Showing 31 - 37 of 37
Rape is never invited
Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 29/01/2013
» "Don't tell me what to wear, tell your sons not to rape!" was one of many poignant messages splashed on placards during massive protests that erupted late last year in New Delhi over the brutal rape/murder of a medical student who eventually succumbed to her injuries weeks later.
Time for soul-searching in India
Asia focus, Umesh Pandey, Published on 21/01/2013
» Noteworthy events have been taking place around the region lately. Here in Thailand we have seen the first visit by a Japanese premier in more than a decade, and an interesting year lies ahead, given current tensions with China, as Japan and Asean mark 40 years of formal relations.
Labouring under a stacked deck
News, Published on 13/01/2013
» In all the debate and commentary on the 300 baht per day minimum wage, several key factors have been consistently overlooked. I will take Koh Samui as an example, but sources in other coastal tourist areas tell me much the same story. Most Thais in these places work in the tourist service industry in hotels, resorts, restaurants, small shops, massage shops and bars. They work as staff, receptionists, cleaners, cooks, cashiers, wait staff, and bartenders, to name but a few occupations.
Crisis of tourist safety
News, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 02/12/2012
» On Tuesday in Australia, Channel Nine's A Current Affair programme called the actions of Koh Samui police "callous, calculated and evil" as they attempted to extort money last month from a man after his fiancee, 24-year-old dancer and sportscaster Nicole Fitzsimons, died in a motorcycle accident.
Justice for tourists is best damage control
News, Published on 11/11/2012
» Krabi Tourism Association president Ittirit Kinglek should be commended for his outspoken criticism of police in Ao Nang over their handling of the alleged rape of a young Dutch woman in the beachside town on July 27. As reported in the Phuket Gazette on Friday, Mr Ittirit accused local authorities of being involved in a failed cover-up that has now backfired and is costing local resorts lost revenue through booking cancellations by tourists. While it is not clear if there was an organised attempt to cover up the incident, it does seem that from the start the police did not handle the case with the urgency it deserved, and even worse, there were attempts to downplay the incident and even cast aspersions on the character of the young woman, as if she had somehow brought it on herself by forming an acquaintance with the alleged attacker, a tour guide.
Triumph and the Trojan Horse
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/05/2012
» Snap-happy revellers never learn the lesson. Photographic records of sin aren't supposed to be worse than sin itself, but sometimes they are close. The latest incident, quickly dubbed the army scandal, involved a photo showing a group of soldiers in an act that looks like an orgy with a woman. A gang rape, some charged. Mutual consent, others defended. Punishment, however, has been rightly promised by the Army Chief against the participants. To observers, the moral and philosophical debates entail: is such punishment is meted out against the orgy, or against taking pictures of the orgy and posting them online?
Army sex pics - if you don't know, keep mum
News, Arglit Boonyai, Published on 19/05/2012
» In a country such as Thailand where the military holds more power and carries more influence than deemed appropriate by supporters of Western-style democracies, should its commanders be schooled in the basics of common sense?