I always here this statement by foreigners. Is it true that many Thai men see prostitutes, yes. But, that number has actually fallen considerably over the years. The large majority of the Prostitution industry is geared towards tourists. I was a interpreter for a research study on woman, babies and AIDS in the Northeast of Thailand in the late 90's. It was when AIDS was exploding in Thailand, even in dusty Issan villages. What we found was that up to 55% of poorer Thai men from the Issan had thier first and second sexual experience with a prostitute, usually in Bangkok or other large cities where they went to find work. HIV was rampid in the prostitute population. The men then returned to Issan and married thier Thai sweetheart and passed on AIDS. The women would find out they had AIDS often when they came in for pregnancy checks. It was heartbreaking, often leaving HIV positive widows and then orphans in places without the means to care for them. The government did a huge PR and public education campaign about the issue. One of the results was that the number of Thai men who engaged with prostitutes dropped significantly. Prostitution was always a reality in Thailand (as elsewhere); however, the explosion of prostitution and development of a whole areas that specialize in this industry didn't occur till the Vietnam War with thousands of American GI's flooding to areas like Pataya and Bangkok for R and R. As the article mentions..."Surang Janyam, director of the Service Workers in Group Foundation, known as Swing, said the country has more than 200,000 sex workers. The majority are in Bangkok and Pattaya." If most of the adult entertainment industry in Thailand was geared towards Thais, as you mention, then why are the majority of prostitutes in Pattaya and Bangkok?