How The Pandemic Has Upended The Lives Of Thailand's Sex Workers

[CharlieH]

A troll comment and responses to it have been removed.

[Sydebolle]

If the government would have given the kid a proper education, free of charge all the way to the top (latter being his intellectual limitations), then the cement house would have been built with proper income and the government would even have seen some tax on the fellow's income. 

This society is driven by monetary face-upgrading elements, which have nothing to do with education. But yeah, we all know, why the education system is absolute cra℗! Uneducated people make good neo-slaves indenping them with bikes, pick-ups and credit cards! 

[Nanaplaza666]

10 hours ago, WineOh said:

I read it.

His family are just as bad for using him as an ATM.

It's a vicious cycle of laziness that is perpetuated throughout this society and it needs to change.

Yes maybe but you think something that is imbedded in the culture for many many years will change in the near future ?? And calling the families working their butts of on the farm land with scorging heat and making just enough to live lazy is a bit harsh i think . Maybe because you grew up in the west or wherever having more options makes you a bit blind to how hard life can be here in thailand for many many people . And if you havn't lived the same life as many of them i think you are not the one to judge as i think your life had many more options and was a bit easier (not saying our life is easy but compared to lots of theirs and comparing the options there are)

[TKDfella]

'..put his dreams on hold', appropriate terminology? While I have met a considerable number of former hotel/bar/shop assistants I haven't actually met a 'sex worker' suffering from the current situation. And 'no thank you' I don' want to ????.

[Marsupienemi]

10 hours ago, WineOh said:

I read it.

His family are just as bad for using him as an ATM.

It's a vicious cycle of laziness that is perpetuated throughout this society and it needs to change.

Cool, Zorro is back ! 

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, Nanaplaza666 said:

Yes maybe but you think something that is imbedded in the culture for many many years will change in the near future ?? And calling the families working their butts of on the farm land with scorging heat and making just enough to live lazy is a bit harsh i think . Maybe because you grew up in the west or wherever having more options makes you a bit blind to how hard life can be here in thailand for many many people . And if you havn't lived the same life as many of them i think you are not the one to judge as i think your life had many more options and was a bit easier (not saying our life is easy but compared to lots of theirs and comparing the options there are)

 

 

"working their butts off" ?

 

 

Have you ever lived in an Isaan village? The area that I lived in was a one crop rice growing area where the busy times were preparation for rice planting (misnomer for throwing rice seed), a bit of work in throwing some more rice seed when not all the first batch took, some ongoing maintenance and then preparation for rice harvest (all mechanical except for the rice drying). Most of that happened between June and November.

[Dazinoz]

"Upended" a "moneyboy". Well worded.

[mrfill]

2 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

"Upended" a "moneyboy". Well worded.

I imagine there is an extra charge if you ask for upending....

[Airalee]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Thailand is not alone in having poor people, so why is it that it is Thailand which has a worldwide reputation for prostitution?

One could expand on this and ask why Germany (supposedly, if the statistics are reliable), a wealthy country, has substantially more sex workers per capita than Thailand?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_statistics_by_country

[richard_smith237]

10 minutes ago, Airalee said:

One could expand on this and ask why Germany (supposedly, if the statistics are reliable), a wealthy country, has substantially more sex workers per capita than Thailand?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_statistics_by_country

 

You’re pretty much answered your own question with your comment ‘if the statistics are reliable’... 

 

IF these statistics are reliable Dubai with 32 per 10,000 people has more sex workers per capita than Thailand’s 20.

And, Singapore has no data, everyone knows one foot in the door of 400 Orchard Rd or a walk down Geylang tells an obvious story. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Genericnic]

The ones heading back home to the countryside obviously have not followed the example of many of the other sex workers and moved online. Craigslist Personals used to be the site of choice for the online sex workers but since that was shut down most have just moved to dating sights like Thaifriendly.com or others. 

 

David

[Airalee]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

You’re pretty much answered your own question with your comment ‘if the statistics are reliable’... 

 

IF these statistics are reliable Dubai with 32 per 10,000 people has more sex workers per capita than Thailand’s 20.

And, Singapore has no data, everyone knows one foot in the door of 400 Orchard Rd or a walk down Geylang tells an obvious story. 

 

 

 

 

 

Agreed.  I have never been to Singapore or the UAE but have known women from Thailand who went there to “work massage”...which I assume (rightly or wrongly) is code for glossing over their true purpose to be there.

 

The reason that I picked Germany is that usually, people often point to the low standards of education and therefore the lack of opportunities in Thailand as a reason that women turn to prostitution whereas Germany always seems to place quite high in the educational rankings.

 

I understand that I am posing an unanswerable question...just kind of “thinking out loud”.

[Rocking Robert]

49 minutes ago, Airalee said:

One could expand on this and ask why Germany (supposedly, if the statistics are reliable), a wealthy country, has substantially more sex workers per capita than Thailand?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_statistics_by_country

And the USA. They just hide it better on the internet 

[SupermarineS6B]

Blasphemy !   No such thing as a sex worker (Prostitute) in Thailand as it's illegal........  Then i fell off me chair laughing......  Can't say anymore as i've just got over my latest ban for telling the truth....... Silly me i should know better...... "Don't tell the truth"....... it's out of place.......    Can you imagine the knock on effect of all those lovely little ladies (Lads as well) not sending all that hard earned cash back home ?    The latest rumour is the government's going to stop payments shortly as the barrell's empty....... That'll be fun if that happens.... 

[unblocktheplanet]

12 hours ago, George Bowman said:

This past week the local officials sent over a guy to spray for Covid at our pizza joint.

 

Your place looks outstanding!

[Confuscious]

13 hours ago, fishtank said:

As there is no prostitution in Thailand this must be fake news.

"Sex workers" are no prostitutes.|
After high school, he chosed to become a "Sex worker", not a "Prostitute".

[keithkarmann]

12 hours ago, sungod said:

If you are really bored and read the whole article, he says his job was really fun and cant wait to get back!

 

Hmm, can think of more fun things to do rather than load of old men queuing up to sample the starfish!

Sampling the starfish, never heard that before.

Do the families really know what is going on when their sons are selling their bodies and sending them money every month. They probably will not admitt to knowing if it means they can stay in their villages and do very little work.

[Jack Hammer]

My observation of bar girls.  I have been with hundreds. In their thinking it is party every night, a too good of a time drinking, dancing. Getting a customer for short or long time.  They don’t realise that the “party” will stop at some point. They give you the excuse that they are working in a bar or similar and only doing it to support their family. Most are too lazy to get a real job. I won’t mention districts , but there are many brick, concrete homes you see dotted on the outskirts of villages. Some quite palatial. When asked who owns the homes ,normal reply is, “she lucky she get Farang in Pattaya” or wherever. Other girls see this and all hoping to score a  Farang while working in some bar or massage joint. 
How many times that at a gathering I have been chatting to a Western guy and his wife and or girlfriend and the guy will come out with, “I met her in xxxx, she wasn’t a bar girl “ 

I don’t condemn them, I will still use their services again next visit 

[cardinalblue]

Someone criticized a post about saving money rather than run up debt...

 

thaikand has one of the highest debt to income ratios in the world...regardless of income level, most Thais don’t live within their means and easily go into debt...

 

The lack of fiscal management exists both at the family/village level and the school level...

 

Thais fall for consumerism with lifestyles    rather being taught and practicing saving for a rainy day....

 

cultural discipline is not a strength...gov programs encourage Thais to spend rather than to save...

[CALSinCM]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

How The Pandemic Has Upended The Lives Of Thailand's Sex Workers

"Upended" with maximum "social distancing, like doggie-style?  ????

[Orton Rd]

46 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

"Sex workers" are no prostitutes.|
After high school, he chosed to become a "Sex worker", not a "Prostitute".

What is a sex worker if not a prostitute then?

[moe666]

I have to say a bit of moralizing here a few up on their throne telling others how and what they should do and be. It is not my place or anyone here who should be telling other people how to act. 

[ChrisKC]

6 hours ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

In normal circumstances, yes! However, we are talking about the sex-trade here, and extra money coming to the families. Some of that could have been saved. If not, how did they survive before? As you can see, I understand perfect. How about you?

There is little in Thai culture where saving money is considered a virtue. Thais don't save money, they spend it, as in fact most people everywhere do. Many Thais are in serious debt and this is euphemistically seen as "poor", but "cash" poor is what they are! There are few Thais in the sex trade and 97% of women who are not and they won't die of hunger or freeze to death in this country.

 

The OP is about the sex trade and the current demise of it due to the pandemic. There are rights and wrongs of it ( prostitution has been illegal since 1960). Without the men being "wrong", there would be no prostitution. But the world's oldest profession will take some closing down!

 

As Woody Allen said to the question, "is sex dirty?"

"Only if you do it right"

[Golden Triangle]

4 hours ago, Airalee said:

One could expand on this and ask why Germany (supposedly, if the statistics are reliable), a wealthy country, has substantially more sex workers per capita than Thailand?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_statistics_by_country

 

Mainly because of all the young British squaddies in BAOR, of which I was one, needing a legover on pay day, we were also supposed to be protecting Europe from the Red Scourge, actually it was just a big pi55 up, I know, I was there for 6 years and my liver has just recovered, that was in 1971 ???????????????????? 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Golden Triangle

[Golden Triangle]

On 2/4/2021 at 2:21 PM, Laza 45 said:

Well.. put yourself in their shoes for a minute.. you try saving money when you earn 350 Bt a day and have a family to support..  or for a family with an income of 40,000 a month with kids to send to school and all the other costs of trying to get by.. the stupidity is not understanding the pressure Thai people are under.. 

 

To be honest these days I'm pretty comfortable, but if I go back 40 years, to a similar age to today's younger generation who are struggling to make ends meet then I can sympathise.

 

Even working 84 hour weeks I had trouble paying rent in London in a shared house and then there was the weekly cost of travel from Tottenham to Kings Cross, food and of course things like electricity.

 

After 12 years in the army as a single guy I mostly had an easy life with food, accommodation and money regularly available, life outside came as a shock.

 

I can in some small way empathise with their situation, I will not judge nor condemn them, I'll just feel sorry for them and thank <deleted> I managed to get my <deleted> together.

 

 

[bangon04]

Is it technically "sex-trafficking " if your Isaan family decides that their 4th and 5th daughters should contribute to the family finances and go work in Pattaya? The family can pretend to themselves and to their neighbors that the daughters are working as waitress or cleaner, and the neighbors will be impressed by the modern house in the Moo Baan and the new pickup truck on the drive and the latest iPhone. Father can have an endless supply of money for gambling and alcohol. 

Win-Win situation.

[Justgrazing]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Mos grew up in a poor province on Thailand's northeastern border, eating fish from the river and leaves foraged from the forest. He wanted to eat pork and pizza

.

Blimey fish from a river .. how novel .. 

He wanted pork and pizza but no way was he entertaining a sausage roll .. 

[D M G]

Interesting subject.  Substandard article.

[NobbyClarke]

People do what they have to do to make money.

I am very sure they don't enjoy their job. I think if I was getting groped, mauled, abused and occasionally raped to make a living I would enjoy my free time.

This guy was doing the right thing for his family and enjoying his free time 

A lot of the workers send as much as they can back to the families. 

Most of them deserve empathy and respect.

[Orton Rd]

You won't find many Thais having 'empathy and respect' for prostitutes, quite right too.