soiarrai Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Why is there no respect for a huge refugee problem in thailand, instead the Thai government just see a way to boost their coffers and hide it behind a smile. "Thai people, I'm sorry to say, are insensitive to their minorities, and the hill-tribe minorities have always been a money attraction," Senator Kraisak Choonhavan told Reuters. Read news item Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 No different from how minorities are treated in many countries... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 "Already, busloads of foreigners on "eco-tourism" trips pile into the remote villages every day to pose beside the Padaung "giraffe women", so-called for their elongated necks propped up on layers of brass coils." It's been going on for years. The women are trucked in from Burma for the show. Big money maker for the Padaung (from Ka-Kaung, 'people who live on the hilltops') and the tourist guides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soiarrai Posted September 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Sure lots of minorities are exploited in other countries, granted. But to actually turn an ancient tribe into a tourist attraction is a different story, this is purely insensitive behaviour and should be ended. Perhaps we should stop turning a blind eye to the bigger picture which is the atrocities committed in Burma toward this tribe and which have led to this situation. Other refugees, that result from conflicts in the world are given political asylum in the west or by westernised nations and then integrated into our societies, which in turn actually helps them and their adopted country's economy. These people and their culture should be protected and not turned into some circus for peoples enjoyment. We should understand why they are there and try to do what we can to show our disdane with how they are used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Well one could argue that tourists are actually helping the Padaung to preserve their culture. They get to wrap coils around the girls necks instead of sending them to the ban sao or growing poppies. Border guards all get a kickback...Thailand gets the kind of tourists it wants... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Yes, I might make that arguement. American Indians here are exploited the same way, yet it is often times the best/only way to make a decent living. Tibet would have been wiped off the map if China couldn't exploit them for tourist dollars...so in a sad way, it does help them. In the case of the Karen, it might help to call attention to their plight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 The pros and cons of the 'Giraffe Women' have been argued many times before...not saying we shouldn't update it but it's hard to find a new angle. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/040998/neck09.html Far more disturbing to me is the hordes of tourists following monks around Luang Prabang with camcorders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 What are they doing with the cam corders? or should I say, what are the monks doing that is worthy of being recorded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soiarrai Posted September 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 But what of these girls when they sit there watching MTV and other western ideas on TV then wander why they can never be the same as us or do the things they really want, now that they have been corrupted. Is this preserving their culture? These people have sadness in their eyes not happiness, they are still imprisoned and not allowed to leave their compounds for one way of putting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted September 18, 2006 Report Share Posted September 18, 2006 Following people down the street with camcorders is just bloody rude in my opinion. Not just in Luang Prabang. I couldn't believe the busloads of people waiting for the monks to come out of the temples and the barrage of flash lights. But hey that's show business. Yes it's sad that the girls can't sit in their quaint villages and winnow rice anymore but that's the world we live in. No doubt the money they get for posing gets turned into motorbykes and cellphones and TVs too. I bet the boyfriends, brothers and husbands aren't complaining. If the girls weren't doing the brass coil business they'd probably be in bars in Chiang Mai. The only argument I could see against this kind of business would be if the girls were forced to wear the coils and dragged to the phony 'ethnic villages' so grinning idiots can take pictures. As regards not being able to leave...they probably go on some kind of contract basis. I've heard they have work permits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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