Prayut wants to end Thailand's image as a sex destination
Thailand needs to work on its image. Prime Minister Prayut responded yesterday to the remark of a minister from Gambia that when tourists go on holiday for sex, they should choose Thailand rather than Gambia.
The prime minister also says that people in Thailand must also accept that some Thai people earn their living as sex workers. If we want to prevent this, we must solve the problems so that this group can also obtain a good job and income. And we have to check whether or not sex workers are happy with their occupation. According to Prayut, the decision to work in the sex business is also motivated by the desire to earn money for luxury goods.
About the remark of the Gambian minister, he says: “If someone says something about Thailand and it is correct, then we must comply and take legal measures to solve the problem. The government must help to give Pattaya and other tourist places a quality injection, sex tourism will decrease.”
Despite Prayut's relativistic words, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is going to ask the Thai embassy in Dakar (Senegal), which also works for the Gambia, to write an angry letter about the remark of the Gambian minister. Such comments can damage image and tourism. Thai foreign minister Don says that Thailand is not a sex destination because the country has much more to offer than that. He thinks that the comment from Gambia is not taken seriously by the international community.
A similar letter is being sent to the Gambian ambassador in Kuala Lumpur and the Gambian honorary consul-general was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. He said that Gambians living in Thailand are also not happy with what their own minister has said.
Source: Bangkok Post
Thailand needs to work on its image, bravo!
The TAT has been committed to quality tourism for years. Families with children should come here on holiday, they say. We see that in Pattaya! All vulgar entertainment, the hordes of vulgar flatheads chasing their genitals all day long! Is a minister from Gambia not allowed to say anything about that?
I don't believe the Thai anymore. You have to go north from the TAT to discover the real Thai life of the countryside. So this winter we went to Nan for a change, but in this northern province we were kept awake every night for weeks - really every night - by the monotonous disco boom of noisy house parties, village parties with giant ghetto blasters and deafening temple parties!
Well seen from Prayut: Thailand indeed needs to do something about its image. Before it is too late.
Being a guest in a country means, among other things, accepting what the customs are in that country and conforming to it – village festivals, temple parties and house parties are part of the Thai lifestyle (culture) and these types of parties are certainly quite noisy
So there are a few options for a foreigner who wants to take advantage of this hospitality (to go on holiday or stay there for a longer period of time)
– fully adapt to it and stay there, live, live and participate in that Thai life or at least do not break those customs, etc.
– not accepting it and going back to your own country of birth where perhaps, for those people who do not accept the hospitality of another country but want to have their own way, it will not be good to live either
– have a hard time with it, stay anyway, accept it and don't complain about it.
As for prostitution – this profession is as old as humanity, is everywhere and is no worse in Thailand than anywhere else in the world – only some media think they have reinvented the cold water….
There is room for improvement everywhere, it is good to live everywhere…
Medals have 2 sides — the always shiny side and the reverse side that usually turns out to be a bit less attractive
Conclusion = improve the world, start with yourself
My family, relatives and myself don't think living in Thailand is that bad
You can of course tolerate things as long as they don't get too bad and criticize them. Of course, there may be some grumbling about that. A lot of my friends complain that Krungthep is a dirty, overcrowded, sinking stinking city. Or that governments are almost always shitty, that there is no justice between rich and poor, that there are quite a few rude, stupid tourists who come for drinks or prostitutes, etc. In short, that Thailand is a mess in quite a few respects. Several of them would like to emigrate and leave their native Thailand. Or all this just causes them pain and sorrow while they see no prospects for improvement for the ordinary average Thai. And they love to express their frustrations with/to me or hear my opinion. Of course, where the Gestapo cannot listen.
So I go for the option 'keep coming, grumble but also laugh enough and try to have sanook despite the misery that is there'.
And Gambia vs Thailand? Same but different, a certain type of women goes to Gambia and a certain type of men goes to Thailand. We have been hearing from the TAT for a while now about attracting the 'better' tourists, but to really do something about it, you can't just let the bulldozer drive through a few buildings. Only with better access to quality education for all residents, a better social system, more transparency, more freedom of expression without draconian penalties (112), better justice, etc. can anything really change. Step by step. It would help if the junta buys fewer toys with the tax money (can I also include a tax reform? The rich are still too much left out).
Hmm and something about voting rights for the foreigners who live here permanently. First start with the most important group of foreigners, the neighbors from ASEAN who live here. Then they can also contribute politically to improve the country. Because a better world does indeed start with you, both in how you live and in which direction you take the government.
Right-yes.. Gambia…
They already have this “industry”…
https://www.volkskrant.nl/magazine/europese-vrouw-ontdekt-de-gigolo-s-van-gambia~a987640/
And yet.
Slowly but surely places like Pattaya will be tackled.
The best man is growing and I'm happy about that. He gets my vote because I have not yet heard this kind of wording from other dignitaries in Thailand. Now do the deed to the word and see what comes out beautiful. As an advocate of considerably less prostitution, this pleases me. There is indeed a lot to see in Thailand and the focus should be on that. There are also, as Toni rightly states, other matters that require special attention, so I can also do a little less there. Yes there is still a lot to do. Slowly turn off the prostitution tap, retrain the ladies and gentlemen sex workers and also the foreign prostitutes out of the country, because they are also criminally engaged. Get rid of those Russian and other mafia groups. Perhaps it is temporarily making the madman live in joy, but there is always hope.
I live in Udon and am not bothered at all by everything Tony says, it is quiet in Isaan and a few times a year we go to Bangkok and Pattaya and indeed you have sex tourists there but you have them all over the world, but if you make the effort to look further, you have very beautiful beaches in Pattaya where there are no sex tourists and only families with or without children, eg Domgtonbeach.
Eddy lives in Udon…let this be the place in Isaan with the most foreign men. Now I don't want to advertise, but there is a street where it looks like small Pattaya, so beer bars with female company. You will not find this elsewhere in the Isan.
sorry Eddy, but you shouldn't want to be more pope than the pope.
I myself know udonthani very well and the redlignt district is widely represented, both above ground and underground, min 750 to 1500 ladies work in this business with a factar 2 to 3 as daily customers
Ladies are often also recruited or asked from khonkean to meet the demand.
there is also a good connection with Nongkhai and the surrounding area.
Why Pattaya,
Pattaya has become a bustling city as it is only a short one and a half hour drive from Survarnabumi international airport {udon 8a9 hours by bus}.
This means that as a tourist you can fly from Pattaya to many locations in and around Thailand in a short period of time.
Pattaya is also a village that has outgrown its strength compared to the always hot, heavy smog-filled juggernaut Bangkok where everything is far apart.
On the other hand, for tourists, Pattaya has a lot to offer in terms of [tourist] attractions and it follows that where tourists are there is money.
It is therefore a logical consequence that where people and families have no money, they automatically go to Pattaya through word of mouth to try to earn a good living in the tourism industry, among other things.
See the small Netherlands with a total exodus from Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe and Zeeland to the big cities to earn money.
well Tony you were indeed in the town of Nan. A town with about 21.000 inhabitants. That is probably NOT the countryside, or am I mistaken?
greetings Dre
As is often the case, Prayut only needs a few simplistic remarks to lay down the whole problem of Thailand's image and then come up with the solutions. Alas, alas. Reality is not that simple to capture and therefore neither are the solutions.
Apart from a few nymophane and strongly Western-minded women, I don't think there is a single woman in Thailand who only 'sells' her body for pleasure. And I'm not just talking about the sex industry, but also about the gigs and the women who populate the dating sites and the bars and have regular jobs. The main reasons are short-term money and finding a new, hopefully wealthy, life partner.
Undoubtedly there are women who use the money to pay for luxury goods for themselves or loved ones (or the loans for that), but you have to ask yourself whether a mobile phone is not a necessity of life rather than a luxury. In my opinion, a large number of women would not sell their bodies if they could earn enough money in a normal way to live the life they want. Illegal activities always yield more money than a regular job, but the relationships in Thailand are very skewed and tempt women to do the sex work temporarily or permanently. “Incomes' of 50.000 Baht per month are no exception and that is the same salary as a starting teacher (with MBA) at a university.
One of the most important things that could significantly reduce prostitution is to structurally close the gaping gap between high and low incomes, between rich and poor. No government has made any proposals for this in the past 10 years. In fact, every government refuses to raise the minimum wage substantially.
Dear Chris,
You say, quote:
"In fact, every government refuses to raise the minimum wage substantially."
Any government? In the past 10 years, you say?
Ever heard of Yingluck Shinawatra? In 2011 (7 years ago), the minimum wage in Thailand was 215 baht. 215 baht!! (In practice, often less). The election manifesto (that really existed!) of the Pheu Thai Party (2011) wanted to increase the minimum wage 'substantially', against the wishes of the business community ('we will all go bankrupt'). Yingluck succeeded in this in 2012. It went almost 50 percent up, to 300 baht, to the delight of many people.
It has to be much better, of course, but then there must be elections… with a social-democratic party as the winner.
https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/minimum-wages
by substantial I mean:
– regular increases (for example 10% annually instead of 1% in one go and then nothing more; such an increase requires creative solutions from employers to circumvent it) to a level that does not destroy you with a minimum wage
– a government that monitors this and takes action in the event of violations
– a government that ensures that employers do not come up with all kinds of tricks to evade the minimum wage (in my condo a construction worker has changed from permanent to on-call worker since the introduction of the increase)
– at least keeps pace with the rise in the cost of living.
In April 2018, the minimum wage will increase again. Not thanks to Yingluck but to the unions.
There had been no increase in the minimum wage since 2013, with the exception of a few provinces last year. The current minimum wages are from 308 to 330 baht per day. And this after 4 years of no increase, while prices have risen during these 4 years. The increase in January was 5 to 22 baht per day.
You can therefore argue that the wage increase in January was entirely spent on the increased prices over 4 years, so on balance there is no progress for those with a minimum wage.
I think you mean that the increase in April is the effect of the decision in January last month. The new minimum will therefore be from 308 to 330 baht depending on the province. So also the current government has not arranged an effective increase in view of the price inflation.
Hi Chris,
Just to clarify, the ladies are not forced to work in the work they do, but are forced by the situation in their living environment and under financial pressure from the family in which the daughters are expected to take care of the children and the parents and grandparents if they have no income. to have.
example, A beautiful young lady named Bee from Udonthani, 23 years old graduated from a good university in Bangkok,
working in a Bank in Udonthani decides after many stories and truth experienced with his own eyes
of ladies, friends who live with a farang to decide to quit her permanent job and leave for Phuket
In Phuket, Bee works in the tourist industry [bar, hotel] earning 80 to 100 baht per month.
One day, Bee goes with an apparently rich American who has a huge house with a swimming pool on the island of Phuket.
Bee decides to go for this American [ficted name john].
John, 59 years old, is pampered by Bee wherever possible, with the result that they return to Udonthani.
in Udonthani a big house is being built for Bee and John and in the meantime Bee is doing a hairdressing course in Udonthani to later start a so-called beauty salon.
Bee also receives a new Mazda 3 as transportation and an expense allowance of 50.000 baht per month because, after all, you have to pay for your own noodle soup during your training, right?
Anyway, the construction of the house is going well, as is Bee's training.
John is very pleased with Bee and decides to have a nice house built for Bee's parents as well
John decides to give Bee's father a Toyota Hilux Prerunner as a gift.
Now 3 years later, John lives alternately with Bee in America and Phuket and the beauty salon has been sold.
Bee's parents and family live in the 2 big houses that John built
What is the moral of this story: There are thousands of these stories in all the villages and towns around Nakhon Ratschachima, Khonkean, Udonthani, Chiangmai Nongkhai, Nonthaburi etc etc everywhere in Thailand.
Because of what the Thai population in the so-called Isaan hears and sees and experiences firsthand, the daughters are asked under gentle pressure to look for a rich farang
This gives the family a higher status in the village or city where you are staying.
firstly through acquired gold which is widely displayed, then a new motorcycle, preferably Honda Click or Vespa.
Another step higher on the ladder is of course a new car, whether or not a pickup truck, so that the whole family can join the trips there.
After that, of course, is the ultimate status of a beautifully fenced large house with possibly a fixed monthly allowance for all necessities of life.
That is why ladies from the isaan and also from big cities go to work in the tourist industry
so you can only change this situation if you offer everyone a salary or income of
30.000 baht or higher, with the result that young Thai ladies can live together with young Thai men and support their family, including parents and grandparents.
but then also you don't stop this because the tourist industry is in euros and billions industry with far too large financial and political interests.
because of this the {problem} will never go away only move through supply and demand
because of the demand, women from cambodia, miamar, japan, russia etc etc come here for the same reasons
If you want to solve this [Problem], which is not a problem because you decide where you go, increase all prices in Thailand by 100%, then tourism will stop and you will have an uprising, resulting in the entire economy being shut down.
Or leave everything as it is and allow everyone to value what they want to do and not do and enjoy all the beauty in this fantastic beautiful Thailand with its friendly and helpful people
Where you are welcomed in the Makro with a blow by the parking attendant and you are helped with directions to park in and out, where the door of the Makro, for example, is opened for you and welcomed by an extremely polite Thai in uniform and always greeted at checkout. helped with your shopping
In hospitals you can walk in day or night without an appointment and you will immediately be treated with every respect by very friendly doctors who often speak English.
every day on your motorcycle or in the car enjoying the beautiful warm climate and the delicious food [stalls with strawberries, mangoes, fried banana, pineapple, fish, chicken, etc. on the street prepared by friendly Thai people.
Come all to Thailand and enjoy the most beautiful country in the world
So your conclusion is: leave everything as it is so that the foreigner can continue to enjoy the ladies and the cheap life?
Guys anyway.
Hmm, so you can see the problem (low incomes, sharp income inequality) but it's not something we should do anything about, as long as people with money can easily go there. Try putting yourself in the shoes of the Thai you mention and then ask yourself if it's not a problem.
Is Prayut losing his faith?
There is no prostitution in Thailand!
The prime minister has now announced that people in Thailand must also accept that some Thai people earn their living as sex workers.
If it is correct, we will have to comply and take measures, says Prayut!
It remains the land of smiles.
Regardless of where you come from, regardless of where you live, it is always the same song when you dare to say the word “Thailand”.
Ask those around you if they know anything about Thailand at all, and you will invariably get Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok as answers. Sometimes you hear the name of some beautiful island. You can then immediately decide to which category you can place the respondent.
( 1 ) In other words, a real tourist and Thailand lover with value and respect for the country and the people there.
( 2 ) Or someone who, for a few weeks ( 2 to 3 ), leaves for THAILAND with a full purse and enthusiasm and starts the return journey with a flat purse to recover from their financial hangover in their home country.
(3) Or someone who has heard the wildest stories from friends in their home country about what is going on in Thailand and profiles themselves as an “expert in this area”.
If you make it clear to them after their story that you are married to a Thai and have only moderate knowledge of life there, then the reaction is really worth seeing and hearing.
No. (1) shows honest curiosity in order to broaden his horizons in further exploring Thailand and will want further information.
No. (2) is starting to feel a bit wet, where the macho feeling melts away like snow in the sun and his wild, breathtaking stories turn into a whispered conversation between like-minded people and has a tendency to switch to another theme.
Finally, number (3) you always get the answer: "I've never been there, it's just hearsay." ” and the “connoisseur” has to return to his role of a manipulable listener. Not more, not less.
I think that minister from Gambia, according to me, can be found in category (3) …….. hahahaha that also rhymes.
greetings to all with the "right" heart
Dre
Thailand has always been a country with a double standard of sex. That has nothing to do with sex tourism. Before the tourists came, a majority of both Thai men and Thai women were unfaithful and adulterous and to this day they are still number 1 in the world.
The countries where the most adultery is committed (google source)
.
Thailand with spot number 1 – 56 percent
It's just in Thai nature to be adulterous.
Not that I'm going to pass judgment on that. But don't throw it at the sex-hungry tourists who give Thailand a bad name when it comes to sex. That's just bullshit. The Thai themselves do that, given the statistics.
Thai women and Thai men just think a little easier about having sex with other partners. You should only know how many Thai men own a Mia Noi (also known as an outdoor woman). And how many students have a part-time job with both Thai men and foreign men to pay for their studies? And Prayut is going to handle that?? Not really!!
Thailand will not change in that area anytime soon. All praise for that minister from Gambia, by the way, who does not mince words and simply states the facts as they are. Even Prayut agrees with him and then start writing angry letters pro forma? Talk about double standards.
“Opinions” about 'Africa' have been stuck in the colonial period, judging by the earlier comments…
And now even a Thai leader is saying the same thing…well…
Very stupid statement from Gambia because those who go to Gambia are often scammed by the many criminals, let them do something about it first and then make those strange statements about another beautiful country.
The AD of March 2, so this morning.
The Dutch living in Pattaya are again stamped.
Fifteen hours flying time away, it is predominantly obese men who keep the national sex tourism going. 100.000 in the Thai city of Pattaya alone.”
So fat men in Pattaya, what do you do with something like that. No wonder that dead trees are denounced in the newspapers en masse, when the most possible nonsense is spouted on an in fact unimportant subject. What about serious subjects? I have my doubts about that.