John Burdett on Thailand, Sex and ‘The Quiet Farang’

The arrest of John Mark Karr in Bangkok for allegedly murdering JonBenet Ramsey almost 10 years ago has put Thailand’s reputation for sex tourism and as a haven for western drifters, or farang kee-nok, in the spotlight of American media. In an opinion piece in today’s New York Times, John Burdett, author of the crime novel Bangkok Tattoo, weighs in on why Thailand has, in the words of one Bangkok teacher he spoke to, become the place where farang go after they kill or rape somebody in their own country.

I decided to ask Pong Arjpong, a local educator who is familiar with the West, having graduated with a degree in international communications from the University of Washington. “There is no access to overseas criminal databases at immigration points,” he said. “And once fugitives are in the country, it is not difficult for them to obtain forged passports, teaching certificates, etc. Every backpacker knows how to get false documents.”

It is true that plenty of Westerners run to Southeast Asia these days when life becomes too hot for them at home, evading law enforcement by moving around Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, using Thailand as a hub. Mr. Karr, too, it seems, was on the run from an arrest warrant issued in Sonoma County, Calif., in December 2001.

But there is another reason Mr. Karr might raise local hackles, regardless of whether he killed JonBenet. Like so many other farang kee-nok, he is apparently obsessed with sex. It isn’t known whether he indulged that obsession here, legally or illegally, but in a sense that does not matter.

Another teacher, Nit Dandin, told Burdett: “Farang who love skiing go to Switzerland or Canada. If they love climbing mountains, they go to Nepal. If they love sex, they come here.”