MUYTHAI

softgeorge, on 2012-03-21 13:44:20, said:

What makes you think that the prostitution was aimed at "sex tourists" and not Thais, a much larger market? If you ever get to Sadao or Sungai Kolok you will find a thriving sex industry mainly used by Malaysians

iang, on 2012-03-21 14:03:36, said:

exactly, The sex tourists of thailand all but a fraction of the domestic market which gets very little publicity, kept under the radar. Bad for Lo(fake)Smiles image

GentlemanJim, on 2012-03-21 13:56:42, said:

Absolutely. Isn't it Muslims who blame the girls for being raped? What will they do in this case?

softgeorge, on 2012-03-21 13:44:20, said:

Whatever makes you think a precurement like this must be for sex tourists? Or is it the thousands of establishments that exist in just about every city & town in the Kingdom, dedicated to serving the HUGE domestic / local market (which have absolutely nothing to do with sex tourism) aren't really there & don't exist? Sex tourism is just the small tip of a far larger iceberg, with the domestic market for locals being the vast mass below the waves!

PattayaPhom, on 2012-03-18 18:37:23, said:

It's one million since records began.  The people writing these press releases in English always make mistakes and don't understand what they are writing about.

Jingthing, on 2012-03-18 15:48:51, said:

This article is wrong.

It's 1 million that HAVE BEEN infected since the beginning of the outbreak in 80s.  Not currently have it.  Half of those 1 million have already died.

As far as rates compared to the US, the CURRENT new infection rate is roughly the same as the US.  Thailand is down to about 10,000 new infections per year, down from over 150,000 per year in the early 90s.  The US has around 50,000 new infections per year, so the rate is about equal and will most likely be lower in a few more years.

that rate, 1 in 70 infected is not that high at all. Also, many forget the fact that most are MSM and druggies. general, sexually active population must be around 2%, and professional prostitutes not much higher. Certainly below 5% in the case of females. This is because they are aware of the danger. There was a study done that showed that "freelancers" in shopping malls, clubs, etc are actually more likely to have it than the real pros on the street and in soapies and bars.

as many people pointed out, these numbers are most likely wrong.

1 in every 65 Thais do not have HIV/AIDS.

what these geniuses probably meant is that 1 million cases have been reported - over the lifetime of record-keeping.

I think foreigners should stop trying to be the conscience of Thailand.  Nothing will ever get done without the support of Thais.   NGOs similar to Mr. Wiek's will continue to be targeted and destroyed if they obstruct a source of money for the corrupt elite.  Thais are not ignorant.  It is not about saving face.  Acquiring wealth is just far more important than saving people or animals or honesty or Buddhism.  Mr Wiek did have the animals legally.

metisdead, on 2012-03-12 13:55:08, said:

" a post containing disguised profanity." do you mean by using symbols in place of letters?

On topic, elephants and their treatment by humans is just one example amongst many, tigers are even worse off. Humans and animals compete for common resources, some animals only survive at all in zoos and nature reserves because of their novelty value to attract tourist money.
I have visited zoos in many Asian countries and deplore the way many animals are kept.
I feel that tourists rather than avoiding such places should visit them and complain.

Thais and the salience of environmental issues in Thailand are a source of great reassurance in the face of the environmental onslaught countries like Vietnam and China are experiencing.  If there are any large wild animals left in Southeast Asia, they may well be found in Thailand. The country is obviously a transit point for trafficking of all kinds but, in general, one admirable trait of Thais is that they do not condone the murder of animals (see most of Bangkok's dogs, maimed though they may be, for proof of the fact that few try to actually kill the animals).

Great to see an article pointing out how bad Thailand is looking with this whole situation.

And also pointing out that all Edwin has asked is to start doing DNA tests to prove that the elephants in camps haven't been poached from the wild. Anyone who doesn't want to do DNA tests to prove the baby elephants have been born in capitivity, surely must support the killing of wild elephants. Any legitamate elephant camps have nothing to worry about.

If the people in power cared as much about elephants as most Thai's they would welcome a DNA registry scheme and someone like Damrong could come out looking like a hero and ensure that the illegal trade isn't possible anymore. But sadly neither the goverment or head of he DNP care about their national symbol.

Published: 23 May 2008
Farmers and activists have opposed a plan for a business consortium from Saudi Arabia to invest in rice farming in Thailand. The scheme is said to be the creation of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Farmers fear they could lose their livelihood and rice farming could be held hostage by foreign investors.
The proposed investment was brought to light by Chart Thai party secretary-general Prapat Pothasuthon after Mr Thaksin took a group of businessmen from Saudi Arabia to see the rice production process at Buffalo Village in Suphan Buri's Si Prachan district on Wednesday.
Apart from the Saudi investors, Taiwanese and American businessmen had earlier bought land from Thai owners.
Some Thai farmers were found to have rented land from the Taiwanese to grow crops, Mr Wichian said.
He said foreign investors had usually held land through their Thai nominees.  
''Already, about 40% of farmers do not own their land. They rent the land from someone else,'' Mr Withoon said.

I think that chinese people own a lot of land in Thailand .... not farangs !
A while I saw one dokument film from Africa ... some african countries lease farming land to indian people and the price was very low.  I think it is really good that they are worrying land issue in Thailand. But what they can do ..... money talks and thais will listen money.

What about all of the Chinese who own everything else and pretty much run the place? Or are they "foreigners" too?