Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History & Cultural Attitudes
Prostitution was declared illegal in 1960 under pressure from the UN. But a separate law
passed in 1966 allows for entertainment places (go-go bars, beer bars, massage parlours,
karaoke bars and bathhouses) that can legally provide nonsexual services (such as dan-
cing, massage, a drinking buddy); sexual services are brokered through these venues but
they are not technically the businesses' primary purpose.
With the arrival of the US military forces in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War era,
enterprising forces adapted the existing framework to a new clientele. The industry tar-
geted to foreigners is very visible with multiple red-light districts in Bangkok alone, but
there is also a more clandestine domestic sex industry and myriad informal channels of
sex-for-hire.
Entertainment places fine a worker if she doesn't smile enough, arrives late or doesn't meet the drink
quota. These deductions often exceed the worker's monthly base salary.
In 1998 the International Labour Organization, a UN agency, advised Southeast Asian
countries, including Thailand, to recognise prostitution as an economic sector and income
generator. It is estimated that one-third of the entertainment establishments are registered
with the government and the majority pay an informal tax in the form of police bribes. In
2003, measures to legalise prostitution cited the Thai sex industry as being worth US$4.3
billion (about 3% of GDP), employing roughly 200,000 sex workers. A study conducted in
2003 by Thailand's Chulalongkorn University estimated 2.8 million sex workers, of which
1.98 million were adult women, 20,000 were adult men and 800,000 were children,
defined as any person under the age of 18.
HIV/AIDS
Thailand was lauded for its rapid and effective response to the AIDS epidemic through an aggressive condom-use
campaign in the 1990s. But infection rates throughout the population have spiked as public education has de-
clined. A 2007 study found that HIV prevalence among sex workers is highest in the freelance community (at a
rate of 19%) compared to sex workers in commercial establishments (4.3%). Of the country's 490,000 people liv-
ing with HIV/AIDS, intravenous drug users (22%) and gay men (between 20% to 31%) made up the largest por-
tion of HIV prevalence.
