In Carradine Death Thailand's Sex Caricature Endures

When Kung Fu star David Carradine died last Thursday, I wasn't surprised. He was 72. When I read how he'd died -- hanging naked in a closet with a rope tied around his genitals, wrist and throat -- I was surprised only at the suspected cause of death: auto-erotic asphyxiation.

The location of death, however, no shocker. Bangkok. The Thai capital isn't exactly known for the missionary position. The city and the nation are (in)famous for things recreational, not conventional.

That's more or less what I told a New York City consulting firm hired by the Royal Thai Government. The firm had phoned to interview me two months before Carradine's death. A representative explained that Thailand's policymakers wanted an assessment of the country's global image. How is Thailand viewed by foreigners and how much polish is needed to make it shine world class? Having written a book on Bangkok's famous slum priest, a cursing, blunt American Catholic known as Khun Phaw Joe ("Mister Father Joe"), my opinion apparently warranted a phone call and a modest honorarium.

Political coups and pedophilia fugitives aside, I told the interviewer, if you judge Thailand only by its beaches, luxury hotels and shimmering new $3 billion Bangkok airport (makes Washington's Dulles International look almost third world), Thailand is a jewel of Asia. Outside looking in, it should be top drawer and first world. But even the farang (foreigner) who only sees Thailand dressed in its Sunday best knows the dirt that's underneath. Carradine may have died in a closet but Thailand has no skeletons. We all know.

When I first traveled to Thailand in 2000 as a wire correspondent, the State Department described Bangkok as a hub of sex trafficking; both importer and exporter of the flesh trade. The warehouse-sized massage parlors and strip clubs that tourists support are only a fraction of Thailand's overall sex industry. In alleyways, mom-and-pop salons and long-haul truck parking lots, the locals also contribute to the nation's economy. It's why Khun Phaw Joe has built two free AIDS hospices; one for the mothers, another for the children infected in utero.

Not much had changed when I returned in 2005 to begin research on my book about Khun Phaw Joe (the Rev. Joe Maier). Ditto for when the consulting firm phoned this spring.

Recalling Confucius' ancient advice ("To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right") I told the firm that Thailand needs to change itself before it can change its image. Anything less would be a shallow cut at infection. Policymakers must erase a caricature born of a decades-long, government-encouraged sex industry. Before the world can ever take Thailand seriously, it must first take itself seriously.

"Can you repeat that last part?" the interviewer asked. "I think that's important."

The suits of Wall Street and K Street may well get happy endings at massage parlors and brothels foreign and domestic (there are enough red lights in New York and Washington to string the White House Christmas tree), but sex workers and pimps don't chair the corporate boards. Those seats go to the johns. If Thailand wants invitations to closed-door U.N. meetings, like those for the Group of Eight (United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom), it needs to stop marketing its women and children. For the love of Siddhartha, stop already. Develop family attractions instead of sexual seductions.

Khun Phaw Joe, the aforementioned blunt-talking priest, told Thailand the same in 2005. Thailand had included him in a quartet of speakers sent to Washington to lobby corporate America for disaster relief. Five months earlier the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had washed away swaths of Thai coastline and, with it, a chunk of tourism. A persuasive team of diplomats -- plus Father Joe -- arrived at a summit in Washington's Reagan Building with Thailand's hat in hand. The ruling class of Boeing, ExxonMobil, General Motors, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Chevron, Pfizer, Unocal, and Nike was present and feeling generous.

Father Joe Maier saw an opportunity to fix the tired caricature. After listening to three Thai officials deliver scripted pleas for the millions of dollars needed to repair tourism infrastructure for the visiting farangs, he took the mike. He looked irritated.

"I really think this whole idea of tourism is a pile of crap!" he snapped. "The last thing we need is more tourism! We have this unbelievable chance in Thailand to now make tourism what it should be, as tourism is in Europe, as tourism is in other parts of the world. Real tourism. . . . We don't want a tourism where people come and buy our children. Buy our women. Buy our boys!"

His voice softened.

"That seems to be left out a bit. I really think if we talk about tourism ... we must, must, must talk about real tourism and not cheap tourism. Not the tourism that doesn't cost very much economically. Because it doesn't cost much for the tourists, but it costs a tremendous amount for us and our children. So on tourism, we really have to think about that."

He paused before concluding.

"That is just (my) opinion."

Mine, too -- for what it's worth. (Not much evidently. The honorarium has never arrived.)

Comments

[dcarden57]

it is sad to see the ignorance you have on the subject. Support, and investment in education, skills development, job placement is the solution, over the long term. But for you Americans, it would be best if you focused at home, and did your best to curb the largest importer of sex trafficing in the world, the united states. I am glad it is only Father Joe's opnion that we dont need more tourism, here in Thailand, it speaks to his level of awareness, even after being in Thailand for some many years, he still hasnt a clue. At least he does do some good work for the community, its best he sticks to that and keeps his opnions to himself, I would suggest you do the same while you study up on the real issues.

[Robert Ganshorn]

Carradine's death was your lead, your honorarium was your punch line. How dare Westerners look down their noses at those who are disadvantaged. None of you have a solution as to how native Thais will get their next meal. This is a country with it's own traditions and attitudes. That their attitudes are not Euro centric or "American" is unimportant. Improvement begins with two things: education, employment opportunities. Thailand offers the most freedom of religion, least censorship, and opportunity for women and their rights of any country in southeast Asia.

Now, why don't you have a go at the conditions in Burma? Why don't you have a go at the rights of women in Malaysia? Do you dare discuss the degrees, and amount of prostitution of all types, in Cambodia, Vietnam, or China itself?

Still, so much of this country is unspoiled and beautiful, with people who are kind and good. Traditional Thais are modest, hard working people. While what you are saying is true in certain blocks in certain large cities it is not the rule unless you choose to expose yourself to it. Tourists who come here know this.

Now, "Habitat for Humanity" among others are active here. Can we count on you to make a contribution for all these "family values" you espouse? Do that, and remember that the exploitation comes FROM Westerners to Thailand's people. Cure your own ills at home first. This is hypocrisy of the first order.

[faithnj]

great article....it really serves to remind us what depravity we human beings are capable of. it's sad to think that Thailand has really given itself over to making money off women and children this way. thanks for making it clear that people need to continue to speak out against this.

[Tara Hurley]

Check out Happy Endings? a documentary on Asian massage parlors in Rhode Island where prostitution is legal.

http://www.happyendingsdocumentary.com

[Barbara Grasso]

Father Joe is so right, and why people can't see that is beyond my comprehension. Are we really that sick inside that we're completely blind to how incredibly sick this is?

I had no idea before I read your book that these things are so well-known among the movers and shakers in suits, yet nothing is moving or shaking except for public relations marketing campaigns to spin the right image for profit? It's mind-boggling to me that human exploitation occurs intentionally. Just mind-boggling.

I would have never guessed 30 years ago when I was young and naive enough to believe that the injustices of humanity that had occurred in the past could ever get worse.... But here we are. It's worse than ever in that we're not innocently ignorant due to lack of awareness, but we are the sickest kind of ignorant - fully aware and taking action to profit by the knowledge rather than to correct the cruelty of it.

Blessings to you Greg, and to Father Joe and all the others who refuse to participate in the insanity. Keep writing, keep educating, keep encouraging that beautiful, blunt-talking, fiery priest to speak the truth loud and clear. At some point, maybe not in our lifetimes, but perhaps in the lifetimes of our children, the collective consciousness of compassion and sanity will be the most powerful tsunami ever, and wash away all this sick "entertainment".

[Greg Barrett]

You make a good point, i.e. ignorant due to lack of awareness vs. fully aware ignorance driven by greed. The root of all evil, eh? Thanks for commenting B.

[Lisa Guest - Huffpost Blogger]

HuffPost's Pick

I knew the minute I heard about his hanging in a closet (this was before I heard about the rope down under)... and I knew in the very first moment it was asphyxiation. No big surprise. Just sad that natural sexuality is so maligned in our country... we'll show violence, but passionate love, oh, no, kids can't see that. It's sacrilegious. Blood and guts sprayed daily... no problem. So much hypocritical nonsense.

This is a great article. I've known Thai women that men brought over here and their self-esteem is in the toilet. They are beautiful women. Like so many foreign women... who might have had careers over there, here they aren't given the chances to succeed because they are identified, compartmentalized, and kept in certain positions. This Mister Father Joe needs to be listened to. I'd like to read your book. I think I'm going to go out and get it pronto! Thanks for bringing light to this.