Tourism Minister ...Bye bye sex industry

[travelerjim]

http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/2292 ... ants-gone/

[Gaybutton]

That's another one I'll believe when it happens. One man wants to do away with the sex industry and thinks most tourists come to Thailand for the beaches and culture. Do the words, "Yeah, right" come to mind? I'd say there's about as much chance of him doing away with the sex industry as there is of Trump winning the presidency unanimously.

[Alex]

Gaybutton, while I agree with your rant, it's a her, not a him.

[thewayhelooks]

Are these the same beaches where we took away most of the umbrellas so you can lie in the burning sun and get skin cancer? Are these the same beaches that are so pristine and the water so clear, the tonnes of garbage that get cleared away must be in my imagination? Is this the country where the sex industry is mainly used by Thai men? Go ahead lady, convince Thai men not to have sex with anyone other than their wives.

[Gaybutton]

it's a her, not a him.

Ok, I didn't know that. Male or female, this isn't the first time some schmuck manages to get into a position of power and tries to decide for everyone else that sex is a no no. Ok lady - go ahead. Try to close down Sunee Plaza, Boystown, Jomtien Complex, Walking Street, the Karaokes, and all the bars between Second Road and Beach Road, along with most of the other bars in Pattaya no matter where they're located. Try to close down all the Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai bars too while you're at it. If you try hard enough, maybe you can force the bars that manage to survive to serve only a glass of milk.

It's not going to happen, although unless customer numbers start to significantly increase she just might end up getting her wish anyway.

[Up2u]

The tourist sex industry could be seriously impacted (destroyed) with just one order or regulation (from some schmuck); the waiter or dancer is a salaried employee of the bar and may not be "offed" (i.e., bar fines are against the law). What's left are bars with expense shows for tourists (e.g., Soi Twilight) or traditional drinking bars like most other countries in the world.

[Alex]

I don't think so. If staff cannot be offed anymore, they will suddenly report sick and the caring customer volunteers to take them to the nearest short time, err, ER. But who would enforce that anyway? 80 baht lottery tickets, taxi drivers who "cannot" refuse fares, let's pile on more unenforceable regulations? Thais are masters at bending the rules, such a new rule wouldn't be enough.

[Gaybutton]

The tourist sex industry could be seriously impacted

Do your worrying when there is something to worry about. So far, nothing and I don't think there ever will be.

This is hardly the first time a government official has come up with some sort of ill advised personal crusade against the bars. The worst of them was Purachai, under the Thaksin government. The best he got was the 1:00am closing time, which nobody liked and now is disregarded by many bars.

Even Pattaya city officials wanted to do away with the sex industry so they could convert Pattaya into a family oriented city. Didn't happen.

Whenever this kind of publicity appears, people start panicking. Go ahead and panic if you want to. I'll not only wait until some sort of anti-bar legislation is passed, but I'll continue to wait until we see how seriously it is enforced.

I believe this latest one is nothing more than the usual lip service bullshit. The only way anything can really change is if the military wants it to change. The military has been in power for quite some time now. If they wanted to do away with the sex industry, they would have done so long ago.

[puan]

Minister of Tourism?? I still like her idea of providing GPS bracelets to all arriving tourists!! Remember that scheme?

[Alex]

I do remember, and the newest idea is to "provide tourists with special SIM cards that can be traced". This one wasn't an idea of the tourism minister though.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/nbtc-p ... an-traced/