PHUKET shoots itself in the foot again

Tuk-tuks blockade US military in Phuket

The future of Phuket as a rest and relaxation destination for US Navy ships is in jeopardy following a blockade of the access road at Phuket Deep Sea Port by taxi drivers demanding sailors use their service instead of a free transport service provided by the US military.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2010/article8822.html

Why does anyone bother to go there any more?

[Alaan]

Yep, tuktuk drivers are the blight on the Patong/Phuket landscape and totally piss most tourists off. But I certainly wouldn't stop going there just because of these bandits.

My way of dealing with them on my 3-4 day breaks there,is simply not to deal with them! Have accomodation in or near Paradise Complex and the beach so I never have to use them whilst in Patong and hiring a car(nice compact Honda Jazz) at Bt900/Bt1000 per day and you can zip around the Island never needing to use their services whatsoever. I rent from Nine-car rent very close to the airport who pick you up from there and to your waiting car in a few minutes. So the first trip you make to Patong from the airport by not using a taxi or limo has already paid for Bt500-Bt700 of your first days hire depending on which type of transport you didn't need to use.

Driving around the island is easy because there are very few roads to get lost on and around virtually all the resort towns, the traffic rarely goes above 50mph, and so is a breeze compared to Thailand mainland, Bangkok etc...driving. I usually have a 4x4 or a pickup of some kind driving in mainland Thailand but the Honda Jazz is ideal for Phuket and nice and easy to park in Patong.

You can stop off as and when you want, for as long as you want and there are some great little quiet beaches scattered all over the island. I know many visitors do not want to drive while on holiday because they are trying to get away from stressful situations, but the freedom you get from driving around Phuket yourselves is a joy really.

[rincondog]

This is just a reflection of the Thai mentality. While I love Phuket, the tuk tuks are a scourge on the whole of Phuket. I hope the US Navy does not return there, however, they need to specifically point to this incident as the reason, otherwise, there will be no improvement in the situation. I never use the tuk tuk when I am there. Actually very few people use them, that is why it seems hundreds are parked on the streets, mostly blocking traffic.

[krobbie]

That is why there is always a string of them at the far end of Rat-U-Thit Road. Not sure if run by mafia types or what but the sooner they get some sort of meters or reasonable pricing structure the better off everyone will be.

[Beachlover]

Tuk-tuks blockade US military in Phuket

The future of Phuket as a rest and relaxation destination for US Navy ships is in jeopardy following a blockade of the access road at Phuket Deep Sea Port by taxi drivers demanding sailors use their service instead of a free transport service provided by the US military.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2010/article8822.html

You are kidding right? Ok, so perhaps it was in the grey area between a deliberate (but impromptu) blockade and something that just happened as a result of a jam... but really these tuk tuk drivers are complete fucksticks.


Why does anyone bother to go there any more?

I'm starting to agree. Service is generally worse, everything's more expensive, there's no 'local' nightlife and it's a little out of the way.

I really resent that in Bangkok it costs barely 250baht to get into town. But out of Phuket airport they want to charge 450 baht for a meter taxi (650 if you're sucked in by one of the tuk tuk drivers who stand in front of the taxis). What a rip.

[Beachlover]

Yep, tuktuk drivers are the blight on the Patong/Phuket landscape and totally piss most tourists off. But I certainly wouldn't stop going there just because of these bandits.

My way of dealing with them on my 3-4 day breaks there,is simply not to deal with them!

I agree... Just don't use Tuk Tuks there. I've never used one since my first trip. It's blatent price fixing... they want 150 baht (or is it 200 bhat now?) just to start their engines.

How would you assess the morale of the Army folks that participated in the exercise, and their families as well?
GEN. MIXON: Well, morale here is high. The soldiers enjoy coming out to Thailand. A large majority of these soldiers here have had deployments into Iraq and Afghanistan and even multiple deployments. So to come out here on an exercise like this, they enjoy it.



The future of Phuket as a rest and relaxation destination for US Navy ships is in jeopardy following a blockade of the access road at the Phuket Deep Sea Port by taxi drivers demanding sailors use their service instead of a free transport service provided by the US military.

At the end of the American century the American soldier still hasn't got a clue that BOYS ...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/82/226157700_e76309a113_o.jpg
... have the sexier LEGS. Thank you, GAY liberation movement. You did an awful job.


[X] No Sex Please, We're American.


Soldiers show an тАЬalmost universal preoccupation with sexтАЭ тАУ an тАЬobsession with sex in a community of menтАжdeprived of usual social and emotional outlets.тАЭ A British officer in World War I concluded that тАЬ[m]ost soldiers were ready to have sexual intercourse with almost any woman whenever they could.тАЭ As one US soldier in World War II wrote: тАЬarmy conversation has a beautiful simplicity and directness. It is all on one solid, everlasting subjectтАжWomen, Women, Women.тАЭ Or, another: тАЬAnyone entering military service for the first time can only be astonished by soldiersтАЩ concentration upon the subject of women and, more especially, upon the sexual act. The most common word in [their] mouthsтАжdoes duty as adjective, adverb, verb, noun, and in any other form it can possibly be used.тАЭ

Disruption of social norms Whatever other roles male sexuality may play, armies segregate large numbers of post-adolescent males for extended periods, thereby creating a kind of critical mass of pent-up sexual desire. In wartime, social norms are disrupted and soldiers often operate far from home, with new sexual opportunities and motives. The disruption of normal sexual patterns was noted empirically by a New Orleans тАЬmadamтАЭ whose business increased when America entered World War I: тАЬIтАЩve noticed it before, the way the idea of war and dying makes a man raunchyтАж It wasnтАЩt really pleasure at times, but a kind of nervous breakdown that could only be treated with a girl and a set to.тАЭ

In Britain, meanwhile, the cartoon heroine тАЬJaneтАЭ boosted morale during the Blitz and thereafter by taking her clothes off during periods of bad news. тАЬIt was said that the first armored vehicle ashore on D-Day carried a large representation of naked Jane.тАЭ The comic-strip Jane тАЬfinally lost the last vestiges of her modesty during the Normandy campaignтАЭ in 1944, and soldiers said, тАЬJane gives her all.тАЭ

The million and a half US soldiers who filled England before D-Day in 1944 had a well-deserved reputation as тАЬwolves in wolvesтАЩ clothing.тАЭ They were, in one British phrase of the time, тАЬoversexed, overpaid, and over here.тАЭ EnglandтАЩs men were absent in large numbers, and its women had survived blackout and Blitz. The AmericansтАЩ тАЬpredatoryтАЭ behavior with English women offended many people but also led to many relationships, only some of which involved either money or marriage. The US soldiersтАЩ presence contributed to a shake-up of British sexual mores, already under strain from the war. Race riots broke out among the segregated US forces in England after white British women formed relationships with black US soldiers. In Australia, the influx of US soldiers also altered the gender balance. http://www.warandgender.com/wggensex.htm



Patronizing a prostitute is now a specific crime for servicemembers

By Jeff Schogol
Stars and Stripes
Published: January 7, 2006


ARLINGTON, Va. тАФ For the first time, the Department of Defense has specifically made it a crime for a servicemember to patronize a prostitute. The punishment: up to a year in prison, forfeiture of pay and dishonorable discharge.

The formal order came in a presidential executive order signed without fanfare Oct. 14, directing changes in the Manual for Courts-Martial. It is part of an assault the military has been waging against human trafficking.

A Defense Department spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, said in an e-mailed response to questions that тАЬprostitutionтАЭ and тАЬpanderingтАЭ will now be among the offenses covered by Article 134 of the courts-martial manual.

Paying for sex used to fall under the тАЬSolicitation of Another to Commit an OffenseтАЭ listed as part of Article 134, which executes the corresponding section in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Krenke said.

It prohibits тАЬall disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forcesтАЭ and тАЬall conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.тАЭ

But the October executive order makes prostitution and pandering specific offenses, she said.

Krenke said that the DOD made the change as part of its effort to combat human trafficking by taking on the sex exploitation industry, as set forth in a December 2002 National Security Presidential Directive that says in part:

тАЬOur policy is based on an abolitionist approach to trafficking in persons, and our efforts must involve a comprehensive attack on such trafficking, which is a modern day of slavery. In this regard, the U.S. Government opposes prostitution and any related activities, including pimping, pandering, or maintaining brothels as contributing to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons.тАЭ

The military needs to change its general mind-set that tolerates prostitution, said Sara Mendelson, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Mendelson, author of a report on human trafficking and peacekeeping in the Balkans, said the military needs to get the word out about the change on prostitution to make it effective.

тАЬThe issues is not whether activists or experts in Washington, D.C., know about it, itтАЩs whether the soldier in the field understands; itтАЩs whether the commander in the field understands that this is a change from the previous regulation in the Manual for Courts-Martial,тАЭ she said.

As early as November 2004, the services began to write online training courses that cover prostitution within the framework of human trafficking, Krenke said.

Krenke said it teaches that тАЬyou donтАЩt have to be a professional criminal to contribute to the trafficking industry. You aid and encourage trafficking in persons without engaging in it directly, by hiring a prostitute.тАЭ

While the change to the courts-martial manual makes it clearer that prostitution is illegal, Marine commanders from the top down already know that prostitution is a punishable offense and have taken steps to combat it, wrote Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Douglas Powell via e-mail.

тАЬMarines are briefed by their commanders, especially those who are deploying overseas, that they should not engage in prostitution,тАЭ Powell said. http://www.stripes.com/news/patronizing ... rs-1.43314 (http://www.stripes.com/news/patronizing-a-prostitute-is-now-a-specific-crime-for-servicemembers-1.43314)


Manual for Courts-Martial United States (MCM)
97. Article 134тАФ(Pandering and prostitution)

a. Text of statute. See paragraph 60.
b. Elements.

(1) Prostitution.
(a) That the accused had sexual intercourse with another person not the accusedтАЩs spouse;
(b) That the accused did so for the purpose of receiving money or other compensation;
(c) That this act was wrongful; and
(d) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order
and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

Lawmakers: We support our boys who risk limb and life in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1118/774774007_6c3a352041.jpg
These uniformed Thai girls would love to take care of uniformed American boys.

(2) Patronizing a prostitute.

(a) That the acused had sexual intercourse with another person not the accusedтАЩs spouse;
(b) That the accused compelled, induced, enticed, or procured such person to engage in an act of sexual intercourse in exchange for money or other compensation; and

(c) That this act was wrongful; and
(d) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order
and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

(3) Pandering by inducing, enticing, or procuring act of prostitution.

(a) That the accused induced, enticed, or procured a certain person to engage in an act of sexual
intercourse for hire and reward with a person to be directed to said person by the accused;
(b) That this inducing, enticing, or procuring was wrongful;
(c) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

(4) Pandering by arranging or receiving consideration for arranging for sexual intercourse or sodomy.

(a) That the accused arranged for, or received valuable consideration for arranging for, a certain
person to engage in sexual intercourse or sodomy with another person;
(b) That the arranging (and receipt of consideration) was wrongful; and
(c) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order
and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.
c. Explanation. Prostitution may be committed by males or females. Sodomy for money or compensa-
tion is not included in subparagraph b(1). Sodomy may be charged under paragraph 51. Evidence that
sodomy was for money or compensation may be a matter in aggravation. See R.C.M. 1001(b)(4).
d. Lesser included offense. Article 80тАФattempts

e. Maximum punishment.

(1) Prostitution and patronizing a prostitute.
Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
(2) Pandering. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.

f. Sample specifications.

(1) Prostitution.
In that _______________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____20_____, wrongfully engage in (an act) (acts) of sexual intercourse with _______________, a person not his/her spouse, for the purpose of receiving (money) (_______).

(2) Patronizing a prostitute.
In that _______________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about ____ 20____, wrongfully (compel) (induce) (entice) (procure) __________, a person not his/her spouse, to engage in (an act) (acts) of sexual intercourse with the accused in exchange for (money) (_______).

(3) Inducing, enticing, or procuring act of prostitution.
In that _______________ (personal jurisdiction data), did (at/on board-location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 2 0_____, wrongfully (induce) (entice) (procure) _____ to engage in (an act) (acts) of (sexual intercourse for hire and reward) with persons to be directed to him/her by the said _______________.

(4) Arranging, or receiving consideration for arranging for sexual intercourse or sodomy.
In that _______________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20_____, wrongfully (arrange for) (receive valuable consideration, to wit: _____ on account of arranging for - ) _____ to engage in (an act) (acts) of (sexual intercourse) (sodomy) with _______________.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/law/mcm.pdf (416-417)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/ ... 01_10.html (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sup_01_10.html)
http://forums.military.com/1/OpenTopic? ... 50,00.html (http://forums.military.com/1/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=dl&s=78919038&f=672198221&x_id=167950&x_subject=Ban%20on%20Sex%20for%20Soldiers%20in%20A fghanistan%20Lifted%20...%20Sort%20Of&x_dpp=Y&x_link=http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,167950,00.html)

[billy2bs]

I dont know but it seems to me that a lot of people are going around Phuket with holes in their feet these days.
I think it should stop right away. I dont think it has anything to do with that "hole-y-er" than thou attitude too.

Billy

[quiet1]

At the end of the American century the American soldier still hasn't got a clue that BOYS ...
... have the sexier LEGS.
Funny you should say that. Yesterday I had lunch with a now-retired ex-colleague who is terminally straight. Even though he's well into his 60's, has a wife in one country and a mia noi with two kids in Thailand, he still has a hyper-active roving eye.

Just yesterday he reminded me of a recent incident where he whistled softly and said "great legs" about a Thai on the sidewalk. He was totally embarrassed when I pointed out that said Thai person was male. :sign5:

[Beachlover]

I dont know but it seems to me that a lot of people are going around Phuket with holes in their feet these days.
I think it should stop right away. I dont think it has anything to do with that "hole-y-er" than thou attitude too.

Billy

What do you mean by "holes in their feet"?... Never heard of this saying before.

[quiet1]

What do you mean by "holes in their feet"?... Never heard of this saying before.
I think he's referring to "shooting themselves in the foot" multiple times, hence resulting in "holes in their feet?"

[billy2bs]

Yes, thank you , Quiet One. That was exactly what I was saying but sometimes my inside humor does not get out as easily as I would like. The tongue in cheek that I attempted sometimes works but sometimes does not, However, I do enjoy how some of the posters get so overly alarmed or outraged by coments made by others here. I just read them, absorb them, and move on to the next. Life is too short to be all fuzzed up.

Billy