Comments on: Phuket’s red light women trade where it’s ‘no big deal’

By: Evilbaz

Evilbaz — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:48:04 +0000

Kevin Herbert, for the record it may well be that 70% of Thai sex workers’ business is with Thai men but I know many who never go with Thai men.
This backs up the important point of this article - that we have a better class of Bargirls (and sexpats) here in Kamalala than Patong.

By: Shaniq'ua Shardonn'ay

Shaniq'ua Shardonn'ay — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:47:47 +0000

It did seem to be a very naive article, “it was expected that their date would buy them drinks and take them to dinner.” Um, I would guess that they would have deals going with the local bars to bring in customers in exchange for using the bar as a place of business.
I’m not sure what the real ‘cultural’ differences are either, where there is poverty many Women and Men will work as prostitutes as a matter of course. The same thing happened in Victorian England and probably here as well. Many workers in Amsterdam come from Eastern Europe.
Where the average man or woman can earn decent wages there will be fewer that want to go into prostitution, which is why many street workers in Australia are in the business because of addiction.(and yes I do know quite a few).

By: mook schanker

mook schanker — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:50:25 +0000

Yeah this article was naive alright, you get the impression the s*x industry is all about westerners. I’ve travelled to several towns in Thailand where I was the only westerner around and prostitutes were everywhere, pretty much supprts what Kevin rightly says….

By: Wesley Pryor

Wesley Pryor — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:14:56 +0000

Balls. His Majesty was 85 yesterday, not 86. We regret any inconvenience caused!

By: Suzanne Blake

Suzanne Blake — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 04:59:53 +0000

I think the article is a Forward for the next one on Union vacations

By: Kevin Herbert

Kevin Herbert — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 04:23:45 +0000

This article was another view of Thailand & western tourists, that’s all.

Why do Aussies, particularly women, go to water when the Asian sex industry is mentioned…I’ve a theory, but wouldn’t dare mention it here…Venise would murder me!!!!

For the record, nearly 70% of a Thai sex worker’s business is with Thai men.

By: Gorbach Kate

Gorbach Kate — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:04:16 +0000

Bit of a pointless article. Nothing new or revelatory is said, the only possible argument made seems to be one of self justification for (possibly) taking part in Phuket’s sex industry, and generally maintaining the status quo. No mention is made of lady boys, HIV, no one from a opposing view is acknowledged. Really, this article discourages me from considering Crikey a worthwhile news source.

By: IC-1101

IC-1101 — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:41:31 +0000

I actually didn’t mind this piece. I think the author is admitting of his naivety when it comes to the sex trade. I was also quite taken back when I first went there. But that’s why we travel: to learn about the world.

By: AR

AR — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:24:56 +0000

As a vignette naive the article was OK. It was reportage, not polemic, describing something not pronouncing on its merit.

By: Silver Lining

Silver Lining — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:10:47 +0000

I thought it was interesting, and did not see why people slagged off the article; he acknowledged his ignorance of the culture and opened his mind to other possibilities. Then shared it with us. It was a shame the article ended abruptly with no thought to the consequences of the trade for them or us. High rates of HIV in Thailand abound…some of these men return with a deadly souvenir.

By: masako fukui

masako fukui — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:30:07 +0000

I was thinking about subscribing to Crikey, but after reading this, I’ve decided against it. What a load of crap. Everything about this piece is annoying, most of all, it’s stupid. As if we don’t have enough unintelligent drivel masquerading as something worth a click of the mouse on the www. Crikey, you’ve lost me.

By: John Bennetts

John Bennetts — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:07:33 +0000

I’m not sure what’s going on here. Andybob possibly comes close.

So many issues… so little that I know.

As a father of two girls, I wonder what Liam would write if his own daughters found themselves in similar circumstances. I cannot comprehend his acceptance of this situation, even, as he makes clear, superficially.

Sh_t, this is wrong on many levels. I weep.

By: Mena

Mena — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:30:32 +0000

I’d just like to respond to one part of this article. The bit where the guy justifies sex tourists because they apparently can’t get women in their own country, to that I say- bollocks!!! Perhaps they need to lower their looks standards. Why is it that so many aging, bald men with big pot bellies think its their god-given right to shack up with a 20 year old beach babe? What about all the ageing pot-bellied women back at home who can’t get any action because their equivalent man-folk cant come to terms with reality!

By: klewso

klewso — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:26:52 +0000

What happens in a clash of civilisations/cultures?

By: Phen

Phen — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:13:50 +0000

Not really sure exactly why the commenters above are so offended on behalf of Thailand. The article is just a set of observations from the author without any strong conclusions, which is fair enough.

By: Andybob

Andybob — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:45:19 +0000

There’s naught as queer as folk.

I think the criticism of the author is overblown. A story where someone discovers something can be interesting. If we all know the secrets of life, the universe and everything then why read any article ?

If the writer was ignorant, prejudicial and naive he spoke about an experience which may have resulted in him changing his views. That’s worth reading as a road trip, even if it doesn’t have a conclusion.

And what conclusion are we looking for ? Generalisations may not always apply ? We need that explained to us in detail ?

By: James Butler

James Butler — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:24:42 +0000

THank you Peter Shute for sorting out pretty much what i wanted to say. Couldn’t help but feel the obvious ignorance, prejudice and naivety in this article. Australians need to stop viewing the world with their precious delusional non-existant “values”, look in your backyard for a change, tens of thousands of Australian-citizen sex workers are available over a phone call or a walk to the right places in cbd and its “no big deal” either!

By: Nathan Reed

Nathan Reed — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:12:24 +0000

I thought I’d missed the “next page” link but turns out there is none. Article feels like it trails off without making a point or unearthing any new insight? Odd for an article on Crikey, especially one being promoted on the front page.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 05:36:01 +0000

I kind of don’t feel like anything has been explained here. Neither author nor Peter did a great job of enlightening the ignorant.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 05:02:19 +0000

BTW author, it’s ‘metre’ not meter.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 05:00:53 +0000

PETER SHUTE: Thank you for articulating my own thoughts.
BTW, WTF was the article about anyway?

By: paddy

paddy — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 04:10:42 +0000

I *was* going to comment, that this article seemed (to put it politely) a little “naive”.
But I see Peter Shute has already been there and done that.
Thank you Peter.

By: Peter Shute

Peter Shute — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:46:42 +0000

As someone who has spent a lifetime going backwards and forwards to Thailand and having lived there for extended periods of time long before it had been discovered by ex-pats: what on earth is this article about ?.

When will those from the West cease their endless insults of a culture they know little about ?. Don’t go to another country if you are going to be rude about your hosts.

Here is a clue Liam : by writing this thin article you have insulted a nation and it’s people collectively in a manner you will never understand and far more so than a ‘sex tourist’. Stay home or go somewhere else in the future and do no insult your hosts in a country where an article like this is like a knife in the heart.

Thailand is a country where it takes years to understand they perceive things differently to us and do not view many things with our rather twisted Puritan morals.

By: Trent

Trent — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:45:38 +0000

This is an important issue from a health point of view.

Thailand has a higher prevalence of HIV than Australia (~ 500,000 people living with HIV vs 25,000 here) and a seroprevalence rate of around 1.5%. (See: http://bit.ly/TGHl9G ). The rate in Thai sex workers is much higher - around 10% (see: http://bit.ly/MRL4hG ).

It’s hard to know if these bar girls would be closer to 1% or closer to 10%, but our HIV awareness messages in Australia are targeted at men who have sex with men, not heterosexual sex-tourists, and they will often not get themselves tested (as middle-aged, caucasian, heterosexual men tend to be a group who don’t go to the doctor much).

By: Phen

Phen — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:31:44 +0000

I’m resisting the urge to google the turtle reference….