Poverty in Bangkok Essay

Tailand is a inelegant in S prohibitedheast Asia and the only province in the region which was not fey by colonizers. The Asiarooms. com provided a proof to the putting green k without delayledge that name of the country came from the occurrence that be devoid of colonizer govern office they ar free, thus Thailand means land of the free (Thailand nation initiative par. ). The countrys population as reported by Asiarooms. com as of 2006 is nigh 64 million (Thailand population el even outth line).Similar to to the highest degree developing countries in the world, migration of tribe from sylvan to urban aras in search for better paid stemmas andopportunities, is a trend in Thailand. capital of Thailand has been the preferent destination. It is a common belief that westernization and establish of consumerism as seen in telly, broadcast and strike media provided the inertia and idealism for unre gotive people to impel to prime urban shopping m all told that i s Bangkok. According to United Nations s ejecttness yardstick as reported by Stick earth, piteous people ar those whose income is US$1. 00 per day or be starting time. The UN report further verbalise that as of year 2000, there argon about 19 million Thailanders class as poor and that is about 29. 9% of the total population. These peopleare the verdant habitants in the provinces of north, west and northeast regions of Thailand (Stickman, want 4th par. ). They are full of wish that they low bearing successfully seek an art in the city and send affair of their w climb ons back to their impoverished families which they left field in the homespun celestial spheres. As they move to the city, it is a normal expectation that most of them get out baptismal font problems tie in to product line housing. Majority of them opt to stay with their relatives and friends in slum theatre of operationss fleck stressful to modify to the hot env agitate manpowert and searching f or an employment. cod(p) to the feature that studyity ofthem are hope slight having come from an agri tillage area where strain farming is the plethoric livelihood, experience pass on tell us that the chances are they provide get a job which is commonly low paying in the sluttish sphere. If the new city d surfaceer is a female, experience get out tell that temptation is great to make water cash from harlotry and drugs to relieve the tension of psychological use up that their families left behind in the countrified area may go hungry. It back end be hypothesized that since the new city dweller lack the essential skills and knowledge for a high paying job, majority of them will opt to be added to the ever alternate magnitude slum population of Bangkok.As a sign of progress, separates who have tasted the experience of woful money from their serve rendered as mistress or nameer in unceremonious firmament and not from 2 farming, will opt to get their families bac k in the coarse areas to stay with them in the slum areas amidst the hardship and glaring neon lights in the city. This paper aims to elucidate the plight of rural pastureers with emphasis on the female wind upual activity in urban setting and causes of privation of slum dwellers in Bangkok.Current pre restrict of Women in Thai Society The Thai moodsmagazine.com in 2002 revealed that women condition in Thailand has come a bulky to its present stage where the women are supposed to be in the like level of societal standing to men. In the middle 18th century, the wives were considered as stuff and nonsense thing that commode be feature and be disposed of anytime. The culture of Thailand even up to this day expect women to go to work like men and at the same time produce sustentation of the household, cook food, take of the children and ensure the upbeat of family members at all times (Women status in Thai purchase order initiative par). It has been in the affectiona te structure inThailand in the past that adult female had to take care of the husband and be dutiful to him. Whether born from a high association or not, ladies were still considered inferior to men (Social Structure beginning(a) par. ). Theravada Buddhism is the trust of almost 85% of Thai population (Asiarooms. com, Religion foremost par. ). Buddhism as worship instilled into the mind of Thais the concept of karma. This concept is profoundly engrained into the culture of Thais. The doctrine of karma teaches that every forgiving act carries with it a chastity and geological fault points. The merit makes karma pure and uncontaminating while demerit makes karma dirty.Buddhism instilled into the minds of Thai that their life on earth is a cover of being born again. When they die, they will be promoted into higher(prenominal)(prenominal) karma if they have no demerit. If their soul is contaminated due to demerits, they will be reincarnated into a lower form of life, they will bear punishment and must learn to correct their karma (Sexwork. com Buddhism and harlotry 7th par. ). Furtherto a greater extent, Buddhists believe that by helping close toone and showing thankfulness to their parents, they are purifying their soul conduct to cull karma and nirvana, the purest of all souls.It is this belief that ladies since they are viewed lower in status than man under Buddhism ( 10thth par) opt to be ill-treats and sacrifice their virginity and shame and to earn money and give to their parents to redeem themselves and cleanse their karma (9th par. ). On nigher analysis, the over-all effect in the long run is dependency of the family to their daughter prostitute for financial support and forgetting to strive harder to earn a descent living.3 thusly the family remains in pauperization all through their lives. Earning much money as prostitute comparedto farming in the rural villages where the ladies originated and at the same time cleanup position their karma gave the woman an honorable profession in her own and familys perception per cadence of Buddhism. In totality, up to the present time, we can say that women under the Thai culture as influenced by Buddhism are considered as profitable investment like a material thing and less of a human being under the condition of want as experienced by economically deprived rural Thais. The varied Faces of Poverty in Bangkok light Sector, Slum Settlements and whoredomOn closer analysis of an agricultural providence trying to be an industrialized one, the poverty in Bangkok is mainly due to migration of poor rural folks who are less skilled to do urban jobs (Sethuraman 79). This is the undercoat for majority of them landing into jobs in the idle sector of the rescue. fountain Mark Kramer in his book Dispossesed argue that jobs in the free sector in Bangkok are mainly of small scale as the capital investment is also principally minimal (120).The reservoir revealed that the activities are ordinarily conducted without proper approval and recognition from regime and as such lack laws and regulations related to worker compensation standard and safety. The major activities embarrass retail trade, transport sterilise and maintenance, personal and domestic services which include harlotry and small scale manufacturing. The enterp rhytidectomys in in stately sector normally employs ten or fewer employees and broadly speaking prompt family members. The work is normally labor intensifier and require less skill which rationalise the rationale for offering a low pay.The workers learn the needed skills on the job and the employer-employee relationship is un penwith little or no appreciation of worker mightilys and industrial relation (121). For this modestness, the entry and exit in the unceremonial sector is easier than in the formal sector. The operation of the informal sector work in conjunction with the formal scrimping and contribute a lot to the thriftiness of Thailand and become integral part of the spheric economy (122). Despite this fact however, we can conclude that the wages of individual worker is just barely enough for impart to mouth existence of the worker and his family. This is the reason for the ever existence of poverty in Bangkok.The workers of the informal economy live in cramped quarters make out of scrap ply board galvanized iron and used tires and erected by the worker themselves on the land not their own. The 4 ingress of the slum houses in the last 50 years gave rise to a well known squatter community called Klong Toey (Kramer 125). The causality revealed that the Klong Toey slum community is populated mostly by rural migrants from nor-east Thailand who came to Bangkok for job opportunities. Being squatters, they constantly face the danger of legal ouster , their make swag housedismantled and their properties like television sets and sala sets destroyed and dispossessed due to the fact that they h ave no legal right to the occupancy of the land (126).For this reason, the slum area dont receive primary facilities like water, electricity and garbage remotion from the political relation. The make shift shacks are create very close to each other provided with very small lane just enough for a two fashion walk. The reservoir added that there are some small stores and food lots that remove basic commodities like canned goods, salinity and sugar inside the slum area. to a greater extent than 100,000 people live in the area reservation it dampand fishy heart permeates.One thing is very noted in Kong Toey and that is the clean maintenance of Buddha shines with wise(p) flowers daily, a proof that the slum occupants are deeply religious despite their poverty (127). The origin added that health problems and poverty goes egest in hand at Klong Toey. modernization and access to television, radio and print media gave rise to consumerism among rural Thais. The poor people are a lso hoping that someday they can fork up money to buy the amenities and luxuries in life. It is an accepted fact that when there is poverty and the strong desire for material thing,prostitution will surely set in. authentic sources revealed that prostitution in Bangkok is in an ever increasing trend due to three causes. First, it is promoted by the government, second, prostitution and woman is already interwoven in the Thai culture, third, the practice is indirectly support by Buddhism, the dominant faith of the Thais. 1. whoredom is indirectly promoted and encouraged by the government Author Dave in Phoenix reported that the Thai government by virtue of The diversion impress of 1996 declared that Prostitution is black in Thailand. Yet the law is written (even if enforced) as to protect the activities that take in so many billions of baht to the economy which supports so many families, women and children, and does little to change the sexual traditional morals of Thailand ( som e other report on The Entertainment Places Act of 1966 30th par. ).It can 5 be said that based on the dictum of the author, the prohibition is only on paper but is not strictly enforced as doing it will harm the economy.As a support to the fact that the Thai government is encouraging prostitution, Justin Hall, a subdue Degree student of Politics of atomic number 16and selenium Asia researched from reliable documents that in 1967, during the Vietnam War, Thailand concord to provide rest and recreation services to American serviceman (International semipolitical Economics 4th par), thus Thailand in the words of Senator Fulbright agreed to become an American brothel(4th par 4th line). It is a fact that American soldiers need girlfriends and Thailand need dollars. The Vietnam War resulted to injection of about $16 million into the Thai economy annually. The author added that in 1957, there were about 20,000 prostitutes in Thailand but in1964, when the Americans established septe nary military bases in the country, the number skyrocketed to 400,000. after the war, the resulting slack in dollar earning was replaced by prostitution dollars from tourism which centered on sexual aspect (third par. ). 2. Prostitution is now interwoven in Thai society The practice which can only be do by a pleasant and innocent woman is drawn by the prospect of much higher reenforcement than what they could earn in government position, doing bungled labor in informal sector and in agriculture (Hall, Opportunity 1st par. ).The author reported further that astudy of a Thai sociologist Pasuk Pongpaichit in 1982 for International Labor Organization of UN revealed an estimated income of sex worker to be about 25 times higher than what can be earned in other occupation. The author added that a couple of years work could enable the prostitute family to build a house which can only reinforced out of lifetime savings in rural area of Northeast Thailand. The author claimed that Our surv ey clearly showed that the girls felt they were making a perfectly rational close within the context of their particular social and economic structure (Opportunity 3rd par.).This shows that the entire family can be support by just one prostitute and the entire rural village is made up of such families (Opportunity 1st par. ). It is thus expected that a girl in a family will bring economic fortune to the poor family by working as a prostitute. 3. Prostitution is indirectly support by Buddhism, the dominant religion of the Thais It was learned earlier from author Dave in Phoenix that Buddhism inculcated into the minds of 6 Thais that our life on earth is a process leading to being reborn or re-incarnated (Buddhism and Prostitution 7th par. ).The good acts to chum person showing gratitude for what they have done serve as a merit factor leading to a clean karma and ultimately nirvana.. Buddhism propagated the belief that woman is of a lower gender and should not be praised, loved and taken cared of as their inwrought role is nothing else but of procreation. The girl in the family upon reaching adolescent age is more than willing to be a prostitute, earn money to support her parents and family. The girls are sacrificing for they know that their acts will lead to clean karma and they will be reincarnated to a higher being after death and hit eternal peace or nirvana.(Buddhism and Prostitution 10th par. ). The foregoing analysis supported by reliable sources points to the fact that prostitution is a product of poverty and the way out is inspired by societal acceptance of the practice ably supported by religious belief. Summary and induction It was proven from the sources consulted, that migration of rural folks from Northeast Thailand to urban Bangkok in search of better paying jobs is the trend in the last three decades. The exodus resulted to more cases of alleviated poverty than reducing it. As a means of fighting poverty, the rural folkswhile seeking their hazard in Bangkok congregates in informal settlements one of which is the known Klong Toey slum community. In exchange for a low paying job in the informal sector but still better than farming, the new urban dwellers developed within themselves the inborn quality to endure psychological painfulness and stress from constant threat of eviction and dispossession of the materials they painstakingly bought out of the money coming from sweat and sacrifices.One of the proven ways to seek out of poverty is to be a prostitute. The Thai government although pressured by UN to stop thepractice cannot do anything but indirectly support prostitution for fear of losing precious dollars which help the economy survive. It is a co-incidence that the female gender is being looked at as the one who can do it as it is accepted by society as indirectly influenced by Buddhism. Being the land of the free, Thailand is maintaining its sovereignty in the community of nations and it is only their society and no one else can judge the religion of female prostitution as a way of escaping poverty.Works CitedDave in Phoenix. good office of Prostitution- The Creative Law to crouch to Outside Pressure Yet retain Traditions and Economic Advantages to Families Sexwork Cyber Center. 1999. 23 April 2009 Dave in Phoenix. The puzzle out Of Thai Buddhism on Prostitution tralatitious Acceptance / Encouragement vs. Modern repossess Views. Sexwork Cyber Center. 1999. 23 April 2009 Hall, Justin. Prostitution in Thailand and Southeast Asia. 1998. 23 April 2009 Kramer, Mark. Dispossesed. New York Orbis Books, 2006 Sarutta.Womens Status in Thai Society Thaiwaysmagazine.com. 10 September 2002. 23 April 2009 http//www. thaiwaysmagazine. com/thai_article/1911_thai_women_status/thai_women_status. hypertext markup language Sethuraman, S. V. The urban informal sector in Asia an annotated bibliography. geneva International Labor Organization, 1992. Stickman, L. Thailand-Population, Poverty and Prostitu tion. Stickmans guide to Bangkok. 23 April 2009 http//www. stickmanbangkok. com/ indorser/reader291. html Thailand Population AsiaRooms. com. 23 April 2009. 23 April 2009. http//www. asiarooms. com/travel-guide/thailand/thailand-overview/thailand-population. html