The Economist reports in the article “The latest report from UNAIDS shows great progress against the disease” that AIDS recently
has faded away from the head due to continuously decrease in infection and
mortality rate, yet it does not mean we are free from AIDS now or soon. UNAIDS
announced officially plans combatting the disease that AIDS will reach level
off and completely gone by 2020 and 2030 respectively; that is, we are closer
to the end but still more work to do.
Apart from being well-known in beautiful beaches and rich
cultural heritages, sex tourism is included if asking the about Thailand. Is Thailand
meant to be so? Thais would say no. But we cannot argue that this business is
so profitable that Thai officers are also irresistible to get involved, even though
prostitution is against Thai laws as stated in Thai institution. And the
consequence of this is not only human trafficking problem, but sexual
transmitted diseases, too. AISD, no wonder, firmly inhabits in Thailand. For
decades, Thai Health Ministry has vigorously and vigilantly been attempting to
counteract the disease, which, however, seems to be in contrast to the present
situation. Thailand, then, hosted the world AIDS conference several times. In
the country, it is reported that the disease used to widely spread among the prostitute
group and then shift to nightlife lovers, and not long ago did it highly find
among LGBT group.
 |
| A typical scene found in nightlife areas in Thailand |
As drugs and treatment develop, the rate of infection and
mortality owing to AIDS fall. Then, people can become less worry about the
disease. So will it be a good turn for the sex tourism in Thailand? I think it
might not significantly affect this business sector. It is because people already
aware of existence of the disease for a while and they are quite well-educated
about how to avoid it. The development may cause a big change in somewhere
else, certain countries in sub-Saharan
Africa, for example, but not much in Thailand. The nightlife tourists probably get excited
about the news, the number of tourists probably increasing initially, but it
will remain stable afterwards. Not all people love to go for nightlife by their
habit, so it does not actually stimulate the business by itself.
Anyways, the disappearance of the disease will be good news
for everybody, but just do not too soon to say it: we still have plenty of other
lethal diseases to handle.
___________
Reference
I think that Thai society would be much better off were prostitution legalized. As Toon suggests, that it is illegal does not stop it, but that is not why I think it should be legal. Legalizing the massive sex industry would bring several advantages to sex workers, to their customers and to society.
ReplyDelete1. When things that citizens clearly demand a lot of are made illegal, that is a powerful encouragement to corruption. That prostitution is illegal is a massive benefit to corrupt officials and to mafia groups. I don't think these two groups should be encouraged and rewarded.
2. It costs tax payers a lot of money to enforce these laws, and that money clearly fails, decade, after decade, to return any benefit to the tax payers. The money could much better be spend no education, health and other socially useful ends.
3. Since their work is illegal, it is hard for sex workers, male or female, to take legal action against abusive employers or customers. Were their jobs legal, they could more easily report and have prosecuted customers or employers who treated them badly. This would be good for the sex workers.
4. Equally, with their business transaction illegal, paying customers have little legal recourse when they are not treated fairly by the sex businesses. If the industry were legal, it could be more openly and effectively regulated, which would benefit all.
5. The legalization would also mean that the massive incomes generated by buying and selling sex could be taxed, providing funds for education on sex abuse, for disease control and other socially beneficial purposes. Again, this is good for everyone.
6. Nor is there any reason to think that prostitution would increase were it made legal.
I can think of a lot of benefits to making sex work legal for both providers and customers, and no good reason for current Thai law, which is causing great harm to the people involved and to Thai society generally. Legalizing prostitution would bring many practical benefits, and is the morally right thing to do, since the private agreements between buyers and sellers that do not harm others are not the business of the government to interfere in.
If anyone disagrees with me that prostitution should be legalized in Thailand, please present your opposing arguments to the reasons I've given above. And then I have to answer them.
DeleteIf you don't have strong opposing arguments, I think you should agree with me. Do you agree? Why or why not?
I support you that we should legalize sexual worker. I have found the research said the legalized sex worker can have more power to the customer in order to use the condom, which can protect both sides to transmiss sexual disease, not only HIV but most of bacterial and virus.
DeleteWhether most of extremist religious person accept sexual industry or not, the industry still unsurprisingly go on and drive our tourism industry and GDP. The law which neglect their occupation just make the snobbery society in comfort but not actually solve any kind of problem.
I totally agree with Peter. Many conservative people keep saying that Thailand is a Buddhism country. This is why they oppose the idea that prostitution should be legalized, because in their opinion, prostitution creates a bad image for our country and religion. While they are saying this, prostitution is prevalent in Thailand. While they are saying that Thai Buddhists are peaceful, the rate of murder is very high. It is quite weird that almost everything they say is the opposite of what the reality is.
DeleteAs I expected, the discussion we had where some of you presented opposing arguments was very helpful.
DeleteFirst, Na's thoughtful worry about under-age sex abuse, including forced prostitution, made me realise that I need to refine my proposition a little: the new version is that prostitution should be legalised for consenting adults in order to reduce the personal and social harm that occurs when it is illegal.
This explicitly excludes under-age abuse. But I think that Na's idea, when carefully considered, actually supports my proposition: when police resources are not wasted trying to find and punish adults who are harming no one, then those extra resources are available for more stringent enforcement of laws to protect children and those forced into prostitution. Also, if the prostitution they have been forced into is legal for them, then it will be easier for the victims of abuse to report it to the police and other authorities, with less shame and no worry of legal problems. This means that my proposition is good for the victims of sex abuse.
Ning's opposing ideas are also helpful because they force me to consider another opposing argument that some might have. My response is that legalized prostitution is unlikely to be any greater threat to a marriage than the illegal variety is. I don't think that statistics show that men are more likely to have sex outside of marriage when prostitution is legal than when it is illegal. Further, many couples do not worry about casual sex, in which case prostitution that is safe, quick and legal is preferable to other options. If a man is upset because his wife has been hiring prostitutes, then that should be solved by the same civil and family law (not criminal law) that treats such problems when the sex is with a lover. That it happens to be with a prostitute is not a reason to make prostitution illegal any more than it is a reason to make having an extra-marital affair or other sex outside of marriage illegal and subject to criminal punishment.
Again, Ning's thoughtful response has helped me to check and strengthen my supporting ideas.
I do agree with your points, but in practical it is unlikely possible. To legalize prostitution in Thailand is somehow a good topic to discuss but seem untouchable to take action for Thai authorities. Because the country has been consistently promoted as the image of a Buddhist and culturally rich country, it would be awkward in the tourism Ads, if they features sex tourism, too. I think no matter how compelling the benefits are the topic would just be pretendingly overlooked.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, after detailed studying, I found that prostitution is not against third precept (refrain from committing adultery) in 5 precepts in Buddhist teachings.
If Toon's premise and what I argue follows from it in his comment about Lennie and paedophiles is right, so that there is nothing morally wrong with prostitution, that seems to me to have implications for any laws that ban it and their reasons.
DeleteIf a religion falsely says that something is morally wrong and then forces its will on an entire nation by abusing the law unjustly, isn't that abuse of rule of law itself immoral?
I have a different idea about the ad for Thai tourism. I don't think the authorities feel any awkward about the sex in our country, because there are a lot of clues about the glimpse of asian girl to a white man in tons of official ads of TAT, and even in Thai Airways ads too. The beautiful flight attendants, always are women, are serving white people; moreover even the flower selected to be their feature is also an orchid which no one in western culture don't know it is a symbol for female sex organ!
DeleteI think they know their real strength, the iron pussy which attract half men of the world, and present in snobbish and smoother way as same as silk.
Law is very subjective in creation, from my opinion. Some countries may consider a certain action illegal but not for another country. It is just influenced by religious or sometimes local traditions. So, I think the problem is about who or what actually influence people to think that law is sensible. People can easily misled if the opinion leader is so convincing and compelling. Then, only education can make a change or enlighten the false.
ReplyDeleteAnd the belief that prostitution is morally wrong is a false belief.
DeleteIt harms no one, but is a mutually agreed transaction between a buyer and seller, no more wrong than when we buy the body of a labourer, cook, lawyer, doctor or teacher. to do what we want at an agreed price. Therefore, laws and any other social institution that criminalize or support the criminalization of prostitution to the harm of prostitutes, their customers and society are morally wrong.
I kind of understand what Ning meant when we were discussing this issue in class. According to some people's belief, buying and selling sex is different from buying other services in terms of feelings. We use other services, and Peter gave examples: when we study with teachers or when we see doctors, everything will be done after those services finish. However, prostitution often involves affectionate and passionate feelings between buyers and sellers. This might result in what most people are concerned about: distrust and arguments between husbands and wives, which could ultimately lead to divorce. This is why many people think that prostitution is immoral.
DeleteHowever, I think people are in denial. They believe that if prostitution is not legalized, buying and selling will not be common in Thai society. But we all know the current situation in which prostitution is illegal, yet selling sex is so prevalent and very obvious. This means the problems occurring between husbands and wives that I mentioned earlier are already inevitable. Therefore, in my opinion this reason used for opposing prostitution to be legalized is peripheral, compared to advantages that we could gain if prostitution is legalized.
Delete"It harms no one, but is a mutually agreed transaction between a buyer and seller", (Peter, 2015) , it is an idea I also get from the Buddhist teaching books. It still adds that a person must not be owned or under protection from anybody, or truly liberated, then he or she is really find to do prostitution. I am regret how people credulously believe and ignore the rational and logical basis of Buddhism.
ReplyDeleteI think we should also have an agreement on the word "prostitution" before telling that Buddhism accept or deny the sex industry. Kanika might have a different meaning and position from modern world prostitution. In many ancient world, the customer is limited only high-end society as I heard a long time ago. I think it might be some cultural difference which could be a problem for the conclusion.
DeleteAncient India[edit]
DeleteIn some parts of ancient India, women competed to win the title of Nagarvadhu or "bride of the city."[26] The most beautiful woman was chosen and was respected as a goddess. She served as a courtesan,[27] and the price for a single night's dance was very high, within reach only for the king, the princes and the lords.
source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution
It's not kinda product of service which has "fuck today, pay tomorrow" copywriter as you seen on the internet.
Peter's proposition 2: In order to reduce the social costs of sex related problems in society, public health providers should ... .
ReplyDeleteI wanted to give another example of who you might want to act to solve or reduce one, some or all of the social problems that Toon's post raises or suggests (sex, health, insufficient research, destruction of traditions by LGBT groups, prejudice against LGBT groups, risks of night life, etc. - there are a lot).
In my first proposition, that prostitution should be legalized for freely consenting adults, the doer can only be the government, which is why I used the passive verb form - there is no need to say "the government". In contrast, my new proposition would be very different if we changed the subject, as we could.
What other subjects might do where I've written "public health providers"?
Although I have the full proposition in mind, I didn't complete because I don't want to steal an idea that someone else might have and want to support. But I am confident that my proposed solution number 2 is at least as controversial as the first solution I've proposed. Controversial is good here: it means our idea definitely needs some serious support. If we propose something that everyone already thinks and agrees with, why bother?
My proposition is public health providers should promote good understanding about sex health and education about LGBT and other subcultures in society explicitly.
DeleteI firmly believe that crimes and sex related problems in society stems from ignorance. People have tendency to comply with their natural desires if they do not aware of adverse consequences. Particularly teenagers, being in the ages of curiosity, are the most vulnerable to become misled.
Thai society somehow still keep sex matter in the deep corner of educational discussion; one reason, I guess, is the attitude of generation x who perceive it as taboo and inappropriate subject. It is believed that their children will know once they have a family, and it proved fail because of the continuous changes in technology and society. Unlike the past, if the children's questions are not clearly answered, they could find ones through the internet, and of course it does not contain only proper answers .
It is quite evident in countries, for example Scandinavians, where these matters are openly talked and promoted as official curricular that they have less sex related problems.
My proposition is very different to Toon's, and since everyone has now had a chance to present their proposition where the public health authorities should / could / must / ought to / have to / may / may not / should not / must not / ... do something, I think it's OK to complete my second proposition, which I will do with my next coffee.
DeleteMy proposition is: In order to reduce crime rates and harm to the woman, public health authorities should encourage pregnant women who are unmarried and involved in prostitution, drugs or other activities inappropriate to raising a child to have an abortion.
DeleteI'll briefly outline the support suggested in the introductory phrase to this very provisional thesis statement later. In the meantime, feel welcome to present opposing arguments.
And I'm sure that Toon is also looking forward to opposing arguments to his current provisional thesis statement that needs an essay to support. (As it happens, I'm not entirely happy with his initial version as stated - can you help him to strengthen it with some constructive opposing ideas?)
My worry on reading Toon's initial version of his provisional thesis statement is that the word good is very vague: What might good mean here? Does it mean traditional? Does it mean how to physically have sex? Does it mean how to conduct a relationship? Does it mean how to negotiate consent for sex?
DeleteI was also wondering how exactly they should provide this education: In schools? Via TV promotion? YouTube clips starring rap stars (K-Pop groups?)? In academic articles published in journals?
Toon's idea sounds pretty good, but like most first ideas, it might improve with further thought, and critical review by peers can help in that. This critical assessment is, after all, a major part of what academics normally do.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with this because Thai society at the moment still do not have the immunity and proper idea about prostitution. Nowadays, even though it is illegal, we can still see many university students dived themselves into this business because it's easy to earn money. You might say that there is not a valid evidence to support that legalizing this will equal to increasing the number, then neither will it not increase. Judging from the maturity of adolescents and young adults at the moment where their notion of right and wrong is decided by the behavior of majority, it’s even more dangerous for them if prostitution becomes legalized. What would become of the society when trying to gain education and striving to have a good career by using your brain sounds so much more frustrating and difficult than just, excuse my language, opening you legs? This doesn’t count the fact that even without legalizing it, Thai women are already seen by many foreigners as a prostitute already. You might disagree, but you will not understand until you are faced with disdain in their eyes, like you are a second-class being. I can imagine the situation after this kind of legislation passed the laws. This might sound feminist, but if you take that into consideration, you will understand where I’m coming from. Moreover, can we, as a Thai, be proud and faced many other people around the world and say, yes I’m from the country where we support women, and men alike, to be a material to be sold or worst, our country is where sex is easier to buy than alcohol? This doesn’t count into the fact that how many people will become and outcast in there family, friends, and society as a whole. Are we willing to create that kind of segregation in society? You might argue that if it becomes legalized, then people will slowly get used to it. Then can you really answer truthfully and honestly that you will not discriminate against them if one of your friends chooses this path?
ReplyDeleteNa makes a good point, in fact she makes several good points to help me revise and strengthen my thesis and its support.
DeleteCertainly, it is true that many people do now look down on women and men in the sex trade, but this will not get any worse if the business is made legal, and might improve: I think it is normal to treat legal activity as more respectable than illegal activity, so the point about currently negative social attitudes is, if anything, another reason in support of legalization to better protect the good names of the men and women in that industry.
But at this point some solid facts would be very useful.
Unfortunately, in some quick Googling, I could not find any solid statistics to support either that the number of prostitutes would increase or decrease if this business were legalized; however, since we know it happens, all of the points in my initial comment suggest that the harms done to the prostitutes, to their customers and to society would be reduced were it legalized: the corruption would be reduced, abused women and men would be better able to seek legal help, more resources would be available to police and punish abuses, and more money would be available for education campaigns along with health care.
The comparison with drug use was the only evidence I could think of that might be relevant here. The evidence is that making a drug legal or illegal does not significantly affect the rate of use of that drug: when drugs have been made illegal, use continues at similar rates; when a drug is make legal, use continues at similar rates. Legality is not a factor that determines the rate of use of am addictive drug in society. I suspect (but as admitted, I can't find solid evidence either way) that prostitution is similar, which is supported by the fact that rates of prostitution across different countries seem more closely related to economic options than to legal status. This is supported in The Economist article "Sex, lies and statistics" (May 22, 2014). It also fits with Na's point about it being seen as easy money, but given the social stigma, which Na also points out, I think the reasonable assumption is that given greater economic options, women and men would prefer other ways to earn a living.
In the meantime, if we want to practically reduce the harms associated with this industry, legalization to bring it under better regulation seems a healthy option, and with the reduction in the associated harms to individuals and society, such as less corruption, less violence and more focus on preventing child abuse and enslavement, the world's opinion is more likely to improve. Canada, following increasing number of US states, has recently decided to legalize the production, sale and use of marijuana, long an illegal drug of addiction; Canada is not looked down on for making this sensible move to reduce the harm done by drugs. If a policy reduces the harm traditionally associated with prostitution, why would anyone look down on that harm reduction to society and individuals?
The best option is economic development that gives people greater options to earn a living, but in the meantime, legalization is likely to effectively reduce many of the existing personal and social problems that are aspects of illegal prostitution. And a lot more research on the extent and nature of prostitution would be very useful here: not knowing is not a sound basis for making policy.
And inevitably, as we think of and answer opposing arguments to our ideas, the work gets ... longer. I could make this last entry a bit shorter with some review, but it was still response writing, where I'm trying out ideas, so it grew a bit longer than I had anticipated.
Delete