(The following blog is a brief translation of an article published today in the ‘Scoop Page’ section of the Thai language Daily News newspaper.)
“I know it’s risky but i like it”
Last week, a whole load of different folk from all walks of life got together for a seminar on technology and communications and ‘Youth & Problems’. They agreed that regardless to whether it’s the telephone or Internet, the information which can be exchanged is extremely worrisome. Most hazardous of all however, according to them, was the ‘chatline’ phenomenon.
It was stated by many grown-ups at the seminar that ‘Chatlines = Danger’and they felt that chatlines were terribly dangerous for girls, in particular. “Girls may be deceived, cheated and coaxed into having sex with a complete stranger”
But, we at the Daily News wanted to hear from the youth, on this issue of supposed danger and what they really thought. Well, to them ‘chatlines’ are simply fun and convenient. They are a great way to make loadsa of new friends, relax and escape from the world around them. They feel a sense of freedom on chatlines.
For those who look for boyfriends or girlfriends on ‘chatlines’ they may be in for a nasty surprise though, if they themselves aren’t good-looking. It seems that boys who chat, only want to do so with beautiful girls. And as for the girls, they only like to converse with handsome guys.
One group of female university students we spoke to, said “Chatlines save money, they are cheap. We can make friends and if our friend is a foreigner, we can also practice our English language skills”
But, another group of university girls had this to say “Chatlines can be dangerous if you place too much trust in someone you have never known before. Girls may be cheated into having sex, getting robbed or even murdered. Other folk on chatlines sell drugs, pimp prostitutes or enjoy ‘sex on the phone’. And not forgetting some people who are very vulgar, rude and use explicit language”.
One forth year university girl told us “I like chatlines because I can escape from reality, use my imagination and be someone totally different. It’s all a bit of fun – I have no intentions whatsoever of ever wanting to meet chatfriends in real life. Chatting helps me relax and be less stressed-out. Then, if I have friends upcountry in the provinces, it’s far cheaper for me to chat online than it is by telephone”
Well, instead of just getting girls’ points of views on chatlines, we decided to hunt done a couple of young guys for their thoughts on the matter.
Mr Witsanu, a 21 year-old went on “ I think a lotta people who chat online are a bit lonely, they want to have friends, exchange opinions. They would like to meet all different types of folk, from all sectors of society. On the other hand though, it is possible that they be maybe fooled because of their naivety. Personally speaking, I think chatlines are quite nonsense, a way of escaping from society. It is also possible to fall victim to deceptive people, I mean it’s not easy to trust anyone in this day in age”
Another guy we interviewed Mr Narong, 25, wanted us to know “In concerns to chatlines, chatters ought to be split into two different categories – those between the ages of 18-25 and those 25+. Most men between the age of 18-25 who go on chatlines, only do so to find new girlfriends and get free sex. But for guys over the age of 25, they enjoy chatlines because they get the chance to share opinions, experiences and swap knowledge etc… They know how to use their brains.
All in all though, we found that most youngsters see chatlines as a ‘useful tool’ but yes, they were a little dangerous.
(This article may or may not represent my own personal views or those of other bloggers at www.thai-blogs.com
By the way, www.thaichatbox.com, a sister site of thai-blogs, is a place for some online chat. But be warned, if you go there looking for some naughty hanky-panky, you will probably get an instant banning!)
