My oh my, lets not disturb those shoppers! It all boils down to the disruption of those most holy spenders doesn’t it. How dare anyone have the temerity to disrupt spenders! Oh the inhumanity of it all!
The posting from Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers is a sad statement on the exploitation psychology behind sex tourism and those who justify the industry. The hazards of the sex industry to Asian children are well documented and widely accepted by international standards of basic human rights.
That the organization would espouse a view that the cash remittances sex-working children send to their needy families justifies their sex work is logically untenable. Individuals engaged in narcotics trafficking, slavery, theft rings, mafias, and terrorism also earn money for their families as part of their “work”. Would they justify those activities on similar grounds?
It is one thing for an organization or NGO to promote safety for sex workers stuck in a legally marginalized sex industry; it is quite another to promote the sex industry as a development strategy to combat national poverty. To suggest such would be pinning the success of an anti-poverty program on the spending habits of the Christopher Paul Neils of this world.
Morover, before the ILO is taken to task by the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers, why not target the Thai government and Thai society more generally for its hypocrisy? How likely is it that Thailand is going to formally legalize sex tourism, fully regulate it, promote it overtly with TAT funds, subsidize brothels, and admit to the world that it prioritizes a development policy where poor male and female children “choose” a life of pleasuring wealthy people? Children need protection by public institutions when parents and society fail children. Poverty is no justification to pressure children into such a “choice.” It is not the ILO’s purpose to promote sex work.
Sex work risks serious and fatal disease, mental scares, abuse, shame, and is associated with a host of opportunity costs that result from such a “choice” of work? A better question is when will Thai officials live up to the standards in the CRC it ratified in 1992 (which defines children as under 18)? Or when will the Thai government move to seriously protect Thai children must feed their older family members with the small margins of baht brothel-owners actually pay them to pleasure the genitalia of adult strangers and pedophiles such as Christopher Paul Neil?
I watched the PAD rally most of its nearly 7 hours (from 15.45-22.30) on their ASTV. I got the impression that the atmosphere and the speeches were, perhaps, not as “firely” as one would expect. I mean, compare to last year, when they were trying to oust the government, they looked more ‘real’, more determined then, while this time around it felt somewhat ‘unreal’ to me. While before the rally, the PAD seemed to try to ‘wipe up’ the hatred of Thaksin for what he allegedly said about the monarchy, something along the line of the 6 Tula perhaps, it didn’t seem to me quite working. The atmosphere wasn’t quite full of hatred, tensed ‘loyalty to the King’, that kind of stuff. And the fact that the rally broke up a bit sooner than one would have expected perhaps supports this impression. Finally, the number of PAD ‘celebrities’ (famous people who supported their courses) seemed to show up less than they implied at news conference before the rally?
Did I get the wrong impression here, Khun Nick?
Also, your estimate of the PAD crowd around 35000, isn’t this a little too high? It didn’t seem that many to me.
I agree with you WLH, I just wish the reds would evolve past the need for Thaksin at all. I think he degrades their message, and slows their progress. It’s time for the reds to cut off the dead wood.
Massive English class are not a new phenomenon in Burma, especially in Rangoon and if it is free. More than 35 years ago I used to sit among at least a thousand young Burmese almost every week for more than six months in an English class given by an aging American Buddhist monk in the large mess hall of giant Tha-yet-taw monastery in Rangoon.
Right in the middle of the class he would frequently remind us of the evil of totalitarian society, and praise the glowing fighting-beacon from United States of America against the heaving communist tide in South East Asia.
It was a strange concept then for us young Burmese growing up in the era of Burmese Way to Socialism, for the Vietnam war was almost over and influenced by the government propaganda we thought the Vietnamese Communists led by Uncle Ho were gallant heroes against the American invaders.
He never told us his American name except his monk name. I think, eventually Ne Win kicked him out of Burma for his anti-government and anti-socialist rhetoric or simply killed him, for he just one day disappeared and our English class was suddenly over.
I am told by recent visitors to Myanmar that IELTS classes are sprouting all over the 2 main cities, Yangon and Mandalay, faster than ever. Apparently, students aspiring to go for further studies in English language speaking countries need to attain a certain level of IELTS, hence the popularity.
I do hope the development aid that Tom mentions above will materialise soon and turn into more systematic teaching before the some of the dubious IELTS providers turns this ‘hunger for English’ into chaos.
Thank you Aussie!
Thank you for taking innovative thinking into high gear and work alongside Myanmar government and her highly motivated people to learn English. Thank you for applying your skills to one of the most challenging, interesting, and meaningful projects. I think people to people communication is as important as the Market and the State components.
ah……..the French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand…….who claims to have had commercial sex in Thailand not with “boys” but only with men of his own age, that is about 60 years old, “rent grandfathers” as they are known in Thailand………..and who, while having been a “tourist” in Thailand and having had, as he so enthusiastically describes in his book, a lot of “commercial sex” while in Bangkok, denies emphatically that he is, in any sense of the term, a “Sex Tourist”……..in fact, it turns out he is “passionately opposed” to “Sex Tourism”………..
such a bundle of contradictions, confusion and hypocrisy……what was dear Frederic ever thinking when he accepted that appointment by Sarkozy to join the French cabinet, that no one would ever read the book or ask him any questions………..
in any case, he’s not the first tourist to come to Bangkok and definitely will not the last to become “lost in the Bangkok Night”……
“Yet their use of the royal symbols presents a question: did they carry the royal symbols as an extra measure of safety as they riled traffic police feathers and inconvenienced Sunday afternoon shoppers? Or was there another message?”
Thai constitution Chapter 2 Section 9. The King is a Buddhist and Upholder of religions.
I think that this clause in the constitution is the royal connection you are wondering about. I am not sure if you are implying that the King has any connection to providing opium to the masses.
Susie Wong,
Interesting idea. At APEC, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith hinted that Australia was considering development aid to Myanmar, in addition to the humanitarian aid it is giving. This would probably fall in the development aid category, and I think would be a worthwhile idea.
Tom
[…] Asian Games, there will be no sporting events for basketball, gymnastics and track cycling. But finswimming is included in the competition. Cancel this […]
Would it be possible if the Myanmar government could allow any Australian company to open an English school in Myanmar? Or would there be any possibility between the governments of the two countries to open a channel of communication for providing English teachers for Burmese people? I think learning to speak English from native speaker would be much more beneficial because some of the words and phrase in this video are incomprehensible. I genuinely hope the governments of Myanmar and Australia would consider this request because English is an important language in this age of globalization, a proper English teacher would solve incomprehensible and illegible problems.
Rerkrit: The silent majority is perhaps the opposite of what you described. They are not so ignorant as you think they are. They will take back the country too– not the way you depicted. Thaksin is not the problem but was a victim of a cruel plot. Many rural Thais support him because of the injustice he has received and he deserves good respect as someone who has done much to his country. Demonizing him is something many Thais think unjust and want to undo.
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Religion is the opiate of the masses
inconvenienced Sunday afternoon shoppers?
My oh my, lets not disturb those shoppers! It all boils down to the disruption of those most holy spenders doesn’t it. How dare anyone have the temerity to disrupt spenders! Oh the inhumanity of it all!
Sex workers speak out on Mitterand
The posting from Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers is a sad statement on the exploitation psychology behind sex tourism and those who justify the industry. The hazards of the sex industry to Asian children are well documented and widely accepted by international standards of basic human rights.
That the organization would espouse a view that the cash remittances sex-working children send to their needy families justifies their sex work is logically untenable. Individuals engaged in narcotics trafficking, slavery, theft rings, mafias, and terrorism also earn money for their families as part of their “work”. Would they justify those activities on similar grounds?
It is one thing for an organization or NGO to promote safety for sex workers stuck in a legally marginalized sex industry; it is quite another to promote the sex industry as a development strategy to combat national poverty. To suggest such would be pinning the success of an anti-poverty program on the spending habits of the Christopher Paul Neils of this world.
Morover, before the ILO is taken to task by the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers, why not target the Thai government and Thai society more generally for its hypocrisy? How likely is it that Thailand is going to formally legalize sex tourism, fully regulate it, promote it overtly with TAT funds, subsidize brothels, and admit to the world that it prioritizes a development policy where poor male and female children “choose” a life of pleasuring wealthy people? Children need protection by public institutions when parents and society fail children. Poverty is no justification to pressure children into such a “choice.” It is not the ILO’s purpose to promote sex work.
Sex work risks serious and fatal disease, mental scares, abuse, shame, and is associated with a host of opportunity costs that result from such a “choice” of work? A better question is when will Thai officials live up to the standards in the CRC it ratified in 1992 (which defines children as under 18)? Or when will the Thai government move to seriously protect Thai children must feed their older family members with the small margins of baht brothel-owners actually pay them to pleasure the genitalia of adult strangers and pedophiles such as Christopher Paul Neil?
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
I watched the PAD rally most of its nearly 7 hours (from 15.45-22.30) on their ASTV. I got the impression that the atmosphere and the speeches were, perhaps, not as “firely” as one would expect. I mean, compare to last year, when they were trying to oust the government, they looked more ‘real’, more determined then, while this time around it felt somewhat ‘unreal’ to me. While before the rally, the PAD seemed to try to ‘wipe up’ the hatred of Thaksin for what he allegedly said about the monarchy, something along the line of the 6 Tula perhaps, it didn’t seem to me quite working. The atmosphere wasn’t quite full of hatred, tensed ‘loyalty to the King’, that kind of stuff. And the fact that the rally broke up a bit sooner than one would have expected perhaps supports this impression. Finally, the number of PAD ‘celebrities’ (famous people who supported their courses) seemed to show up less than they implied at news conference before the rally?
Did I get the wrong impression here, Khun Nick?
Also, your estimate of the PAD crowd around 35000, isn’t this a little too high? It didn’t seem that many to me.
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
Thanks for your great report and amazing photographs!
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
I agree with you WLH, I just wish the reds would evolve past the need for Thaksin at all. I think he degrades their message, and slows their progress. It’s time for the reds to cut off the dead wood.
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
Ha-roi baht, took khon sabai sabai! haha.
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
Picture of King and Queen on a stage for political rally.
Hmm…
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
[…] 2: As usual, New Mandala commentator Nick Nostitz has a perspective and some interesting pictures of this rally and the PAD rally in Bangkok, […]
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
Looks like the Yellows need Thaksin more than the Reds do! Not surprising given that he’s acting like an idiot lately.
Or put another way: The Reds are evolving, the Yellows are not. In fact, the Yellows are by nature against evolution.
Saturday red, Sunday yellow: the temperature rises again
thanks Nick, appreciate your efforts in getting to both
great photos, see also redshirt photos at
http://www.pantip.com/cafe/rajdumnern/topic/P8550004/P8550004.html
and also your estimates of numbers, the photos make it obvious the police reported numbers are low, for both (why?)
Massive teaching
Massive English class are not a new phenomenon in Burma, especially in Rangoon and if it is free. More than 35 years ago I used to sit among at least a thousand young Burmese almost every week for more than six months in an English class given by an aging American Buddhist monk in the large mess hall of giant Tha-yet-taw monastery in Rangoon.
Right in the middle of the class he would frequently remind us of the evil of totalitarian society, and praise the glowing fighting-beacon from United States of America against the heaving communist tide in South East Asia.
It was a strange concept then for us young Burmese growing up in the era of Burmese Way to Socialism, for the Vietnam war was almost over and influenced by the government propaganda we thought the Vietnamese Communists led by Uncle Ho were gallant heroes against the American invaders.
He never told us his American name except his monk name. I think, eventually Ne Win kicked him out of Burma for his anti-government and anti-socialist rhetoric or simply killed him, for he just one day disappeared and our English class was suddenly over.
Massive teaching
Susie,
I am told by recent visitors to Myanmar that IELTS classes are sprouting all over the 2 main cities, Yangon and Mandalay, faster than ever. Apparently, students aspiring to go for further studies in English language speaking countries need to attain a certain level of IELTS, hence the popularity.
I do hope the development aid that Tom mentions above will materialise soon and turn into more systematic teaching before the some of the dubious IELTS providers turns this ‘hunger for English’ into chaos.
Massive teaching
Thank you Aussie!
Thank you for taking innovative thinking into high gear and work alongside Myanmar government and her highly motivated people to learn English. Thank you for applying your skills to one of the most challenging, interesting, and meaningful projects. I think people to people communication is as important as the Market and the State components.
Sex workers speak out on Mitterand
ah……..the French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand…….who claims to have had commercial sex in Thailand not with “boys” but only with men of his own age, that is about 60 years old, “rent grandfathers” as they are known in Thailand………..and who, while having been a “tourist” in Thailand and having had, as he so enthusiastically describes in his book, a lot of “commercial sex” while in Bangkok, denies emphatically that he is, in any sense of the term, a “Sex Tourist”……..in fact, it turns out he is “passionately opposed” to “Sex Tourism”………..
such a bundle of contradictions, confusion and hypocrisy……what was dear Frederic ever thinking when he accepted that appointment by Sarkozy to join the French cabinet, that no one would ever read the book or ask him any questions………..
in any case, he’s not the first tourist to come to Bangkok and definitely will not the last to become “lost in the Bangkok Night”……
http://bangkok-noir.blogspot.com/2009/10/frederic-mitterand-french-minister-of.html
Religion is the opiate of the masses
“Yet their use of the royal symbols presents a question: did they carry the royal symbols as an extra measure of safety as they riled traffic police feathers and inconvenienced Sunday afternoon shoppers? Or was there another message?”
Thai constitution Chapter 2 Section 9. The King is a Buddhist and Upholder of religions.
I think that this clause in the constitution is the royal connection you are wondering about. I am not sure if you are implying that the King has any connection to providing opium to the masses.
Massive teaching
Susie Wong,
Interesting idea. At APEC, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith hinted that Australia was considering development aid to Myanmar, in addition to the humanitarian aid it is giving. This would probably fall in the development aid category, and I think would be a worthwhile idea.
Tom
Little Laos awaits its big moment
[…] Asian Games, there will be no sporting events for basketball, gymnastics and track cycling. But finswimming is included in the competition. Cancel this […]
Massive teaching
That clip was tremendous, thanks.
Massive teaching
Would it be possible if the Myanmar government could allow any Australian company to open an English school in Myanmar? Or would there be any possibility between the governments of the two countries to open a channel of communication for providing English teachers for Burmese people? I think learning to speak English from native speaker would be much more beneficial because some of the words and phrase in this video are incomprehensible. I genuinely hope the governments of Myanmar and Australia would consider this request because English is an important language in this age of globalization, a proper English teacher would solve incomprehensible and illegible problems.
Thaksin on Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn
Rerkrit: The silent majority is perhaps the opposite of what you described. They are not so ignorant as you think they are. They will take back the country too– not the way you depicted. Thaksin is not the problem but was a victim of a cruel plot. Many rural Thais support him because of the injustice he has received and he deserves good respect as someone who has done much to his country. Demonizing him is something many Thais think unjust and want to undo.