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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   962 thread views

Transnational Thursday for March 7, 2024

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Very low stakes but very funny international happenings:

//Alt headline: Putting the trans in transnational news

After an alleged assault by a gang of (illegal) transsexual Filipino sex workers on their (legal) Thai cousins, the country saw something between a drunken catfight and a riot when a horde of the latter's compatriots showed up to restore justice after the perpetrators were being "shielded" in police custody.

Lots of punches being thrown, someone got scalped (or their wig got torn out), and all of Thailand stands in solidarity with their transfolk, with the online Filipino community hanging their head in shame. Highlights include an absolutely ripped Chad who stood up for Trans Rights (and was the only one arrested by the cops), who received a standing ovation when he was let out of custody.

I spent too long on Twitter and ended up on the wrong side of the tracks. I have absolutely no idea what to make of the whole situation, so I'll just link the Twitter threads that made me wonder if someone spiked my drink:

https://x.com/sighyam/status/1765002618773164043?s=20

Let’s get into the biggest story to come out of Thailand since those cave boys.

1 million+ of tweets have been generated within the first 24 hrs alone. We are now 48 hours in and A LOT has happened.

This is going to be a HIGHLIGHT thread.

https://x.com/sighyam/status/1765016774167146690?s=20

Thai girl 1: I don’t have any weapon on me, I don’t have anything

Thai girl 2: We only brought out fists and cocks

Well, I saw for myself that trans sex work was highly normalized when I visited the country (for far less prurient reasons), but this thread had me wheezing.

Also from India and sex related, but not very funny: a gang rape of a Brazilian-Spanish female tourist in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. It could be gang rapes of female tourists are common, no matter the destination, but international media has a narrative of India=gang rape central and is more likely to publicize stories of such crimes, if they are from the subcontinent.

Also from India

I'm afraid that while Thai language and culture has great Indic influence, they're not that close. Certainly would have saved on the plane ticket!

Edit: I had a classmate who had a friend who fucked a cow, in Jharkhand. I wouldn't go there myself, I suspect that I'm alluring than a cow. I can only pity anyone who decided that of all the places in India to visit, that's the one.

Was his friend also a bovine by any chance?

Apart from his mount of choice, I saw no evidence for that assertion.

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