Thai sex workers demand legalization

[Gaybutton]

Not much about this has been in the news recently. According to the article Thailand is 8th from the top in numbers of sex workers, although I have no idea how anyone could know how many sex workers there are in Thailand or anywhere else. But I do think Thailand might as well go ahead and make it legal.
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Thai Sex Workers Demand Legalization for Basic Rights: Statistics Reveal Thailand in Top 10 Countries for Sex Work

By Kittisak Phalaharn

Thursday, 2 May 2024

On May 1st, 2024, Thai national media reported Sex Worker Statistics by Country and Gender made by the International Union of Sex Workers on the occasion of Labor Day.

Sex workers in Thailand were fighting for the legalization of prostitution for their basic and occupational protection rights. It was reported that earlier this year (2024), Empower Foundation and sex worker representatives submitted a letter to various Thai political parties to demand basic rights and welfare from the government that should be equal to other occupations.

The bill was made and opened for opinions for more than five years from every sector. However, the story went unheard of from November 2023 for no reason. The sex worker representatives were worried that their efforts might be futile, said Ms. Chatchalawan Muangchan, the activist from Empower Foundation.
Thai national media showed Sex Worker Statistics by the International Union of Sex Workers ranking the first 20 countries in 2024. The original statistics were made on October 11th, 2023

The top 10 countries rank according to the statistics could be rounded up as follows:

China 5,000,000 people, India 3,000,000 people, United States 1,000,000 people, Philippines 800,000 people, Mexico 500,000 people, Germany 400,000 people, Brazil 250,000 people, Thailand 250,000 people, Bangladesh 200,000 people, and South Korea 147,000 people.

Thailand was ranked in the top 10 countries to have sex workers. The number tended to increase considering that in the digital age prostitutes could provide services on online platforms globally.
However, the statistics were not comprehensive as a massive number of sex workers were not surveyed and did not get the basic rights and welfare that they deserved, said the organisers.

Thailand recently passed through Parliament the Marriage Equality Act essentially allowing same sex marriage and equal rights.

A draft bill for legalizing prostitution is under consideration but may face more significant opposition in Parliament than marriage equality. Officially speaking Thailand has often denied having prostitution and large red light districts in places like Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket.

Activists are saying that pretending there is no prostitution makes the matter much worse and also leaves those involved in the industry subject to corrupt law enforcement and government officials in order to operate.

Even as recently as March, Thai police claimed a massive brawl near a red light area in Bangkok between over a hundred transgender individuals from Thailand and the Phillipines was not related to prostitution and that there was no prostitution in that area, a claim that drew almost universal criticism and even outright disbelief on social media.

Prostitution remains, officially, illegal in Thailand….for now.

https://thepattayanews.com/2024/05/02/t ... -sex-work/

[Jun]

Activists are saying that pretending there is no prostitution makes the matter much worse and also leaves those involved in the industry subject to corrupt law enforcement and government officials in order to operate.

The establishment does nothing to stop corruption & I wouldn't be surprised if the corruption opportunities are one reason why prostitution remains illegal.

[Gaybutton]

corruption opportunities are one reason why prostitution remains illegal.

Certainly plenty of such opportunities exist. I don't recall ever seeing any news items about anyone arrested for prostitution itself. Prostitute arrests are usually for things like drugs, under-age, theft, etc. Of course, for each of those arrests I can't help but wonder how many more are out there doing the same, but haven't been caught.

I'll leave it to your own individual opinions as to where or even if tea money has anything to do with it.

[Dodger]

The more power to them (the prostitutes) but personally I don't think this will ever fly.

Engaging in prostitution, either as a punter or service provider, is a major no-no in Buddhism which is my reason for thinking this way.

Buddhism also frowns on things like speaking badly or telling lies about another person, thus the reason there is zero tolerance for "Defamation" which can result in a prison sentence in Thailand.

The fact that Prostitution is so deeply ingrained in Thai culture, not to mention its enormous contribution to the economy I doubt it will ever go away, but making it legal involves a whole new set of challenges which are in direct conflict with the teachings of Buddha as practiced by 95% of the Thai population.

Turning a blind eye has always been the practice in Thai culture which is where I think this will remain IMO.

[Jun]

I suppose the current system where there is no prostitution and none of us ever pay for the services of a prostitute doesn't work too badly.

However, the harmful activity is the extortion by the uniformed mafia, rather than anything done by prostitutes or bars etc.
I dislike the principle of these parasites taking a slice off the honestly earned income of people in the trade. In the case of bar users, I guess that actually ends up on our drink prices.

After legalizing prostitution, perhaps the lawmakers might turn their attentions to the punishment for people collecting tea money. I'd have the death penalty for anyone accepting it after a cut off date.

[Gaybutton]

However, the harmful activity is the extortion by the uniformed mafia, rather than anything done by prostitutes or bars etc.

Which is better - the "uniformed mafia" collecting tea money and looking the other way at prostitution or enforcing the prostitution laws and ending what we go to the bars for in the first place - because it's going to be one or the other unless it gets legalized.

Even then, if anyone thinks tea money would end with legalization, I suggest thinking again . . .

[Jun]

Actually, there are at least 4 options for illegal activity:
1 Revise the law to make it legal
2 Do not enforce the law.
3 Collect bribes for turning a blind eye to illegal activity.
4 Enforce the law and stop the illegal activity as far as is practical.

For examples where something shouldn't be illegal in the first place, I prefer option #1 or #2.

Around the world, there are plenty of examples where certain laws are not enforced. For example, homosexuality is illegal in Singapore, yet the gay sauna on the naked nights is possibly the finest sight in all of SE Asia.

Obviously Thailand is a #3. Tea money seems very popular. I like it better than #4.

Ideally there would be a very tough crackdown on corruption -with heavy jail sentences &/or executions for offenders who accept the tea money.
Also, direct the police to doing something of use to society, rather than filling their own pockets. For example ensuring people wear helmets & seatbelts, or enforcing anti-pollution laws.

[SP55]

I can imagine how those cute little sexworkerboys nod approvingly when they here sexwork should be legal. "Yes good idea!". Then when they realize this would force them to pay income tax or be jailed for taxfraud, I can just as clear imagine how they will quickly change their minds and want to keep it illegal

[Gaybutton]

this would force them to pay income tax or be jailed for taxfraud

Good point - one that had not occurred to me. If they do legalize prostitution, it will be very interesting to see how, or if, income tax figures into it. Of course, that could affect Thai prostitutes, but there are also plenty of foreign prostitutes who are in Thailand illegally and working illegally to start with.

[Dodger]

As far as I know (which isn't much) there are no laws in Thailand which contradict or compromise the precepts of Buddhism - understanding that The Kingdom was a Buddhist Monarchy for centuries - long before transitioning to a Constitutional Monarchy in 1932, and even after this transition the precepts of Buddhism remain the bedrock belief system for the Kingdom.

The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act which explicitly forbids prostitution making it illegal wasn't established until 1996. Prior to this Act there were apparently no laws on the books making prostitution an illegal activity in Thailand. It was still frowned upon in Thai society because of the Buddhist implications, but not illegal.

Contrary to what some foreigners seems to believe, the main reasons why Thai society turns a blind-eye to prostitution is because 1) it violates one of the precepts of Buddhism resulting in the potential for loss-of-face within a family structure for that very reason, and 2) it generates much needed $$money$$ to the impoverished rural class where the majority of those working in this profession come from.

The fact that the BIB (and others) cash-in on this industry isn't surprising at all considering the corrupt underpinnings of everything that moves over here. Personally, and as ridiculous as I know this is going to sound, I think everyone (including the prostitutes) will be better off if they just continue dealing with prostitution the way they have for centuries.

If it's not broke - don't fix it!