Holland is the country of choice for tourists who want to smoke pot, shoot-up or patronize Amsterdam’s infamous red-light district.
Thailand is apparently a favorite of those interested in sex with children, along with a handful of other third-world nations along the pacific rim, including Cambodia.
Now Cambodia may be adding another category to the lexicon of sin-tourism: suicide travel.
See, apparently 57-year-old Roger Graham (from California – not that there’s anything wrong with that!) is encouraging people to come to Cambodia to kill themselves, as he has discovered that the nation has no laws regarding either assisted suicide or euthanasia. Most of its citizens have long been preoccupied with staying alive, and the whole assisted suicide debate hasn’t really shown up on the radar, yet.
He has a website, though it has been shut down once by the Cambodian government. They are not at all sure that they want their country to be known as a great place to shuffle off this mortal coil, but as yet they have found no legal mechanism to restrict Mr. Graham’s activities.
Chances are that if there is money to be made, little will be done to stop the suicide trade, even if the Cambodian government decides to outlaw the practice. Corruption is a national hobby.
Mr. Graham, who runs a coffee shop and internet cafe, says of his adopted hometown:
"Kampot is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I get to
see the sun rise and the sun set. I get people coming by and saying
hello with smiling and happy faces."
I could say the same thing about Rogers, Arkansas (where I live), but suicide is illegal here, and incurs stiff penalties (heh). If I am dead, though, what do I care about that? Why fly to Cambodia to avoid having the authorities prosecute my corpse?
I guess most of these folks are looking to be done in by a competent professional. It’s more comforting if you have someone there beside you, even if you are paying them.
Euthanasia proponents will no doubt use the situation as a justification for legalizing assisted suicide – "Look, because we are making criminals of these people, they feel it necessary to fly overseas and have the procedure done by unlicensed practitioners. If we make it legal here, the whole industry can be properly regulated (and taxed!). It is a matter of personal choice, and should be kept between a patient and their doctor. It also falls under the right of privacy secretly encoded in the U.S. constitution.".
If the same voodoo worked to justify abortion, there is nothing to stop it being used to legalize suicide, unless the balance of the Supreme Court tips in favor of life.