Ewout in Thailand: Tendentious, stigmatizing and above all in search of known prejudices
(Diego Fiore / Shutterstock.com)
Last night Ewout's program 'Dutch men are looking for Thai brides' was shown on RTL. Coincidentally I came across it while zapping. I watched it and was once again amazed at the level of such TV programs, because the objective is clear in advance, to magnify existing prejudices and there must be a perpetrator (the sex tourist) and a victim (the barmaids). Another sparkling example of 'Fast food TV', cheap, tasty for a while, but above all unhealthy and heartburn into the bargain.
The documentary is about a Dutch man, Peter Visser, who is looking for a serious relationship with a Thai woman through a dating agency. He is followed by Ewout during his search. Because something like this is of course not controversial enough, a can of sensation is opened, because Pattaya is a prostitution stronghold. To demonstrate this, there is always someone who would like to emphasize it in front of the TV camera. People do the craziest things to get on TV. The Dutch Huig Spaargaren (66) therefore wants to show Ewout around the whore business and to spice things up, he makes some bold statements. Rinus van Berne, owner of a bar where the ladies dance around in Feyenoord shirts, also contributes to Sin City.
Furthermore, only older men over the age of 60 are shown, while there are also many young men walking around in Pattaya, but that would be too confusing for viewers. When an older man sits alone at a bar near Tree Town (Soi Buakhao) drinking a beer, Ewout calls it 'very sad'.
Of course Ewout also talks to a bargirl. When asked if she has ever had annoying customers, she had to think for a moment, yes, she answered. “You must have cried then?” Ewout asked interestedly. Look, that's top journalism right there Henk Hofland still something to learn from...
The program raises some serious questions about the way the subject was handled. It shows a tendentious approach that shows the behavior of mainly old Dutch men in an extremely negative light. While it is important to be critical of issues such as sex tourism and the exploitation of vulnerable populations, it is also important to paint a nuanced picture that does justice to the complexity of the subject.
First of all, emphasis is placed on the idea that Dutch men who travel to Thailand leave a "bad aftertaste" because of their way of thinking. However, this is a simplistic representation of a much more complex reality. There are countless reasons why people — of all nationalities — travel to places like Pattaya, ranging from tourism to looking for a serious relationship.
The program does not shy away from using terms such as 'shady industry' and 'man's paradise', which only adds to the sensation and stigma. Images of Peter Visser, who is looking for a serious relationship through a Thai dating agency, are alternated with images of the Pattayan sex industry. By mixing this search for a serious relationship with the subject of prostitution, the program suggests that these two things are somehow intrinsically linked, and that is factually incorrect and also reprehensible to portray it that way.
In addition, the article treats Thai women and sex workers in a one-sided way, mainly as victims. While there are certainly serious problems in the Thai sex industry, such as exploitation and human trafficking, it is reductive to place all Thai women and sex workers in this category. It does not do justice to the good intentions that many of them certainly have.
Finally, the ethical side of the story is mentioned, but it is hardly explored. Ethics is a complicated subject that requires a deeper analysis than simply suggesting that the Dutch men involved are acting unethically.
In general, it is important that media take a balanced, well-researched approach when discussing sensitive and complex topics such as these. Sensation and stigmatization detract from the opportunity to have a meaningful discussion.
Finally, I would like to say that I still don't understand why men want to participate in those kinds of programs, which only magnify the clichés. You are also portrayed as a kind of 'loser' to the entire TV-watching Netherlands. And of course Pattaya is once again being dragged through the mud by the tendentious and one-sided reporting.
Want to know more or look back: https://www.rtlxl.nl/programma/ewout/571a6bcc-63d0-4f9d-b695-44d68a588232
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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The current media is mainly sensational. Objective reporting is becoming increasingly rare. Journalists rarely talk about how things really work or how they would like things to happen.
That is the reason why I haven't had a TV for many years. Those mindless programs don't interest me anyway. It's so bad that you have to take the news with a grain of salt. The reporting is even politically biased!
That man, Ewout, must receive psychological assistance to cope with all the suffering and hardship he has seen? 😉 As far as I'm concerned, he can be put on the 'black' list and will never be allowed to enter Thailand again, 555
François, the whole Ewout has nothing to say; he is the face of those kinds of programs because he colors nicely. He's not even a journalist; only spent six months (yes!) at journalism school….
The director is in charge and determines what the viewers will like and what they will not. High viewing figures bring in more advertising dollars, so the end justifies the means? (To get old Machiavelli out of the stable…).
Anyway, see you in about a year or so when the next yo-yo comes to film in Pattaya. The broadcast stove has to be on, right?
Where in Pattaya is Rinus' bar located, I watched the images at least 6 times but I couldn't figure out where it was.
Jomtien beach road. I believe soi 3
Arie
Rinus's bar is in Jomtien soi 2
The stereotypical story of a channel that wants attention to get advertising revenue and then call it a day guys! I have heard about Thailand=sex for thirty years through my travels and living in that country. They didn't even bother to pronounce the name of Pattaya properly and I wonder if they can point out that city on the map...
As if Pattaya alone is the Sodom & Gomorrah of the world. This happens the same way in Manila, but you don't hear about it. By the way, prostitution is everywhere in the world. Ladies, gentlemen and transgender people who sell their bodies for money can be found everywhere and you can also make a paid seesaw in the Netherlands. And getting an erotic massage with a 'manual climax' is also prostitution. The fact that it is thicker in Pattaya is partly due to the warm climate and the gross poverty in Thailand and then the phenomenon occurs outside the doors while we in the Netherlands have sex with the CV at 10 and under a thick molton….
Another opportunity missed by the broadcasters, but hey, you get used to everything and so is this. Will there be a sequel? Then I put something else on….
Indeed, what a nonsense program, there are many women with a good education and normal work.
I completely agree with you, but they don't work behind the bar, and what that girl told Ewout that her family thinks she works in a restaurant, that's for show, they said that fifty years ago too, I don't understand why you have such a hard time with it?
Bar van Rinus is located in Jomtien, one of the side streets of Beachroad, I think Soi4.
Sick journalists who only want to score unscrupulous scores and blame that unscrupulousness on 'Thai whores' and old horny men.
With us, Be + Nl, it is hard work to unimaginatively put your drink in a condom at De Walletjes in ten minutes - almost forced labor.
It must all be very serious. That is a result of our three desert religions (Jews, Christians, Muslims) that teach us that sex is a dirty sin. Guilt and penalty are the result. Suffering always comes first and having fun is guilty. Jesus on the cross for our wickedness! Morality.
See Marieken van Nieumeghen who whored for seven years with her lover boy Moenen (= the devil), who made her breed in bars in Antwerp, allowing them to lead a wasteful and dissolute life. Marieken thoroughly enjoyed it. Until after seven years (symbolic number) she repented and entered the monastery for the rest of her life to do penance... This kind of morality!
How naive! Masochistic and sick!
In Thailand it's party time and fun with the girls. Thai women are very witty, cheerful and sharp, they want to have fun, dance and have fun. You go for aperitifs, to a restaurant, to dance in the discos, etc. They like to live in the moment. They like to live weightless.
And isn't that exactly what the psychological therapy for depressed people 'Mindfulness' (KU Leuven basic approach) uses to climb out of depression...?
Especially if they come from Isaan, you should go to a Tawan Daeng with Thai women. They go completely crazy there. And you get to know them down to the bottom. Flesh and blood, real emotions – not feigned ones! That is enjoyment and a privilege to experience it.
No posturing, like with us. I have experienced how many dates with boring wives who had been rightly dumped by their husbands and only wanted to know if they still had value on the market and then sent you home empty-handed.
Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy of life and never moralizing but individual and personal. You are morally responsible only to yourself. That gives a completely different perspective, Europe thinks that all Thai women are whores. How retarded. Dare to say that all Dutch women (= 8,5 million) are whores... So would 36 million Thai women be whores? Anyone who thinks that should in fact be taken to a psychiatric institution.
And yet, I have known English men who went to a Thai one on a decent terrace in Bangkok and asked out loud: 'How much?'
How sick can you be.
And how civilized are the Thais that they let that happen to them.
Thai civilization is far too strong to be humiliated by the unscrupulous West. Good thing, too!
Apparently a switch has been turned in the meantime.
Uh oh, this video is not allowed to be played
Unfortunately, this video cannot be played in the country you are in.
I searched further as I cannot/may not view the link provided by the editors.
Found this https://ap.lc/JwQVC where I see an old acquaintance who has a restaurant/bar.
Talk very reasonably about this worldly 'problem' in the short video.
And that other gentleman is talking about sexual deviations in white men.
Would like to know what sex without abnormalities is?
Let go of that kind of sensational TV.
I've been to Pattaya many times, nice for 2 days, but I still think it's a sad idea.
Alcoholism, prostitutes, drugs and yet many stranded men in a Thailand or beer brand t-shirt.
Ewout should have done more research, for example he did not realize that Peter's date was not a prostitute. She came from Bangkok and is just looking for a nice man. Peter, fishing with a woman is not the best idea for a nice date 🙂
Huig is just honest, “largest brothel in the world” is just that. Las Vegas is also called “gambling paradise on earth”.
They only filmed elderly men, there are plenty of young men/couples walking around in nice clothes.
Those ladies from that bar showed another room of misery, and then the Netherlands says again “ohhhh they are so pathetic”. Many ladies from a bar drive a better car than the average Dutch person.
An amateurish report.
Rinus' Williams Bar is located in Soi2 in Jomtien.
Rinus is a very nice bar owner.
He runs the Williams bar with his wife.
It is located in Soi2 in Jomtien. Always cosy. The ladies
are friendly but not pushy. You can
feel free to come and have a drink.
Those statements by that Rinus, I hope they are not translated into Thai, then he will be locked up immediately. Such a shame that the same one-sided story is always told and shown of Pattaya and Thailand, while there is so much more than those bars.
Also watched the program.
As the editors describe it, I can only agree 100 percent.
To claim that you can be king there with only a state pension is also to create such an image.
Rinus also considered himself a pimp. A statement that was put into his mouth.
The ladies come to the bar on their own to come and work there.
The lady interviewed herself already said that she wants to do this work because she does it for little money.
They prefer this “profession” over a job outside this industry. They have the choice.
Peter, who uses a dating agency, thinks he knows Thailand so well that in Pattaya, Bangkok and Phuket it's all about money, and outside of that it's all about poverty.
I therefore strongly suspect that quite a bit has been cut and only the statements of these gentlemen and lady have been broadcast, which confirms the prejudices.
Real journalism is therefore difficult to find.
Many reporters prefer to let their own opinion penetrate the news rather than remain neutral and that we can form our own opinion.
The program is exactly at the level of RTL5 and responds perfectly to the prudishness of our society. One-sided and unpalatable.
Exactly...even the commercials are tailored to Thailand, so it's only about revenue!!
Journalism is of low RTL level, but I wonder what a quality journalist from Pattaya can produce.
These are images that you encounter en masse everywhere in the side streets.
Yes, this is indicative of the level of Dutch TV and of course the viewers.
In terms of content, Ewaut also had very little content to present anything.
Sad RTL 5 and all other channels
You know it's all about the ratings, so bread and circuses for the people. And they will get that too.
The more sensational, the more viewers and advertising revenue. Money is the magic word.
It's not called “infotainment” for nothing, so it includes a lot of entertainment.
Although it is nice to mention the criticism of the program here, it remains within its own environment.
However, it would have been more useful if people had reported their criticism directly to program makers and broadcasters with the request for a more balanced documentary. All the more so because normal Thailand visitors also get a mark on their foreheads. But believe me, completely useless.
Perhaps it would be more useful to submit a petition? Supported by Dutch and Thai embassies?
But I don't think much of that either when it comes to defending the interests of well-intentioned fellow countrymen.
Another program made easy to score. As Erik already wrote, first pronounce Pattaya properly. I don't frequent Dutch bars when I'm in Pattaya, but I think Rinus has been in Pattaya for a long time. I still remember that on the beach road, where Central Festival is now located, there was a group of bars where the best man also had a bar. You also had the Chang bar (1 and 2) and they were also owned by a Dutchman. And a certain Rinus also had a bar there.
That girl who went to work said at one point she had 10 customers a day. Now some will wrongly think that she has sex with 10 men in 1 day, but she probably gets 10 lady drinks in 1 day. Quite a difference.
Indeed, another story where the Dutch/Flemish must feel good about living in the beautiful West, and forget for a moment that he is being squeezed like a Citroën by his government to pay for vague plans. 99% of Thai women are not prostitutes. I have been coming to Thailand for almost 40 years with a non-Thai wife, I have a condo in Jomtien and I don't visit whores, I don't sit in bars every night and I know that there are many like me, or who simply have a wife their own age.
Getting a little tired of this mood-making
Let go, don't worry. This confirms existing prejudices and biases. RTL is concerned with viewer share and Ewout with easy scoring. This type of program has been made before. It is indeed strange that there are men who participate in it, while they are seen in a bad light. The theme is obvious: Pattaya as contemporary Sodom & Gomorrah. So what? It exists, people need it, the powerful of the earth as well as the ordinary citizenry. That is why attention is paid to it and why people come from far and wide. Thailand is thriving, and many of us live there. Some people find it scandalous, others find it amusing. There will be a similar broadcast again next year.
There are so many countries where things are a lot more disgusting than in Pattaya. Rarely do you see these kinds of broadcasts about this.
In Las Vegas, for example, they drive around with a van containing the ladies menu that you can have delivered to your hotel room.
And I'm not even talking about African countries and countries like Colombia and Venezuela and many others.
But then Thailand must have been one of the first to attract many tourists for that reason. And once your name has been made, it is often once and for all.
I know if anyone can get Ewout's email, otherwise send a mass email that things can be done differently in Pattaya.
Mike, I explained in my response today that you should not be with Ewout. He was hired to give the program a face as a celebrity.
You have to go to the broadcaster and they have a website, so go look there. But does it help? Do you think those people here aren't reading along and aren't laughing their asses off now?
Does it help if you inform the advertisers of that broadcaster that you will no longer purchase their products and services because of that nonsense? But then you won't be able to buy anything anymore because every broadcaster has something to annoy you about...
Grin and bear it. It's part of it these days.
This program is based on sensation.
I have been coming to Pattaya with my wife for over 30 years.
We know Pattaya like the back of our hands.
Pattaya is beautiful.
So much to do.
Beautiful warm culture.
We never visit the Dutch tents there.
We always go our own way.
We have a nice accommodation in Jomtein.
In the early 90s we sometimes had something to eat at Den Innh van Giel.
Opposite the lek hotel 2nd road.
What I want to say is there is more than just those bars in Pattaya.
I sometimes wonder why people participate in such programs?
knowing that cut and pasted and not in the good sense
I just don't understand all the fuss, it's just the truth, I used to party a lot, but unfortunately I'm too old for that now, I'm now 72 years old and I have a different outlook on life.
But there's nothing wrong with spending your old age there,
Why always those negative stories about Pattaya? It is a wonderful place to spend the winter, lovely people, top restaurants, good apartments, hotels, markets.
And...senile old men, who have many physical and mental ailments, who abuse the caring Thai mentality. Shame that the Dutch. media lends itself to this. Shame
If you don't really have a good subject for a documentary, the usual topics are: Trump, Sex tourism in Thailand, travel advice and car talk
You would expect that they would want to offer viewers something original. but no, not really.
Chewing it out is less work
I don't really care what people think about Pattaya. Never cared what people said.
I had a fantastic time there, especially in the 90s. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.
It's been a few years now since I've been there.
The madness is over, as we say in Flanders, and I am now perfectly happy in Kanchanaburi.
But sometimes I still think back on that time with great pleasure
Ronny, what people say and think about Pattaya or Thailand in general no longer bothers me.
What I did notice when I had just married my Thai wife and she came to live in Belgium was that many people viewed us with condescension. I even experienced a lot of gossip and some family members absolutely refused to contact me (they never even wanted to meet my wife). That last bit hurts me (us) a bit.
All this has strengthened me to make the decision to come and live in Thailand permanently. I only have contact with my 2 sons. For the rest I enjoy this beautiful country, my Thai family and my dear wife.
Those comments have always been there. Never knew otherwise.
I once met someone after only being married for 2 years and he asked me if I was still married to that Thai… well….
As I said before: "Stupid people cannot offend or hurt me with their words or actions, and smart people don't do that anyway."
Not, DE, but one of the reasons that I left for Thailand six years earlier than we had in mind.
We then talk about the years surrounding the banking crisis.
That Thai one of yours was a normal form of address for many, everywhere, but didn't make the mistake of asking how things were going with 'yours', then it was yours, I was talking about my wife.
Many were hypocritical and degenerate to the point of being racist from low to high in their manners.
Couldn't you find a Dutch woman was always a common question.
And those were the tongue-in-cheek comments in serious conversations.
A shot in front of an open goal was usually there for the taking, your sister didn't like it, she always did it, but if you have to live like that……………
As soon as the rinse becomes thin, you get to know the true person.
The Thai often don't think much differently, but at least they still have the awareness to present that thought a bit more subtly.
Join the club Bertrand. Part of my family also dumped me for that reason. It doesn't really keep me awake. But they do go to church every week
He should make a program about the Gooise mattress where the ladies and gentlemen like to stretch their pants for a nice role in a movie.
Maybe that's how Ewoud got his promotion as a so-called documentary maker.
That will be an exciting broadcast!!
My sister sent a link about that program…https://www.rtlboulevard.nl/entertainment/tv/artikel/5403103/ewout-genemans-schrikt-van-vrouwen-walhalla-thailand
I took one look at it and could make out the rest... how often is it approached like that?
It is the same when a Thai journalist reports about the Red Light District in Amsterdam and then pretends that this is normality.
I was last in Pattaya in 2012. I didn't like it and have since avoided it when I went to Koh Chang.
I think that kind of reporting is idiotic. But at the same time I don't care much what people in the Netherlands think. Intelligent people know how to rank and also realize that not everyone goes to Thailand for that. And what stupid people with prejudices think? That's the last thing that interests me.