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WELCOME TO THE BANGKOK SLAUGHTER HOUSE
Written by Father Joe Maier
Asia Books Co., Ltd
PO Box 40
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
www.asiabooks.com
A collection of twenty-four short stories that originally appeared in a slightly different form in the Bamgkok Post,”WELCOME TO THE BANGKOK SLAUGHTERHOUSE,” tells about life in Bangkok’s largest slum, the
Klong Toey.
The Klong Toey neighborhood (the name means “Canal of the Pandamus Leaves” in Thai) is the largest of approximately 1,200 areas of Bangkok that are officially designated as slums. An official designation apparently gives the residents certain considerations. The Klong Toey has a population of 130,000.
Father Joe Maier, self described as an ordained maverick priest, was assigned to Thailand over thirty
years ago. At the time, Thailand was considered a remote and undesirable assignment. The priest’s plan was to stay for only a year, but his plan changed when Mother Theresa toured with him around Klong Toey and told
him to stay in the slums to work. She explained that the slums are where the need is the greatest. So he stayed.
Throughout this collection of stories is the complete sense of Father Joe’s love for the people who live
in the slums. He has a love, particularly for the children and a total distain for corrupt police, politicians, and bureaucrats. He has been instrumental in setting up kindergardens all over Bangkok, enrolling over
four thousand slum children. He now lives in one of the homes of his Mercy Center where over forty mothers and children with AIDS are being cared for. The center also includes a preschool, respite care facility,
women’s credit union and much more.
As many as ten thousand children in Thailand are sold into prostitution each year. Recently, a new system
was put into place that supports children that go through the court system to testify against pediphiles. Each child is assigned several people that go through the entire process with him or her. Particularly
arresting, is the story, “Children’s Court,” that describes the journey of two boys through the system. The interesting part of the story was the complicity of the victims, stemming from their physical and emotional
vulnerability. The question that begs to be answered, and is not taken up in the book, is why the government allows a sex industry so heavily focused on child prostitution to exist.
Pervasive throughout Father Joe’s stories are the changes wrought by yaa-baa, a methamphetamine, also
referred to by Thai people as “crazy medicine.” According to Father Joe, the introduction of yaa-baa has altered the entire social structure of the slums, causing a level of violence and depravity that did not exist
before it came on the scene. As with child prostitution, it came as a result of severe poverty and desperation.
Many stories are not happy. In fact, several of these stories have the ability to leave one numb. Other
stories offer a touching ray of hope and connection to better lives ahead for certain individuals who somehow find it in themselves to overcome really difficult circumstances. The final story is titled, “Fragile
Strength For the New Year,” about three handicapped women who live their best lives in the here and now as food vendors in the slums.
“WELCOME TO THE BANGKOK SLAUGHTERHOUSE,” is a fascinating documentary on how people battle for survival in
the Bangkok slums. While Father Joe is not a masterful writer (his real talent lies in social work), and some of his writing lacks cohesion, this book is a quick read and well worth the time spent reading it. The
writing is heartfelt and compelling.
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