gobbledonk Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2012/Naughty-Boys-Hell.htm I'm going to resist the urge to paste huge slabs of it into this post, but the latest column can best be summed up by his parting remarks: in the case of a relatively less affluent country which receives such a large number of relatively wealthy foreign visitors, I understand and accept that it may be necessary to put mechanisms in place to protect those who may be vulnerable. That's why I believe that the new regulations outlined in today's opening piece are for the good of those women who work with foreigners in the naughty nightlife industry. There are untold reports in the mainstream press and online of foreigners mistreating or abusing the girls, and there are, sadly, people involved in the business who allow women to work in the industry who should not be there - foreign nationals, women not of legal age or women carrying infections. Protecting a country's people is one of a government's most important roles and these new regulations will go some way towards doing that. If it results in hardcore sex tourists choosing to refrain from visiting, is that really such a bad thing? If I had to rank the people Stickman seems to despise the most, it would be: 1. Sex tourists/sexpats and any expat who disagrees with him 2. Sex workers from Isaan 3. Katoeys, although that appears to be a love/hate relationship 4. Thai males, particularly poor Thai males and bureaucrats 5. Thai women who aren't tall, white and expensively dressed (see #3 above..) If I've left anything out, apologies, but thats the way it comes across in his column. Far and away his biggest issue appears to be with sex tourists who wander around BKK hand-in-hand with their 'date' - I dont enjoy that sight either, but I learned to tune it out a long time ago. I agree that getting underage/infected girls out of the industry and protecting girls from abuse are both worthwhile aims, but does he honestly think the people charged with enforcing this will take it seriously ? It will be like every other crackdown - two months of enforcement followed by the usual graft and corruption - fake cards and a new definition of 'guest-friendly' hotels. Granted, if they implement this properly, it might see a few of the European/African working girls leave the country, but it might just mean that the price of a short-time room goes up. The vast majority of the human flotsam between Suk Soi 3 and 7/1 from 2am-9am, ostensibly the people middle-class Thais and respectable expats find most offensive, have little or nothing to do with the legit bars. I've yet to see a cop down there at 3am, and they certainly show no interest in moving the morning shift from their highly visible posts along Suk. At a time when Nana is just a few food vendors and the odd burnout (Thai/Farang, and sometimes both, still drinking), scores of whores are plying their trade on the other side of Suk in full view of the very people who pay nowhere-near-enough-tax to keep people like that back in the provinces. Yep. its a national disgrace - someone buy those skanks a bus ticket and pass me a camera, would you ? In the event that this crackdown *does* impact the industry, who suffers ? The punters simply go elsewhere - the girls don't have that luxury. Palms that are currently being handsomely greased are suddenly turned into clenched fists and phone calls are made, if they havent been already. Joe Sextourist gets his Tourist visa application rejected because he had a threesome ?? Fine - he's off to AC - too bad about the hotel he booked in Pattaya. As the neon starts to dim on Walking Street, Russian families start to look for new distractions that dont involve boarded-up bars and increasingly desperate freelancers. Take a walk through the tiny bar district in Hua Hin and ask yourself if that would attract Russian families - its the neon and the whole 'Sin City' thing that brings them to Pattaya - Vegas by the sea without the airfare or the immigration hassles. I'm not trying to start anything personal with Stick - he himself has frequently pointed out how tedious he finds the whole bar scene in Thailand and he wants to do something else. I would suggest that the time has come for that something else. The problem here isnt the sex industry, its that middle-class Thais dont like to be confronted with the reality that a large chunk of their country is dirt poor and willing to do anything to make money. I agree that there are several blocks from Soi 3/4 down to Soi 7/1 that are a freak show - in most cities, the suits wouldnt be confronted by that each morning - but how many of those people would be there if there were jobs in the provinces ? Sure, they could be working in a factory, but they aren't - Thais who see it as a stain on their country's reputation need to ask themselves who is making the real money from this circus : its not the 19-year old fresh off the bus from Khon Kaen. How many affluent Thais give a shit about goings-on in Pattaya or Phuket ? I guess its different when some lowlife whore staggers out in front of your BMW when you are running late for that important meeting downtown. This will undoubtedly read like a defence of sex tourists/sexpats, but that is not my intent. Nor is it about 'defending' those poor little whores from Isaan - defenceless waifs though they may be - its about a reality that has been obvious to most Westerners in Thailand since Vietnam. Money talks and bullshit walks. Stick has made the same point many, many times yet somehow the usual trademark cynicism is completely absent from his latest rant - he goes to great pains to make it clear that time is almost up for the dreaded sex tourist/sexpat and his fabled 'better class of tourist' will be taking their place. Screw the girls and their motorbike-taxi riding Thai boyfriends - screw their families back in Isaan and the cashiers/wait staff who never go with Farang, screw the myriad of hangers-on who rely on the bars to keep dragging foreigners off the streets. Our classier tourist has no need for any of that beyond gawking at the lowlife punters who sit in the bar buying alcohol and acting like teenagers. The classier tourist is in bed by midnight, wallet firmly glued to buttcheeks, secure in the knowledge that the family got the absolute best deal on seafood anywhere on Walking St. I've seen these people up close, and they are as tight as a fish's arse. Apologies for the length of this rant, and I want to reiterate that I don't disagree with everything Stick says - simply that I think he has reached the point where he needs to move on to something else. I know the girls/bar owners/most Thais dont give a shit about punters beyond the contents of their wallets, and I acknowledge that many punters ARE scum, but I find the latest column distinctly odd in its tone and an apparent willingness to believe whatever BS the Thais who came up with these regs have doled out to him. Or perhaps its been strongly suggested that he might like to take that line, given that he has a readership who share his views on those nasty 'naughty boys' - beats me. Over to you, Stick. I'm off to get some up-to-date info on life in Cebu - respectable, married life, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acockasian Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 This will be the end of tourism in BKK even though I have no idea as to the percentage visiting just for the nightlife.....a drop in tourists will lead to more desperation. That will lead to more excesses, ripoffs and gouging. In turn that will lead to more bad press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Forgot to add that Stick repeatedly feels the need to drive home the point re how little the girls actually think of their customers - everything from 'stupid Falang' to the worst insult a girl from Isaan can dole out (apparently) - 'buffalo'. He cant understand why some of his readers would leap to the defence of such people - I would put it to Stick that they arent defending individual girls so much as the never-ending supply of such girls to the industry. Whores need punters and punters need whores - simple as that - who gives aa rats arse what one group thinks of the other ? I can go to any pub in this town and hear women bitching about their boyfriends/ex-boyfriends/soon-to-be-ex-boyfriends, and these are people they supposedly 'love(d)' - why would a working girl feel any differently about men who look her up and down before moving on to the next 'piece of meat' on display ? Men who reek of alcohol and cigarettes, men who are grossly overweight and old enough to be their grandfathers - gee, I cant understand why they would think less of such men ..... Having been with women who cant even act like they enjoy your company, including a few Thais, I value the effort put in by certain actresses over the years. If that smile is hiding revulsion and self-loathing, then its a performance worthy of Meryl Streep, not something to be picked apart and analysed by our 'Bangkok Commentator'. When I walk out of that bar (or she walks out of my hotel room), I know the curtain has fallen and the actors can say whatever they like back in the dressing rooms - I dont ask myself what my last taxi driver is doing back at the airport. The prospect of paying 300-baht to have 'Thai-style' P4P does absolutely nothing for me, regardless of how 'discreet' it may seem to a hypocritical society filled with endless contradictions. Long live the actresses, esp the girls who like to eat, drink, laugh and boom-boom : the rest is a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumsoda Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Gobble old son..... sounds like it's time for a chill pill....or a Tally Ho with some garden clippings....or better still another trip to "the Beach"....lol I'm certainly not on the executive committee of the Stick Fan Club.....by any stretch of the imagination and I also disagree with many of his opinions....buy Hey...what the Hell... As for all this new regulation BS.... do you really think he has a hot line to "Lucky Duck" and gets all the scoop inside info..??? Maybe I'm a cynic....but what was the date of the column that revealed this red hot news breaking story..... Ahhhh yes....... 1 April Off to the Beach tonight, then Bkk next week for some minor surgery. Probably spend a few days back at the Beach on R & R....life is tough. I'll check around and see if I can find one of the Work permit cards and post a copy for you.... Purely for research purposes, mind you Cheers DS / DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Maybe I'm a cynic....but what was the date of the column that revealed this red hot news breaking story..... Ahhhh yes....... 1 April 55555, Come on DS, stop letting Gobble have a good old fashioned whinge, I like the irony behind his "I never listen to a word Stick Says" yet most weeks he posts about his column http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GuOceSJWas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 55555, Come on DS, stop letting Gobble have a good old fashioned whinge, I like the irony behind his "I never listen to a word Stick Says" yet most weeks he posts about his column stick's column has nothing to do with a april fool joke! it's dead serious guys! Gobbie drop him a mail and Stick will change the date so that also those guys in denial take it serious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 55555, Come on DS, stop letting Gobble have a good old fashioned whinge, I like the irony behind his "I never listen to a word Stick Says" yet most weeks he posts about his column stick's column has nothing to do with a april fool joke! it's dead serious guys! Gobbie drop him a mail and Stick will change the date so that also those guys in denial take it serious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Good God, Stick wrote that as if he were being paid by the word. I need to send him the US Army Writing Stardards ... "Keep it short, simple and to the point." Short words, short sentences and short paragraphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2012/Naughty-Boys-Hell.htm I'm going to resist the urge to paste huge slabs of it into this post, but the latest column can best be summed up by his parting remarks: in the case of a relatively less affluent country which receives such a large number of relatively wealthy foreign visitors, I understand and accept that it may be necessary to put mechanisms in place to protect those who may be vulnerable. That's why I believe that the new regulations outlined in today's opening piece are for the good of those women who work with foreigners in the naughty nightlife industry. There are untold reports in the mainstream press and online of foreigners mistreating or abusing the girls, and there are, sadly, people involved in the business who allow women to work in the industry who should not be there - foreign nationals, women not of legal age or women carrying infections. Protecting a country's people is one of a government's most important roles and these new regulations will go some way towards doing that. If it results in hardcore sex tourists choosing to refrain from visiting, is that really such a bad thing? If I had to rank the people Stickman seems to despise the most, it would be: 1. Sex tourists/sexpats and any expat who disagrees with him 2. Sex workers from Isaan 3. Katoeys, although that appears to be a love/hate relationship 4. Thai males, particularly poor Thai males and bureaucrats 5. Thai women who aren't tall, white and expensively dressed (see #3 above..) If I've left anything out, apologies, but thats the way it comes across in his column. Far and away his biggest issue appears to be with sex tourists who wander around BKK hand-in-hand with their 'date' - I dont enjoy that sight either, but I learned to tune it out a long time ago. I agree that getting underage/infected girls out of the industry and protecting girls from abuse are both worthwhile aims, but does he honestly think the people charged with enforcing this will take it seriously ? It will be like every other crackdown - two months of enforcement followed by the usual graft and corruption - fake cards and a new definition of 'guest-friendly' hotels. Granted, if they implement this properly, it might see a few of the European/African working girls leave the country, but it might just mean that the price of a short-time room goes up. The vast majority of the human flotsam between Suk Soi 3 and 7/1 from 2am-9am, ostensibly the people middle-class Thais and respectable expats find most offensive, have little or nothing to do with the legit bars. I've yet to see a cop down there at 3am, and they certainly show no interest in moving the morning shift from their highly visible posts along Suk. At a time when Nana is just a few food vendors and the odd burnout (Thai/Farang, and sometimes both, still drinking), scores of whores are plying their trade on the other side of Suk in full view of the very people who pay nowhere-near-enough-tax to keep people like that back in the provinces. Yep. its a national disgrace - someone buy those skanks a bus ticket and pass me a camera, would you ? In the event that this crackdown *does* impact the industry, who suffers ? The punters simply go elsewhere - the girls don't have that luxury. Palms that are currently being handsomely greased are suddenly turned into clenched fists and phone calls are made, if they havent been already. Joe Sextourist gets his Tourist visa application rejected because he had a threesome ?? Fine - he's off to AC - too bad about the hotel he booked in Pattaya. As the neon starts to dim on Walking Street, Russian families start to look for new distractions that dont involve boarded-up bars and increasingly desperate freelancers. Take a walk through the tiny bar district in Hua Hin and ask yourself if that would attract Russian families - its the neon and the whole 'Sin City' thing that brings them to Pattaya - Vegas by the sea without the airfare or the immigration hassles. I'm not trying to start anything personal with Stick - he himself has frequently pointed out how tedious he finds the whole bar scene in Thailand and he wants to do something else. I would suggest that the time has come for that something else. The problem here isnt the sex industry, its that middle-class Thais dont like to be confronted with the reality that a large chunk of their country is dirt poor and willing to do anything to make money. I agree that there are several blocks from Soi 3/4 down to Soi 7/1 that are a freak show - in most cities, the suits wouldnt be confronted by that each morning - but how many of those people would be there if there were jobs in the provinces ? Sure, they could be working in a factory, but they aren't - Thais who see it as a stain on their country's reputation need to ask themselves who is making the real money from this circus : its not the 19-year old fresh off the bus from Khon Kaen. How many affluent Thais give a shit about goings-on in Pattaya or Phuket ? I guess its different when some lowlife whore staggers out in front of your BMW when you are running late for that important meeting downtown. This will undoubtedly read like a defence of sex tourists/sexpats, but that is not my intent. Nor is it about 'defending' those poor little whores from Isaan - defenceless waifs though they may be - its about a reality that has been obvious to most Westerners in Thailand since Vietnam. Money talks and bullshit walks. Stick has made the same point many, many times yet somehow the usual trademark cynicism is completely absent from his latest rant - he goes to great pains to make it clear that time is almost up for the dreaded sex tourist/sexpat and his fabled 'better class of tourist' will be taking their place. Screw the girls and their motorbike-taxi riding Thai boyfriends - screw their families back in Isaan and the cashiers/wait staff who never go with Farang, screw the myriad of hangers-on who rely on the bars to keep dragging foreigners off the streets. Our classier tourist has no need for any of that beyond gawking at the lowlife punters who sit in the bar buying alcohol and acting like teenagers. The classier tourist is in bed by midnight, wallet firmly glued to buttcheeks, secure in the knowledge that the family got the absolute best deal on seafood anywhere on Walking St. I've seen these people up close, and they are as tight as a fish's arse. Apologies for the length of this rant, and I want to reiterate that I don't disagree with everything Stick says - simply that I think he has reached the point where he needs to move on to something else. I know the girls/bar owners/most Thais dont give a shit about punters beyond the contents of their wallets, and I acknowledge that many punters ARE scum, but I find the latest column distinctly odd in its tone and an apparent willingness to believe whatever BS the Thais who came up with these regs have doled out to him. Or perhaps its been strongly suggested that he might like to take that line, given that he has a readership who share his views on those nasty 'naughty boys' - beats me. Over to you, Stick. I'm off to get some up-to-date info on life in Cebu - respectable, married life, of course. Oh please. When are people who should know better going to stop hanging on this HACK's every sensationalist, unfounded word? Stickman cannot even spell or produce (after his own editing, one would assume) a grammatical English sentence. He has proven himself to be SO full of shit, time and time again. His column is good for amusement, for observing the view of a certain type of tired old farang. Nothing else. He is definitely NOT a journalist, and neither is he an "inside informant" on the sex industry, since--do we really have to hear this from him one more time?--he DOES NOT PARTAKE. Now stop claiming to speak for (or give an insight to) people with whom you have NOTHING in common and no right to "speak for". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted April 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 OK - I stand corrected, but I still believe he has an intense dislike for the industry, April Fools joke or no, and he isnt that keen on many Thais either. This rant has been brewing for a while - if it makes me look a bigger fool than Stick, so be it. As ratchada points out, how can you comment on the industry when you havent been with a single girl or seen the sun come up on Soi 4 through bloodshot eyes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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