Thailand's sex workers hope election will change their lives

[kennypowers]

Proper legality and regulation will provide better protection for sex workers, but it may come as a shock when they have to start paying tax and other associated registration and insurance costs. I can see sex work being subject to a number of "business costs". The tax man can also look into earnings from the past 10 years, tracing assets purchased such as land, a home, a car, and even money given to family members. Could be a huge pay day for Thailand, and a new source of revenue. 

[ikke1959]

Legalize is very needed and also recognition of same sex partners, and transgenders.. Come on Thailand  enter the 21st century protect the sex workers, allow gay marriage and allow people to be who they want to be

[Gknrd]

A very famous saying during the rise against the British in the 1700's in the US was " Give me sex or give me Death" .  

Pretty sure that is what it was?

 

[xtrnuno41]

Jeepers, what a lot of crap in the comments. DO you think the women have more then 150 kbaht/year? Some of them, but way more .. not.  

What has religion to do with it? Buddhism doesnt have a god, only a former prince with a way of life and spreading that. Religion?

And within religion then, see what happens with the other religions. Sexual abuse of children by priests.

 

So called leaders with some education in government places, decide, you are that criminal and makes laws to suppress you. In the meantime they have mia noi (s) , then it is ok.

Tell me the difference between them, Yeah, a mia noi is mostly better off.

 

There is only one religion ,,, money. If you dont have, you die. 

There are people, they kill you over it. However a sex worker doesnt, but they need the money. Some are just forced to work that way. 

Lots of men want sex, so you have to pay if you want. And those sex workers have to deal with some really crazy bastards. 

Why you think police man is called and comes in when a customer doesnt pay?

Yup, he wants a percentage. So you could call them pimps.

 

You ever spoke to those girls? Most of the time, they do for a whole family. They do, as they were raped and have a child to support. Yeah, now you say get a "normal" job, but get less.

Just eat some less and so your total family. It is an option. 

Yes , there are girls who have good income from sex working.

The lucky ones, but again there are way more ..not.

 

Competition is big, there are a lot of sex workers. 

Once met a girl, we started talking, English!, she "begged" me for some money to buy food, just 50 baht, hadnt eaten for quite some time. So gave her that 50 baht.

She also asked me if price of 400 baht was ok for the work , as there were men wanting a discount and only wanted to pay 100 baht. I told her those were freeloaders, as they can pay the 400 baht. Yeah, sex worker, you have to deal with lots of <deleted> and can change you.

Then you get girls , who dont care anymore then at all, it is money, life, another day.

 

 

But why to look down on them and convict them as criminals, only because such high placed government as....e, decide so.

Those educated people who dont want to pay you for normal work, in Thailand it happens a lot. or they just kick you out for some stupid reason, as they can.

Or bigger companies, where people work their butt of and then close factory, holding back money from you, not paying you for long time. No then it is ok.

 

You are a soldier, you fight in some country and you shoot lots of "enemies".

Then you are a hero. What you did there people mostly dont know, but is cruel.

Then a government is saying, it is ok to kill people, you are not a criminal.  

 

YES, replace the existing Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, which was promulgated in 1996 and criminalized sex work.

 

    

[Cat Boy]

I sincerely hope they succeed in Legalization for these 300k+ workers to work in safety, with health checks for disease control, and other rights guaranteed under Thai employment law. 

[Leif Kullberg]

But Bu But Thailands healthminister sayed last year after a visit to Pattayas allegedly sexdistrict that she found no proof of prostitution 555

[DJ54]

Then the tax man might get their cut.. driving cost of doing business upwards and some workers out of business.. 

[soalbundy]

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

I can't see it happening, no sane Buddhist orientated government will run the risk of legalizing the sex industry and therefore prostitution, the voters will not go for it, this is still a very much religious country that adhere to the Buddhist teaching. 

No, the public isn't stupid, they all know what is going on. Prostitution is work and should be regulated for the health of the punters and girls (healthy pussy checks), then there is the enormous tax revenue, the police would of course lose out. This is not about morals, it's about money, lots of money.

[prakhonchai nick]

If the government and their representatives say there are no prostitutes, then what is there to legalise?

[PETERTHEEATER]

They have had the erections now they want the elections...........

[Dogmatix]

7 hours ago, shackleton said:

It's about time the Thai government legalized the Sex industry into the 21st Century 

People come to Thailand for Sex the country is well  known for the Sex industry massage parlours bars and so on ????

Why pretend officially it's not happening  people are making money out of this industry let's do it legally ????

 

There are very few aspects of the Thai sex industry that are illegal, if you read the current Prostitution Act. How often do you hear of people being arrested for prostitution?

[BayArea]

"Thailand's sex workers hope a customer will change their lives"

fify

[Isaan sailor]

13 hours ago, ChipButty said:

The only thing that will change their lives is when it goes back to 60 baht to the pound,

And the USD goes back to 35…

[Sigma6]

I'm all for it if it benefits the girls, ya know,  the hyperbole of 'protecting the workers rights' actually meaning something, only I'm not sure what will change..

 

Regular STD checks is a good thing.

 

Apart from this what else would change? Sickpay?! Holidays? Surely they'd be on a freelance (litterally!) setup??

How is the employment done at the large established Go-go bars, for example - Are they employed as dancers / waitresses? does the bar pay social security based on the minimum salary they pay?
Or is it all cash in hand, day by day nothing on paper?

So, as already mentioned, they may open themselves up to paying tax, depending on what they declare - which is another can of worms.

Seems to me like the upside is for the taxman, and not so much the workers, apart from being able to say 'I have a legitimate job'.

 

Just some random thoughts on it.

[LikeItHot]

And now you gals can start paying taxes like you always wanted to. Right?

[Iron Tongue]

10 hours ago, hotchilli said:

A percentage of the voters are the sex workers?

Yes, but how many of them would bother to get-up early to go vote?

I'm guessing that, as a group, they are a bunch of flakes.

[JayClay]

10 hours ago, JackGats said:

Legalisation will come with tons of new requirements. Then the crack-downs for non-observance of said requirements will know no bounds. See many EU countries

I didn't realise that there were any EU countries where prostitution is legal. And I certainly didn't realise that there were any specific EU regulations on the industry.

[JayClay]

If prostitution was legalised would it also be on the protected profession list; jobs that foreigners may not apply for? 

[TimeMachine]

13 hours ago, hotchilli said:

What will change is when they have to divulge their true earnings and pay taxes like everyone else, possibly health and pension payments on top from the sex trade

[not the pittance the bars pay to have them entice customers inside as their earnings] 

 

I would agree if the tax collection money went back into society. Has anybody ever sat down and calculated how much VAT tax money is collected each day from big c, 7 eleven etc shopping centres  across the country. A staggering amount of money goes somewhere.

[bristolgeoff]

Will be interesting to see if anything changes,make it legal and tax from them coming to the gov,i don,t see that happening.Only thing is the police can not arrest them and fine them after.Happened in aust yrs ago and the gov got their tax and when no job the gov money was given to them

[JackGats]

7 hours ago, JayClay said:

I didn't realise that there were any EU countries where prostitution is legal. And I certainly didn't realise that there were any specific EU regulations on the industry.

Legal eg in Germany but regulated by German law (not by EU regulations). For example in Germany, no prostitution is allowed on the streets, only in clubs. German law says something like "prostitution cannot be banned everywhere by city council in towns of more than 80k souls". In other words, towns of more than 80k inhabitants must tolerate some prostitution in some places if operators want to open some clubs. Police in Germany are now increasingly raiding clubs on grounds of tax evasion. In the long term, this could mean the end of affordable prostitution in Germany.

 

Prostitution is legal in France for women to prostitutes but illegal for male customers to seek prostitutes. See the problem? Legalisation can get twisted so that at the end of the day prostitution becomes as good as banned.

 

Prostitution is legal in Belgium for both women and male customers, but city councils and police have wide-ranging powers to forbid. As a result, some cities and areas are prostitution deserts.

 

And so on for different EU countries. In each case, national law is what decides and not EU regulations. If it were up to EU regulations, I guess we would have a blanket ban.

 

Note that despite liberal policies in some countries, visa and work permit policies can dry up supply of sex workers. My hunch is that a country is only allowed into the EU once it is clear its women will not massively come and trade sex for money in member countries. Sexual economics is the hidden agenda that makes the world go round.

Edited May 11, 2023 by JackGats

[h90]

Now it is illegal but no one cares. No one pays taxes.
If legal and registered they'll have to pay income tax and VAT...Maybe like the beer also a sin tax. Not sure if that is a good deal.

[Bday Prang]

6 hours ago, JayClay said:

If prostitution was legalised would it also be on the protected profession list; jobs that foreigners may not apply for? 

 Of course it would be protected, why would/ should it be treated any differently than any other occupation?

[JackGats]

18 hours ago, hotchilli said:

What will change is when they have to divulge their true earnings and pay taxes like everyone else, possibly health and pension payments on top from the sex trade

[not the pittance the bars pay to have them entice customers inside as their earnings] 

 

What will also change is that prostitution rates increase threefold and that many girls will refrain because the paperwork is too much for the few weeks they want to work in bars.

[Bday Prang]

17 hours ago, Goat said:

I suppose it depends what circles you socialise in.

 

I suggest you first learn to speak some Thai, then attempt to make some Thai friends, it will open your eyes!

[bamnutsak]

Are there any estimates on the annual gross revenue generated by the sex industry?

 

And what percentage of that is attributable to foreigners?

 

And what is percentage of GDP?

 

I looked quickly but could only find some numbers Chuwit tossed out back in 2007.

 

 

[Bday Prang]

16 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It is? Really? A pity the monks don't do that. I read a story today of 80 million baht and gold bars buried (read: hidden) behind a temple, found during an investigation of a monk stealing millions in donations for himself.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1294395-80-million-baht-cash-found-buried-at-buddhist-temple-in-thailand/#comment-18072473

 

Not the first such story either, There seems to be a strong tradition of "monks behaving badly " and not just in Thailand    Most of these religious types prefer to lead by dictating what others should and should not do, and not by example,  Bunch of hypocrites

[BonnieandClyde]

7 hours ago, JayClay said:

If prostitution was legalised would it also be on the protected profession list; jobs that foreigners may not apply for? 

Periodic sweeps in nightlife areas suggest that it already is... de facto, at least.

[Bday Prang]

             A lot of posters have mentioned regular health checks as a benefit of revising legislation.

In reality there is nothing stopping sex workers having regular health checks at present if thats is what they want. It's hardly forbidden. 

             Likewise if a change in legislation made health checks compulsory it would not be impossible  for somebody to avoid them if they so wished.

            The current system seems to work ok for all concerned , if it aint broke don't fix it, these lot need to be a bit careful what they wish for, none of them will be wanting to pay any tax for starters

             I strongly suspect that these demonstrations and demands have been whipped up by some western "woke" charity, look at the pictures in the OP  why would their placard be written in english ?

            

[rumeaug]

Netherlands did it rather Successfully.
Illegal prostitution moves in the Netherlands more than 500 million euros every year
Legal prostitution exceeds 2.5 billion, which is equivalent to or 0.4% of Dutch GDP, more than the country's cheese industry
At the same time that prostitution in brothels was legalized in 2000, the law against sexual abuse and the protection of minors was tightened