Prostitution in Thailand

Prostitution has existed in Thailand for a long time, and was not introduced by westerners despite popular myths. As early as the 16th and 17th centuries, prostitution was described in reports by sailors visiting Thailand (then called Siam). Thailand has gained notoriety in the west as a sex tourism destination since the Vietnam war, although most prostitutes in Thailand serve Thai males.

Officially, prostitution is illegal in Thailand, but this law is ignored and prostitution is widely tolerated.

Forms of prostitution

Prostitution in Thailand comes in a number of forms, mainly brothels, "body massage" parlors, hostess bars and karaoke places, all of which cater primarily to local customers and Asians. There are also various go-go bars and "beer bars" that often cater to Western expatriates or tourists. Finally, there are large numbers of "freelancers" who can be found in hotel lobbies, discos, bars, and even in Thai universities. While some are prostitutes by any definition, others skirt the line and may merely ask for or expect financial support from the men they sleep with.

Prostitution in Thailand comes specialised for many ethnic backgrounds. Many places catering to Thais/Asians will not allow people from other backgrounds to enter the premises if not invited by one of the regular guests or without paying a prohibitive entrance fee. The same goes for places catering to Westerners, Japanese, Arabs or other ethnicities, most will refuse clientele with another background at the door.

Body massage

Body massage (Ab ob nuat, washing and massage in Thai) in Thailand most often consists of either an oil massage, assisted bath, and/or bodyslide treatment ("soapie") followed by sexual services. These latter may or may not be included in the price paid to the house; if not, they are negotiated with the masseuse. These establishments tend to cater mostly to locals and Asians, but will also accept Western customers. In most of these places, the women wait sitting behind a glass window ("fish bowl"), usually watching TV, while the men have a drink and choose a woman.

These places can be found in all larger cities in Thailand, and are often combined with hostess bars, karaoke bars and a restaurant. In Bangkok, many of them are clustered in the Ratchadaphisek district. Chuwit Kamolvisit, then prominent owner of several such up-scale parlours, created a commotion in 2003 when he publicly accused hundreds of police officers of having accepted bribes from him. He later ran for public office and became a member of Parliament.

It should also be noted that Thailand is known for a traditional style of massage, unrelated to the "body massage" that is largely a cover for sexual services. Traditional Thai massage is very relaxing and the masseuse is well trained.

Bars catering to Westerners

The most popular form of prostitution with Westerners are the various forms of bars. In most cases, women ("bar girls" — or men, in the case of gay bars) are employed by the bar either as dancers (in the case of go-go bars) or simply as hostesses, and will encourage customers to buy them "lady drinks." The hostesses or dancers are also often looking to find customers for sexual services; in many cases, the bar will employ one or more "mamasans" who will help match interested customers up to women. In most cases, a customer will pay a bar fine in order to leave the bar with his chosen companion, and will then need to negotiate with him/her for any time and/or sexual services. This can be generally divided into "short time" (at most a few hours) or "long time" (overnight). Some bars also have "short time rooms" on site, where instead of paying a bar fine to the bar, the customer will pay for the use of the room and services will be performed on-site.

Go-go bars are distinguished by having dancing on stage similar to a strip club in Western countries, although in general as of 2004 because of the "social order" crackdown, dancers will more likely be topless or in a bikini or similar revealing costume rather than fully naked. Even toplessness is technically illegal.

"Beer bars" and hostess bars are similar; beer bars are generally outdoors, fairly small, and often clustered with other beer bars, while hostess bars are generally indoors. Beyond that, there is a very great range in size and amenities. There are also a fair number of bars which blur the line with a brothel of sorts, such as "blowjob bars" on Soi Post Office or various short-time establishments on Soi Yodsak in Pattaya.

Some bars employ kathoey ("ladyboys") exclusively, catering to male customers. Many of these look amazingly like women, especially to the untrained eye.

Many of these bars are owned and operated by Westerners. Technically, foreigners are not allowed to own more than 49% of a bar or nightclub however, so these Westerners either partner with a Thai or lease the bar from a Thai owner. Some entrepreneurs also create a number of bars with the chief purpose of selling or leasing them to poorly informed Westerners.

Beyond these sorts of bars, there are a number of other venues for the sex trade; some bars, while not employing women as sex workers, will allow "freelance" prostitutes to solicit clients. This is also true of some coffee shops (including the well-known Thermae on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok) near red-light districts and many of the foreign-oriented nightclubs. In Pattaya, the well-known area for freelancers is the sea-side of Beach Road.

The Bangkok nightlife was covered for almost forty years by Bernard Trink's weekly column Night Owl in the Bangkok Post.

Male Prostitution

Thailand's male prostitutes are usually aged 12-35, and include university graduates, office workers, students and street children. The niche market which until recently had almost exclusively focused on a gay clientele, has become increasingly popular with women. It is said some Thai women were paying upwards of 10,000 baht (243 dollars) per night for the services, which fly in the face of conservative Thai traditions. This trend though has been rather exaggerated in the media.

A 2005 study of 12 underage male prostitutes in Pattaya found that they were content with their work which 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.

Locations/Venues

In Bangkok, the three main areas for Westerner-oriented prostitution frequented by both local expatriates and tourists are Patpong and the lower Sukhumvit Road area (including Nana plaza, Soi Cowboy, and a few smaller groupings of bars like the "Painter Bars" on Soi 33 and the Washington Square bars). There was also a significant area at Clinton Plaza prior to being closed for redevelopment in 2001.

Many, but not all, of the large body massage parlors in the Rachadapisek district will accept Western customers, although most seem to charge higher prices than for local customers, and there are also some Western-friendly body massage parlors near the major entertainment areas.

Pattaya is also a major area for prostitution, to the point of having a number of separate zones with different styles of bars. Go-go bars are focussed in South Pattaya, around Walking Street and the three Soi Pattayaland streets between Beach Road and 2nd Road. Beer bars are spread throughout Pattaya, but are in particular abundance north of Central Pattaya Road on the various Sois (streets) between Beach Road and 2nd Road; Soi 7 and Soi 8 are particularly popular areas with Western male tourists. Soi Yodsak (Soi 6) establishments are relatively distinct in that most focus on short-time in on-premises rooms, rather than on bar fine customers. Finally, there are three large "Soapie" body massage parlors on 2nd Road near Soi 2 - Sabai Land, Sabai Room, and Sabai Dee, all of which are very friendly to Western customers.

There is a significant availability of adult entertainment oriented bars in some of the tourist areas of Phuket, mainly in Patong Beach.

Extent

Estimates of the number of prostitutes in Thailand vary widely and are subject to controversial debate. According to one such estimate, there are as many as 130,000 people, both men and women, employed in the sex trade. Most male sex workers service gay or bisexual male clients, but there are at least some women who employ them as well. Another estimate, by Dr. Nitet Tinnakul from Chulalongkorn University and reported in The Nation in January 2004, gives a total of 2.8 million sex workers in Thailand, 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 $4.3 thousand million per year, about 3 per cent of the Thai economy.

Legalization

In 2003, the Ministry of Justice was considering legalization of prostitution and held a public discussion on the topic. Legalization and regulation was proposed as a means to increase tax revenue, reduce corruption and improve the situation of the workers.

HIV/AIDS

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Thailand, and especially among sex workers, has been the subject of significant media and academic attention, and Thailand hosted the XV International AIDS Conference, 2004. Nevertheless, this does not seem to have dissuaded a significant number of tourists from partaking in sex with local prostitutes, although awareness of safe sex practices is fairly high among foreign-oriented sex workers.

Mechai Viravaidya, affectionately known as "Mr. Condom" [1], has campaigned tirelessly to increase the awareness of safe sex practices and use of condoms in Thailand. He served as minister for tourism and AIDS prevention from 1991 to 1992; he also founded the restaurant chain Cabbage and Condoms.

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 program," the use of condoms by Thai males during commercial sex has jumped markedly, up to 90%, according to most research studies on the issue.

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.

Organizations

Several support organizations for sex workers exist in Thailand. Most of them attempt to discourage women from taking up or continuing the trade. EMPOWER is a Thai NGO that takes a neutral stance towards sex work and offers educational and counseling services to prostitutes. FACE is an organization that focuses on child prostitution and trafficking and is the main partner of the UN in the country.

Child prostitution, trafficking and sex slavery

The exact extent of child prostitution, sex trafficking and sex slavery in Thailand is not known today. Efforts are made by the Thai authorities to eradicate child prostitution in the portion of the sex trade catering to foreigners; the status of prostitutes in brothels catering principally to native Thai men is somewhat less clear. One point of common confusion is that while the general age of consent in Thailand is 15, Thai law specifies that the age of consent for sex work is 18.

Many sex workers in Thailand, adult and child, and for that matter in several other parts of the world, are tricked, sold, or coerced into the work.

Recent International Labour Organization research suggests a speculative figure of 12,000 children per year are trafficked for sexual exploitation in South East Asia, mostly to Thailand. Thai Non-governmental organisations and the Thai government estimate that 30,000 to 40,000 prostitutes are under 18 and a proportion of over-18 year olds, including foreign nationals from Asia and Europe, are in a state of forced sexual servitude and slavery.

In a landmark case in 2006, a Thai woman who had been lured to Japan and forced to work as a prostitute there filed a civil suit against the perpetrators, who had previously been convicted in criminal court. The woman managed to escape from the Japanese brothel, but killed the female keeper and spent 5 years in a Japanese prison.

See also Trafficking in human beings and Prostitution of children

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
• AgeOfConsent.com's page on the age of consent laws in Thailand
• Prostitution in Thailand and Southeast Asia, by Justin Hall, 2004. Extensively referenced paper.
• Fight Against Child Exploitation (FACE)
• Nanaplaza.com, discussion boards on nightlife in Thailand
• Excerpt: Patpong Sisters.An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World by Cleo Odzer.
• Patpong Sisters : An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World by Cleo Odzer, on Amazon.com.