Monday, March 31, 2008

Thai Cybersex Threat


Family members have a strange way of showing up unannounced in Thailand. The lineage of cousins can extend to the son of someone's aunt who used to go to school with your wife's second uncle. On one occasion three teenage monks stopped for a visit. My 16 year-old nephew, Beer, knew one of their uncles. They seemed like good kids and having monks in the house might scare away any pii or spirits.
On the third day Beer came over to office and said, "The monks have been on the phone a long time."
"How long?" I wasn't too worried since my landlord had never engaged the long-distance server.
"One hour." His expression showed he wasn't comfortable about ratting out of the monks. "To Bangkok. A girl."
"A 900-line?"
Beer nodded his head.
I went over to the main house and pulled the phone out of the socket. 900-line calls can cost a fortune and the bill for that month was ten times normal amount.
Thank you young monks. Monks, telephone sex, the slippage of morality.
The Thailiban in power are concerned about recent research saying that girls in Bangkok are three times more sexually active than those girls living in Ban Nok. This difference in frisky behavior has been attributed to urban girls' exposure you sexual material as well as cyberspace predators seeking naive youngsters.
My nephew had been speaking with this woman in Bangkok. She wanted to meet him and asked if I could give him the money for a bus.
Only 110 baht.
"Do you know this woman?" Beer was too eager to get there for this to be any good.
"No." Any sixteener wants sex. Hell, I did when i was his age.
"Have you seen her picture?" I was feeling like my father interrogating me before I went out on a date. A hypocrite.
"No."
"What has she promised you. Sex?" I was wondering whether I should call her.
Beer didn't answer the obvious and was resigned to remained a virgin for a little longer. Sensing his disappointment I explained that this woman could be enticing him with promises of sex in order to kidnap him.
He didn't believe me, then again what teenager thinks a 50 year-old has a grasp on the problems of teen life?
None.
Not me at 16.
Only later did I realize my father wasn't a stupid and by then it was too late to not have made stupid mistakes.
The Thailiban realizes the danger posed to the youth of Thailand and two weeks ago raided a 1-900 office in Bangkok. The chat line promoted itself as a lonely-hearts refuge, however its main service was aural sex ie speaking dirty for as long as possible to soak the caller for the charges. An official claimed they spent thousands of baht trying to convince one of the two girls at the office to meet for an after-work frolic. TOT terminated the company's lines and ordered another 12 similar services to alter the hard-sex menu.
Of course not everyone is happy with the Thailiban's interference as these chat lines are a source of income for university students and tax revenue for the government. TOT earned over 50 million baht for these services.
Sex like drugs like alcohol is part of life.
Stamping on it one place means it will only rear its head elsewhere.
Stop reefer you have heroin. Stop heroin you get ja bah. Stop ja bah you give birth to ice.
Same with sex.
One girl arrested at the phone chat line asked an inspector. "Should I work as a sex-line operator or at a late-night drinking place where there is prostitution?"
Her parents probably think she should be home in bed but few question their children's newfound prosperity. Adults are behind the curve in this new field of cyber-sex and the kids like being outlaws especially in a repressed society. Almost feels like teen freedom, because like Gore Vidal said, "The reading of pornography generally leads to the reading of more pornography."
It's the repression that leads to mayhem. Without sex, whre else can kids turn except to revolution. Oh, I gorgot all about consumerism.

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