Thailand sex tourism crackdown targets brothels and underage prostitutes

[Peterw42]

I had a look at Damien May facebook page and it appears they also run the destiny cafe and resturant in Chaing Rai.

 

Seems like an odd thing for an NGO to run.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Destiny-Cafe-Restaurant-374256186000634/home

[Peterw42]

2 hours ago, Fireyfish said:

I think the very clever Damien May has found an easier way of making a lot of $$$$   than working as a plumber

 

you mean like this place ???

 

https://www.facebook.com/Destiny-Cafe-Restaurant-374256186000634/home

[dunroaming]

I suspect it is way higher than 10%.  It would be interesting to see how that figure is arrived at?  Tax returns? Or maybe it is based on single men flying in.  The sex tourist industry revolves  to a great extent around the bars and massage parlours.  "Sex tourists" also spend a lot of money getting legless, taking the girls on breaks to the seaside and quite a few get dragged into the gold shops, not to mention the "tips".  Add to that the amount of suckers....er I mean sex tourists who send the girls money from their home countries for countless spurious reasons and you may be scratching the surface.  This is pretty much the acceptable face of sex tourism but doesn't take into account the darker side that attracts another kind of sex tourist altogether.

 

The bigger the crackdown the more the loss of control.   Catching perverts in Pattaya is like shooting fish in a barrel because that's where they gravitate to.  Once you crack down and push it underground it makes the job much harder

[fabphil]

Never heard so much crap written by some wanking news person kirrily schwarz  ie 100s of thousands of aussies swamp pattaya every year, what alot of spruiking crap., how come when i walk down walking street these days barely see many westerners of any description let alone aussies,.

Most search out pattaya''s Dark Underbelly,  ive yet to find that,as we all know  everythings all out in the open..

Women are bought and sold like meat, what a ridiculous statement by some one who obviously never been to pattaya,

Prostitution is no worse here than most of the world, its just more open..

Ive been visiting Thai for 15 yrs and think i know more than the writer does...

 

[Baerboxer]

6 hours ago, joboss said:

Because the self righteous knob spanker Damien May is an Australian.

 

 

An Aussie ex-Plumber who found God, his calling and survives by helping his organization raise funds to fight what they see as the good fight.

 

Obviously his comments will be well researched and unbiased - not.

 

Converting the religion of "saved" ladies is their game. Appealing to other religious narrow minded zealots their fund targets. Any NGO that starts by claiming Thailand as the "sex capital of the world" is either naive, lazy to do any research, or motivated by their own interests. 

 

We've had Aussie pedos, surrogate couples, "greymen" organization and now Damien (666?). Must be embarrassing to the 99% of Aussie who are normal people and come to Thailand and other Asian countries for a decent holiday or to make a life here.

[fabphil]

[dunroaming]

Makes a change from the finger being pointed at the Brits or the Americans.  I wouldn't get too excited about the Aussie reference fabphil, these articles are usually directed towards the citizens of the target readers country.  It just happens to be Australia's turn, especially if that is where they are fund raising.

[Merylhighground]

Sensationalist claptrap, utterly (deliberately) blurring the lines between the 'domestic' and 'tourist' sex trade with the usual ham-fisted, amateur-like imbecility of the Western media when dealing with this topic.

 

The blatant 'do-gooder' Christian agenda doesn't help promote the truth nor offer any solutions to the 'problem'. 

[thaibeachlovers]

Nearly five THOUSAND views in eight hours. Is that a record? Certainly shows what is the most popular subject on TV.

 

Anyway, this article can't be aimed at the farangs, as there aren't any "brothels" for farangs. That is exclusive to the Thai scene.

 

I notice that this is, as usual, written by a western woman, and features some do gooder into Thai prostitutes. Aren't there enough prostitutes in Australia for him to rescue- Oh that's right, prostitution is LEGAL in Australia. Just the usual loony do gooder BS that had been on TV soooooooo many times.

 

BTW, whatever is written on TV about it, it isn't going away any more than prostitution in readers home countries is going away. 555555555555555555

[Plutojames88]

5 minutes ago, Merylhighground said:

Sensationalist claptrap, utterly (deliberately) blurring the lines between the 'domestic' and 'tourist' sex trade with the usual ham-fisted, amateur-like imbecility of the Western media when dealing with this topic.

 

The blatant 'do-gooder' Christian agenda doesn't help promote the truth nor offer any solutions to the 'problem'. 

Correct.

Interestingly , the author also works for the organisation involved .Destiny Rescue.

And the publisher was her old job as a junior reporter.

The scam involves deception ...so deliberate .

Blurring the lines.

And dramatic speech.

Target audience ...churches ...who can do some tax avoiding by donating.

Individual s on the website .

Sponsors of a rescue for $1500 can "" praise god"" the pagan Buddhist is baptised with Jesus .

Coffee shops and program's conceal the sham .

And money rolls in.

The only catch is occasionally articles like this need to be printed to stir up some donations.

Telling the truth , that most under age sex workers are servicing Thai men won't get donations.

So they particularly blame Australian men.

And make no differential between the hags in bars and children in the Mai sai border towns , where they do most rescues, along with golden triangle.

As Christian organisations go .

Truth is often first causality .

[dontoearth]

7 hours ago, BlindMagician said:

What's the stat? 56% of Thais admit to sex outside of marriage?

Assuming its only the men who use prostitutes, and both men and women have affairs with non prostitutes, that means there is a high % of Thai men playing with prostitutes, so there must be a high cash flow. But, as this is unreported income, how is the 10% calculated?

 

Also, the bit where he says he disguises himself as a paedo starts to ring a warning bell... ominous?

The 56% had sex with each other!  No one else was involved at all!  

[dontoearth]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

This thread reminds me of a story a couple of years ago, about a westerner running an orphanage in Cambodia. The guy was running a small christian orphanage, costing a couple of thousand US a month to run. Getting donations from a website, churches etc.

Turns out the guy was getting 10s of thousands a month in donations, living in a 6 bedroom house, range rover driver etc.

And it turned out half the kids actually had parents.

There was an even better scam going in Central America where all you had to do was show up for photos for your brochures and website.  The orphanage was nothing more than a daily rental movie set.  A number of organizations got caught when the same kids and same workers and same building appeared in multiple "charities."

[dontoearth]

3 hours ago, Chetzee said:

the nation has more than 123,000 sex workers, who contribute up to 10 per cent of the country’s GDP.

 

who writes this crap ?

 

 

The real numbers are this:  $1500 bucks (to save a girl)  26 girls saved last month.  This <deleted> is pulling 1500X26 dollars a month.  That is $39,000 a month.  And he just got a big batch of free advertising in this idiotic article.  He might be able to save a 100 girls next month for a take of $150,000 a month.  Why did  I retire?  Jeez!  Now on a monthly salary like that I could...afford more.....

[dhream]

4 hours ago, Fireyfish said:

I think the very clever Damien May has found an easier way of making a lot of $$$$   than working as a plumber

He'll likely be sprung one day, like a televangelist, with his keks around his ankles,  getting blown at the Tesco foodcourt urinals.

[dhream]

10 minutes ago, dontoearth said:

There was an even better scam going in Central America where all you had to do was show up for photos for your brochures and website.  The orphanage was nothing more than a daily rental movie set.  A number of organizations got caught when the same kids and same workers and same building appeared in multiple "charities."

Greed gets them every time. Greed got the 1MDB scandal exposed. All because one bloke stiffed a 'mate' over chump change. It makes me smile...

[Peterw42]

2 minutes ago, dontoearth said:

The real numbers are this:  $1500 bucks (to save a girl)  26 girls saved last month.  This <deleted> is pulling 1500X26 dollars a month.  That is $39,000 a month.  And he just got a big batch of free advertising in this idiotic article.  He might be able to save a 100 girls next month for a take of $150,000 a month.  Why did  I retire?  Jeez!  Now on a monthly salary like that I could...afford more.....

 

Yes, it is some serious money. If you take a look at his facebook page, and a few of his friends pages, most of them work for destiny rescue or destiny coffee shop. Maybe I am a cynical old man, but it looks like the rescue gravy train to me. 

 

 

[harleyclarkey]

".....where women are bought and sold like meat, where even their most sordid sexual desires can be satisfied if the price is right"

 

Knew this was written by a woman before I saw the writer.

What a very twisted and embittered view. 

 

 

[prestburypark]

As long as Thai parents feel its fine to pimp their girls out for extra income the trade will continue.

 

To change that attitude is going to be a generational thing as the country and population evolve and are better educated.

 

Dream on? maybe.

 

 

[BlindMagician]

56 minutes ago, dontoearth said:

The 56% had sex with each other!  No one else was involved at all!  

 

That one big fun party ... were you invited?

[Jip99]

15 minutes ago, prestburypark said:

As long as Thai parents feel its fine to pimp their girls out for extra income the trade will continue.

 

To change that attitude is going to be a generational thing as the country and population evolve and are better educated.

 

Dream on? maybe.

 

 

 

 

 

The parents rarely 'pimp out' their kids - they will sell them to Thai males, but are unlikely to act as pimps in the western market.

 

 

They are far more likely to turn a blind eye to where the money comes from every months or, tell everyone their daughter works in a Bangkok factory or hotel.

 

There is no incentive to educate it out of the system as they see nothing wrong in it - that is back to the western stereotype on morals etc.

[haroldc]

Consider the issue with regard to under-18 sex workers from Laos...  Outside of Vientiane province, some 50% of women have had their first sexual experience at age 15 or younger (read the UN and health-related NGO reports).  With some of the minority groups, the Akha for example, it is customary for girls to be initiated into sexual intercourse shortly after their first menstruation, as early as age 11, after which they are considered to be adults.

 

The minimum wage in Laos is currently 900,000 kip per month (about  3,600 baht), up from 626,000 kip (about 2,500 baht) prior to 2015.  Of course, the minimum wage only applies to workers in formally operated factories and businesses.  The most one can expect to make working in a small, local business is about 1,500 baht per month.

 

Even in the most rural areas, they know that it is possible to make far more money selling sex in Thailand.  The first step is to make contact with a broker - some are referred by a friend, some meet a recruiter who travels from village to village.  For 25-50,000 baht (this will be a debt, and the amount depends on the broker's estimate of the girl's potential income), the broker arranges for a Lao identity card showing her age as 18 and then a passport.  The girl is then escorted across the border to her first workplace in Thailand with a 30 day visa on arrival.  The first workplace is usually in a province bordering Laos.  The girl starts working and for the first months the manager holds most of the service fees (75-80%) to repay the debt to the broker.  If the girl gets tips, she can keep them or use all or part to repay the debt more quickly.  Every 30 days, the girl goes back to Laos for a few days and then returns to Thailand with another 30 day visa.  Once the debt has been repaid, the girl is a free agent and typically gets 50% of the service fee.  If she wants to move to a different workplace to be with friends or relatives, or where there is the possibility of making more money, she needs to pay an exit fee of 10-15,000 baht after which she will be placed at the new venue.  If the new venue is high-end, she may also need to pay an entrance fee.  Or she can pay the exit fee, stop working, and go back to Laos.  If she leaves a venue without paying the exit fee, she won't be able to get work in Thailand again (the business is very well organized).

 

There is no "sex-slavery" or deception involved. The girls who decide to take this route know in advance exactly how it works and do so of their own free will.

 

Note that none of the above applies to Burmese or Cambodian sex-workers in Thailand, nor does it apply to sex-workers who are placed in countries other than Thailand --   these are different businesses of which I have no knowledge.

 

       

[seajae]

in the last couple of weeks the amount of rapes of under age girls by thai men as well as other rapes of females by them has been pretty constant in  the news, all this will do is make them even more so. Thai men are by far the greater users of the prostitutes than anyone else but to admit that would make thais look bad so instead they blame farangs which is what typically happens here. Legalize prostitution then they can set up regulations that have to be followed and remove much of the corruption thats involved with it now but then that would also remove a lot of monet from certain peoples pockets

[louse1953]

10 hours ago, Plutojames88 said:

Destiny Rescue Facebook page has the image below of Baptism -

On its website it suggests $1500 will sponsor a rescue and also says 26 rescues last month.

 

The article says its hard to find underage girls in bars in Pattaya these days.

So , in reality their targets they admit are elsewhere.

 

Which leads us back to the closing of sex industry making them happier?

 

Not that this will happen.

However, the agenda is clearly influenced by dogma .

 

All we need now is their sponsored mouth pieces to turn up here again with the shame tactics.

 

Whilst they may have a role , ( Destiny Rescue) clearly a Christian fundamentalism is at work.

What happens after they are "rescued".Are they set up in learning a trade or back to school,paid for by Damien.Are the parents and younger siblings given help to survive without the extra income.Rescue is the easy part.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

Super-Plumber-Man to the rescue...

If you're saving fallen women, save one for me!

[Wilsonandson]

Damien isn't he the devil?
(Posting from my mobile phone using the Thaivisa Android App)

[bazza40]

9 hours ago, gandalf12 said:

It will never be eradicated but it can be controlled. Even Saudi has places. One thing the TAT needs to do and that is not to use it as a tourist incentive to visit the country. Obviously some things are being done which is good but, and I was stopped for saying this but will say it here, if you went down Sukhumvit (Bangkok) from 6am to 7am it is far from funny. The "girls are plying their trade on the sidewalks, accosting people. I had the unfortunate experience when I was going to get breakfast at a hotel.

" Even Saudi has places". Correct. Some of the most attractive Thai women head for Dubai or Bahrain, because that's where the money is. Which just shows the hypocrisy of Islam, or any other religion for that matter.

[louse1953]

10 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

 

Are you able to cite any actual facts to back up your claim, or are you just tossing this out because you are uncomfortable with the fact that prostitution is indeed located in key tourist locations?

 

I note that there is criticism of some  faith based groups who attempt to assist sex trade workers. I have one question for the critics: Who else is willing to deal with some rather disgusting and diseased people? I'll be blunt, I won't go near some of them. I have heard too many sob stories that are BS and I have seen far too many hookers in Thailand who are infected with HIV, Hepatitis, Herpes, HPV etc. who willingly spread the disease because they are angry at the world and the customers who infected them.

 

 

 

55,won't go near some of them,but others are ok,eh.Have you heard of condoms?

[louse1953]

9 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

What is it with the Australian news media and sex tourism to Thailand.

 

It seems every month or so, there's a new article pretty much rehashing the same old stuff. Australians heading for the "steamy underbelly" of Thailand.

 

Whatever happened to the idea of newspapers/news media actually producing "news"!

Ask Rupert.

[ozyjon]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Hundreds of thousands of Australians crowd into the steamy streets each year, and while some prefer the beach or the buzzing nightclubs, others make a beeline forThailand’s dark underbelly. They seek out the neighborhoods where women are bought and sold like meat, where even their most sordid sexual desires can be satisfied if the price is right.

 

So this is an ADVERTISEMENT for Damian, how about you Damian, set up a bank

transfer account and send money to the sex workers families and set up a dating

site for them to marry rich foreigners,,

i have to vomit now

[metro33777]

Australians once again bringing us all down. Clean up your acts because this is my home and all Westerners are basically grouped together due to your words and actions. I strive to be a better citizen here than USA because I've worked my whole life with one goal which was to retire and live the rest of my life in Thailand. It's Thailand not yourland and you should respect this beautiful country in every detail as do the Thais. It sickens me to see these huge loudmouth failures scream and yell at local cops because the laws are being enforced and they don't like it. Go back if you are not happy. Look at this forum and see the how progressively difficult it is becoming to live here for those who truly love living here not with their small head but heart first and big head.