Exploitation in Thailand

What do I get for $5?
Anything you want.
Anything?
Anything.

Last night at the night market we walked through the neon-heavy area of bars to see what was there. We couldn’t tell from afar what was happening, so I was a bit shocked to see that every bar had at least one young half-naked Thai girl dancing on a pole. Sex is such an industry here, which I had heard, but it’s quite amazing in person. We also saw some “ladyboys”, which as what they call guys in drag, or people who have, or are, transitioning from male to female. And of course, there are the massage parlors, most of which have red lights out front, and a table of girls to choose from. And of course, they dress like hookers. Appropriate, I guess.

Maybe it’s the heat, but less clothes and sexy behavior seem to be the norm here. It’s on everyone’s mind, it seems, all the time. No one seems to view this an unusual but me.

You frequently see middle-aged or older white men (a great many of them German) with young Thai girls here. Some are married or dating; others come here for a couple of weeks and hire a companion for their time here. It’s very “Pretty Woman”. Except I can’t see these men climbing up a fire escape and running off into the sunset with these girls. They’re totally exploited (or they exploit themselves), and they don’t seem to care. That’s the only way to improve their situation in any way, and that’s just how it is.

Speaking of exploitation, every tour here has stops at monkey and elephant shows. They must be popular, but I find them beyond disturbing. They train monkeys and elephants to do stupid tricks for your entertainment. They make the elephants carry heavy objects on their backs, often deforming or breaking their spines. And sometimes they drug them with Meth or other substances so they can perform longer without breaks. It’s cruel. It’s nauseating. And I refuse to go on any tour that includes these types of events.

Instead, near Chiang Mai, I hope to visit the Elephant Nature Park, where they are rehabilitating animals that have been abused and neglected. I will get to feed them and bathe them in the river, and make an actual connection. I think that’s far better than supporting the cycle of abuse.