09 Sep 09 is traveling to poor countries with a favorable foreign exchange rate morally objectionable?

worldpeace asked:


I was in Bangkok recently, and at my hotel there was a big sign saying “No *** Tourists”. This is important because Bangkok has a lot of *** tourists, and most of the hotels look the other way. But not my hotel. They were adamently against the whole idea of prostitution in Bangkok, and the sign explained why in a long list of reasons.

I found one of the reasons very surprising. It said that it is morally reprehensible for westerners to come to Thailand in order to buy sex, given that foreign exchange rates are favorable to westerners, and as a result it is much cheaper to buy *** in Thailand than in their home countries.

Clearly, one can find many legitimate reasons to argue against prostitution. But is this one of them?
It strikes me that westerners in Thailand are not just benefiting from the ForEx rates for buying ***. They are benefiting every time they spend money in Thailand, whether its for food or hotel or anything else. Is that morally wrong? Are they “taking advantage”?

Terra