tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post8706637313086828634..comments2024-03-28T11:30:46.101-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Behind the SmilesOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-34798388659242461412016-11-27T04:30:11.066-05:002016-11-27T04:30:11.066-05:00It's better than Indonesia, my country, though...It's better than Indonesia, my country, though. I've seen Bangkok, Cha Am, and Hua Hin. I wish Islam had not invaded my country. Children sex is not vividly for sale but underage marriage is everywhere although the law of the land do not allow that. Prostitution is prohibited but rapes are daily meals. Now some middle east cults insist that women showing parts of their body may be raped on reson that the women are guilty of making sexual invitations. This middle east cult is crazy. I call it cult because I was there. I am covertly out of this cult, beacuse as a 'murtad' I jeopardize my life. I've been to Thailand 2 times. I prefer Thailand a lot better than Arabicized Indonesia..Setya Ananta Sishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00869053023790447879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-13988102326094863302010-10-17T22:30:58.507-04:002010-10-17T22:30:58.507-04:00The sad truth of the Thai 'Service Industry...The sad truth of the Thai 'Service Industry' is that the greedy parents THEMSELVES actively HOPE that their daughter can make it in the Bar Industry..for no other reason than to get the FACE that comes with a new Toyoata Hi-Lux, perhaps a house or a new motorbike to ride around in the village. The GREED and self serving FACE gained by material consumer goods far outweighs any western moral notions right and wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-80429760677293471662010-01-20T11:02:30.641-05:002010-01-20T11:02:30.641-05:00Awful, awful and to think that there are still idi...Awful, awful and to think that there are still idiots out there who believe these girls choose this profession and that they had other opportunities. It breaks my heart to look at the children in the accompanying photos, they are no different to their counterparts that I see every day - aside from the circumstances they have nothing to do with. I repeat my previous statement that life is a lottery in which the winners don't realise their luck.Yrsa Sigurdardottirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05889410114439001207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-63764498208049221912010-01-19T16:07:56.830-05:002010-01-19T16:07:56.830-05:00The peasant girls of Thailand who make their livin...The peasant girls of Thailand who make their living in the bars situated along Patpong Road are infinitely better off than the peasants of neighboring countries who earn their living in corporate sweatshops. Slavery is rampant wherever corporations are largely unregulated, and nowhere is this more evident than in the places where poverty wages are the norm.<br /><br />That said, I must confess that I find Thai women to be among the most beautiful in the world (probably because they've perfected the art of the smile). Hey, Tim, please send me a dozen "Roses" along with an ARC of your next book.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09974356693812650266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-79868934134683478842010-01-17T16:03:55.546-05:002010-01-17T16:03:55.546-05:00Tim - I hope you do continue the story.
BethTim - I hope you do continue the story.<br /><br />Bethbethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405199782450351160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-88913938890205843722010-01-17T15:56:10.184-05:002010-01-17T15:56:10.184-05:00Hi, Dorte -- Unfortunately, people are a commodit...Hi, Dorte -- Unfortunately, people are a commodity everywhere -- it's just more conspicuous in the poorer areas of the world. Also, since the Thais lack the Judeo-Christian reticence about sex, they don't hide it behind veils of euphemism. They put it into neon.<br /><br />Beth, the collapse of the sex trade would be a tsunami of economic misfortune for Isaan, although who knows? In the long run, it might be the best thing. Thais are deeply non-confrontational; maybe the loss of this stream of income would push the poorest voters to try to take a stand for reform.<br /><br />Also, I have to say that the Thai authorities have done a remarkable job of stamping out (or at least driving deeply underground) the commercial trade in child sex. When I first went, 30 years ago, it was carried on more or less in the open. Now it's as hard to find in Bangkok as it is in New York or Los Angeles. And probably more than half the time, when the person who's looking for it finds it, it's actually a sting operation. (That's part of one of the plots of my third book, BREATHING WATER.)<br /><br />The Thais actually do deserve credit for the action they took on the child prostitution front, as well as for the skill and commitment with which they averted the widely predicted AIDS crisis, which simply failed to materialized due largely to the heroic actions of one man, whom I might write about next week.Timothy Hallinanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00551263887774445511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-55077804426098513402010-01-17T10:41:13.195-05:002010-01-17T10:41:13.195-05:00Your story, coming in the same week as the horror ...Your story, coming in the same week as the horror that is Haiti, raises the same question. Is it possible to alleviate the poverty when it is those who run the country who profit from the misery and dehumanization of its people?<br /><br />Thailand's reputation as a paradise for men who eagerly contribute to the country's "gross" domestic product by renting the flesh of women and children, allows Thailand to list "services" as just behind agriculture in contributing to the economy,although one article suggests that tourists actually come for the beaches. How soul destroying must it be for parents to live off the prostitution of their children? What must it do to a father to have a child work in the sex trade so that his other children can eat? Most western babies are born into the world with no greater burden than their parent's dreams for their futures. The tears of joy in a delivery room in the west seem self-indulgent when compared to the tears at the birth of a daughter in Thailand.<br /><br />Are the children pictured in your "Jinger Ben" story protected from this? The smiles of the shepherds are breath-taking and heartbreaking in the context of this story.<br /><br />The girls and boys with their beautiful smiles are slaves to poverty if not to a pimp. If the men with money but without souls stop coming to Thailand, how then will the families in Isaan survive? Will the people who make fortunes on the exportation of rice be willing to give some of it to the poor who grow it?<br /><br />Here is another rhetorical question I have been pondering, especially because I live in Massachusetts and the Senate seat of Ted Kennedy is up for grabs. What is the disconnect in the American psyche that leads the American people to give generously and, in huge numbers, to the Haitian relief fund but will not lead them to vote for health insurance for their next door neighbor?<br /><br />No child is safe when greed is greater than compassion. <br /><br />Thank you for reminding me how fortunate I am.<br /><br />Bethbethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405199782450351160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-49386357044205958212010-01-17T10:19:48.345-05:002010-01-17T10:19:48.345-05:00Thank you for sharing the truth about those smiles...Thank you for sharing the truth about those smiles! Human beings should never be a commodity.Dorte Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14535044092722418173noreply@blogger.com