Sex Tourism

[JRingo]

A note to the mods.

I appreciate the flexibility to discuss an issue which is a business in Thailand. A business which is good and bad but still a business. It is a driving force in Thailand doing much to support the economy and especially in places where without it poverty would become epidemic and lead to starvation and hardship for all.

I think people forget about all the support people that are involved with keeping one bar girl in the field.

It is the same thing with a soldier. It takes 8 support troops to keep one combat soldier operational.

The same can be said for bar girls. There at least 8 other people not directly involved in the pay for play industry that owe their living to one bar girl.

Without them Thailand’s economy would crash.

This is ridiculous.

Thailands economy would not crash, maybe Pattaya would have some hardship.

And nobody starves in Thailand.

Have you ever been outside Pattaya kerryk?

[kerryk]

You seem to be missing the point Kerryd.

It is not the barfine in of itself that I find offensive, it is the pimps that charge it.

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

What on earth makes you think bar girls are poor? There are successful people in all walks of life. Some bar girls are poor, yes I will agree. But most bar girls are not poor. Most bar girls have a standard of living that far exceeds 90% of the Thai population. The average bar girl makes more than the average doctor in Thailand. Why on earth do you think so many Thai women choose that trade?

[JRingo]

You seem to be missing the point Kerryd.

It is not the barfine in of itself that I find offensive, it is the pimps that charge it.

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

What on earth makes you think bar girls are poor? There are successful people in all walks of life. Some bar girls are poor, yes I will agree. But most bar girls are not poor. Most bar girls have a standard of living that far exceeds 90% of the Thai population. The average bar girl makes more than the average doctor in Thailand. Why on earth do you think so many Thai women choose that trade?

Well they certainly were not rich when they left their village in the north.

Not all of them "choose" the trade and the ones that do have that priviledge to chose, probably

chose prostitution because of a lack of other options.

There are thousands of Thai women in the USA and I have yet to see any of them chosing that

profession when given a choice of other ways of making a living.

[Kerryd]

You seem to be missing the point Kerryd.

It is not the barfine in of itself that I find offensive, it is the pimps that charge it.

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

How does charging a bar fine exploit a girl who was born to a poor family ?

By the way, you might be a little suprised to find that bar girls are far from the "least fortunate of our world". Where you get that from I have no idea.

(Having lived and worked in Afghanistan for a little over 2 years recently has given me a somewhat broader perspective of what would constitute "the least fortunate of our world").

What about all those girls born to poor families that aren't prostitutes, but instead work for minimum wage in convenience stores, restaurants and various other businesses around the country ?

Again, I have to point out that NO ONE is forcing the girls to work in those bars ! If they (the girls) didn't want to do it, they wouldn't be there (they could easily joing the ranks of freelancers along Beach Road).

As far as I know, ever bar that charges a fine, splits it with the girl. So, she gets a cut of the bar fine, and doesn't lose any wages for skipping out from work.

How exactly is she being exploited ?

[JRingo]

You seem to be missing the point Kerryd.

It is not the barfine in of itself that I find offensive, it is the pimps that charge it.

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

How does charging a bar fine exploit a girl who was born to a poor family ?

By the way, you might be a little suprised to find that bar girls are far from the "least fortunate of our world". Where you get that from I have no idea.

(Having lived and worked in Afghanistan for a little over 2 years recently has given me a somewhat broader perspective of what would constitute "the least fortunate of our world").

What about all those girls born to poor families that aren't prostitutes, but instead work for minimum wage in convenience stores, restaurants and various other businesses around the country ?

Again, I have to point out that NO ONE is forcing the girls to work in those bars ! If they (the girls) didn't want to do it, they wouldn't be there (they could easily joing the ranks of freelancers along Beach Road).

As far as I know, ever bar that charges a fine, splits it with the girl. So, she gets a cut of the bar fine, and doesn't lose any wages for skipping out from work.

How exactly is she being exploited ?

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

[meom]

What on earth makes you think bar girls are poor? There are successful people in all walks of life. Some bar girls are poor, yes I will agree. But most bar girls are not poor. Most bar girls have a standard of living that far exceeds 90% of the Thai population. The average bar girl makes more than the average doctor in Thailand. Why on earth do you think so many Thai women choose that trade?

In a way you're right although I guess the working life of a bargirl to be shorter than the working life of a doctor so in the long run I would guess the average doctor to be better off financially

[kerryk]

A note to the mods.

I appreciate the flexibility to discuss an issue which is a business in Thailand. A business which is good and bad but still a business. It is a driving force in Thailand doing much to support the economy and especially in places where without it poverty would become epidemic and lead to starvation and hardship for all.

I think people forget about all the support people that are involved with keeping one bar girl in the field.

It is the same thing with a soldier. It takes 8 support troops to keep one combat soldier operational.

The same can be said for bar girls. There at least 8 other people not directly involved in the pay for play industry that owe their living to one bar girl.

Without them Thailand’s economy would crash.

This is ridiculous.

Thailands economy would not crash, maybe Pattaya would have some hardship.

And nobody starves in Thailand.

Have you ever been outside Pattaya kerryk?

The first time I lived in Thailand was in 1968. I spent two weeks in Pattaya in 1968. Since then I have spent perhaps a total of two month in Pattaya. The rest of the time I have lived in Bangkok and Northern Thailand.

Do you suggest prostitution is confined to Pattaya?

Chiang Mai has 10,000 working prostitutes.

10% of the female population under 40 of Thailand is directly involved in prostitution. Most of them never see a Farang. The majority of prostitution in Thailand serves Thais.

It is not hard to do the math. Take the average earnings of one of the higher segments of the population and the people that are dependant on those earnings and remove it.

And it is all cash. There are no fees to be paid outside of the country for franchise rights or raw materials. It is simply cash infused into the economy.

It would be the equivalent of removing the auto industry or the aircraft industry from the US.

Yes the economy would crash.

[kerryk]

You seem to be missing the point Kerryd.

It is not the barfine in of itself that I find offensive, it is the pimps that charge it.

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

What on earth makes you think bar girls are poor? There are successful people in all walks of life. Some bar girls are poor, yes I will agree. But most bar girls are not poor. Most bar girls have a standard of living that far exceeds 90% of the Thai population. The average bar girl makes more than the average doctor in Thailand. Why on earth do you think so many Thai women choose that trade?

Well they certainly were not rich when they left their village in the north.

Not all of them "choose" the trade and the ones that do have that priviledge to chose, probably

chose prostitution because of a lack of other options.

There are thousands of Thai women in the USA and I have yet to see any of them chosing that

profession when given a choice of other ways of making a living.

Wake up call. There a lot of Thai hookers in the US. There are a lot of Thai hookers in Singapore. There a lot of Thai hookers in the Middle East. There are a lot of Thai hookers in Japan. Thai hookers have an international reputation of being good hookers. They chose the trade to make money. There are also a lot of Vietnamese hookers and Brazilian hookers and Ukrainian hookers. And in the United States there are a lot of American hookers and in England there are a lot of English hookers and in Australia there are a lot of Australian hookers. I think the common denominator is they all chose to be hookers because it is easier than going to law school for about the same kind of money.

[Kerryd]

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

You're losing ground now.

Very few are forced into the trade. Those that are, are generally confined to either the Thai or "Asian" only tourist venues, and they are put there by other Thais. Never heard of any farang involvement in any of those places.

Oddly enough, I've never heard a girl in a bar/club complain about the bar fine (except to try and get a farang to pay it for her). Most push for you to pay it, as it is a benefit for them.

I do know a couple girls (that have Thai boyfriends) that will often pay their own fine if the night is going slow, or they want to do something with their boyfriend.

They are making enough money that it isn't a financial burden for them to pay their own fine once in awhile, though they'd prefer if you paid it for them obviously.

[JRingo]

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

You're losing ground now.

Very few are forced into the trade. Those that are, are generally confined to either the Thai or "Asian" only tourist venues, and they are put there by other Thais. Never heard of any farang involvement in any of those places.

Oddly enough, I've never heard a girl in a bar/club complain about the bar fine (except to try and get a farang to pay it for her). Most push for you to pay it, as it is a benefit for them.

I do know a couple girls (that have Thai boyfriends) that will often pay their own fine if the night is going slow, or they want to do something with their boyfriend.

They are making enough money that it isn't a financial burden for them to pay their own fine once in awhile, though they'd prefer if you paid it for them obviously.

Did you guys read this:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=76574&st=0

The girl ended up in a bar in Phuket as a virtual slave.

I suspect the same type of story for many of the bargirls.

Of course they will never tell you this.

[kerryk]

You seem to be missing the point Kerryd.

It is not the barfine in of itself that I find offensive, it is the pimps that charge it.

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

How does charging a bar fine exploit a girl who was born to a poor family ?

By the way, you might be a little suprised to find that bar girls are far from the "least fortunate of our world". Where you get that from I have no idea.

(Having lived and worked in Afghanistan for a little over 2 years recently has given me a somewhat broader perspective of what would constitute "the least fortunate of our world").

What about all those girls born to poor families that aren't prostitutes, but instead work for minimum wage in convenience stores, restaurants and various other businesses around the country ?

Again, I have to point out that NO ONE is forcing the girls to work in those bars ! If they (the girls) didn't want to do it, they wouldn't be there (they could easily joing the ranks of freelancers along Beach Road).

As far as I know, ever bar that charges a fine, splits it with the girl. So, she gets a cut of the bar fine, and doesn't lose any wages for skipping out from work.

How exactly is she being exploited ?

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

I am not a newbie to Asia. I have never met a woman who was held against her will to be a prostitute in Thailand. I have heard of American women held in Arab countries. I have heard of Philippine women held in Arab countries. I have heard or Russian women held in Arab countries.

Get real. If one opens a bar here every relative in Thailand will be sending nubile young women to work at said bar.

No one is forcing Thai ladies to work in bars. No one.

Perhaps you are laboring under the assumption that Thai women send the majority of their earnings back home?

Hardly. Most is spent locally. I would estimate 20% to 30% gets back to Issan.

[meom]

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

You're losing ground now.

Very few are forced into the trade.

True, normally subtle persuasion is enough. If the girl has been abused by family etc in the past is an added bonus and makes persuasion even more easy.

[Lacoste]

kerryd - your arguments are ridiculous.

Seconded, absolute drivel.

Really ? And that is the best counter-argument you can come up with ?

It's not a subject that is close to my heart and dont feel the need to debate it.

I was simply reading through the posts and yours in particular seemed extremely week and invalid points.

The bar scene is something that i am not a part off and have no real intrest in. I just find it your views obscure and to a point naive to say the least.

Thanks for the entertainment though (i suffer from insomnia so find myself reading this site in the early hours)

[kerryk]

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

You're losing ground now.

Very few are forced into the trade. Those that are, are generally confined to either the Thai or "Asian" only tourist venues, and they are put there by other Thais. Never heard of any farang involvement in any of those places.

Oddly enough, I've never heard a girl in a bar/club complain about the bar fine (except to try and get a farang to pay it for her). Most push for you to pay it, as it is a benefit for them.

I do know a couple girls (that have Thai boyfriends) that will often pay their own fine if the night is going slow, or they want to do something with their boyfriend.

They are making enough money that it isn't a financial burden for them to pay their own fine once in awhile, though they'd prefer if you paid it for them obviously.

Did you guys read this:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=76574&st=0

The girl ended up in a bar in Phuket as a virtual slave.

I suspect the same type of story for many of the bargirls.

Of course they will never tell you this.

Jringo. I gotta ask. How many bargirls do you know? You are out of the loop.

Bar girls are people. Most well to do. They are fun to be with. As long as you are not getting hustled by them.

Yes, you might have surmised I am in the business. I have been in the business for a long time.

I have been in the business in Taiwan, Thailand, Canada and the US.

I know 200 bar girls in Thailand.

They are not impoverished. They are not forced to work. They are relatively pleasant business women who have chosen that line of work until they can find a rich Farang to buy a bar or farm for them.

I ran strip clubs in Tampa and Denver. I owned bars all over the place. Thai women are the most pleasant and endearing women on the planet. They very rarely get hustled.

Your admirable sympathy is misplaced.

This country works fine.

There is a reason all of the men from Japan come here. There is a reason all the men from the West come here. There is a reason all the men from China come here.

It is not to take advantage of Thai women. It is to meet Thai women who are the Alpha women of the planet.

I went to the grocery store yesterday. I liked the lady who weighed my bananas. I asked her out for a drink. The drink turned out to be dinner and dinner turned out to be most of the evening and she told me she needed a little extra cash for her rent.

I didn’t think this unusual. This is Thailand and she was worth every penny.

[gfunk.]

Not sure if im a pimp or a ponse, cus my girl goes out shagging falangs for money and gives most of it to me, so what does that make me???????

[Lacoste]

Not sure if im a pimp or a ponse, cus my girl goes out shagging falangs for money and gives most of it to me, so what does that make me???????

An A##hole?

Edited July 23, 2006 by Lacoste

[chuchok]

Not sure if im a pimp or a ponse, cus my girl goes out shagging falangs for money and gives most of it to me, so what does that make me???????

A troll.

[gfunk.]

Got me!!

[mittheimp]

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

You're losing ground now.

Very few are forced into the trade. Those that are, are generally confined to either the Thai or "Asian" only tourist venues, and they are put there by other Thais. Never heard of any farang involvement in any of those places.

Oddly enough, I've never heard a girl in a bar/club complain about the bar fine (except to try and get a farang to pay it for her). Most push for you to pay it, as it is a benefit for them.

I do know a couple girls (that have Thai boyfriends) that will often pay their own fine if the night is going slow, or they want to do something with their boyfriend.

They are making enough money that it isn't a financial burden for them to pay their own fine once in awhile, though they'd prefer if you paid it for them obviously.

Did you guys read this:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=76574&st=0

The girl ended up in a bar in Phuket as a virtual slave.

I suspect the same type of story for many of the bargirls.

Of course they will never tell you this.

Jringo. I gotta ask. How many bargirls do you know? You are out of the loop.

Bar girls are people. Most well to do. They are fun to be with. As long as you are not getting hustled by them.

Yes, you might have surmised I am in the business. I have been in the business for a long time.

I have been in the business in Taiwan, Thailand, Canada and the US.

I know 200 bar girls in Thailand.

They are not impoverished. They are not forced to work. They are relatively pleasant business women who have chosen that line of work until they can find a rich Farang to buy a bar or farm for them.

I ran strip clubs in Tampa and Denver. I owned bars all over the place. Thai women are the most pleasant and endearing women on the planet. They very rarely get hustled.

Your admirable sympathy is misplaced.

This country works fine.

There is a reason all of the men from Japan come here. There is a reason all the men from the West come here. There is a reason all the men from China come here.

It is not to take advantage of Thai women. It is to meet Thai women who are the Alpha women of the planet.

I went to the grocery store yesterday. I liked the lady who weighed my bananas. I asked her out for a drink. The drink turned out to be dinner and dinner turned out to be most of the evening and she told me she needed a little extra cash for her rent.

I didn’t think this unusual. This is Thailand and she was worth every penny.

....and out of the 200 girls you know - how many have suffered serious STD infection, even HIV? How many are now dependent on drugs? How many have been the victim of physical abuse? How many end up in bonded slavery due to debts / gambling etc? Yes we all know there are relative success stories and the picture isn't as often painted in the media - however the ridiculous rosy picture you paint suggest you aren't anywhere near in touch with reality. There are good, clear and intelligent arguments in favour of legalised and controlled prostitution however these have to be balanced with the downside - something you seem unable to acknowledge exists at all.

[JRingo]

They are not all there because they want to be, and yes some of them are forced to work there.

Did you guys read this:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=76574&st=0

The girl ended up in a bar in Phuket as a virtual slave.

I suspect the same type of story for many of the bargirls.

Of course they will never tell you this.

Bar girls are people. Most well to do. They are fun to be with. As long as you are not getting hustled by them.

Yes, you might have surmised I am in the business. I have been in the business for a long time.

I have been in the business in Taiwan, Thailand, Canada and the US.

I know 200 bar girls in Thailand.

They are not impoverished. They are not forced to work. They are relatively pleasant business women who have chosen that line of work until they can find a rich Farang to buy a bar or farm for them.

This country works fine.

There is a reason all of the men from Japan come here. There is a reason all the men from the West come here. There is a reason all the men from China come here.

So all those teenage farmgirls you see with fat old white guys on Sukumvit are “pleasant business women” who are rich?

And they let these old guys slobber all over them for $20 and are doing it by choice?

What do you do, make up your own reality so you can enjoy guilt free sex?

[gfunk.]

Alright mate lighten up a bit I'm feeling abit guilty here

[Donz]

Not sure if im a pimp or a ponse, cus my girl goes out shagging falangs for money and gives most of it to me, so what does that make me???????

Could I borrow her for the weekend??

[beammeup]

As far as I have understood this concept of "barfines" is usually related to the socalled "girlie bars", which again usually refers to that kind of bars where it is obviously that the majority of present females are adverticing for their particular business --- the oldest trade on earth.

So - here we're talking about a male, who makes money on these females doing their trade (let it be in shape of barfines or an extra 5 baht on the beers, not to mention he's likely to sell more beers as compared to non-girlie bar.

Excuse if I'm wrong, but isn't "pimp" the proper English term for men, making profits on hookers? ... So why the fuzz, because someone call those men by their name?

Because the truth hurts

[wilko]

Somehow falang bar owners justify collecting the "bar fine".

In America this is known as pimping and is not only looked down upon but is illegal.

Anyone else have a problem with this?

Seems kind of rotten to take advantage of someones misfortune to make money.

The girls obviously do it because they were born poor with few opportunities.

Shouldn't falangs set a better example and not exploit them?

JRingo...can I clear one thing up?

As I understand it, you are perfectly happy to go with one of these girl and support the industry that way, and it's simply the bar fine you don't approve of, or a least the part of the bar-fine that the girl doesn't get, and only those bar fines raised by farang?

[Donz]

Well I think its ok. but I just hate seeing farang men boss there prostitue around like they own them when they pay for there services, I had words with one pomy dude in Samui because he wanted everyone to hear that he can do what he wants to her and f@#k you i paid you 400 baht and you do what I tell you to do.

I just hate guys like that

[JRingo]

Somehow falang bar owners justify collecting the "bar fine".

In America this is known as pimping and is not only looked down upon but is illegal.

Anyone else have a problem with this?

Seems kind of rotten to take advantage of someones misfortune to make money.

The girls obviously do it because they were born poor with few opportunities.

Shouldn't falangs set a better example and not exploit them?

JRingo...can I clear one thing up?

As I understand it, you are perfectly happy to go with one of these girl and support the industry that way, and it's simply the bar fine you don't approve of, or a least the part of the bar-fine that the girl doesn't get, and only those bar fines raised by farang?

I have not gone out with a bar girl in close to 15 years now.

In my opinion, falang bar owners who collect barfines are nothing more than pimps.

They give falangs a bad name.

[leftcross]

the attempts from the pimps to try and justify themselves makes sickening reading.

bar girls, on the whole, are not women who make lots of money and enjoy a great life. they are on the poverty line (or below it) and are forced to go with men to survive (and for their families to survive)

the farang pimps who peddle their flesh take a cut of that. i dont know how they can look at themselves in the mirror.

in my post before i said ... ''would a bar be unable to operate without barfines? No''

it's poor english (double negative) but it means that bars CAN operate without barfines a la gullivers (and everywhere in cambodia etc).

give the money direct to the girl and dont give a pimp the cash she needs.

Edited July 24, 2006 by leftcross

[pantarei]

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

<When New York Times journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn went to Asia to live, they were outraged when they first arrived at the sweatshop conditions Asian factory workers worked under. Like most westerners, the thought of 14+ hour shifts six or seven days a week with no overtime pay seemed unconscionable. After spending some time in the region, however, Kristof and Wudunn slowly came to the conclusion that, while regrettable, sweatshops are an important part of a developing nation’s journey to prosperity. The two later documented the role of sweatshops in emerging economies in their book Thunder from the East. Kristof and Wudunn relay one anecdote that helped them reach their conclusion in the New York Times:

One of the half-dozen men and women sitting on a bench eating was a sinewy, bare-chested laborer in his late 30's named Mongkol Latlakorn. It was a hot, lazy day, and so we started chatting idly about the food and, eventually, our families. Mongkol mentioned that his daughter, Darin, was 15, and his voice softened as he spoke of her. She was beautiful and smart, and her father's hopes rested on her.

"Is she in school?" we asked.

"Oh, no," Mongkol said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "She's working in a factory in Bangkok. She's making clothing for export to America." He explained that she was paid $2 a day for a nine-hour shift, six days a week.

"It's dangerous work," Mongkol added. "Twice the needles went right through her hands. But the managers bandaged up her hands, and both times she got better again and went back to work."

"How terrible," we murmured sympathetically.

Mongkol looked up, puzzled. "It's good pay," he said. "I hope she can keep that job. There's all this talk about factories closing now, and she said there are rumors that her factory might close. I hope that doesn't happen. I don't know what she would do then.">

http://www.aworldconnected.org/article.php/525.html

Do you wear Nike shoes? Do you wear shirts made in ‘Third World’ countries? Do you buy products made in China (some manufactured by slave labor)?

If you do, YOU are saving “money off of the least fortunate of our world. It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor, which makes the practice despicable.”

[Donz]

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

<When New York Times journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn went to Asia to live, they were outraged when they first arrived at the sweatshop conditions Asian factory workers worked under. Like most westerners, the thought of 14+ hour shifts six or seven days a week with no overtime pay seemed unconscionable. After spending some time in the region, however, Kristof and Wudunn slowly came to the conclusion that, while regrettable, sweatshops are an important part of a developing nation’s journey to prosperity. The two later documented the role of sweatshops in emerging economies in their book Thunder from the East. Kristof and Wudunn relay one anecdote that helped them reach their conclusion in the New York Times:

One of the half-dozen men and women sitting on a bench eating was a sinewy, bare-chested laborer in his late 30's named Mongkol Latlakorn. It was a hot, lazy day, and so we started chatting idly about the food and, eventually, our families. Mongkol mentioned that his daughter, Darin, was 15, and his voice softened as he spoke of her. She was beautiful and smart, and her father's hopes rested on her.

"Is she in school?" we asked.

"Oh, no," Mongkol said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "She's working in a factory in Bangkok. She's making clothing for export to America." He explained that she was paid $2 a day for a nine-hour shift, six days a week.

"It's dangerous work," Mongkol added. "Twice the needles went right through her hands. But the managers bandaged up her hands, and both times she got better again and went back to work."

"How terrible," we murmured sympathetically.

Mongkol looked up, puzzled. "It's good pay," he said. "I hope she can keep that job. There's all this talk about factories closing now, and she said there are rumors that her factory might close. I hope that doesn't happen. I don't know what she would do then.">

http://www.aworldconnected.org/article.php/525.html

Do you wear Nike shoes? Do you wear shirts made in ‘Third World’ countries? Do you buy products made in China (some manufactured by slave labor)?

If you do, YOU are saving “money off of the least fortunate of our world. It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor, which makes the practice despicable.”

Its not as bad as selling your body IMO. Young girls getting it from old men

[JRingo]

They are making money off of the least fortunate of our world.

It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor,

which makes the practice despicable.

<When New York Times journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn went to Asia to live, they were outraged when they first arrived at the sweatshop conditions Asian factory workers worked under. Like most westerners, the thought of 14+ hour shifts six or seven days a week with no overtime pay seemed unconscionable. After spending some time in the region, however, Kristof and Wudunn slowly came to the conclusion that, while regrettable, sweatshops are an important part of a developing nation’s journey to prosperity. The two later documented the role of sweatshops in emerging economies in their book Thunder from the East. Kristof and Wudunn relay one anecdote that helped them reach their conclusion in the New York Times:

One of the half-dozen men and women sitting on a bench eating was a sinewy, bare-chested laborer in his late 30's named Mongkol Latlakorn. It was a hot, lazy day, and so we started chatting idly about the food and, eventually, our families. Mongkol mentioned that his daughter, Darin, was 15, and his voice softened as he spoke of her. She was beautiful and smart, and her father's hopes rested on her.

"Is she in school?" we asked.

"Oh, no," Mongkol said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "She's working in a factory in Bangkok. She's making clothing for export to America." He explained that she was paid $2 a day for a nine-hour shift, six days a week.

"It's dangerous work," Mongkol added. "Twice the needles went right through her hands. But the managers bandaged up her hands, and both times she got better again and went back to work."

"How terrible," we murmured sympathetically.

Mongkol looked up, puzzled. "It's good pay," he said. "I hope she can keep that job. There's all this talk about factories closing now, and she said there are rumors that her factory might close. I hope that doesn't happen. I don't know what she would do then.">

http://www.aworldconnected.org/article.php/525.html

Do you wear Nike shoes? Do you wear shirts made in ‘Third World’ countries? Do you buy products made in China (some manufactured by slave labor)?

If you do, YOU are saving “money off of the least fortunate of our world. It is clearly exploiting the girls misfortune of being born poor, which makes the practice despicable.”

Social activists have typically railed against large multinationals that have sought the lowest-priced labor they can find in developing countries. But for some members of a new generation of philanthropists, schooled in the techniques of venture capital and Wall Street, fighting poverty effectively relies on the creation of low wage factories…

“To put it in the baldest possible terms, the more sweatshops the better” says William Easterly, professor of economics at New York University.

“As you increase the number of factories demanding labor, wages will be driven up.” he said and eventually such factories will not be sweatshops.

For the full story see last weeks New York Times, July 16, 2006 Economic View by David Gross.