking. The same type of thinking that has allowed (no doubt to the glee of the HiSos) alcohol to continue being viewed as a justifiable mitigator of responsibility in just about every category of crime here.

Reading between the lines of these most recent statements, there is a rather transparent attempt to imbue an article of clothing with a will which we are expected to believe somehow compels individuals to do what they otherwise would not do. It is tragic when such a selfish and brutal act also serves to bring to the forefront all the reasons why a simplistic patriarch devoid of functional understanding of what makes societies or their members tick is decidedly not what is needed at this stage in Thailand's development. Each day is dawning a bit darker in LOS and it is an absolute shame. As a consequence, the tourism industry, upon which the economy in large part depends, will continue its implosion under the weight of a relentless accumulation of incompetence. If this is all our Thai brethren can expect from their self-appointed overlords, I fear greatly for everyone going forward. What a drag.

[wabothai]

"Because Thailand is safe farangs can do what they want".

One can draw several conclusions from this statement.

I had better not mention mine.

[BigC]

No murders if no bikinis.... Hmm

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Don't reckon they were murdered because they in bikinis

Good bye tourists whoosh. Time to wear jeans a t shirts on the beach

[yanyk]

women are always at risk of being raped. women are raped even in Saudi Arabia where women dress like Ninjas. There is no excuse for any Crime and remember , injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. RIP , what a sad end to people who wanted to enjoy the "beauty" of Thailand.

[Thai at Heart]

In many South American countries, hotels by the ocean have security personnel on the beach to "protect" its open minded guest from local curiosity and to avoid problems, and in the US people only can be "open minded" in restricted areas. I consider my wife a modern conservative Thai woman, and she is shocked by takes on Western movies showing naked bodies, sex, and passional kissing. And she cannot understand parcial nudity, like on the Brazilian Carnival and beaches. She is a beautiful woman, and I am Brazillian. I will love to see her wearing sexy oufits and tangas, but in Thailand women showing afection and its bodies in public, are considered prostitutes, scorts, etc, etc, and its also againts Buddhist traditions. Why in the world I will insist in her to feel different, or put myself in the position to show my wife in other way, and not in what she is. A decent Thai woman.

I have 2 beautiful mature married daughters in Brazil that frequents the beach practically naked, alone or with her families, and it is totally normal there, and they are planning in visit Thailand. My first advice will be, no Brazilian bikinis here on public beaches, only by the hotel pool.

When I move to the US in 1993, and I used a sunga by the pool for first time, that is a "bikini" for men very common in Brazil, my American wife make me change it, and never to use it again....She was a very modern and well traveled woman. I used In Europe and she was topless. It is not about rules, It all about differences in culture, and common sense....but.for some people only ruling works. Like it or not.

Were you concerned that you might have been attacked and beaten for wearing the wrong type of swimwear?

If your daughters wore the incorrect type of clothes to the beach and they were raped or beaten for it, would you say "well why are us surprised?"

The issue is that Thailand represents itself as one thing but is actually another. The issue is the childish attitude to sex and the idea that men shouldn't exercise any bloody self control.

Beyond that, if it does turn out to be a jealous Thai male, it will then turn out to be face that is the issue. The problem is not the female form and what it looks like. The problem is the pitiful response of Thai males to it.

Indeed, tell your daughters to stay by the hotel pool because the issue won't be some concerned stares or a mention to put some clothes. Obviously, the PM is alluding to the fact that he believes men can't control themselves.

Can't think where he would have learnt that.

[Time Traveller]

A country run by the Military and with laws made up by the military, is anyone really surprised that they also tell people what you should and shouldn't wear too?

[ClutchClark]

A country run by the Military and with laws made up by the military, is anyone really surprised that they also tell people what you should and shouldn't wear too?

Are you a parent?

I made darned sure my daughters were conscious of what they were wearing and how they were wearing it and how much skin was showing. And they warned their daughters of the same thing. And now my great-grand daughters are learning it.

Same is true for the warnings I gave my daughters about not to trust men to always do the right thing.

Also gave them a curfew to be home by.

Believe it or not people can contribute to becoming a victim by the choices they make.