The little things

Previously I promised you all a little something uplifting. I know a lot of what I wrote about while in Thailand was as difficult to read as it was to experience, but while I explored the evil that resides in places we may not expect, the good was there too. I was supported and encouraged by those closest to me and also by those I least expected. Happy New Year. And remember...

"The dreams we appear in are not only our own." - Gil Scot-Heron


It had been a long week. Several days in a Laos-Thai border market from morning until past sunset. This are not your friendly tourist market, but one where you sit and watch, observing and remembering, but unable to react to the things you see. Members of the military delivering children across the border to work. People offering you permission and warnings about your presence in the same breath. Walking down sweltering streets quietly assessing the children you see. I got so I could guess the age and nationality of a child with very good accuracy, whether he or she was selling fresh fish or sex.

So on our day outside of the market, we planned half a day in karaoke bars on the other side of the Mun river to see what we could find. The first had a reputation for having the youngest and most beautiful Lao girls. I sat and observed as three interviewers chatted with girls, reading stories through voice tone and hand gestures. Then we crossed the street to another karaoke bar, and the mamasan invited us to sit down for a chat. After we explained our goals, and that we were hopeful our research would lead to increased access to support and resources for young people there, including karaoke workers, she was receptive. She suggest that future programming include lessons in Thai manners and customs so her ladies could better serve customers. I threw up a little in my mouth. She then brought out 3 employees well over 18 to be interviewed, denying any who were underage. As it was the end of the day (and I could barely contain my feelings toward the mamasan) I decided to walk back to our guesthouse since I couldn't help with interviews.

As I approached the bridge to cross the river, the father of the owner of my guesthouse approached, jogging. He and I had the quasi-friendship of people who do not speak the same language. Since we both like running, we would greet each other, make running motions and smile occasionally. So he saw me walking, said something in Thai and made running motions. I motioned to my shoes, saying I couldn't run but I was walking home (all in English). He smiled and ran off. I continued crossing the bridge, contemplating the new construction and the karaoke bars as they turned on their twinkling Christmas lights for the evening.

Then I saw the father of the guesthouse owner again, this time on a bicycle. He approached me and motioned that I should ride it, watching as I mounted and rode off. He had run back to the guesthouse, pulled out a bicycle and brought it back to me, perhaps thinking that I had meant my feet hurt when I gestured to my shoes earlier. Although I was less than half a mile away, I smiled, thanked him. Even though I ripped one of my two pairs of pants on the chain and managed to get grease on them too, it made my week. Someone did something, unmotivated by personal gain, to help me and make my day easier. It really is the little things.

Where is the line between harm reduction and facilitation of commercial sexual exploitation?

I had this cheery post ready for you. It was funny, witty even, if I may say so myself. No dice though. In addition to (hopefully) entertaining you, this blog lets me empty my brain of things that echo in my mind, and if I don't give them a way out they stay there. I'll try to make the next one happy.

So I'm sitting in my hotel room in Bangkok right now (my last night in Thailand) doing data entry. Yes my life is thrilling. Be jealous. One of the sub-groups of children we interviewed are karaoke workers, as you've already heard. To be specific, these are girls (and one or two lady-boys (I swear that's the PC term here)) who work in karaoke bars, yes there is singing, yes there is drinking, but you have to pay the girls to talk to you. You pay them a lot more to leave with you. We pretty much only talk to girls who are underage, or sometimes if they started working while underage. So I'm sitting here on what should be a fabulous and celebratory last night of research and getting to go home, reading about 15, 16, and 17 years olds who have sex with old men for money. I don't care how you feel about prostitution or sex work or whatever you want to call it. Somewhere there is a line. Having sex with children isn't ok. Why? Because they're just that, children. They are not equipped with the knowledge and skills to make good decisions, they cannot fathom the repercussions of their actions (let's start with the social stigma and move on to HIV). The power dynamic involved is inconceivable, these children cannot broach it, especially if their customers happen to be law enforcement (cough cough different post once I'm not in Thailand). If you want to pay for sex, you settle that with your god and your own moral code, and whatever country you're in will force you to abide by theirs. But you don't get to have sex with kids.

But you can. I almost regret that I've posted where I've been because someone is going to see this and go find these karaoke bars. Not that they're a secret. So let's say you're a bit of a do-gooder. You know this is happening, there are 10, 15, 20 karaoke bars, all with 5 - 10 girls, at least half of whom are under 18 (I'm estimating, humor me). What do you do? Many members of the public health community argue for harm reduction strategies when approaching sex work. This means you reduce the possible danger to participants: sex ed, easy access to condoms, HIV and STI testing, recourse if they are abused during the course of a transaction. A classic example of harm reduction is needle exchanges so injection drug uses don't exchange diseases. This appalls some people, they say "prostitution is immoral! it abuses women! it wrecks families! it spreads disease!" Okay. I hear you. But it's just not going anywhere, you won't end it. Or rather it is, you get rid of it in place x, places y and z are ready and waiting to set up complementary operations.

But what about harm reduction strategies, like promoting safer sex and HIV testing, when the "sex workers" are actually defined as victims? The people making money from their activities are participating in the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Are you condoning it by offering them safe options for what they're doing (whether or not they believe they are choose to do it)? Oh you'd "rescue" them would you? How kind. What if I told you they didn't want to leave? What if I told you they feel proud of the money they send home. What if I told you that some of their parents not only know what they're doing, but encourage it because it's the only way they'll ever own land or a house or send one of their other children beyond the 3rd grade. What then?

Do you protect them to the extent you can? Give them "better options" with vocational training in sewing and beautician school, even though they make as much in 1-2 nights as most young people do in a month? Or do you see it as a pure violation of rights which you cannot support, even tacitly? I don't have an answer. Do you?

Judge not lest ye be judged

(I've been trying to think of a better title for this post, aware of the irony/inappropriateness of using judeo/christian proverbs and/or bible verses to describe happenings in a Buddhist country. But so it goes.)

I wish I could show you a map of where I am. So the main road of the town are a big T, on a peninsula. The bottom of the T is where the Khong and Mun rivers collide. The right side of the T takes you north-ish, through markets and out of town. The left side of the T takes you past restaurants, the fresh market, karaoke bars, over the Mun bridge, more karaoke bars and on to Phiboon Mansahan and Chong Mek (South-ish). Much of the commerce of the town takes place somewhere on this T, before the the Mun bridge.

I've been asking myself why the people here, who have been kind to me, are generally kind to each other, and the majority of whom are practicing Buddhists, allow so many (15 or so) karaoke bars to exist so close to their homes. (Also, when I say karaoke bars, these are brothels, not your neighborhood family karaoke spots.) So why don't the people of this town mind that there are karaoke bars, barely on the edge of their town? They see the girls from the bars in town buying food or at the beauty salon. Although the people in town and girls from karaoke rarely speak, the girls are obviously under 18. Why doesn't it bother anyone!?

But then I thought to myself, well what about me? I walk through Chinatown in San Francisco, past massage parlors, and do nothing. I study trafficking, I work in anti-trafficking sometimes. I know what happens in some of those bars or massage parlors. I know it happens in places all over my community. But I do nothing. On one hand it's not as close as it is here, on the other hand... I have no excuse. But what can I do? Maybe people here wonder the same thing... I asked someone about this and they described it as not wanting to make trouble. This is the way things are, there are karaoke bars, young Lao girls work in them, disrupting the balance would be a bad thing.


There is a sign at a local school that says "Do evil. Receive evil. Do good. Receive good." But what about when we do nothing? Where does that fall along the line of morals and ethics?

18 Candles

Sitting in a restaurantas she blew out the candles, I realized I was witnessing a relatively momentousoccasion. She turned 18 today. Where I'm from 18 means voting, lottery tickets,cigarettes, the military, and a few other relatively inconsequentialmilestones. But here I was, witnessing the moment where (according to theinternational community), this girl had become a woman who was now responsiblefor her actions. She had gone from a child exploited for commercial sex to a sex workerin one day.

The buying and sellingof sex is illegal in Thailand, but it is far from hidden. Given, I am in aregion of the country that is known for its sex workers (often young girls fromLao PDR) and I've been told the number of karaoke bars in the small towns inthe region is particularly high. I'm not yet sure of the proportion of sexworkers here who are underage vs. those who are over 18, it may be around50/50. 

But as this girl reached 18 and was now liable not only for for heractions, but judged capable of making her own decisions, it occurred tome that her range of choices were relatively few. People who work inkaraoke here are very isolated, with few friends or even acquaintances outsideof their job, their broker, or mamasan. This means that once you start working in karaoke, it would behard to switch jobs while living in the same place, partially because of yourreputation, and partly because your income would change so dramatically.

So what were this girl's choices really? She has been working in karaoke here for years. It is unlikely she completed school beyond elementary. She makes about 30 times more money than the girls her age who were waitresses at this restaurant. If the trends follow, she is probably here earning money to help her family in Lao, and if you ask her what she wants or where she wants to go, she'll probably say she wants money so she can leave and go home to her family.

And so I watched, sang, clapped and took pictures. She looked happy. I felt sad for her, not out of pity or judgement about how she earns money, but because she had missed the last years of her childhood, pretending to be an adult. Now she was an adult, and it was too late to go back.

Khong Chiam 7/11

7/11 has arrived in Khong Chiam!

People here have said that 7/11 is the mark of civilization, so Khong Chiam has officially arrived. Thailand is full of 7/11. It's like Dunkin Donuts in Boston. Inescapable. Now I'm generally a "buy local" "support local business" kind of a gal.  I am genuinely concerned that the small local shops nearby are going to suffer a hit and a couple might just go under. So here's a list of reasons why 7/11 is awesome, followed by reasons other small businesses will survive:

7/11 is awesome in Khong Chiam because...
1. It sells books, no one else here does. Okay they're not in English, but other people can buy them.
2. Fat free dairy. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about this.
3. Air conditioning. Ah the value of food stored in air conditioning. You get crunchy nuts, soft bread,  and most importantly...
4. Chocolate! Previously there was no chocolate here. But with air conditioning they can store it so they can sell it. I approve.
5. Prepared food. This is valuable only because my Thai is terrible and greatly limits my eating choices when I'm by myself since menus here are not in English. Handy occasionally, but not such a bit deal.

Reasons local stores will survive...
1. They let locals have tabs. You can buy your groceries and pay when you get paid at the end of the month. This is HUGE.
2. More stuff. Most stores carry a wider range of products than 7/11, so if you need many things you're likely to do all your shopping somewhere else.
3. The number of people (kids included) who have told me they "don't like western food" bodes well for the noodles carts and banana roti man, as the sandwiches may not appeal.
4. This is a small town and everyone knows who owns which store. Plus prices at 7/11 and local places are within 1 baht (4 cents) of each other, so I think locals will actively support their friends.

So come to Khong Chiam! We have 7/11! But we also have tons of local places that are way more awesome, but don't have chocolate.

Reconciling Buddhism and Trafficking

Let me start by saying I am an expert on neither buddhism nor trafficking, this is an entirely superficial perspective. (It saddens me a bit to say) I have spent significantly more time reading about, talking about, researching, and pondering trafficking than I have Buddhism. Most of my knowledge comes from people I know who have dabbled in Buddhism, whether with conviction or curiosity, and from the answers to all the questions I ask of my Thai co-workers here.

So how can these two concepts appear so juxtaposed, yet co-exist? Let's start with definitions, as a wise person once told me, at the core of all arguments and disagreements is a difference of opinion about the definition of something.

What is trafficking? According to the definition used by the international community "Trafficking in Person is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." (Protocol to Prevent and Suppress the Trafficking in Persons, UNODC).


OK that was long. I know. So the short version is "Moving someone using threats, force, or fraud, with the end goal of exploiting them." The exception here is that if the person is under 18 you don't need to use threats, force or fraud, because of the power imbalance, if you move a child and it results in exploitation, you are guilty of trafficking. Yes there are nuances that we can debate in future blogs or in comments, but remember, we're being a bit superficial on purpose.


So then, if we've simplified trafficking into a sentence or two, where does Buddhism stand? (forgive me, Wikipedia was succinct) "Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddharta Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlighted teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering, achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth." 


So how is it that these two, apparently disparate, practices can co-exist so closely. Why is it that SouthEast Asia and the Mekong region have some of the highest recorded instances of human trafficking in the world, and this exists, in Thailand at least, in a place where Buddhism is not only the dominant religion, but an ingrained part of the culture. How can something that causes so much pain exist in a place steeped in a religion that aims to end suffering? But, I think this is where it's important to remind myself of two things: people who are religious are not necessarily more ethical or moral than those who are not, and the existence of criminality and wrongdoing in conjunction with the presence of piety and good intentions is not unusual. The existence of a of moral code, even one that is wide reaching and part of the national culture, doesn't necessarily translate to adherence.


Yesterday I took part in a beautiful religious and cultural celebration here, where you make little boats from banana leaves, put incense and candles in them, and float them down the river under the full moon. Before you let your boat go, you pray. Traditionally, you pray about letting go of anger and spite and disappointment, and you ask for success and luck in the coming year.


Yesterday I heard the story of a girl who worked on a mushroom farm nearby and for almost a year was assaulted by her boss daily as he took her from where she stayed to where she worked. Someone finally helped her escape and took her to the police. The police shrugged off the accusations because she was Lao.


In the simplest terms, good and bad exist everywhere, whether or not we choose to see them. One does not preclude the existence of the other, whether things seem idyllic or hope seems lost.


Perhaps we should not try to reconcile Buddhism and human trafficking, for fear of diluting the depth of understanding necessary to grasp either one. But rather, remember that they coexist, in the same culture, the same place, and sometimes even the same people.

Thailand Incognito

Thereare some places I imagine I could blend in, pretty much anywhere Englishspeaking, maybe Argentina or Chile, maybe parts of Europe if I didn’t wearsneakers. Northeast Thailand is definitely not one of them. Not only do I notblend, I stand out. But unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been, no one reallyseems all that interested. A big part of that is probably how many Westernscome to Thailand, whether living here or just passing through. On the otherhand I’m in northeastern Thailand (Khong Chiam outside of Ubon Ratchathani ifyou’re in the mood for googling). This is not on your guide book’s “Top 10things to do in Thailand” list. There are no beaches. There is no one trying tosell you anything or take you on a tour. But still, people seem to notice me,and beyond an extra glance over their shoulder as they walk away, they don’tseem to mind about me, one way or another. It’s actually really nice. It makesbeing more than a head taller than everyone in this little town on the borderof Laos a little easier.

Iwould say that would be my tagline for Thailand so far, it’s an easy place tobe. People are kind and helpful, the food is delicious, fresh and cheap,Although I am in a very rural part of the country the roads are paved and thelights are consistently on, and the little shops have all the necessities youcould need living here (even espresso!). It’s also a beautiful place to be,with the Khong (Mekong) River on one side of our little peninsula and the Mun(Moon) River on the other, it’s stunning in every direction.

Inother places I have found myself constantly apologizing for not speaking thelocal language, and having people dismiss me solely because of it. Hereeveryone is delighted when I nod and point, and at my butchering of Thank Youin Thai. I’m working on it, and they’re more than happy to put the price ofanything on their calculator to show me. People here don’t love me or hate me,they seem to simply be untroubled by my presence. Maybe they’re just beingpolite, but the Canadian in me appreciates some perfunctory politeness. Maybe Ijust don’t know what they’re saying about me because I don’t speak Thai, but Iam more than content to live in a little ignorant bliss for the time being.

…………..

Sojust a little update for everyone who reads this occasionally to keep track ofme, rather than for my keen insight (ha): I’m in Thailand, on the border ofLaos. I was in Bangkok for a few days before coming here, and will be stayinghere until about December 15, when I will return to Bangkok. I’ll leave forhome on December 18^th. I’m here working, so it’s unlikely I’ll be able to see anywhere outsideof this rural corner of Thailand, but it looks like I’ll be putting it on mylist of places to visit again. I’m 12 hours ahead of EST and 15 hours ahead ofPST if you feel like calling, just email me for my Thai cell number or catch meonline.

Moreto come!


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Update #2
So it's been 5 weeks and I take it all back. Okay not all of it but most of it. Thailand seeming easy and like no one bothered with me... well that was just in comparison to Angola. Angola is difficult. Thailand is... well it isn't easy. There's just more effort to present a pleasant front I think. Like for instance, when teaching a data collection method to researchers, my first thought of something they could rank (1-5 best to worst, you get the idea) was "Biggest Problems in Luanda" since people already talked about it alllll the time. There was trash and electricity problems, cost of living, traffic and on and on. But here, we went with "Things you like best about Khong Chiam" because everyone's preference is to say positive things, even though there are negative things to say, they just often don't get said. Very interesting and I'm learning, slowly but surely.