Travesty: Abhisit Vejjajiva charged with 'murder'

[opebo]

Abhisit Vejjajiva, much missed Thai Democrat prime minister who cleared the streets of Bangkok of red mobs, has been charged with 'murder' by the Red government of Thaksin.

Sickening.  One can only hope...

[opebo]

Yingluck. The Prime Minister's given name is Yingluck.

Who are you critiquing here?  BRTD did mention her:

...Thaksin's crew...

[opebo]

I am a bit surprised you like this guy. I know he stabilized and improved the economy, but you don't seems to be the kind of person that rewards politicians for making capitalism work.
His record regarding human rights and freedom of the press was pretty bad and he can hardly be described as a leftist or champion of the little guy. His governmet was less corrupt than Thaksins, but thats not saying much.
So do you simply consider him less horrible than Thaksin & Co. or do you actually like him?

He and his party (and more importantly the ancien régime which lies behind them - after all the Democrats are are but a mask with beautiful suits and Oxford English) are famously laissez-faire about the sex business and all manner of non-political personal freedoms.  In other words, they are Tradition.

Like I always say - give me one remote disinterested potentate a thousand kilometers away rather than a million little dictators right next door.

[opebo]

Not surprising that Thaksin's crew would trump up charges against political opponents.

Who does he think he is?  Putin?  Chavez?

Thank fully he's not that powerful.  As Nathin rightly points out above, he's only running the country by remote control through his sister 'Yingluck', and after all the fact that he still can't come back is testimony to the lingering countervailing power of that delicate and ancient institution.. a relic of an earlier time in the West, but still existing here.  We're probably seeing its last days upon the earth - after all its physical emblem has literally lived in a hospital for half-a-decade.

[opebo]

Between monarchist corrupt bastards and democratically elected populist corrupt bastards the latter is preferable.

^This

Not so, naives.  Democracy is worse, as I explained quite clearly above:

Like I always say - give me one remote disinterested potentate a thousand kilometers away rather than a million little dictators right next door.

It's hard to maintain simultaneously the belief that Yingluck lacks power of her own and the belief, which I seem to recall you've articulated in the past, that she, being a woman, is out to oppress the poor white men living in Thailand by taking away their right to buy Thai women's bodies, but on further reflection I'm sure you manage just fine.

Her power comes entirely from her brother, brother.  As does her social conservatism - which is a direct pandering to the people (who always love authoritarianism and hate to see anyone have any fun, in any country).

[opebo]

Lol. Between monarchist corrupt bastards and democratically elected populist corrupt bastards the latter is preferable. Sorry opie

It's really kind of unfair to argue with opebo on this point because even if he did agree with you he can't exactly say so, Thai law being what it is.

You dare mention this, a moderator? Straight to the Irony Thingie.

[opebo]

Her power comes entirely from her brother, brother.  As does her social conservatism - which is a direct pandering to the people (who always love authoritarianism and hate to see anyone have any fun, in any country).

I think both Shinawatra siblings are, for all their other faults, smart enough to know that one can find ways make one's own fun if buying access to people's bodies ceases to be an option.

Good lord man, if you think any such laws apply to rich people, you're more naive than I thought!

[opebo]

I think both Shinawatra siblings are, for all their other faults, smart enough to know that one can find ways make one's own fun if buying access to people's bodies ceases to be an option.

Good lord man, if you think any such laws apply to rich people, you're more naive than I thought!

Of course they don't apply to rich people. That's the problem and that's always been the problem, a principle with which I'm sure you can agree even if we will never see eye to eye on the particular issue under discussion.

No, the problem is the existence of such laws, Nathan, not the fact that some people find a way around them.

[opebo]

True. Ideally laws against selling sex should be considerably more forgiving, and laws against buying it commensurately sterner, than what I'm given to understand most countries actually have.

Why?  You'll just force a  lot of women to have to go to work for a living instead of getting huge easy incomes.  The guys can just go whack off, its not the end of the world for them, but for the ladies, it will be so unpleasant for them to see their income dwindle to 10-20% of its former level, for 5 times the number of hours.

Why do you wish to interfere at all in people's private sex lives?

[opebo]

It's surprising this praise of the easy money coming from someone who supposedly should be a fierce critic of the exploitation of the human beings by the merciless market laws. Because the sexual trade has more to see with the laws of supply and demand than with questions relative to private life or the free exercise of sexuality. There exists the demand of feminine bodies in the same ways that there exists demand for assassins of easy trigger or dealers to pass the drug. On the other hand, there always exists a convenient supply of desperate people arranged to earn easy money, given the lack of opportunities that exists in many societies. I guess that you aren't naive enough to believe that a relevant percentage of persons who devote themselves to prostitution works for pleasure. In an overwhelming majority of the cases, it's the money or the constraint (human trafficking).

Dude, it is almost invariably a huge income, and very easily had compared to working at a regular job.  Being critical of employment as a whole is not a reason to blind oneself to the obvious fact that some jobs are worse than others - obviously being a prostitute pays a lot, in Thailand typically about five times what one could make in a normal job.

As for the 'trafficking', obviously that's mostly a fiction designed to creat support for making prostitution illegal - the idea that someone would go to all the trouble of kidnapping someone when the good salary attracts sufficeient workers  is silly.

[opebo]

As for the 'trafficking', obviously that's mostly a fiction designed to creat support for making prostitution illegal - the idea that someone would go to all the trouble of kidnapping someone when the good salary attracts sufficeient workers  is silly.

opebo, your version of the global prostitution industry would be easier to believe in if you didn't have quite such a blatant vested interested in it.

Must I answer this seriously? Please. In my country bands trafficking with women are dismantled frecuently: Russians, Ucranians, Brazilian... it's the same. Certainly the bands remain with the most of the income. Apparently it's a good business. Prostitution isn't illegal here, nor legal; simply it exists in a judicial limbo. Women working in prostitution aren't chased nor the owners of 'brothels' (Spain is plenty of them).

Guys, I just report what I see here in Asia - the girls make a huge income when young living very well with only a fairly small amount of 'work'.  As they get older they will generally see their income potentially slowly fall off, and finally their services become fairly unmarketable after about 35-40 years of age.

I suppose Velasco the distinction in your country is that you are talking about illegal or quasi-legal immigrants - here in Thailand most sex workers are Thai, and are these are almost never 'forced' in any sense. 

However, the brothels near the border are staffed by illegals - Laotian, Burmese, or Cambodia, depending on the border -  and while definitely not forced and usually quite free to roam about the city, these ladies are much more limited in their 'rights'.  I've chatted with them extensively however, and they describe the typical system one would find in any such business anywhere in the world - 50/50 split between girl and house for each 'sex service', and the girl has a right of refusal for any particular customer.  The girls typically do owe a set amount of work before they go home, to pay for their initial costs of entry - typically just 3-6 months, though , nothing onerous.  Most go home every few months for holidays to see their families.  And perhaps most importantly, most feel they're making a  huge income compared to their situation back home, and are not regretful of their decision to come.

By contrast the Thai sex-workers in their own country are completely free agents, typically changing bars or massage parlours at any moment and at will for any reason, or working entirely as freelancers.  Reasons for changing bars or venues are as often tempting offers of higher salary, 'better split', or provision of more and higher-end clientele as it is any 'problems' with the initial employer.  I suspect you might find that any Spanish sex-workers working within their own country would also experience similar levels of independence.

[opebo]

One important thing to consider when evaluating studies of prostitution is that the worst psychological problems with prostitution are not related to shame, stigma etc. but to the simple fact that a prostitute has to have sex with someone he or she doesn't want to have sex with. In order to cope with this you need to disconnect your mind from your body and it is this process that in the long run is very harmfull and dangerous.

That's an interesting point, however it doesn't change the fact that every job requires one to do something one doesn't want to do pretty much the entire time one is toiling. 

I've little doubt that the chap behind the counter at the convenience store is also daydreaming about something else whilst at toil.

[opebo]

Don't get me wrong, Thailand style prostitution is an abomination

ingemann, Thailand style prostitution is probably the freest in the world - the women are the freest, the best paid relative to other professions, and have the least social stigma, and most importantly the least risk of crime/pimping/interference.  (that is, if they are Thai citizens)