I found this blog story today that mentions my photo name Gerry Yaum. The blog is written by a person from the Philippines, the story speaks about Thailands sex industry. Sex tourism is also very common in the Philippines which is a bit ironic, you would think the writer would comment on abuses in their own country first.. Many of the Western sex tourists I have spoken to in Thailand also visit Angeles City and Manilla in the Philippines. I have never been to the Philippines but it is a possible second location for more documentary photography on the sex worker project.
My sex worker portraits and quotes seem to be being used more and more often now as the Internet world sort of feeds on itself.. I now get quoted as sort an authority on this issue by various online sources, I seem to be sometimes thought of and quoted like some kind of half assed expert. I might know a bit more about that world than the average Joe but I am far from an authority on the subject. I need to be careful what I say (write) and how I say it because everything becomes magnified online. I do not want to misrepresent Thailand or the workers who have so graciously allowed me into their lives.The sex tourist trade is not just a Thai problem it exists in most countries in South East Asia and around the world, to classify it as an only Thai thing would be completely inaccurate.
The blogger also talks about underage prostitution in Thailand, I have never really seen that, some people are no doubt under 18 but at least in the Thai bars all workers id's are supposedly checked by management and the police. On the streets thou like any country in the world there is less control and regulation. One thing that is definitely true is that the red light districts of Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and other South East Asian countries do attract the dregs of the world, criminals (including murderers and pedophiles), drunks, abusive men, organized crime etc. When you have more of those types of damaged and dangerous people around many more bad things are likely to happen, which of course they do.
Here is the most recent quoted blog story.
http://patseria523.blogspot.ca/2014_09_01_archive.html
My sex worker portraits and quotes seem to be being used more and more often now as the Internet world sort of feeds on itself.. I now get quoted as sort an authority on this issue by various online sources, I seem to be sometimes thought of and quoted like some kind of half assed expert. I might know a bit more about that world than the average Joe but I am far from an authority on the subject. I need to be careful what I say (write) and how I say it because everything becomes magnified online. I do not want to misrepresent Thailand or the workers who have so graciously allowed me into their lives.The sex tourist trade is not just a Thai problem it exists in most countries in South East Asia and around the world, to classify it as an only Thai thing would be completely inaccurate.
The blogger also talks about underage prostitution in Thailand, I have never really seen that, some people are no doubt under 18 but at least in the Thai bars all workers id's are supposedly checked by management and the police. On the streets thou like any country in the world there is less control and regulation. One thing that is definitely true is that the red light districts of Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and other South East Asian countries do attract the dregs of the world, criminals (including murderers and pedophiles), drunks, abusive men, organized crime etc. When you have more of those types of damaged and dangerous people around many more bad things are likely to happen, which of course they do.
Here is the most recent quoted blog story.
http://patseria523.blogspot.ca/2014_09_01_archive.html
