Thai sex industry now worth 260 billion baht, say Thai media

[PETERTHEEATER]

I just don't understand this. The former Minister of Tourism told the media that she would clean of the industry in a couple of weeks. Surely it didn't re-open behind her back?

[Chris Lawrence]

So how much tax is not paid? And why? Too much skimmed off the top. Legalise it and let the ladies run legit business.

[timendres]

1 hour ago, TechnikaIII said:

What a disgrace that there is not a credible education system, with follow up employment, providing a decent income, so the girls who are caught up in this don't have to hide their faces in shame.

The current situation is the consequence of the total absence of good governance and nothing else.

So how do you explain all the hookers in the US, Japan, Europe, Canada, and Australia?

Little to do with the absence of good governance.

Edited January 16, 2018 by timendres

[The manic]

6 hours ago, Thechook said:

Prostitution is ilegal 

But should not be in any country. It's just another form of the oppression if women by the Patriarchy and male dominated religion. Prostitution should not be confused with exploitation .

[The manic]

51 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Sorry, only estimates available as the money changers here would know.

Until social security can look after 50,000 families in Isaan who have at least one member of the family happily working in the industry & sending money home the Government will not rock the boat to heavily.

The Victoria Secret debacle is about mainly non Thai girls & big bucks & heavy corruption along with maybe 

the envelopes getting smaller

Thank you for some common sense and insight.

[Ossy]

7 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

I just don't understand this. The former Minister of Tourism told the media that she would clean of the industry in a couple of weeks. Surely it didn't re-open behind her back?

Yes, it sure did. They call her Wonderwoman, now, at Government House, as she glides her way from one room to the next.

[The manic]

3 hours ago, hottrader77 said:

same here and had a great time doing it , thank goodness for the thai sex industry or i would be using a box of tissues a week and my hand would be dropping off , go go sex workers !! ha ha 

I would be in some miserable western dump. Three cheers for Thai girls. The best sex workers in the world. God bless them!

[ZAKY]

As long as there is services and comsumers 

[Ossy]

6 minutes ago, The manic said:

But should not be in any country. It's just another form of the oppression if women by the Patriarchy and male dominated religion. Prostitution should not be confused with exploitation .

They are both types of 'using for personal gain'. How would you differentiate the terms, if it's not too much off-topic?

[jerry921]

6 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

They go from billion to million and then back to billion again in the article.

Someone must have fixed the OP. The first occurrence of "million" on the first page is your post.

Unless you mean trillion, the total Thai GDP is given in trillion baht, and they're just taking 2% of that to get 260 billion for the sex industry. 2% was a SWAG when Chuwit made it, and times have changed a lot since 2007, so there's little accuracy here.

 

Really nothing to see here, any bar girl can toss around big numbers.

[Ossy]

39 minutes ago, DefaultName said:

many would go bust

I'm a boob man, too, or was that another pun, tossed in for good measure.

[The manic]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I consider most sex workers in Thailand, to be far, far more honest than the average American woman. At least here, a man knows where he stands, if he wants sex with a woman. In a minute, you can determine exactly what it will require financially, and what you will get in return. In the US, it can take multiple dates, and countless dinners and gifts, to get to the precious zone. There is no set price. There is no knowing what it is going to take. Many of the women I have dated, have been with hundreds of men, in a similar way as many of the massage girls here. And those men have paid dearly. The only difference was that the price was not stated up front. 

 

There is no doubt that the industry here is vast, and accounts for a significant amount of the GDP. I think that figure of 2% is pure nonsense. It is far higher. The authorities seem to be determined to slowly rid the country of the industry, to make way for the massive growth of Chinese tourism. If you have any doubts about that, just visit Samui or Phuket. They are pale shadows of their former selves, in terms of the industry, and available choices. It is just another in an incessant chain of bad decisions being made by this horrific and grossly incompetent administration. 

 

Unless, and until the young women are given better alternatives, the industry will continue. When a person decides to devote four years of their life, and a substantial sum of money, to attending a university, and then graduates, and is able to earn only 5,000 to 10,000 baht more than the one with no education at all, there is something wrong with the system. 

You make some excellent points.

[DefaultName]

2 minutes ago, Ossy said:

I'm a boob man, too, or was that another pun, tossed in for good measure.

That one slipped past me actually.

[The manic]

33 minutes ago, recycler said:

It is only adding to the economy when the money comes from outside Thailand, other wise it's part of the services industry and nothing but pumping money around and moving it up the food chain.

Not true of any commodity goods or services.

[The manic]

15 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

 

What a disgrace that there is not a credible education system, with follow up employment, providing a decent income, so the girls who are caught up in this don't have to hide their faces in shame.

The current situation is the consequence of the total absence of good governance and nothing else.

 

Such Rubbish. Prostitution is the world's oldest profession and in many cases especially in the case of Thai agrarian workers is liberating and allows them to escape from the mentally stultifying villages and the back breaking Labour of rice production. Thai women having been using the voluntary sale of sex for over a thousand years to maintain financial independence.

[pennine]

6 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

That's a lot of money that a lot of people would not like to pay taxes on, while many other people would love to collect taxes on

I'm guessing that most of it is tax free.

[eddie61]

5 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Me too. It really is a HUGE success.

There are 2 industries in which Thailand is a world leader: thai food and sex..

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Re the photo accompanying the OP...

 

Who's the cheap bas**rd who only had a 5,000b tab?  Come on!!!!

[AGLV0121]

7 hours ago, Darcula said:

That's creating a lot of hand jobs

 

The news blew me up

[David Walden]

1 hour ago, Mickmouse1 said:

Finally it is official. Out of that sum allocate a minimum of 10% to a certain protection "squad" on regular basis and another 5% immediate cash for when they turn up or passing by etc etc.No wonder it is always protected and seldom raided or challanged.?

I'm getting on a bit.  In the little Thai Town I live in there are 2 brothels in the Soi, one on each side of a nice bar I and other older gents frequent.  Now these brothels only cater for local Thai men and not for westerners they go other places if required.  Most nights if we are still at he bar at midnight or on a very early walk  there is usually  often streams of law enforcement people making visits to these places getting their free shots and with big smiles on their face, only to return an another time.  TIT.  

[ExpatOilWorker]

1 hour ago, LionofMedaCM said:

Thailand/Gross domestic product: 406.8 billion USD (2016)

Thai sex industry: 260 billion baht 

63.91 % of the Thai GDP 

unstable sector 

 

Now, if we divide your 63.91% with the $-Thai exchange rate, we get 2%

Happy now?

Edited January 16, 2018 by ExpatOilWorker

[Wake Up]

Don’t change anything. I like it being illegal yet wide spread and not taxed and negotiated prices between consenting adults and money flowing back home to the family and the variety of venues - massage parlor, beer bar, street walker or iPhone app. Peace. 

[wvavin]

Thailand is a clean country according to the government....LOL

[amvet]

3 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

 

What a disgrace that there is not a credible education system, with follow up employment, providing a decent income, so the girls who are caught up in this don't have to hide their faces in shame.

The current situation is the consequence of the total absence of good governance and nothing else.

They spend a ton of money on education.  That's not the problem.  The government has a good education budget.  They could double the budget and it would make no difference. 

 

The girls don't hide their faces in shame they go back home and buy houses and build hotels.  I guess you don't know much about Thailand

[blubb]

Another day in paradise, while those media still ( and ever) sucks 

[Thechook]

5 hours ago, hottrader77 said:

same here and had a great time doing it , thank goodness for the thai sex industry or i would be using a box of tissues a week and my hand would be dropping off , go go sex workers !! ha ha 

Never contributed to the industry, I'm married.

[Thechook]

2 hours ago, The manic said:

But should not be in any country. It's just another form of the oppression if women by the Patriarchy and male dominated religion. Prostitution should not be confused with exploitation .

There are a lot of women's groups in Australia who will tell you that men make women into prostitutes and abuse them.  Women never want to have their bodies abused but it is men who convince them to choose the path

[lvr181]

Who's counting and how?

[AWillOz]

I'm sure the Government is thinking, "now how can we get a bit of tax from that??"

[lamyai3]

TAT will be eyeing 300 billion by the end of 2018. They're working on strategies as we speak to try and tickle the fancy of the Chinese...