By Berry Robertson
Earlier this month, an American teacher that has over a million followers on instagram was arrested for sexually assaulting and filming his encounter with a 16 year old girl. With his presence on tik tok arose a slew of comments ranging from “children these days are unlikely to save themselves” and “children these days know what they're doing” (translated from thai). These comments in regards to a 16 year old girl, implies that she is complicit in her own abuse.
Often this mindset arises in Thailand due to a multitude of factors. The first factor in this scenario: the teacher in question is a white man. There is a particular colorist bias in Thailand often viewing white or europeans as better than those of darker skin tones. With this implication it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that some people want to excuse his behaviour as a “white person could never be wrong”. Another factor present is stigma in Thailand around women's sexuality. In Thailand it is not as socially acceptable for a woman to be viewed as sexual in any matter. And it has become better over the years due to the rise of social media. But there is still a level of judgement against those who post provocative content online or are open about their sexuality.
However, whether or not the victim was interested in the American teacher, there is still the question of the power dynamics present in regards to his social media popularity as well as his age. It is not justified to blame someone if they have been manipulated due to an authority figure, due to race or due to whether they are socially provocative or not. Which is why it is so important to have open conversations and open our minds to consider the different components that make up someone's situation instead of jumping to conclusions and blaming the victim.
¹Petpailin, Petch. “American TikToker and Teacher Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Young Thai Girl.” Thaiger, 4 Sept. 2023, thethaiger.com/news/national/american-tiktoker-and-teacher-arrested-for-sexually-assaulting-young-thai-girl. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023.
²WorkpointNews23. “ครูฝรั่งลวงสาว 16 มีเซ็กซ์ | บรรจงชงข่าว | วันที่ 29 สิงหาคม 2566.” Www.youtube.com, 29 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwWCd6-9DDU&t=20s. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023.
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