In assuming most men going on holiday alone to Thailand, are going to have sex with prostituted women or men?

[Grennie]

It is estimated that about 1% of Thailand's GDP is earned through sexual exploitation tourism.

In 2003 (the last year for which full figures are available) some 545,000 British residents arrived on visits. If you remove the children, and the British citizens visiting for business or reasons other than a holiday, you arrive at about 489,000—314,000 men and 175,000 women. That is 139,000 more British men than women coming to Thailand for a holiday—a gap of 28 per cent.

In no other international holiday destination, is there such a big difference in the number of women and men travelling there. There is no obvious reason for this apart from prostitution.

Peat-heated is an oxymoron of course.

I suggested 'men not accompanied by female partners' boycott it. Not just men from the west.

Without the money of relatively affluent men spent in hotels and restaurants and resorts and all the incidentals like taxis and souvenirs etc., etc., I think it would be no time at all before it dried up. I don't know how much Thai expenditure on those elements of the tourist industry accounts for, but I suspect relatively affluent tourists from all over the world spend far more on their jaunts than the natives do.

Again, if men cared about how they were perceived they would think twice about their rock climbing or Buddhist pilgrimages.

And maybe we should look at the economic factors and other factors that drive people into the industry.

And address those as well. The longer the West exploits poor countries and the wealth is so unfairly distributed, then this industry will continue.

YANBU

[[http://www.wouk.org/rahab_international/pdf_files/Sex%20Tourism%20in%20Thailand.pdf Sex Tourism in Thailand
]]

In 1999, approximately 8,652,000 tourists visited Thailand, and by 2002 that number rose to about 10,873,000.

Out of all the tourists that visit Thailand each year, approximately 60% are male, and NGOs estimate that 70% of male tourists in Thailand are sex tourists. That means that in 2002, about 4,560,000 male tourists came to Thailand specifically for sex

Holly -- It is minimising the sex industry in Thailand by means of comparison to other things that are bad. It remains that it is a huge problem.

And you know what, why not boycott them all?

CuChulain
As someone who has been to Thailand a few times both on my own and with a group of male friends where we all somehow managed not to rape women or small children I do find your views rather offensive and moronic

What did you do to try to dissuade your fellow men from raping children and women while you were in Thailand? When it comes to rape that is happening all around you, either you are openly against it or you are for it.

" CuChullain Tue 18-Feb-14 11:24:25

Are you seriously suggesting that because there is well established sex industry in Thailand the country should be boycotted as a holiday destination for single men? For the record Thailand is probably one of the top 5 world destinations for climbing and scuba diving, both those sports are overwhelmingly participated in by men."

Why ever not?
It's perfectly normal for ethical people to refuse to holiday in countries where human rights abuses take place on a large scale.
Unless you don't think widespread rape of children is a problem.

Holly, in the case of a crime that consists of putting penises in other people's bodies, I think we cannot really ignore the male vs female element. That is to say, the element where men, specifically, and not disembodied aspects of the global economy, take it as their right to oppress and mistreat and use women and others who they see as inferior or having a lower status.

Shockingly high statistics.

But that still means 30% don't.

And 70% do.

I don't understand why you keep on showing off that you can subtract, Holly.

Because you'd be right 7 out of 10 times and wrong 3 /10 times. And I think you would be upset if someone judged you as doing something so exploitative on those statistics.

But yes - awful statistics.

what depressing reading

wow fucking wee so 30% of men are not still the only statistic we should concern ourself with is the very high percentage of men that are

not suprising i found just as many young male travellers were going off with prostitutes as groups of older men, maybe they would not use as many within a week but it was still happening. it just seems so normal after you have been there for a few weeks because well it is :( single men need sex

No - 70% is what we should be concerned with.

no Holly

what is far more upsetting is that 7 out of 10 men are

we know that not all men are, but that fact is far far too many and the majority are which is truly shocking

So Holly Seeing those statistics, do you now concede that the OP ISN'T BEING UNREASONABLE in assuming that most men going on holiday to Thailand alone are going to have sex with prostitutes?

"we know that not all men are, but that fact is far far too many and the majority are which is truly shocking"

I agree. I've agreed all along on this thread.

I would say a lot.

Not most. But that's the use of words.

And I would not automatically assume that - unlike others on this thread.

So 70% isn't most? No?

Funny that because it's more than half, so that makes it MOST OF THEM.

So are you more concerned that 3 out of 10 men are unfairly lumped together with the seven rapists than with the fact that 7 out of 10 men are rapists?

And as I have said before, if men cared about being thought of as rapists, if it really bothered them, they would be doing all they could to stop rape. Which they patently are not doing.

So 'the majority' isn't 'most' ?

holly if you are going to try to use maths to prioritise potential offence to men over actual experience of women and children being raped on a mass scale, at least get it right. Otherwise you risk looking stupid in addition to looking misogynist and heartless.

"So are you more concerned that 3 out of 10 men are unfairly lumped together with the seven rapists than with the fact that 7 out of 10 men are rapists?"

I wasn't aware that was the choice on offer. It is possible to separate that out.

It is something you have so far failed to do.

Holly

So 70% isn't most? No?

Funny that because it's more than half, so that makes it MOST OF THEM.

Lets go back to dictionary definitions, for the word 'most' this time. You're a fan of dictionary definitions aren't you?

Greatest in amount or degree.
The greatest quantity/part/number, the majority, the bulk, the lion's share.

MORE THAN 50%

I've spent a bit of time in Asia, especially Thailand.

For me it was because the scuba diving is world class, acessible without a long boat ride off shore (seasick) and relatively inexpensive, and ok on safety, whilst still having acess to decent medical facilities like decompression chambers. Oh and warm water. Really have getting cold.

Not Many destinations have all of that within a reasonable flight from the uk

If the traveller wasn't into diving then Thailand Also does have and accessible culture you can immerse yourself in, and Thai boxing if you wanted to learn. As well as bloody amazing food. It is central in SE Asia so is a good base to explore the rest of Asia. And a lot of Thais can speak English.