Tortured by tradition

COMMENTARY

Give our young more than we've received

Published: 24/04/2011 at 04:43 AM
Newspaper section: News

She's 12 years old. She has three older brothers. They are now 27, 18 and 15 years old. It started with the middle brother. He was the first to rape her. The oldest brother eventually found out. He didn't put a stop to it. He too raped her. One day, by chance, the youngest brother saw her being raped. So he too raped her.

It went on for three years, which means she was first raped when she was nine years old. Two weeks ago, she went to see a doctor because of a viral infection. The doctor found out the truth. The authorities were informed. The brothers were arrested. The story became news.

Last week, officials went to visit the girl at her home. She was not there. Her ''guardians'' had kicked her out of the house. This was because she told on her brothers; because she has brought shame to the family.

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About the author

: Writer: Voranai Vanijaka; Position: Political and Social Commentator

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piriformis
Post : 56
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Discussion 43 : 29/04/2011 at 09:05 PM43
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"Two weeks ago, she went to see a doctor because of a viral infection."
Just guessing here, but if the doctor suspected sexual abuse during an examination for a viral infection, the infection was most likely one of the incurable sexually transmitted infections such as: HIV, Hepatitis B, Genital Herpes, or HPV (Genital Warts.

One of the things I most appreciate about this article is the inclusion of phone numbers that readers may use to take positive action regarding the identified problem. Often, I have seen postings on BP accusing the writers of exploitation of events without personal involvement. That seems unfair to me, as we readers have no real knowledge of the contributions the writers make outside of thier articles.

So it was refreshing to see a call to action included in this one.
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kena
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Discussion 42 : 28/04/2011 at 09:05 AM42
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Thank you Voranai for shedding light on this serious problem. I'm a writer and I commend you on your writing skills. There is so much related to this topic, and I hope you, with your wisdom and position will also write about the problem of deadbeat dads (is there even a Thai law which deals with that?), and other issues that need to be aired. The brothers and parents should be put in jail for minimum 5 years each.
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Voice
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Discussion 41 : 28/04/2011 at 07:40 AM41
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I could not see or recognise any Thai individual left any comment here, how strange! This deep root culture is not going to be wipe-out that easy, I doubt it! Unless we willing to accept the truth and change our way. Otherwise this kind of thing will remains buried until the victim isn’t a child anymore. It good to have a culture and it good that we have a culture but how can evaluate our face value against that to a child, aren’t they important enough, don’t they have right as another human being. Children are our future of tomorrow and they need good guidance and good example.
The selfishness of the parent in this case is beyond their face value. How can they thrown a child out of the house? It’s beyond my comprehension. They should be in prison along with their sons.
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samsaw
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Discussion 40 : 28/04/2011 at 04:21 AM40
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Three years of rape _ how could the ''guardians'' not know? Three years of rape, and they put the blame on a 12-year-old girl. They kicked her out of the house.
I have the same question. The parents should be jail too. We need more people like Khun Voranai Vanijaka to clean all the dirt of the world.
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Aussie John
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Discussion 39 : 27/04/2011 at 04:36 AM39
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Will Thailand's next generation of leaders be able to free the nation from those that have led it to shame its traditions. Will the present 'puu yais' finally see reason that their shameful rein will come to an end. This is the age of global communication and sooner or later the hypocrisy of what happens in the country will no longer be kept secret. The truth must be told and with it resolutions found that actually allow Thailand's future generations to reclaim their present tortured culture from those who only wish to profit from its misery..
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Ian Wensor
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Discussion 38 : 26/04/2011 at 10:50 AM38
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Let's hope discussions on commentaries such as this will have the desired effect and later be recognised as ... THAILAND'S HIDDEN CONSCIENCE.
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astahugo
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Discussion 37 : 26/04/2011 at 09:22 AM37
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I agree with all that has been written
There is so much hypocrisy here that this idea of face and male dominance makes me deeply distressed
The government is run by men, it's priority is filling the wallets of the military who run the country and women are seen as chattels to be used and abused by men
The guardians or parents should be arrested, taken to court and put in prison as should the protagonists.
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wantmyony
Post : 559
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Discussion 36 : 26/04/2011 at 02:22 AM36
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Should talk about whether there will be an election and who will win most. Only a good honest government in place these problems will be solved.
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Ian Wensor
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Discussion 35 : 25/04/2011 at 08:44 PM35
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I'd love to see Khun Voranai in politics but I'm afraid he'd soon be overwhelmed by the majority of those who've got pecuniary interests he wouldn't find acceptable and sooner or later, they'd find a way to get rid of him... No, He can best serve Thailand and make it a better place by continuing to do what he does so magnificently because ... THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD.
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johncat1
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Discussion 34 : 25/04/2011 at 05:44 PM34
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Re Discussion 32
Yes I agree Khun Voranai Vanijaka would be better to remain an independent thinker and stay a journalist where he can do more good.

I meant it would be nice if there were more people like him who could govern this corrupt country.

Sadly I think he is pretty unique and there are not many more honest people like him in Thailand.
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