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Has our society lost its way?



                                       November 18, 1998 
                     Editorial


 Has our society lost
 its way?

 Statistics compiled by the Womenís Foundation show that seven or
 eight 

 women are raped every day in Thailand. Additional to these crimes
 are 

 the countless cases of wife beating and sexual assault committed
 against 

 young girls which are never reported. Yet the gang-rape at the
 weekend 

 of two teenage girls, one of them a 14-year-old student, allegedly by 

 five vocational students is particularly outrageous even if the victims 

 were not seriously hurt.

 The incident was outrageous because the perpetrators clearly have no 

 respect for the law. According to press reports, the suspects, a gang
 of 

 five students from Buranaphond Technical School in Bang Na,
 boarded bus 

 No 134 at Chatuchak park after celebrating a birthday. While on the
 bus, 

 witnesses say the five grabbed the two victims and abused them
 sexually 

 without any regard for the other passengers. The gang reportedly
 warned 

 the other passengers not to interfere, claiming the victims were their 

 girlfriends. The got off the bus in Bang Bua Thong where they forced
 the 

 two girls into a house and gang-raped them.

 This case also is outrageous because no one on the bus, neither the 

 passengers, the bus driver or the conductor, cared to help the poor 

 girls who witnesses say were weeping and crying as they were being 

 molested. The bus driver claims he saw nothing unusual because the
 bus 

 was packed, while the conductor, who had been intimidated by the
 gang 

 who refused to pay the fare, was apparently aware of what was
 happening 

 but opted not to anything. A passenger was reported to have said later

 he was too afraid to intervene for fear for his own safety.

 What is most outrageous of all was the statement reportedly made by
 the 

 director of the vocational school. He was quoted as saying the rape 

 would not have been possible if the victims had not consented. He also

 said the five students would not be expelled unless they are found 

 guilty by the courts. He may be right in treating his students as 

 innocent until proven otherwise, but his attitude is one of total 

 insensitivity and arrogance.

 The incident clearly shows something is terribly wrong with Thai 

 society. Has Thai hospitality and care for our fellow man given way to
 a 

 "none-of-my-business" mindset?

 The bus driver thought it was none of his business so he did not 

 intervene to help the poor girls. Nor did he bother to stop the bus and 

 report the crime to any of several police stations along the bus route. 

 The passengers thought likewise. "Why risk our lives with these young 

 hooligans?" they might have asked themselves before they looked the 

 other way. We must wonder if they feel any sense of guilty.

 Something must be done by the authorities to make the drivers of
 public 

 transport vehicles such as buses realise they are responsible for the 

 safety of their passengers. This does not mean only that they should 

 drive carefully and abide by all the road rules. It means they must 

 help, if possible, any passenger who is in danger.

 Many victims of rape, sexual assault, beatings and other forms of 

 violence inflicted by their loved ones or others could have been spared

 if witnesses to their torment refused to treat these incidents as 

 "family affairs" but as crimes which are punishable by law.

 Public calls for revenge against the five suspects in this latest 

 outrage do not really help solve the problem. Nor can it heal the pain 

 of the victims. Only if we care for the defenceless and refuse to ignore 

 this and other forms of violence can there ever be a chance that 

 incidents such as this one on bus No 134 are not repeated.

                                                       
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 © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1998
 Last Modified: Wed, Nov 18, 1998
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