Sex and the City
Trip Start
Jun 17, 2005
1
3
21
Trip End
May 15, 2006
Bangkok,
Thailand
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
After seeing the sites in KL my next stop was to Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok has changed since I last visited it four years ago. With a new metro system in place and a million Starbuck's popping up on newly printed hotel tourist maps, Bangkok is showing signs of economic prosperity.
I visited a couple temples, rode the tuks tuks (3-wheeled motor taxis), partied with the "lady boys" in Kho San Road, and so on, nothing terribly exciting. However, the food here was great.
Sex and the City
However, despite its recent development, Bangkok is still notoriously known as the "sex capitol of the world." During the Vietnam War, the Thai government, strapped for cash, agreed to have Bangkok become a "rest & recreation" zone for American servicemen or as the GI's coined it, "I&I", short for "intercourse & intoxication." Estimated to be a $2.5 to $4 billion dollar sex industry, Thailand's real commodity has appallingly been their most prized possession, their women. In a culture that is quite conservative when it comes to public acts of affection, it is quite ironic and saddening to see countless women coerced in to an industry that goes against the values that they were raised with. Sadly, this is a place where little girls lose their innocence.
