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don5252
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I get hassled at LAX about 20% of the time, and there're looking for any and everything, once they asked how much I spent and how I financed these trips.
I guess one way to help protect yourself bringing back personal sex adventure photos or what ever you want to call them is a consent form with I.D.and signature
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:07 am on Aug. 2, 2008
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from farangman4 on 5:38 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
What do they suspect such guys of? Paedophilia? Surely only a very small minority of guys who come over and pay for sex fall into that category?
Sadly, yes - regardless of the facts, anytime you see a 'documentary' or 'hard hitting report' on Thailand, it ALWAYS focuses on Paedophilia.
SEO doesn't help this, as ANY search for 'commercial sex' yields an inordinate amount of paedophilia links.
Quote: from farangman4 on 5:38 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
P4P? Is going abroad and having sex with women and paying them illegal in the states?
Sadly, yes, as they are passing (or have already passed) a law that would make it illegal for US citizens (not sure if residents are included as well) to engage in commercial sex transactions in other countries - the odd part of that law is that this includes countries where this would be legal.
Apparently, this is an extension of the PROTECT act, which makes it illegal to engage in commercial sex with anyone under 18 - I'd look up the more recent law, but all I get are more paedophilia links, which is getting annoying.
It's almost getting to the point where the impression will become "Oh, you are interested in sex? you MUST be a paedophile". All goes back to really disliking dumb people, and how they create hassles for the rest of us.
Under the PROTECT Act of April 2003, it is a crime, prosecutable in the United States, for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country with a person under the age of 18, whether or not the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident alien intended to engage in such illicit sexual conduct prior to going abroad. For purposes of the PROTECT Act, illicit sexual conduct includes any commercial sex act in a foreign country with a person under the age of 18. The law defines a commercial sex act as any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by a person under the age of 18.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 9:29 am on Aug. 2, 2008
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from Buttman 007 on 4:06 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
If you travel alone, and are returning from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam or the Philippines, you can virtually be guaranteed additional screening at US customs when you return home. A year or so ago, a US Custom's official at LAX told me that any guy who traveled alone on holiday from one of those countries was regarded as highly suspicious and would be given an additional search at LAX.
Yep, I can attest to that as well - I was given the same information by a sympathetic customs guy a year or so ago.
Now, I just tell them I come from Taiwan (true, as it's a stop-over), and I haven't gotten searched since I started doing that - not my fault if they fail to look at the obvious information on my customs form, where I clearly marked all prior destinations.
Seriously, though, good advice w/regards to securing personal information, albeit it is really, really sad that we have come to this point where we need to police our own citizens for what they may have done in other countries, outside of the US. Police state, indeed - and I used to joke about that.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:33 am on Aug. 2, 2008
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from farangman4 on 6:38 am on Aug. 2, 2008
What do they suspect such guys of? Paedophilia? Surely only a very small minority of guys who come over and pay for sex fall into that category? P4P? Is going abroad and having sex with women and paying them illegal in the states?
I'd wager that at least as many women who come over with their families go home with fake designer goods as men come over on their own and take photos of themselves having sex with prostitutes.
They are not usually looking for fake designer goods, and anyway (as has been discussed before) it is legal according to US Customs laws to bring back one counterfeit item of each type (one counterfeit handbag, one counterfeit watch, etc). The item must be with you or in your luggage, and not sent back via mail, UPS, etc. They are only concerned about people bringing back items that will be sold to others.
What they are looking for is people traveling abroad to have sex with underage persons. The US has a law that makes it illegal to go overseas with the intent to have sex with an underage person, even when the sex act itself occurred outside of the US. This is somewhat of a novel legal precedent (becasue it involves commiting a crime against people who are not US citizens outside of the US borders, and the sex act does not actually have to take place--they only have to show you traveled overseas with the intent to commit the crime), but considering the nature of the crime no one in the US is willing publicly argue against it.
If you have photos of naked persons that may be underage (even if they are actually 18+), US Customs may be able to use that as evidence against you and charge you with the crime of traveling abroad to have sex with minors. If you carry such images, it is your responsibility to prove they are at least 18 years old. If you carry with you large amounts candy, they may be able to use that as evidence that you are going to entice children into illegal sex acts (this has happened in one case of a person arrested on their way to SE Asia).
There is the perception in the US that sex with minors happens frequently in Southeast Asia, even though the vast majority of sex tourists only have contact with those 18 years or older. This is partly because of the women's movement in the US who regards all prostitution as slavery, and the fact that many news organizations have done TV documentaries in the US on the subject of child prostitution and sex slaves in Southeast Asia.
Even if it is a distinct minority of single men who travel to Southeast Asia for sex with minors, probably close to 100% who do commit these crimes are single men, so that is why they search them. The more sex offenders the customs agent finds, the better chances they have of getting promoted.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 10:15 am on Aug. 2, 2008
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Kaymanx
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Quote: from DaffyDuck on 11:38 pm on Aug. 1, 2008
The DHS says the policies apply to anyone entering the country -- including US citizens -- and claim the measures are necessary to prevent terrorism
If the measures are related to checking terrorism, nude pix or sex pix should not really matter, given that porn is otherwise well tolerated -- and in many cases legal -- in the west. The catch seems to be that the incidental unearthing of naughty sex pix by authorities looking for terrorists could be used to indict non-terrorists for a different 'crime' under a different law.
I have a vague feeling (I could be talking thro my hat) that this is not how the law generally works in most countries (leaving aside harassment for bribe, as happens in many regions east of the west). If the searching of computers is sanctioned under anti-terrorist laws the officials are going to have a hard enough time checking every suspect person (and there are thousands of them) returning single from Asia. The downside of that would be mounting public anger. There are already increasing delays arising from security checks and weather related factors. Therefore if this particular legal sanction (to check computers) has to effectively serve its purpose of curbing terrorism it strikes me that the security officials directly responsible for such results would confine themselves to terrorist-suspect travellers. Which should mean that the prime suspects would be the stereotypes and other profiles under watch, not the ordinary westerner. Again, I could easily be talking thro the back of my neck. But looking at how the security set-up creaks under an overload of security measures this seems the more likely scenario.
The dread of having your naughty personal pix streaming ingloriously on a slide show on your own laptop in full public view seems to be just that -- a dread. To an outsider like me it would seem difficult to believe that the birthplace of human rights and personal freedom could actually exercise a law under one statute (designed to protect its own citizens) to persecute the same own citizens under another statute. Forgive any ignorance or naivete on my part.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 11:25 am on Aug. 2, 2008
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SidWenes
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Quote: from Mr Alan on 12:49 am on Aug. 3, 2008
The US has a law that makes it illegal to go overseas with the intent to have sex with an underage person, even when the sex act itself occurred outside of the US.
Would anyone know the number of people who are tried for illegal sex acts based on customs searches? I remember the astronaut's son [arrested while leaving the US, so not really the same thing], and maybe one or two others... Is it theatre, or are they getting court cases?
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:07 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from Kaymanx on 2:59 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
If the measures are related to checking terrorism, nude pix or sex pix should not really matter, given that porn is otherwise well tolerated -- and in many cases legal -- in the west. The catch seems to be that the incidental unearthing of naughty sex pix by authorities looking for terrorists could be used to indict non-terrorists for a different 'crime' under a different law.
<snip>
The dread of having your naughty personal pix streaming ingloriously on a slide show on your own laptop in full public view seems to be just that -- a dread. To an outsider like me it would seem difficult to believe that the birthplace of human rights and personal freedom could actually exercise a law under one statute (designed to protect its own citizens) to persecute the same own citizens under another statute. Forgive any ignorance or naivete on my part.
A Customs agent may have claimed that these searches are related to terrorism, but they are not. They are related to a law passed in the US that makes it a crime to travel (or intend to travel) outside the US for the purpose of having sex with a minor. They do not have to prove you had sex with a minor in order to charge you with an offense. Some people have been arrested and charged on their way to SE Asia.
Now it is true that certain laws passed of the result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks give them more powers to search people. But in the subject of this thread, they are looking for sex offenders, not terrorists.
It is against the law in the US to posses any pornography (which could include a photograph of a topless female) unless you can prove and keep records of the fact that the persons are at least 18 years old.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:11 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from SidWenes on 3:41 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
Would anyone know the number of people who are tried for illegal sex acts based on customs searches? I remember the astronaut's son [arrested while leaving the US, so not really the same thing], and maybe one or two others... Is it theatre, or are they getting court cases?
Astronaut Wally Schirra's son was arrested on his way to SE Asia. The main reason he was arrested on his departure is that the government had already been monitoring him post on an internet forum inquiring about sex with children (a topic which has been banned from this forum). He could have just as easily been arrested on his return to the US under the same laws.
In the case of Shirra, the government made note of the fact that Shirra was carrying a lot of candy and condoms with him in his luggage on the way to SE Asia, and the government probably figured that was enough evidence (coupled with his internet posts) to convict him (I believe he plead guilty).
Since the government is not able to always identify ahead of time persons traveling to SE Asia for sex with minors before they depart, they are seeking find such evidence by searching travelers on their way home (photos, etc). But the same US law applies whether they catch them on their way to SE Asia, or on the way home.
And even if they can't convict you on a charge of intent to have sex with minors, if they find any nude photos, and you cannot prove the subject is at least 18 years old, they can get you on that charge. And if you personally took the nude photos (they are in your camera) they might be able to convice a jury that you did infact or you intended to have sex with them.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:30 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
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SidWenes
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Quote: from Mr Alan on 3:04 am on Aug. 3, 2008
Astronaut Wally Schirra's son was arrested on his way to SE Asia.
We agree Schirra is not really relevant to inbound customs searches.
Key question would remain: Are they getting prosecutions, from inbound customs searches? I'm not aware of press coverage.
[I'm not trying to disagree with anyone on the thread, just trying to see if there's evidence for the effectiveness of the program. Personally I think its data mining, and that searchable copies of PCs will be kept "forever" on the off chance they could be useful in a future investigation by another agency. But that's just me.]
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 12:49 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from SidWenes on 4:23 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
Key question would remain: Are they getting prosecutions, from inbound customs searches? I'm not aware of press coverage.
I have no idea. But I assume that they are finding some people with inappropriate photos or movies on a camera or laptop, unless they can prove that it only contains adults 18 years or older. I have no idea what happens to the people who are caught with this stuff. Probably they loose the laptop or camera at a minimum. If someone is caught with obvious child pornography, I would bet they were charged with a crime.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:11 pm on Aug. 2, 2008
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