Prostitution in Thailand
Encyclopedia
Prostitution
in Thailand
is illegal, although in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated. Prostitution is practised openly throughout the country. Local officials with commercial interests in prostitution often protect the practice. The precise number of prostitutes is difficult to assess; estimates vary widely and are subject to national and international controversy. Since the Vietnam War
, Thailand
has gained international notoriety among travellers from many countries as a sex tourism
destination. Sex with a prostitute under the age of 18 is strictly prohibited, which is followed closely by the authorities.
gives a total of 2.8 million sex workers, including 2 million women, 20,000 adult males and 800,000 minors under the age of 18. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$ 4.3 billion per year or about three percent of the Thai economy. It has been suggested for example that there may be as many as 10,000 prostitutes on Koh Samui alone, an island resort destination not usually associated with prostitution, and that at least 10% of tourist dollars may be spent on the sex trade. According to a 2001 report by the World Health Organisation: "The most reliable suggestion is that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 sex
workers." A recent government survey found that there were 76,000 to 77,000 adult prostitutes in registered entertainment establishments; however, NGOs believed there were between 200,000 and 300,000 prostitutes.
Although centres such as Bangkok
(Patpong
, Nana Plaza
, and Soi Cowboy
), Pattaya
, and Phuket
(Patong) are often identified as primary tourist "prostitution" areas, with Hat Yai
and other Malaysian border cities catering to Malaysians, prostitution takes place in nearly every major city and province in the country.
Chiang Mai and Koh Samui (Chaweng and Lamai) are also major centers. In Bangkok, the so-called Ratchadaphisek entertainment district, running along Ratchadaphisek Road near the Huai Khwang
intersection, features several large entertainment venues which include sexual massage. Even karaoke
style bars in small provincial towns have their own versions, with women, in addition to singing traditional Thai music, sometimes engaging in prostitution.
since 1960, when a law was passed under pressure from the United Nations. The government has instituted a system of monitoring sex workers in order to prevent their mistreatment and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
The 1960 Law was repealed by The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996).
Thailand has an ancient, continuous tradition of legal texts, generally described under the heading of Dhammasattha
literature (Thai pron., tam-ma-sat), wherein prostitution is variously defined, and universally banned. The era of traditional legal texts came to an end in the early 20th century, and the significance of these earlier texts on both the writ and spirit of modern legislation cannot be overlooked.
The "Entertainment Places Act of 1966" is one of the modern laws regulating massage parlors, go-go bars, karaoke bars, bathhouses and similar establishments. Under this law such establishments are required to be licensed. The law does not expressedly permit prostitution, but allows for "service providers" and "bath service providers," differentiated from regular, non-sexual service staff. For example, there are massage parlours where men come and look at women, who are sitting separated by a glass wall (known as a "fishbowl"), and may choose whom they want. The women go to a room where they bathe and massage the customers, but in reality may do much more than that.
The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996) (the “Prostitution Law”), is the central legal framework prohibiting prostitution. The law defines prostitution as any act done to gratify the sexual desire of another in exchange for money or any other benefit, but only if it is done “in a promiscuous manner”. The Prostitution Law does not define what exactly a “promiscuous manner” constitutes, and the act of prostitution by itself is not outlawed anymore, while solicitation is.
The crime of solicitation is vaguely defined.
A person soliciting the services of a prostitute is liable under the Prostitution Law if the solicitation is done “openly and shamelessly or causes a nuisance to the public”, the penalty being a fine of up to 1,000 baht.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS
in Thailand, and especially among sex worker
s, has been the subject of significant media and academic attention, and Thailand hosted the XV International AIDS Conference, 2004
.
Mechai Viravaidya
, known as "Mr. Condom", has campaigned tirelessly to increase the awareness of safe sex practices and use of condom
s in Thailand. He served as minister for tourism and AIDS prevention from 1991 to 1992, and also founded the restaurant chain Cabbages and Condoms, which gives free condoms to customers.
After the enactment of the Thai government's first five-year plan to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, including Mechai's "100% condom programme", as of 1994, the use of condoms during commercial sex probably increased markedly. No current data on the use of condoms is available. The programme instructed sex workers to refuse intercourse without a condom, and monitored health clinic statistics in order to locate brothels that allow sex without condoms.
Thailand was praised for its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS during the late 1990s, but a study in 2005 found that the lack of public support in the previous several years had led to a resurgence of the disease.
.
Visiting a prostitute or a paid mistress is not an uncommon, though not necessarily acceptable behaviour, for men. Many Thai women, for example, believe the existence of prostitution actively reduces the incidence of rape. Among many Thai people, there is a general attitude that prostitution has always been, and will always be, a part of the social fabric of Thailand.
According to a 1996 study, the sexual urge of men is perceived by both Thai men and women as being very much stronger than the sexual urge of women. Where women are thought to be able to exercise control over their desires, the sexual urge of men is seen to be "a basic physiological need or instinct". It is also thought by both Thai men and women that men need "an occasional variation in partners". As female infidelity is strongly frowned upon in Thai society, and, according to a 1993 survey, sexual relationships for single women also meets disapproval by a majority of the Thai population, premarital sex, casual sex and extramarital sex with prostitutes is accepted, expected and sometimes even encouraged for Thai men, the latter being perceived as less threatening to a marriage over lasting relationships with a so-called "minor wife".
Another reason contributing to this issue is that ordinary Thais deem themselves tolerant of other people, especially those whom they perceive as downtrodden. This acceptance has allowed prostitution to flourish without much of the extreme social stigma found in other countries. According to a 1996 study, people in Thailand generally disapprove of prostitution, but the stigma for prostitutes is not lasting or severe, especially since many prostitutes support their parents through their work. Some men do not mind marrying former prostitutes. A 2009 study of subjective well-being of prostitutes found that among the sex workers surveyed, sex work had become normalized.
This cultural milieu combined with poverty and the lure of easy money have caused prostitution
in general and sex tourism
in particular to flourish.
is the owner of several massage parlours in Bangkok and considered by many "a godfather of prostitution" in Thailand. In 2005 he was elected for a four-year term to the Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the Constitutional Court removed him from office. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok but was not elected. He revealed in 2003 that some of his best clients were senior politicians and police officers, whom he also claimed to have paid, over a decade, more than £1.5m in bribes so that his business, the real business of selling sex, could thrive.
Although Thailand's sex trade aimed at foreigners can be considered overt, the industry that caters exclusively to Thai men had never before been publicly scrutinised, let alone the sexual exploits of Thailand's unchallengeable officials.
Support of prostitution is pervasive in political circles, as the BBC News
reported in 2003 that "MPs from Thailand's ruling Thai Rak Thai
Party are getting hot under the collar over plans by the party leadership to ban them from having mistresses or visiting brothels" … "One MP told The Nation newspaper
that if the rules were enforced, the party would only be able to field around 30 candidates, compared to its more than 200 sitting MPs."
Attitudes towards women can be described by MP Thirachai Sirikhan, informing The Nation newspaper, "To have a mia noi (mistress) is an individual's right. There should be no problem as long as the politician causes no trouble to his family or society".
Both politicians and police have been supporting and indulging in the prostitution industry openly. Khun Tavich, a veteran politician at 76 years was under fire in 2005 for impregnating a 14-year-old girl, who worked across the street from the congressional building. It is well-known, for example, that the father of a female member of Parliament is the owner of a massage parlour, a fairly deluxe establishment with several stories of jacuzzi-equipped rooms.
After a police raid on some Bangkok parlours where policemen had sex with prostitutes, "Acting Suthisan Police chief Colonel Varanvas Karunyathat defended the police action, saying that the (police) officers involved needed to have sex with the masseuses to gain evidence for the arrest." Apparently, this is standard practice as a separate police force did the same in Pattaya in May 2007.
Even more evidence of politicians supporting the prostitution industry and the sexual habits of elderly Thai men in general can be gleaned from the fact that Viagra is being given to elderly voters in exchange for their votes in an election drive.
casinos, and entertainment facilities that function both as sources of income and as operations
centres for trafficking in humans and narcotics and extortion. The Chinese organised crime groups engaging in human trafficking are called the “Piglet Gangs” by the Thai police.
practised in Thailand (Buddhism being the predominant religion in Thailand), Buddha
made clear to his disciples that women cannot attain nirvana because women have many social responsibilities (like raising their children etc) and they are physically weak to face hardship. The world would soon come to end if both men and women go in search for enlightenment.” This is also evidenced by the belief that women cannot attain enlightenment
, although this view is disputed by other Buddhist scriptures such as the Vinaya Pitaka
in the Pali Canon
. In addition, the type of Buddhism practised in Thailand outlines ten kinds of wives in its vihaya
, or rules for monks. Within these rules, the first three are actually women who can be paid for their services. In present day Thailand, this has manifested itself into an acceptance by wives about prostitution. Sex with prostitutes is viewed by wives as empty sex, and thus women may allow their husbands to have meaningless sex with prostitutes rather than to find a new spouse.
Buddhism also prescribes “acceptance and resignation in the face of life’s pain and suffering
", in accordance with belief in karma
and expiation of sins from previous lives. Conjecturally, women may choose to believe that suffering as prostitutes is the result of their karma
.
s in Japan.
with additional costs including handjob
, oral sex
, and sexual intercourse
. The difference between this type of massage and Ab Ob Nuat is that not all massage parlours are involved in prostitution.
s") are employed by the bars either as dancers (in the case of go-go bars) or simply as hostesses who will encourage customers to buy them drinks.
Apart from these sorts of bars, there are a number of other venues for the sex trade; some bars, while not employing staff to serve as bar girls, will allow women ("freelancers" in this context) to solicit clients.
or bisexual
male clientele, has become increasingly popular with Western women from Europe and mainly the UK. Some women prefer Thai men to men from their own country. There are more than ten clubs in Bangkok which cater to mainly female clients from Thailand, but also to foreign clients from other Asian countries, the majority coming from Japan
. Thailand's male sex workers are mostly from the poorest areas of Thailand and are often the sole support of their rice farmer birth families.
A research paper from 2000 mentions that the majority of male sex workers identify themselves as heterosexual, but still perform sexual services with men.
According to a 2002 study by Associate Professor of Sociology
Nither Tinnakul of Chulalongkorn University
, some elite Thai women were paying upwards of 10,000 baht (243 US dollars) per night for the services of black male prostitutes imported from Africa and Jamaica. Among the reasons for this phenomenon, cited in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) interview, are the lingering effects of the Asian economic crisis and the women's need for revenge against their philandering husbands. Some Thai women have also considered their new male prostitutes as being “fiercer,” more “thrilling” in bed than their Thai peers and “well built.” But the vast majority of red-light districts in Thailand with male sex workers, such as Sunee Plaza
in Pattaya, cater to the homosexual market.
A 2005 study of twelve underage male prostitutes in Pattaya
found that they were content with their work that allowed them a comfortable living. The younger ones were dependent on pimps. Most of them suffered from emotional problems and some were lured into the trade.
is not known. According to the US-based research institute “Protection Project”, estimates of the number of children involved in prostitution living in Thailand ranges from 12,000 to the hundreds of thousands (ECPAT International). The government, university researchers, and NGOs estimated that there are as many as 30,000 to 40,000 prostitutes under 18 years of age, not including foreign migrants (US Department of State, 2005b). Thailand’s Health System Research Institute estimates that children in prostitution make up 40% of prostitutes in Thailand.
The reasons why and how children are commercially sexually exploited by include:
Children are exploited in sex establishments and are also approached directly in the street by paedophiles seeking sexual contact.
Child sex tourism
is a serious problem in the country. Thailand
, along with Cambodia
, India
, Brazil
and Mexico
has been identified as leading hotspots of child sexual exploitation.
Paedophiles, in particular, exploit the lax laws of the country and attempt to find cover to avoid prosecution.
as both a top destination for victims of human trafficking
and a major source of trafficked persons.
A proportion of prostitutes over the age of 18, including foreign nationals from Asia
and Europe
, are in a state of forced sexual servitude and slavery
.
There are reports of bribe taking by some low- or mid-level police officers facilitating the most severe forms of trafficking in persons.
Ethnic minorities such as northern hill tribe
peoples, many of whom do not have legal status in the country, are at a disproportionately high risk for trafficking internally and abroad. Within the country women are trafficked from the impoverished northeast and the north to Bangkok
for sexual exploitation.
According to the 2003 documentary Trading Women
, most women trafficked into Thailand come from Myanmar
; others come from Cambodia
, Laos
and China
. The film cites as root causes of the trafficking problem the economic and political situation in Myanmar, the destruction of the traditional economy in Thai hill tribe
regions resulting from development and opium suppression programmes, the inability of many members of Thai hill tribes to obtain proper papers and participate in society, and the rampant corruption among police and border guards.
It is common that Thai women are lured to Japan
and sold to Yakuza
-controlled brothels where they are forced to work off their price. It is easy to lure these women from neighboring countries because Thailand has 56 unofficial crossover points and 300 checkpoints where people can cross the border without paperwork.
In a landmark case in 2006, one such woman filed a civil suit in Thailand against the Thai perpetrators, who had previously been convicted in criminal court. The woman had managed to escape from the Yakuza-controlled prostitution ring by killing the female Thai mama-san
and had spent five years in a Japanese prison.
SHE Foundation (Self Help & Empowerment) works with women and children trapped in the commercial sex trade in Phuket Thailand. SHE offers a prevention programme that gives uneducated women FREE Hotel training that prevents women turning to bars through lack of choice and education. SHE also offers women working in the bars FREE housing and paid employment making jewellery within the SHE Center. www.shethailand.org
EMPOWER
is a Thai NGO that takes a neutral stance towards sex work and offers educational and counseling services to female sex workers. It has been operating since 1985 and has offices in Patpong (Bangkok), Chiang Mai
, Mae Sai
and Patong Beach
.
SWING (Service Workers in Group) is a recent offshoot of EMPOWER, offering support to male and female sex workers in Patpong and Pattaya. It offers English classes, teaches safe sex
, distributes condoms, and promotes health and safety with their gym and discounted medical examinations. The newly formed organisation SISTERS works with transgender sex workers in Bangkok and Pattaya.
Destiny Rescue, is an organisation that is focused on the prevention and rescue of girls involved in prostitution in Thailand.
FACE
is an organisation that focuses on child prostitution and trafficking and is the main partner of the UN in the country. DEPDC is an organisation that battles trafficking of women and children.
The Population and Community Development Association (PDA), headed by Mechai Viravaidya
, pioneered family planning and safe sex strategies in Thailand over thirty years ago. The organisation no longer focuses expressly on safe sex issues, but continues to provide information, condoms, and prevention programmes around the country.
CPCR (The Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights Foundation) is a Thai NGO which concerns primarily with preventing and confronting the physical and sexual abuse, exploitation and neglect of children in Thailand, and was established in 1981.
International Justice Mission
is a U.S.-based Christian human rights organisation which operates in Thailand to rescue brothel workers held in sexual slavery.
Fr. Ray Foundation
in Pattaya provides care and housing where vulnerable children can find safety at the Children's Home, and homeless kids are offered a sanctuary from the dangers of the street at the Drop-In Centre for Street Kids. Exploited women and their children are helped and assisted through education and care at the Fountain of Life.
The Well is a US-based Christian organisation that has been reaching out to sex workers in the Soi Cowboy and Nana Square areas since 2003. Their mission is to end the commercial sex trade by 2030 by providing discipleship, education and job skills training to allow women to experience freedom.
The SOLD Project began in 2007 and is committed to stopping child prostitution through education. Their mission is "to prevent child prostitution through culturally relevant programmes for vulnerable children and to share their stories to empower creative, compassionate people to act".
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
is illegal, although in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated. Prostitution is practised openly throughout the country. Local officials with commercial interests in prostitution often protect the practice. The precise number of prostitutes is difficult to assess; estimates vary widely and are subject to national and international controversy. Since the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
has gained international notoriety among travellers from many countries as a sex tourism
Sex tourism
Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary...
destination. Sex with a prostitute under the age of 18 is strictly prohibited, which is followed closely by the authorities.
Extent of prostitution
Estimates of the number of prostitutes vary widely and are subject to controversy. A 1974 study put the number of prostitutes at 500,000 to 700,000. A 2004 estimate by Dr. Nitet Tinnakul from Chulalongkorn UniversityChulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...
gives a total of 2.8 million sex workers, including 2 million women, 20,000 adult males and 800,000 minors under the age of 18. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$ 4.3 billion per year or about three percent of the Thai economy. It has been suggested for example that there may be as many as 10,000 prostitutes on Koh Samui alone, an island resort destination not usually associated with prostitution, and that at least 10% of tourist dollars may be spent on the sex trade. According to a 2001 report by the World Health Organisation: "The most reliable suggestion is that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 sex
workers." A recent government survey found that there were 76,000 to 77,000 adult prostitutes in registered entertainment establishments; however, NGOs believed there were between 200,000 and 300,000 prostitutes.
Although centres such as Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
(Patpong
Patpong
Patpong is an entertainment district in Bangkok, Thailand, catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates. While Patpong is internationally known as a red light district at the heart of Bangkok's sex industry, it is in fact only one of numerous red-light districts...
, Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza
Nana Plaza is a 3 storey red-light district in Bangkok, which is rumoured to be the largest sex complex in the world. It is located on Sukhumvit Road Soi 4 across from the Nana Hotel, within walking distance of the BTS Skytrain's "Nana Station"...
, and Soi Cowboy
Soi Cowboy
Soi Cowboy is a red-light district in Bangkok, Thailand. A short street with some 40 bars, it is similar to Nana Plaza and Patpong and caters mainly to tourists and expatriates....
), Pattaya
Pattaya
Pattaya is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chonburi....
, and Phuket
Phuket Province
Phuket , formerly known as Thalang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon , is one of the southern provinces of Thailand...
(Patong) are often identified as primary tourist "prostitution" areas, with Hat Yai
Hat Yai
Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at , it has a population of 157,359 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in Southern, and third largest...
and other Malaysian border cities catering to Malaysians, prostitution takes place in nearly every major city and province in the country.
Chiang Mai and Koh Samui (Chaweng and Lamai) are also major centers. In Bangkok, the so-called Ratchadaphisek entertainment district, running along Ratchadaphisek Road near the Huai Khwang
Huai Khwang
Huai Khwang is one of the 50 districts of Bangkok, Thailand, located east of the center of the town. Neighboring districts are Chatuchak, Wang Thonglang, Bang Kapi, Suan Luang, Watthana, Ratchathewi and Din Daeng.-History:...
intersection, features several large entertainment venues which include sexual massage. Even karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
style bars in small provincial towns have their own versions, with women, in addition to singing traditional Thai music, sometimes engaging in prostitution.
Legal situation and history
Prostitution had been illegal in ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
since 1960, when a law was passed under pressure from the United Nations. The government has instituted a system of monitoring sex workers in order to prevent their mistreatment and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
The 1960 Law was repealed by The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996).
Thailand has an ancient, continuous tradition of legal texts, generally described under the heading of Dhammasattha
Dhammasattha
Dhammasattha is the Pāli name of a genre of literature found in Western Mainland Southeast Asia principally written in Pāli, Myanmar , Mon, or Tai languages, or in a bilingual Pāli-vernacular nissaya style."Sattha" is the Pāli cognate of the Sanskrit term for instruction, learning, or treatise,...
literature (Thai pron., tam-ma-sat), wherein prostitution is variously defined, and universally banned. The era of traditional legal texts came to an end in the early 20th century, and the significance of these earlier texts on both the writ and spirit of modern legislation cannot be overlooked.
The "Entertainment Places Act of 1966" is one of the modern laws regulating massage parlors, go-go bars, karaoke bars, bathhouses and similar establishments. Under this law such establishments are required to be licensed. The law does not expressedly permit prostitution, but allows for "service providers" and "bath service providers," differentiated from regular, non-sexual service staff. For example, there are massage parlours where men come and look at women, who are sitting separated by a glass wall (known as a "fishbowl"), and may choose whom they want. The women go to a room where they bathe and massage the customers, but in reality may do much more than that.
The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996) (the “Prostitution Law”), is the central legal framework prohibiting prostitution. The law defines prostitution as any act done to gratify the sexual desire of another in exchange for money or any other benefit, but only if it is done “in a promiscuous manner”. The Prostitution Law does not define what exactly a “promiscuous manner” constitutes, and the act of prostitution by itself is not outlawed anymore, while solicitation is.
The crime of solicitation is vaguely defined.
A person soliciting the services of a prostitute is liable under the Prostitution Law if the solicitation is done “openly and shamelessly or causes a nuisance to the public”, the penalty being a fine of up to 1,000 baht.
Legalization attempt
In 2003, the Ministry of Justice considered legalising prostitution as an official occupation with health benefits and taxable income and held a public discussion on the topic. Legalisation and regulation was proposed as a means to increase tax revenue, reduce corruption, and improve the situation of the workers. However, nothing further was done.HIV/AIDS
532,522 Thais were living with HIV/AIDS in 2008.The prevalence of HIV/AIDS
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
in Thailand, and especially among sex worker
Sex worker
A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...
s, has been the subject of significant media and academic attention, and Thailand hosted the XV International AIDS Conference, 2004
XV International AIDS Conference, 2004
The XV International AIDS Conference was held in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, from July 11 to July 16, 2004. The main venue for the conference was the IMPACT Muang Thong Thani convention centre at Nonthaburi, north-east of downtown Bangkok. It was the first international AIDS conference...
.
Mechai Viravaidya
Mechai Viravaidya
Mechai Viravaidya is a former politician and activist in Thailand who has popularized condoms in that country.Since the 1970s, Mechai has been affectionately known as "Mr...
, known as "Mr. Condom", has campaigned tirelessly to increase the awareness of safe sex practices and use of condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s in Thailand. He served as minister for tourism and AIDS prevention from 1991 to 1992, and also founded the restaurant chain Cabbages and Condoms, which gives free condoms to customers.
After the enactment of the Thai government's first five-year plan to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, including Mechai's "100% condom programme", as of 1994, the use of condoms during commercial sex probably increased markedly. No current data on the use of condoms is available. The programme instructed sex workers to refuse intercourse without a condom, and monitored health clinic statistics in order to locate brothels that allow sex without condoms.
Thailand was praised for its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS during the late 1990s, but a study in 2005 found that the lack of public support in the previous several years had led to a resurgence of the disease.
Social views
Thai society has its own unique set of often contradictory sexual moresMores
Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
.
Visiting a prostitute or a paid mistress is not an uncommon, though not necessarily acceptable behaviour, for men. Many Thai women, for example, believe the existence of prostitution actively reduces the incidence of rape. Among many Thai people, there is a general attitude that prostitution has always been, and will always be, a part of the social fabric of Thailand.
According to a 1996 study, the sexual urge of men is perceived by both Thai men and women as being very much stronger than the sexual urge of women. Where women are thought to be able to exercise control over their desires, the sexual urge of men is seen to be "a basic physiological need or instinct". It is also thought by both Thai men and women that men need "an occasional variation in partners". As female infidelity is strongly frowned upon in Thai society, and, according to a 1993 survey, sexual relationships for single women also meets disapproval by a majority of the Thai population, premarital sex, casual sex and extramarital sex with prostitutes is accepted, expected and sometimes even encouraged for Thai men, the latter being perceived as less threatening to a marriage over lasting relationships with a so-called "minor wife".
Another reason contributing to this issue is that ordinary Thais deem themselves tolerant of other people, especially those whom they perceive as downtrodden. This acceptance has allowed prostitution to flourish without much of the extreme social stigma found in other countries. According to a 1996 study, people in Thailand generally disapprove of prostitution, but the stigma for prostitutes is not lasting or severe, especially since many prostitutes support their parents through their work. Some men do not mind marrying former prostitutes. A 2009 study of subjective well-being of prostitutes found that among the sex workers surveyed, sex work had become normalized.
This cultural milieu combined with poverty and the lure of easy money have caused prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in general and sex tourism
Sex tourism
Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary...
in particular to flourish.
Government politicians and prostitution
Chuwit KamolvisitChuwit Kamolvisit
Chuwit Kamolvisit is a controversial Thai politician who was once the country's biggest massage parlor owner. After an arrest in 2003, he went public with his claims of having paid large bribes to hundreds of police officers. He then sold some of his massage parlors, formed his own political...
is the owner of several massage parlours in Bangkok and considered by many "a godfather of prostitution" in Thailand. In 2005 he was elected for a four-year term to the Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the Constitutional Court removed him from office. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok but was not elected. He revealed in 2003 that some of his best clients were senior politicians and police officers, whom he also claimed to have paid, over a decade, more than £1.5m in bribes so that his business, the real business of selling sex, could thrive.
Although Thailand's sex trade aimed at foreigners can be considered overt, the industry that caters exclusively to Thai men had never before been publicly scrutinised, let alone the sexual exploits of Thailand's unchallengeable officials.
Support of prostitution is pervasive in political circles, as the BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
reported in 2003 that "MPs from Thailand's ruling Thai Rak Thai
Thai Rak Thai
The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party that was officially banned on May 30, 2007, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand due to violations of electoral laws during the 2006 legislative elections. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under Prime Minister and its founder Thaksin...
Party are getting hot under the collar over plans by the party leadership to ban them from having mistresses or visiting brothels" … "One MP told The Nation newspaper
The Nation (Thailand)
The Nation is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper founded in 1971 and published in Bangkok, Thailand, and is owned by the Nation Multimedia Group.The Nation is a member of the Asia News Network...
that if the rules were enforced, the party would only be able to field around 30 candidates, compared to its more than 200 sitting MPs."
Attitudes towards women can be described by MP Thirachai Sirikhan, informing The Nation newspaper, "To have a mia noi (mistress) is an individual's right. There should be no problem as long as the politician causes no trouble to his family or society".
Both politicians and police have been supporting and indulging in the prostitution industry openly. Khun Tavich, a veteran politician at 76 years was under fire in 2005 for impregnating a 14-year-old girl, who worked across the street from the congressional building. It is well-known, for example, that the father of a female member of Parliament is the owner of a massage parlour, a fairly deluxe establishment with several stories of jacuzzi-equipped rooms.
After a police raid on some Bangkok parlours where policemen had sex with prostitutes, "Acting Suthisan Police chief Colonel Varanvas Karunyathat defended the police action, saying that the (police) officers involved needed to have sex with the masseuses to gain evidence for the arrest." Apparently, this is standard practice as a separate police force did the same in Pattaya in May 2007.
Even more evidence of politicians supporting the prostitution industry and the sexual habits of elderly Thai men in general can be gleaned from the fact that Viagra is being given to elderly voters in exchange for their votes in an election drive.
Interview with a Thai human rights activist
Kritaya Archavanitkul, a Thai human rights activist, interviewed by UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies, said,
This is sad to say, that the Thai social structure tends to accept this sort of abuse, and not only to accept – we have laws, we have bills that vitally support the existence of these sex establishments. That's one thing. And also, we have a Mafia that is also involved in the political parties, so this keeps the abuse going. The second reason is a cultural factor. I don't know about other countries, but in Thailand the sexual behaviour of Thai men accepts prostitution. Every class of Thai men accept it, although not all Thai men practise it. So they don't see it as a problem. So when it comes to the policymakers, who are mostly men, of course, they don't see this as a problem. They know there are many women who are brought into prostitution in Thailand. They know that some are treated with brutal violence. But they don't think it's a terrible picture. They think it's just the unlucky cases. And, because of the profit, I think there are many people with an interest involved, so they try to turn a blind eye to this problem.
Organised Crime
The red-light districts of Thai cities are home to Chinese-owned brothels,casinos, and entertainment facilities that function both as sources of income and as operations
centres for trafficking in humans and narcotics and extortion. The Chinese organised crime groups engaging in human trafficking are called the “Piglet Gangs” by the Thai police.
Religion
In the type of BuddhismBuddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
practised in Thailand (Buddhism being the predominant religion in Thailand), Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
made clear to his disciples that women cannot attain nirvana because women have many social responsibilities (like raising their children etc) and they are physically weak to face hardship. The world would soon come to end if both men and women go in search for enlightenment.” This is also evidenced by the belief that women cannot attain enlightenment
Enlightenment (spiritual)
Enlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
, although this view is disputed by other Buddhist scriptures such as the Vinaya Pitaka
Vinaya Pitaka
The ' is a Buddhist scripture, one of the three parts that make up the Tripitaka. Its primary subject matter is the monastic rules for monks and nuns...
in the Pali Canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
. In addition, the type of Buddhism practised in Thailand outlines ten kinds of wives in its vihaya
Vihara
Vihara is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a Buddhist monastery. It originally meant "a secluded place in which to walk", and referred to "dwellings" or "refuges" used by wandering monks during the rainy season....
, or rules for monks. Within these rules, the first three are actually women who can be paid for their services. In present day Thailand, this has manifested itself into an acceptance by wives about prostitution. Sex with prostitutes is viewed by wives as empty sex, and thus women may allow their husbands to have meaningless sex with prostitutes rather than to find a new spouse.
Buddhism also prescribes “acceptance and resignation in the face of life’s pain and suffering
Suffering
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, is an individual's basic affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. Suffering may be qualified as physical or mental. It may come in all degrees of intensity, from mild to intolerable. Factors of duration and...
", in accordance with belief in karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
and expiation of sins from previous lives. Conjecturally, women may choose to believe that suffering as prostitutes is the result of their karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
.
Forms of prostitution
Prostitution in Thailand can be found in a number of venues, including brothels, massage parlours, saunas, hostess bars, go-go bars, "beer bars" and karaoke places.Ab Ob Nuat
Ab Ob Nuat ("bathing and massage" in Thai) most often consists of either an oil massage, nude body massage, or a bath treatment which include sexual services. In this type of establishment, male clients can engage in sexual activity with female prostitutes, similar to soaplandSoapland
A ' is a Japanglish and indicates a paradise for men in Japanese. It is said, since in Japan prostitution is officially prohibited by the government, that it is a type of brothel in Japan where male clients can engage in sexual activity with female prostitutes, although officially the clubs do...
s in Japan.
Body massage
Although, Thailand is also known for a non-sexual traditional style of massage, known as Nuat Phaen Boran, several massage parlours provide customers erotic massageErotic massage
Erotic massage or sensuous massage is the use of massage techniques to achieve or enhance sexual arousal. Massages have been used for medical purposes for a very long time. Its use for erotic purposes also has a long history. Today it is used by some couples on occasions as part of lovemaking,...
with additional costs including handjob
Handjob
Handjob is a slang or informal word referring to an act of manual stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner, whether female or male, usually to the point of orgasm and ejaculation. The act is similar to male masturbation, though the latter is performed by a male on himself...
, oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
, and sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
. The difference between this type of massage and Ab Ob Nuat is that not all massage parlours are involved in prostitution.
Bars catering to foreigners
The most prevalent form of interaction with Westerners—though it is far less common than the Thai sex trade—is through the various forms of bars. Young women ("bar girls", or men in the case of gay bars, or transsexual "kathoeyKathoey
Kathoey or katoey is a male-to-female transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. Related phrases include sao praphet song , or phet thi sam . The word kathoey is thought to be of Khmer origin...
s") are employed by the bars either as dancers (in the case of go-go bars) or simply as hostesses who will encourage customers to buy them drinks.
Apart from these sorts of bars, there are a number of other venues for the sex trade; some bars, while not employing staff to serve as bar girls, will allow women ("freelancers" in this context) to solicit clients.
Male prostitution
According to new research, the number of male prostitutes in the country has tripled in the last two years. The market which until recently had almost exclusively focused on a gayGay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
or bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
male clientele, has become increasingly popular with Western women from Europe and mainly the UK. Some women prefer Thai men to men from their own country. There are more than ten clubs in Bangkok which cater to mainly female clients from Thailand, but also to foreign clients from other Asian countries, the majority coming from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Thailand's male sex workers are mostly from the poorest areas of Thailand and are often the sole support of their rice farmer birth families.
A research paper from 2000 mentions that the majority of male sex workers identify themselves as heterosexual, but still perform sexual services with men.
According to a 2002 study by Associate Professor of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Nither Tinnakul of Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...
, some elite Thai women were paying upwards of 10,000 baht (243 US dollars) per night for the services of black male prostitutes imported from Africa and Jamaica. Among the reasons for this phenomenon, cited in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) interview, are the lingering effects of the Asian economic crisis and the women's need for revenge against their philandering husbands. Some Thai women have also considered their new male prostitutes as being “fiercer,” more “thrilling” in bed than their Thai peers and “well built.” But the vast majority of red-light districts in Thailand with male sex workers, such as Sunee Plaza
Sunee Plaza
Sunee Plaza is an area in Pattaya known for gay nightlife. It is located just off Soi V.C., which itself comes off Second Road in the south of Pattaya...
in Pattaya, cater to the homosexual market.
A 2005 study of twelve underage male prostitutes in Pattaya
Pattaya
Pattaya is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chonburi....
found that they were content with their work that allowed them a comfortable living. The younger ones were dependent on pimps. Most of them suffered from emotional problems and some were lured into the trade.
Child prostitution
The exact number of child-prostitutes in ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
is not known. According to the US-based research institute “Protection Project”, estimates of the number of children involved in prostitution living in Thailand ranges from 12,000 to the hundreds of thousands (ECPAT International). The government, university researchers, and NGOs estimated that there are as many as 30,000 to 40,000 prostitutes under 18 years of age, not including foreign migrants (US Department of State, 2005b). Thailand’s Health System Research Institute estimates that children in prostitution make up 40% of prostitutes in Thailand.
The reasons why and how children are commercially sexually exploited by include:
- Poverty: a high proportion of the population lives in poverty.
- Ethnic hill tribe children: these children live in the border region of northern Thailand. They suffer from disproportionate levels of poverty in relation to the general population and most of them lack citizenship cards. This means that they do not have access to health care or primary school, which limits their further education or employment opportunities.
- Trafficked children: Many children are trafficked into or within the country through criminal networks, acquaintances, former trafficking victims and border police and immigration officials who transport them to brothels across Thailand.
- Sense of duty: According to traditional customs the first duty of a girl is to support her family in any way she can. Due to this sense of duty and to pay off family debts, many girls have been forced into prostitution.
Children are exploited in sex establishments and are also approached directly in the street by paedophiles seeking sexual contact.
Child sex tourism
Child sex tourism
Child sex tourism is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, that is commercially-facilitated child sexual abuse...
is a serious problem in the country. Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, along with Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
has been identified as leading hotspots of child sexual exploitation.
Paedophiles, in particular, exploit the lax laws of the country and attempt to find cover to avoid prosecution.
Human trafficking
Thailand is listed by the UNODCUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations agency that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations...
as both a top destination for victims of human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
and a major source of trafficked persons.
A proportion of prostitutes over the age of 18, including foreign nationals from Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, are in a state of forced sexual servitude and slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
.
There are reports of bribe taking by some low- or mid-level police officers facilitating the most severe forms of trafficking in persons.
Ethnic minorities such as northern hill tribe
Hill tribe
Hill tribe is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from China and Tibet over the past few centuries. They now inhabit the remote border areas between Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma . These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain...
peoples, many of whom do not have legal status in the country, are at a disproportionately high risk for trafficking internally and abroad. Within the country women are trafficked from the impoverished northeast and the north to Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
for sexual exploitation.
According to the 2003 documentary Trading Women
Trading Women
Trading Women is a 2003 documentary film by anthropologist David A. Feingold, produced by Dean W. Slotar and narrated by Angelina Jolie. It covers human trafficking of girls from hill tribes in Burma, Laos, Thailand and China into the sex industry of Thailand.The film states that the largest group...
, most women trafficked into Thailand come from Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
; others come from Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The film cites as root causes of the trafficking problem the economic and political situation in Myanmar, the destruction of the traditional economy in Thai hill tribe
Hill tribe
Hill tribe is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from China and Tibet over the past few centuries. They now inhabit the remote border areas between Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma . These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain...
regions resulting from development and opium suppression programmes, the inability of many members of Thai hill tribes to obtain proper papers and participate in society, and the rampant corruption among police and border guards.
It is common that Thai women are lured to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and sold to Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
-controlled brothels where they are forced to work off their price. It is easy to lure these women from neighboring countries because Thailand has 56 unofficial crossover points and 300 checkpoints where people can cross the border without paperwork.
In a landmark case in 2006, one such woman filed a civil suit in Thailand against the Thai perpetrators, who had previously been convicted in criminal court. The woman had managed to escape from the Yakuza-controlled prostitution ring by killing the female Thai mama-san
Mama-san
A "mama-san", or "mamasan" is usually a woman in a position of authority, especially one in charge of a geisha house or bar in Japan and East Asia....
and had spent five years in a Japanese prison.
Organisations
Several support organisations for sex workers exist in Thailand. Most of them attempt to discourage women from taking up or continuing the trade.SHE Foundation (Self Help & Empowerment) works with women and children trapped in the commercial sex trade in Phuket Thailand. SHE offers a prevention programme that gives uneducated women FREE Hotel training that prevents women turning to bars through lack of choice and education. SHE also offers women working in the bars FREE housing and paid employment making jewellery within the SHE Center. www.shethailand.org
EMPOWER
EMPOWER
EMPOWER , also known as Centre for Sex Workers' Protection or Moolniti Songserm Okard Pooying , is a non-profit organisation in Thailand that supports sex workers by offering free classes in language, health, law and pre-college education as well as individual counseling...
is a Thai NGO that takes a neutral stance towards sex work and offers educational and counseling services to female sex workers. It has been operating since 1985 and has offices in Patpong (Bangkok), Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
, Mae Sai
Mae Sai
Mae Sai is the northernmost district of Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. The town of Mae Sai is a major border crossing between Thailand and Burma...
and Patong Beach
Patong Beach
Patong Beach refers to a beach on Phuket's west coast, and to the town adjoining it. It is the main tourist resort in Phuket. It also contains an important center of Phuket's nightlife and is the center of inexpensive shopping on the island. The beach became popular with Western tourists,...
.
SWING (Service Workers in Group) is a recent offshoot of EMPOWER, offering support to male and female sex workers in Patpong and Pattaya. It offers English classes, teaches safe sex
Safe sex
Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...
, distributes condoms, and promotes health and safety with their gym and discounted medical examinations. The newly formed organisation SISTERS works with transgender sex workers in Bangkok and Pattaya.
Destiny Rescue, is an organisation that is focused on the prevention and rescue of girls involved in prostitution in Thailand.
FACE
Fight Against Child Exploitation
Coalition to Fight Against Child Exploitation is a non-governmental organization in Thailand. Founded in 1995 by active participation of UN agencies, The Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism , and other institutions in order to fight against child sexual exploitation and other forms of...
is an organisation that focuses on child prostitution and trafficking and is the main partner of the UN in the country. DEPDC is an organisation that battles trafficking of women and children.
The Population and Community Development Association (PDA), headed by Mechai Viravaidya
Mechai Viravaidya
Mechai Viravaidya is a former politician and activist in Thailand who has popularized condoms in that country.Since the 1970s, Mechai has been affectionately known as "Mr...
, pioneered family planning and safe sex strategies in Thailand over thirty years ago. The organisation no longer focuses expressly on safe sex issues, but continues to provide information, condoms, and prevention programmes around the country.
CPCR (The Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights Foundation) is a Thai NGO which concerns primarily with preventing and confronting the physical and sexual abuse, exploitation and neglect of children in Thailand, and was established in 1981.
International Justice Mission
International Justice Mission
International Justice Mission is a U.S.-based non-profit human rights organization that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse. IJM works to combat human trafficking including the commercial sexual exploitation of children, forced labor...
is a U.S.-based Christian human rights organisation which operates in Thailand to rescue brothel workers held in sexual slavery.
Fr. Ray Foundation
Fr. Ray Foundation
The Father Ray Foundation is named after Father Raymond Brennan. The Foundation cares for more than 850 children without a family, street children, blind children and young disabled adults. The vision is "We Never Turn a Needy Child Away".- History :...
in Pattaya provides care and housing where vulnerable children can find safety at the Children's Home, and homeless kids are offered a sanctuary from the dangers of the street at the Drop-In Centre for Street Kids. Exploited women and their children are helped and assisted through education and care at the Fountain of Life.
The Well is a US-based Christian organisation that has been reaching out to sex workers in the Soi Cowboy and Nana Square areas since 2003. Their mission is to end the commercial sex trade by 2030 by providing discipleship, education and job skills training to allow women to experience freedom.
The SOLD Project began in 2007 and is committed to stopping child prostitution through education. Their mission is "to prevent child prostitution through culturally relevant programmes for vulnerable children and to share their stories to empower creative, compassionate people to act".
Books and documentaries
- Jordan ClarkJordan ClarkJordan Clark is an English cricketer. Clark is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace and who occasionally fields as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria and was educated at Sedbergh School....
's 2005 documentary Falang: Behind Bangkok's Smile takes a rather critical view of sex tourism in Thailand. - David A. Feingold's 2003 documentary Trading Women explores the phenomenon of women from the surrounding countries being trafficked into Thailand.
- Travels in the Skin Trade: Tourism and the Sex Industry (1996, ISBN 0-7453-1115-6) by Jeremy Seabrook describes the Thai sex industry and includes interviews with prostitutes and customers.
- Cleo OdzerCleo OdzerCleo Odzer was an American writer, author of books on prostitution in Thailand, the hippie culture of Goa, and cybersex.-Childhood and being a groupie:...
received her Ph.D. in anthropology with a thesis about prostitution in Thailand; her experiences during her three years of field research resulted in the 1994 book Patpong Sisters: An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World (ISBN 1-55970-281-8). In the book she describes the Thai prostitutes she got to know as quick-witted entrepreneurs rather than exploited victims. - Hello My Big Big Honey!: Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews by Dave WalkerDave WalkerDavid Walker is a singer and guitarist for a number of bands; notably Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac. He shortened his name to Dave Walker...
and Richard S. Ehrlich (2000, ISBN 0-86719-473-1) is a compilation of love letters from Westerners to Thai prostitutes, and interviews with the latter. - For an informative caricature of the contemporary sexual normsNorm (sociology)Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
and moresMoresMores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
of Thailand (and it's Sex Industry) versus the West see the fiction novels of John BurdettJohn BurdettJohn Patrick Burdett is a British crime novelist. He is the bestselling author of Bangkok 8 and its sequels, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts and The Godfather of Kathmandu. His next novel, Vulture Peak, is to be released in the UK in January 2012-Biography:Burdett is a former lawyer who lived and...
including Bangkok 8 for the comparative anthropology of his half Thai-Western (son of a 'Bar-Girl') protagonist detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. - Dennis Jon's 2005 documentary travelogue The Butterfly Trap provides a realistic and non-judgmental first person viewpoint of sex tourism in Thailand.
External links
- A modern form of slavery: Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand, 1993 report.
- Asia's sex trade is 'slavery' - BBC
- Prostitution in Thailand and Southeast Asia, by Justin Hall, 2004. Extensively referenced paper.
- Fight Against Child Exploitation (FACE) "The Coalition to Fight Against Child Exploitation (FACE) was founded in 1995 to monitor the legal/justice mechanism in Thailand."
- Patpong Sisters. Urban Desires, Volume 1, Issue 1, December 1994. Excerpts from the 1994 book Patpong Sisters (ISBN 1-55970-281-8) by anthropologist Cleo OdzerCleo OdzerCleo Odzer was an American writer, author of books on prostitution in Thailand, the hippie culture of Goa, and cybersex.-Childhood and being a groupie:...
. - Sexuality in Thailand, in The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 1997–2001
- "The brothel king's revenge" Guardian UK
- UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies, Interview with Thai Human Rights Activist Kritaya Archavanitkul
- The Diplomat: Sex, Lies, and Visa
- "Paradise Revealed": British Girl Raped and Murdered in Koh Samui Taipei Times
- Child protection in Thailand TAT article
- http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2005/05/learningthethaisextrade/Learning the Thai sex trade - Prospect (magazine)Prospect (magazine)Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
] - The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996)