Kepler
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
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 Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:50 am Post subject: |
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According to Steve Schertzer, the root cause of the problem is not poverty:
"Don't we foreigners realize by now that, in the minds of many Thais-- bar girls and non-bar girls alike--- we are here for one reason and one reason alone: To support them and their whole family so that they don't have to support themselves. Such is the evil and pernicious nature of the mass tourism industry.
"This industry has created a whole Thai subclass numbering in the hundreds of thousands--- perhaps millions--- who do little else but wait for ten million foreigners to pour into this beautiful country every year so that they can attempt to milk us out of every baht, dollar, euro, pound, yen, won, yuan, or peso. Mass tourism has created and is perpetuating a sick and perverted cycle of mutual dependence between the tourists and the locals. As TEFL/TESL providers and professionals, it should be our role and mission to break this cycle of pathological dependence. The choice is very clear: You either work to help solve the problem, or you contribute to it....
"The real reason why the sex industry continues to exist, (and thrive), lies squarely on the laps of Thai mothers. Now I fully realize that any criticism of Thai mothers is tantamount to burning the flag, but so be it. Those who have lived here for any length of time know that the sex industry can be stopped dead in its tracks almost immediately if certain Thai mothers would stop sending their 14, 15, and 16 year old daughters to Patpong and Pattaya. These girls don't arrive in the red-light districts on their own. Someone sends them there. Someone in a position of authority and, supposedly, in a position of trust. Isarn, and other impoverished parts of Thailand, are replete with hundreds of thousands of uneducated, unethical, whiskey swilling, buffalo herding peasants who wouldn't think twice about sending their 'cherished' daughters and sisters--- the very future of this country--- to Patpong and Pattaya so that daddy, brother number one, and mommy can spend their days drinking and enjoying the latest Thai soap operas on that new 42 inch plasma television that was paid for by, you guessed it, a member of the Thai sex tourist industry!
"Some may see this as a financial problem, a problem of poverty. It is not. It is a social problem. A lack of morality and ethics within the population that was strengthened and fortified by a relentless mass tourism industry which really doesn't care about improving the lives of the locals."
http://www.ajarn.com/Contris/steve%20schertzer/schertzerjune2005.htm
I can't imagine that the families of these girls were thrilled to hear the news that they will no longer be receiving financial support due to their daughters and sisters being rescued by a missionary of a foreign religion. |
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