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AIDS

ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
edited March 2012 in General Banter
So I remember the question being asked about HIV/AIDS in Thailand, well I got an email about a news flash and here is the link

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/541692-over-1-million-thais-are-infected-with-hivaids/

Comments

  • BekenzeBekenze
    edited March 2012
    The US should send relief packages full of condoms over to Thailand.

    /kind of joking/
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    The US should send relief packages full of condoms over to Thailand.

    /kind of joking/
    That would be of some help I guess. Reading the comments and considering that this is most likely the diagnosed cases, it is porbably more than 'over a million'. Even if it was a million, that is 1 in every 60 people..
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    :wave:
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    howdy :buck:
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    Is prostitution legal where you are?
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    No, it is not legal but very very rarely does anybody get busted because the police either turn a blind eye to it or they cut a hand out. If prostitution was to be stamped out in Thailand, the entire economy would crash due to lack of tourism, parts the money made by all those girls or 'lady-boys' often gets sent home to families, so kids can go to school etc. It is in Thailands interest for it to thrive, but obviously so does AIDS
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    What are "lady boys "?

    So tourists go there to have sex with girls and boys?!
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    What are "lady boys "?

    So tourists go there to have sex with girls and boys?!
    Child prostitution is not an everyday thing there (depending on how you define it), but adult prostitution is the norm.

    A lady boy is a male who acts like a woman, or in some cases may have had or is in the process of medically changing to becoming a female.

  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    Is Thailand corrupt?
    No, it is not legal but very very rarely does anybody get busted because the police either turn a blind eye to it or they cut a hand out. If prostitution was to be stamped out in Thailand, the entire economy would crash due to lack of tourism, parts the money made by all those girls or 'lady-boys' often gets sent home to families, so kids can go to school etc. It is in Thailands interest for it to thrive, but obviously so does AIDS
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Is Thailand corrupt?
    No, it is not legal but very very rarely does anybody get busted because the police either turn a blind eye to it or they cut a hand out. If prostitution was to be stamped out in Thailand, the entire economy would crash due to lack of tourism, parts the money made by all those girls or 'lady-boys' often gets sent home to families, so kids can go to school etc. It is in Thailands interest for it to thrive, but obviously so does AIDS
    Yes. Very. Let me give you a small example in which I participated in the corruption. I had been living in Thailand on a temporary visa, which after some given number of months could be extended. My legal representative and I walked into the immigration office and looked out on a sea of people. He went over to a desk, came back, and said, "Here's the deal. We can wait here about 5 hours for your turn, or you can be next. That will cost you ($20 USD). Your choice." I was next.

  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    @vinlyn I am going to make sure I never lose my passport in a foreign country...

    Is there a stigma or taboo against using condoms? I have read that in under developed African countries this is the case and that HIV infected males believe that having sex with a virgin will cure them...
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Hmmm. I don't think so. That's more of an individual thing. They had a nationally elected official who was called the "Condom King" who really promoted the use condoms, so I would say they are looked on as something normal...and available in every 7/11.
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    Really! "A condom king " that's smart! Can you imagine if our rappers and hip hop artists took that approach...
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Really! "A condom king " that's smart! Can you imagine if our rappers and hip hop artists took that approach...
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechai_Viravaidya

  • Ada_BAda_B
    One of the awful things is sexual tourism, so-called, from the West, in which men from countries like Britain and USA go to Thailand specifically to visit prostitutes (including under-age girls). This is encouraging a boom in sexual exploitation of poor, young, Thai girls, specifically groomed for Western clients.

    The awful thing about this, from the BBC documentary I saw on the subject, is that total lack of conscience or human concern from these 'sex tourists'. And the tragic lives (often short, tragic lives) of these women and girls. There are international efforts to put a stop to it, but IMHO this is yet another example of the power the West has being used to exploit the East, rather than help.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    One of the awful things is sexual tourism, so-called, from the West, in which men from countries like Britain and USA go to Thailand specifically to visit prostitutes (including under-age girls). This is encouraging a boom in sexual exploitation of poor, young, Thai girls, specifically groomed for Western clients.

    The awful thing about this, from the BBC documentary I saw on the subject, is that total lack of conscience or human concern from these 'sex tourists'. And the tragic lives (often short, tragic lives) of these women and girls. There are international efforts to put a stop to it, but IMHO this is yet another example of the power the West has being used to exploit the East, rather than help.
    Well, sort of. But oversimplified and a little cliched.

    First, while there are quite a few Western sex tourists in Thailand, there are also huge numbers of Japanese sex tourists. The Westerners are more likely to be individuals, where the Japanese are more likely to be part of organized junkets. So in this case, I think it's much more accurate to say people from richer countries exploiting people from poorer countries, not the West exploiting the East.

    Additionally, generally when the West exploits the east in some economic aspect, it's the Westerners making the profit. The Thai sex trade is owned and operated, big and small, by Thais and Thai-Chinese. And that includes everything from who owns the large mansion-like "massage parlors", to who operates the small massage parlors in virtually every Thai hotel (not as common in the international hotels), to who pays the taxi drivers to lure in tourists, to the cheap hookers in certain neighborhoods. Not to mention the huge amount of money that goes to police as bribery and for protection.



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