Check out sassy little Miss Sarah T. Schwab, newspaper writer, and new found Thailand expert. Banging her way around behaving like a twat.
"The entire time I was at the bar, enjoying one drink on these men, the Thai girl glared at me. I tried to join her in on our conversation; I tried to be nice to her in any way I could. But she wasn't having it. That's when I realized: I was accidently stealing her clients."
‘Rent’ a harsh reality in Thailand
by Sarah T. Schwab
June 24, 2012
The OBSERVER
On the arm of many white-haired, 50-plus-year-old men, was a young, beautiful, dark girl. I saw this everywhere in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand.
I believe this is the same gal
"You're in the sex capital of the world," friends laughed, insinuating that of course I was going to see such things, that it's what men did when they went to Thailand.
It's one thing to know about it, and another to see it. I was highly upset.
On the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, I often went for motorbike rides at sunrise and sunset. It was beautiful to see the way the sun bounced off different chips of the water. Sometimes the ocean was a lavender field at sunset, other times, in the morning particularly, red raspberry bushels.
One evening I'd driven for two hours to get to the other side of the island, called Lamai Beach. This was the main tourist area. When the brochure-blue water finally slurped down the sun, I took a walk down the white beach - after being cooped up with my friend and her boyfriend for a week, I was ready to meet some new people.
There was a beach bar not to far away with a gaggle of white guys. I thought, "They might have something interesting to say." At the very least I'd probably get a free drink. So I sauntered over.
In the midst of three thirty-something men, leaning on the bar in a provocative dress/gesture, was a young Thai girl. Maybe - maybe - she was 16. I just caught the end of their discussion, "happy ending" being part of it.
"Hello," I said casually, throwing out a lure for someone who spoke English.
The men turned and acted surprised to see me. They were nervous to speak for a second. But then their anxiety over my presence ebbed.
" 'Ello there," said one. They were British.
"Mind if I join you?"
The entire time I was at the bar, enjoying one drink on these men, the Thai girl glared at me. I tried to join her in on our conversation; I tried to be nice to her in any way I could. But she wasn't having it. That's when I realized: I was accidently stealing her clients.
I left the bar and took a walk on the street to see the touristy sights. It was dark by this point and all the restaurant and shop windows lit up like a multi-colored carnival.
The casualness of this business was everywhere: at a fine-dining Thai-fusion bistro were two 60-something men having dinner with two young Thai girls; selling roses to white couples on holiday was another young Thai girl with her light-colored baby on her hip; the "Mr. Smile" massage parlor.
It was suffocating; I got on my motorbike and rode back to our bungalow.
I told Christina and Song about my sightseeing.
"Yeah, these guys rent girls for the week," Christina said. She'd been talking to our Brooklyn neighbor Jeff about the sex industry there earlier that week. "Sometimes they don't even pay them. They just feed and lodge them." horrors!!
When Christina and I were in Chiang Mai, Thailand a few weeks later, we came across a plaster of stickers on the side of a wall. The message was simple: "Real men don't buy girls." Apparently this motto was a campaign launched by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher (demiandashton.org/realmen). The goal of the campaign was to create a cultural shift around the societal acceptance of child prostitution, and thus, child sex slavery.
Two million children are bought and sold in the global commercial sex trade. In just the United States, between 100,000 and 300,000 children are enslaved and sold for sex, the average age of entry into prostitution being 13.
If that's the case, then what's the statistic for a country like Thailand?
I've always been aware of sex slavery - it was something I was very mindful about traveling as a young woman.
But it's something totally different when one sees it firsthand in its completely acceptable environment.
Sarah T. Schwab is a Sunday OBSERVER contributor and Fredonia State graduate. Send comments to
editorial@observertoday.com
or view her Web site at Sarah T. Schwab
‘Rent’ a harsh reality in Thailand - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer
Last edited by cluezo; 25th June 2012 at 05:45.
I really don't get it.
She mentiones 3 times about free drink she's getin' and then complains about prostitution?
This was her original headline for the story above:
Real men don’t buy girls
I guess the newspaper thought better of it.
Here's more from her site:
Learning to ‘live and love’ in Bangkok
June 17th, 2012 by Sarah T Schwab
Sarah T. Schwab
I understand the above title originally came from Ashton Kutcher/Demi Moore sort of campaign.
both being media whores
More celebrity endorsements...where would we be without 'em to guide us through the world?Originally Posted by cluezo
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My alternative universe...
Así pues, aquí estamos.
She's doing a British accent ...
Haven't you seen Koh San Road?
or.... SAvadeka.... swastika?
Schwab is a German name. Is she German?
---Update---
God, it's so lonely here
Sarah:
I am a graduate student in the English Literature program and have a weekly Sunday column in the Dunkirk newspaper, The Observer titled "A Scribbling Woman's Limbo." As an undergrad, I majored in English and women's studies with a minor in journalism. My future goals are to obtain my Ph.D. in English Literature, become a syndicated feminist columnist and/or to work as an editor at a feminist magazine in New York City or Boston.
If you would like to talk with me about SUNY Fredonia's women's studies program, feminism, journalism or anything in general, please visit me in my office! My office hours are on the door
Sarah
LOS: What makes you happy?
SS:Depends on my mood…but sex is key. To be blunt. But not just sex – connecting with someone on a mental, emotional, and finally, physical level. When all of those things culminate, the afterglow (lying in bed naked next to him or her, feeling warm breaths on my neck, smooth fingers run the length of my skin)…well, there’s a certain peace I find in those moments.
Sarah likes this quote:
“Sex is the woman’s right, not the man’s. A man has a duty to give his wife sex regularly and to ensure that sex is pleasurable for her. He is also obligated to watch for signs that his wife wants sex, and to offer it to her without her asking for it. The woman’s right to sexual intercourse is referred to as onah, and it is one of a wife’s three basic rights (the others are food and clothing), which a husband may not reduce. The Talmud specifies both the quantity and quality of sex that a man must give his wife. It specifies the frequency of sexual obligation based on the husband’s occupation, although this obligation can be modified in the ketubah (marriage contract). A man may not take a vow to abstain from sex for an extended period of time, and may not take a journey for an extended period of time, because that would deprive his wife of sexual relations. In addition, a husband’s consistent refusal to engage in sexual relations is grounds for compelling a man to divorce his wife, even if the couple has already fulfilled the halakhic obligation to procreate.”
Cluezo, you reallly do, and I mean this in the best possible light, read some really bizarre stuff.
I stopped reading there. I have no specific hate for western women and I certainly don't subscribe to the notion that they are all fat, ugly whingers, but jesus, that line in her writing is just demonstrable of a sick and deluded mind. At moments like this I can sympathize with the western women 'haters' you find in Thailand.
I like western women, I like the individuality, I like the engagement and I like the fact that they do not feel subservient, but this woman? She just gives a whole load of ammunition to those who might see things a different way.
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Lifelong affliction I'm afraid.
There was a beach bar not to far away with a gaggle of white guys. I thought, "They might have something interesting to say." At the very least I'd probably get a free drink. So I sauntered over.Accidently? Not only is that not a word, but there was nothing accidental about it. Horrible.That's when I realized: I was accidently stealing her clients.
There are few problems in life that cannot be solved with toast.
One of them, however, is opening a can of corned beef with that stupid key. This cannot easily be done at the best of times, and toast is of surprisingly little use in resolving the issue.
She is horrible.
she needs smacked
fred
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