It's actually on BBC1 Northern Ireland, if you have Sky it's on channel 973.

Synopsis: This documentary follows 2 people who, 2 years ago travelled to Thailand to work as volunteers tackling the country's rampant sex tourism.

Should be worth a look.

Interesting. I dont have sky though. Anyone recording it?

Richard

Richard, can you get BBC1 NI on freeview?

you can't get it on freeview but it may be on the bbc i player .I suggest taking a look on the BBC NI website. As the beeb seem advertise all programs are available on the i player until the next program in the series

Hi Mark hope you are well. I had a look at the freeview site and I think that BBS Northern Ireland is only available in Northern Ireland. I would see if the BBC put it on their " watch it again " download service but I use a mac.

Richard

Typical time for sky methinks
colin 244

richard i will be recording it!

it sounds interesting. when i hear of volunteers i think of young idealistic and a bit naive travellers going out to save the world and in fact learning a lot more from those they go to 'save' than they thought they would. that was me 8 years ago when i first started travelling. should be interesting!

Apparantly it's channel 863 on Virgin/NTL.

Thanks Roly...

quote:

Originally posted by Tony & Apple:
when i hear of volunteers i think of young idealistic and a bit naive travellers going out to save the world and in fact learning a lot more from those they go to 'save' than they thought they would. that was me 8 years ago when i first started travelling. should be interesting!

Well, it's quite different in that the subjects are a middle-aged Irish couple who've packed in their jobs, sold their house and gone to see what they could do to help at the Pattaya Orphanage. What you said about learning more than they expected was very true and I was impressed with their honesty as they gave up after a year and, despite making some small differences in individual cases, left feeling totally defeated and quite overwhelmed by the whole experience.

Some interesting glimpses of slum life in Pattaya and a brief snapshot of life in the rural North (though the narrator rather erroneously identified this as the source of many of the staff in the Pattaya bars). A worthwhile 40 minutes or so, I thought.

Indeed. Perhaps more a programme about the challenges to this particular couple's faith and challenging their preconceptions,than a tour of the fleshpots.

That they were from Belfast and were based at the Redemptorist Centre speaks volumes. That,other than the first night,they largely confined themselves to the environs and works of the Centre is also significant. Whilst they were personally abhorred by the sights and spoke in terms of Sodom and Gomorrah and widespread child abuse before they went,there was no evidence of this portrayed on film. Save possibly they did not bat an eyelid on making the kids carry their stuff into the Redemptorist centre and did not comment on the child labour going on around them on their visit up north.

I suspect they left Thailand with a more rounded view as individuals. The views of the "slums" will come as nothing new to anyone who was strayed off the well beaten tourist track,or indeed anyone who was put their nose the other side of 2nd Rd in Pattaya.
Probably worth sparing 40 mins if it's on again.
The chap filmed as a guide to soi 6,soi 7/8 and Walking Street looked to be having a good time with the girls outside the soi 6 bars though!

Here is the link to the program on the BBC i player.

quote:

Originally posted by rolyshark:
Whilst they were personally abhorred by the sights and spoke in terms of Sodom and Gomorrah and widespread child abuse before they went,there was no evidence of this portrayed on film.

That's what really got my goat. They had done a "some" research on the internet and come out with all the " Children as young as 10 " stuff then they show a newspaper headline of Paul Gadd in Vietnam. I'm not saying child prostitution does not go on but in my many times to Pattaya I've never seen it.

More crappy sensationalism as we would expect from film makers.

The reference to Paul Gadd/Gary Glitter was in relation to the issue of child prostitution in 'South East Asia' generally rather than an individual (or specific) reference to Thailand.

I thought the programme interesting, thought provoking and heartbreaking. Although the Irish couple certainly appeared to have had a positive influence on some of the lives of those they came in to contact.

My only complaint about the editing of the programme is the reference to child prostitution in Pattaya, giving the audience the impression that it is a significant problem and then fail to present any evidence of its existence. I thought some further comment or explanation was warranted given the introduction. Having never been to Pattaya (and having no intention of ever visiting) I don't know if the opening views on that subject were/are correct or justified.

I thought the programme did an excellent job otherwise, certainly looking behind the facade that is Pattaya and in to the lives of the real people, abandoned and orphaned children, who have enormous struggles in their everyday existence.

It is only through excellent programmes such as this will the world really see the reality of such terrible real-life struggles of the innocent.

Im not sure what the programme or the couple were trying to achieve.
They played up to the usual stereotypes of the poverty stricken bar girls choosing the wrong path in life and the predatory western sex tourist. It came accross as a bit "tabloid" for me.

What was the point of the Australian ex-pat? All he seemed to do was go around go-go bars with a grin on his face. He offerd nothing to the programme other than being a token sex tourist/sex-pat.

It was good to see the help offered to the Thai lady who lost her husband and was then raped. My wife tells me the room she was given by the couple would be around 1000 bht per month. It's an excellent way to spend £15 per month.

Can't say I was impressed by the programme, couldn't see what point they were trying to make. Seemed they were trying to link poverty and slums in Pattaya to the sex trade.
Generally living conditions in Pattaya are no worse and often better than other parts of Thailand.
Where did the sex trade angle connect to the kids?
If they really want to see poverty and do some good there are places that are in far worse straits than Pattaya and Thailand.
I got the feeling that the "sex" tag was just something to catch the eye and garner publicity.
As others have mentioned the opening ten minutes of totally unsubstantiated allgations of what they were going to confront and seemingly never did was irritating.
I was left with the impression that after 12 months they had made a couple of short excursions, she had helped out at the local kids centre and he sat at home and played on the internet in between doing the laundry.

quote:

My wife tells me the room she was given by the couple would be around 1000 bht per month.

Be more around 2500-3000 baht I think,as it was described as en suite and had an external window.

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy:
... What was the point of the Australian ex-pat? All he seemed to do was go around go-go bars with a grin on his face. He offerd nothing to the programme other than being a token sex tourist/sex-pat.

Probably to demonstrate the disparity and inequality between the subjects of the documentary - the hideous circumstances of the impoverished Thais and the orphaned children who cannot afford decent food and lodging and the 'living it large' falang enjoying the cheap 'entertainment' and excesses that are available just a few streets away.

I dont see how all of Thailands social woes can be blamed on 'sex tourists'. Obviously it would be morally better not to have this going on - but any where that attracts money is going to create scenarios where men exchange favours for cash, and meet women who see their attractiveness as a financial asset. Its a facet of human nature that no amount of handwringing or moral grandstanding is going to change, ever !
If the Thai males were a bit more responsible when it comes to their families and didnt themselves move from one woman to the next without much thought for their childrens welfare, and maybe got off their backsides a bit more often, then I think that would have the desired effect of lessening the number of women sat on Pattaya bar stools. Isnt that why so many Thai women look for Western husbands ? - for security and fairer treatment.
I have met some unsavoury men in Thailands bars, and also alot who are worthy of my friendship, and who have actually improved the lifes of the women they have met, and their children.

Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Roberrrt:
I dont see how all of Thailands social woes can be blamed on 'sex tourists'.

Did you see the programme Rob? I didn't see any blame being put on the shoulders of the sex tourists for the plight of the Thai subjects.

Initially the Irish couple did go with the intention of finding a solution for the 'Pattaya problem' believing when they left the UK for Thailand they knew the solution ... but they soon realised they didn't know the solution because the problems they were to face were far worse than they had anticipated or imagined.

I am a little surprised though at some of the reaction on here to the programme.

quote:

I am a little surprised though at some of the reaction on here to the programme.

You should see the reaction elsewhere

Actually,I don't think they knew what the problem was either before they left. They merely observed certain effects of poverty in a country without a publically funded social welfare system.

The programme might have been better concluding that the Redemptorist Centre itself is forced to close because of other uses of the land will make more money. That of course is a different topic and doesn't have the eye-catching "sex" tag.

Tobias,
No I hadnt seen the programme and so shouldnt have offered comment strictly speaking. I was basing my opinion on the content of some posts previous to mine.
I dont think that the sex industry is blameless in causing social problems, but I really would like to see the hardships of the worlds poor ended, and the only way that will ever happen ( if at all ) is by accepting that there are alot of influences that are at play here, not just a few emotive ones.
If it was really going to show the problems of the poor and disadvantaged of Thailand then it could have filmed in BKK not far from the commercial/banking area and shown either the Thai or farang banker( whatever ) driving their benz past the families living under the tollway flyovers. Maybe that would have connected the problem with one of its sources more appropiately.

Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Roberrrt:
Tobias,
No I hadnt seen the programme ... I was basing my opinion on the content of some posts previous to mine...

Indeed, that was why I thought I would mention the other posts. If you do get chance to see it Rob, well worth a watch - look at Fish's link above and it will take you to the BBC iPlayer where you will be able to watch it for free.