Tourism that offends! Offense to the local people and to our own consciences!

[fahim mohammed]

This thread was created by moving selected posts from the original thread on Laos by Fahim, so as to have that focus on the beauty and innocence of Laos and not the traffic of women and boys though Laos for the booming sex trade in Thailand and Cambodia or the bar women in certain but few Laotian towns. It was not the intention of any of the contributors to initiate a new thread, but the topic is too controversial to remain in that section of OPF and is NSFW and therefore needs to be "Uptown" where there is warning. ADK

While I think the very idea of "sex tourism" is an abomination, irrespective of the country, you got me puzzled by your observation. Why would this observation be necessary, especially in what is, IMO, a rather civil and well behaved forum?

Jerome, the reason being that the countries that borders Laos are very well known for that particular variety of tourism. And also allay any suspicion that these girls were street walkers.

There were other observations that I too, for example that there is no coastline surrounding Laos.
A well behaved and civilized forum does not preclude the mentioning of facts stated in a well behaved, civil, and appropriate manner; just as mentioning of pedophiles in relation to child photography as previously discussed in this forum.

Just stating some observations. One more, then. Laos has basically three different groups of ethnic people.

 

[Jerome Marot]

Jerome, the reason being that the countries that borders Laos are very well known for that particular variety of tourism. And also allay any suspicion that these girls were street walkers.

There were other observations that I too, for example that there is no coastline surrounding Laos.
A well behaved and civilized forum does not preclude the mentioning of facts stated in a well behaved, civil, and appropriate manner; just as mentioning of pedophiles in relation to child photography as previously discussed in this forum.

Just stating some observations. One more, then. Laos has basically three different groups of ethnic people.

I did not know that the countries that border Laos were know for sex tourism. I knew about Thailand, as probably everyone does, but I did not realise about the others. I was therefore surprised because I missed the context, nothing more.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I would like to make a few important observations about Laos.

1. Laos is not a country for sex tourism. Period. Go elsewhere.cannot emphasize this too strongly.

2. Laos is a very safe country to travel and stay in. Very safe. For singles..males and females.

3. Laos is a poor country, but developing rapidly.

4. Laotians are predominantly Buddhists.

5. Laos is a country of smiles, warm welcomes, courteous people.

6. Laos has superb natural beauty. It does not have a coastline, however.

7. I intend to bring my wife, daughters and grand kids to visit Laos in the future.

Fahim all this is as it should be. The government has appears to have set up decent barriers, (as discovered here), but the country might not be quite as puritanical as the impression one might get from this. Read this discussion here. It seems that the large cities are organized to prevent exploitation of the innocence of the country. However, local customs could be very different in villages. At least one place attracts gay men which, knowing the innocence of Laos, can be rather a surprise for a single heterosexual male seeking a masseur, a genuine one.

Vang Vieng has it's own allure for tourist! But the subjects don't appear to be the local girls as the sexual attraction.

VANG VIENG, Laos — Drunk Brits leer at passing female tourists. A Western tourist gets in a public shouting match with her guide.

And stoned backpackers lounge gape-mouthed in cafes, eyes glued to televisions playing looping reruns of "Friends" and "Family Guy."

Welcome to Vang Vieng, one of Laos' premier tourist destinations. Just don't call it "unspoiled."
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Read more here.

The plight is summarized at the end of the article:

As this Southeast Asian country opens its doors to tourism, it's facing a classic conundrum. The poor, underdeveloped country desperately wants to earn tourist dollars. But it also wants to preserve its conservative, traditional ways. Doing both may be impossible."Each time a young Australian woman strolls down the street in a bikini, a bearded American smokes a joint on a guesthouse terrace, or a group of Koreans tumbles drunkenly out of a restaurant, it saps a little more of the essence of a town like Vang Vieng," said Brett Dakin, the author of "Another Quiet American," a chronicle of two years in Laos working for the tourist authority.
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Still, there's no evidence for the massive sex trade involving local girls and boys that Cambodia and Thailand seem to encourage.

It's one thing for attractions to occur between travelers and locals. That has happened for millennia! Then the folk have to deal with local customs, as is always the case. But in modern times, the airlines and travel agencies in Western countries in some case actively foster sex tourism. What it does is end up luring more young children into this torrid and demeaning lifestyle. Worse, there are kidnappings and sale of kids just for this purpose.

Asher