Thailand's Prostitution Image Is Embarrassing

[thaibeachlovers]

Funny how a while ago on a previous thread topic people were stating that prostitution is not illegal, yet here it states it is illegal.

Hmmmm, seems that we all love a thread about the oldest profession on TV, and why not indeed?

However, you should know that Thailand only made "prostitution" illegal under pressure by the Americans ( like they are pure, LOL ), but nobody cares.

If they actually enforced the "law", most male Thais would probably be under arrest.

BTW, the photo that leads the thread is from Thaniya Plaza, where the Japanese go, and nothing to do with farangs in general, and Americans in particular, despite the article being about an American tv show.

[Songhua]

You might get more revealing answers from the "Farang" who come here to Thailand to "enjoy" prostitutes--very inexpensive. The underlying reason Thailand is a prostitution magnet in this region is because US soldiers came here during the Vietnam War for R&R, and Thailand welcomed them with cheap pleasure. It's become a trademark by now. Another real reason behind the poverty is that Vietnam and Cambodia got their behinds whooped during the aforementioned war(s), and Thailand is anxious to please the "powers-that-be" in order to not be completely wrecked economies, as post-war Vietnam and Cambodia have become. Another phrase might be "trauma-based" prostitution, like brainwashing to make people do what you want. Cheap prostitution is part of the "vacation" package that Thailand offers to the West, who wanted to do the same in Vietnam. You will see that Burma will be the next cheap prostitution arena, along with development of hotels and luxury condos along the beach. It's no accident this has happened or mere circumstance for impoverished women.

I thought Vietnam won the war

[IAMSOBAD]

Blame the Farang Westerner...

If its so sad and disgraceful why do the girls chain smoke...have tattoos all over and drink so much? Sort of advertising what your job is isn't it? Walking around in really short skirts or shorts.

I don't see office workers or bankers it nurses do that

Lets grow up and call a spade a spade.

Don't blame foreigners for it.

[Maggusoil]

RE-BRANDING

Well done Eyes Wide Open. Very funny and the 8 points gets it about right. . .and I thought the video in the piece was also very funny.

RE-BRANDING was how I went about it, when I had to "explain" my very youthful Thai wife, (mother or our beautiful 4 yr old) to certain people.

In the same re-naming exercise, that has seen garbage collectors in my other country become Sanitary Technicians and Waste Management Contractors, with a completely straight face I sometimes call what she was when we met a . .

FREELANCE ENTERTAINMENT CONSULTANT. .

and people actually say. "Oh right!" and mean it.

Fits the bill and she has continued to entertain me in right royal style, ever since whenever I say she has "work to do". Its a family joke. Which is what this whole business is. Lighten up people. Unlikely the law makers in Thailand will be taking their cue from some journalistic wowsers. Too much money at stake.

Anyway, what's illegal about leaving a bar with a partner?. If "its" not done on the premises what can anyone do?

On top of that there are many a funny story about what may happen between the bar and the hotel.

Get the filthy rich Bangkok elite to subsidise the poor farmers up north? That would ease some necessities. Relax its not going to happen. They have bars to run.

[Mudcrab]

Most women in the world are prostitutes. But only the "decent" women let the man pay in various other ways, than charging him after having sex.

we are all prostitutes in one form or another....I work all day for some money..I provide a service that my employer likes/appreciates. Some women trade thier bodies/minds/souls for the comfort of marriage where they obtain the goods and services they desire. A bar girl/prostitute is no different and should not be scorned. it is just our "moral" upbringing that allows us to be judgemental.

[chiangmaikelly]

12 or 13 years ago, while living and working in America with my Thai wife. I was discussing moving to Thailand sometime in the near future. His response was "Thailand, thats where you can rent a woman,Right" My response was I never have. However, I felt deeply offended. Not sure why.

Because in actuality you can indeed rent a woman. I am still saddened by his main association with Thailand being prostitution.

So you can attest to the fact, that this reputation has been around the world for at least 13 years?

try 40 years

Try 400 years.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/07/23/lifestyle/lifestyle_30041864.php

[harber8]

Embarrassing?? It's a tragedy.

Go-Go and massage are in the Thai fabric lets face it. But now it's got out of control.

Just another Thai problem caused my widespread corruption and a government which doesn't care for it's people, only for it's own families and wealth.

[Mudcrab]

Blame the Farang Westerner...

If its so sad and disgraceful why do the girls chain smoke...have tattoos all over and drink so much? Sort of advertising what your job is isn't it? Walking around in really short skirts or shorts.

I don't see office workers or bankers it nurses do that

Lets grow up and call a spade a spade.

Don't blame foreigners for it.

I"ve seen many nurses, policemen, soldiers, even Lotus workers etc walking around in attire that clearly indictaes their profession...what is your point?

[hellodolly]

LOL.

The author has led a sheltered life. Cute to read.

Anyway, Amsterdam has the same image, also among Thais, yet it doesn't bother too many people.

I strongly suggest that Thai people stop worrying about image, and work on improving life for all Thais. A draconian enforcing of prostitution laws deprives consenting adults from remaining options they do have. That's having it ***backwards.

It also will take food out of many mouths.

[Thai at Heart]

12 or 13 years ago, while living and working in America with my Thai wife. I was discussing moving to Thailand sometime in the near future. His response was "Thailand, thats where you can rent a woman,Right" My response was I never have. However, I felt deeply offended. Not sure why.

Because in actuality you can indeed rent a woman. I am still saddened by his main association with Thailand being prostitution.

So you can attest to the fact, that this reputation has been around the world for at least 13 years?

try 40 years

there are documents from 100's of years ago attesting to the Thai's relaxed attitudes to sex and marriage. It was only when someone thought that Thailand should become more civilised that they realised this amount of freedom in some way made them "lesser" in the eyes of the world, so they made up a few rules to appear to be more civilised.

This transformed itself into the the upper class adopting some weird type of Victorian puritanism as a supposed Thai ideal, while the rest of the country just kept on doing what it did. Now the question?

If we are to accept that Thailand has one of the freesest and easiest attitudes to sex around, are we to listen to these people who say they are embarrased about it? or are we to say, yup, TIT, sc*****g is a popular national passtime, as long as no one gets hurt?

I say, Thailand is a developing country, and laws need to change to make men responsible for their indescretions to protect women by being lumbered with children that dad's don't take care of. That probably covers 10 to 15% of all the women in the sex trade. Next I say, spread the wealth and industry around the country so that there are many more opportunities around the country. that covers another 30 to 40% who are only there to find a job. Then make sure every person pays their taxes, so that there are better schools to educate the next generation.

Give it 40 years or so, and there will probably be 75% less prostitutes around Thailand, and it will be something that we all harken back to as the good old days. You can't ban it, I don't think you want to really embrace it, but its there and it is too big. So instead of being embarrased about it, do something constructive.

[NanLaew]

.....

However, you should know that Thailand only made "prostitution" illegal under pressure by the Americans....

Oh.... I would say a citation is needed for that wee nugget.

And what is the difference between prostitution and "prostitution" anyway?

Keep in mind we all promise to be squeaky clean on this forum and not discussing it anyway.

[csroland]

I want to read one of these that doesn't blame the foreigner.

Prostitution and minor wives are endemic here in local population. Just look at the native soapies and the pretty massage places. Even in up country areas where there aren't foreigners.

and how much it is true....life is just so simple. it is always easier to blame others than the own nation

[Thai at Heart]

What Thailand should be embarrassed about is the plethora of extremely unattractive older Foreign (white) men who proliferate here like rednecks with little subservient slave girls from poor families. The range of ugliness of these types of men living here is appalling.

And vice versa. I used to work with young male Thai university graduates. They would ask me in amazement why wealthy farangs would marry and be with Thai farm girls who were extremely ugly in the eyes of these Thai men. I had no real answer for them...

Oh no.... not ANOTHER farang worker feeling stigmatized whenever an 'educated' Thai co-worker pushes the "Isaan slappers are ugly" button?

Oh yeah. All women from Isaan are ugly and slappers, but all Bangkok graudates are educated. Which is the bigger lie.

[DA3NDORPHIN3]

http://thethailandlife.com/thai-bar-girls

[Payboy]

The question is, why has prostitution become so huge inThailand that it is now famous for it?

Beats back-breaking work on a rice paddy in sweltering heat and rain.

[thaibeachlovers]

monkeycountry

Imagine for a second that all prostitution in Thailand stopped tomorrow. Do you think the girls would then be better off or worse off? Many of them would end up sitting on a farm in Isaan sleeping, eating and watching tv all day - just as many of their family members do as we speak. I wonder what long term damage that does to your brain? They would stay dirt poor, and so will their children.

I agree with you that if the girls had a bunch of options such as good schools and decent work, then that would be much better, but that is just not the case today, so to be honest with you, I do not know if me paying a girl to sleep with me is good or bad - for her?

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone said something like this. This theory is a bit like officials in the UK who now want to allow drug addicts to have more drugs because maybe it will be worse forcing them to stop than trying to deal with the problem. You are thinking like the Thais, short term and not long term. Do you really think that long term its better to just let this process carry on or better to stop it and see the benefits later and for longer. I should not need to explain the benefits that a whole generation would have if they were not working as sex slaves for 15 years or so.

Yes Im sure it will be very painful if girls now were forced to stop prostitution but the next generation will benefit and you could argue that they will only be in the position that they would of always been in without prostitution. The question needs to be asked what would they do if they never have had prostitution. Do you really think they would not of survived. No, they would of worked, the family would work. In my experience i would say a typical 2 adults 2 children family in Isaan don't need anymore than 15,000 a month to live healthy lives. Now that must be achievable if all or most of the family works or contributes in some way unless ofcourse you have greater needs....which maybe is the problem but only born out of western influence.

To answer this fully i suppose you have to separate need and greed. Since my time in Thailand i have thought more and more that i don't think there are as many girls that really really have to do this as i first thought when i came here first. I look at how much money these girls are getting and compare that to my time in Isaan and alot of all this is greed. Families don't need 50,000 - 100,000 a month to live. Considering they all know prostitution is bad and still carry on i consider it greed. My point is if they really wanted to im sure most families could avoid sending their child off.

I think in the short term you paying for a girl helps but only in the same way giving one more hit to a drug user helps. In the long term i don't think so no because its not giving them responsibility, its giving them a fake image of earning money, they don't respect the effort of earning money and also that cash is not giving them anything that will help in the future. What about post 35 - 40 , what are they going to do then. As i said before they wont work for 6000 a month after 15 years of easy money. You have to think about the second part of their lives. No skills, no education, probably wont enjoy sex as much or at all. Mentally used to lying and cheating and taking the easy way out. Not the way i would want to be at the still young age of 35 - 40 or around that age.

Please note that I wrote "so to be honest with you, I do not know if me paying a girl to sleep with me is good or bad - for her?"

I agree with most of what you are saying The Isaan family living on 15k/month may survive yes, but they will never get out of poverty, and the kids will never see a good school or a good job, giving them a better chance in life than their parents. The fact that they are so poor, and with no hope for the future, is what often leads them to drinking and drugs in the first place!

You say the next generation will benefit from a prostitution stop. How exactly will they benefit? Yes, they may get a job, but it will be the kind of job that brings a maximum of 15k/month for the entire family, and there will be no mental stimulation for anyone in that family - and so the circle continues.

The bar girl takes a gamble - often unknowingly. She gets a unique chance to bring herself and her kids and thereby the family future out of poverty for good, but at the risk of being broke and mentally damaged at 40! As I said, I do not know if this is good or bad, considering the alternatives?

Yeah that's a fair comment.

But as i said I surely don't have to explain why the stopping of mass prostitution would benefit a generation. If you cant think of anything then maybe its a sit with a beer discussion then.

The idea is that without prostitution people are forced into their normal evolution. How would that family normally survive !!! They would all contribute and work if possible or at least most. The girl may struggle but at least grows up with the values of hard work earning her way instead of the exact opposite. This can only have positive benefits down the line. And you know even if i couldn't explain any other benefit other than the girl simply not being a sex slave then surely not being a sex slave is enough on its own.

I think you also have to be careful with that word poverty. Getting by is not poverty. Remember it is only because of the western influence that many of these girls and families have bigger needs and wants and raises the benchmark too high.

"The bar girl takes a gamble - often unknowingly. She gets a unique chance to bring herself and her kids and thereby the family future out of poverty for good, but at the risk of being broke and mentally damaged at 40! As I said, I do not know if this is good or bad, considering the alternatives?"

Thats one of my points, only a chance and a slim one at best. Not many of these working girls stay forever with a guy and have stability. Most get so consumed by it all that they are unable to hold something down. So really they have 2 chances, either meet a good man who earns good money and stay with him or just have 10 - 15 years of so much success in prostitution that it sets her up for life. Now either of those is rare or at best certainly not enough end up like that to justify a whole industry.

If the alternative is literally that the family will starve or cannot live then ofcourse i would have to be a hearltless person to still say no you shouldn't do it just for morals but I doubt there are as many in the position as we may think.

You write like someone that doesn't actually know any bargirls, or at least only superficially.

IMO you don't know any "sex slaves" that work in the farang bar scene, or if one told you that she was, she was only telling a tale in the hope you would give her money to "escape" her terrible fate.

I don't dipute that there are sex slaves in Thailand, in the Thai sex industry, but not among the bar girls of Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin etc and the few small farang bar areas of Bkk.

Next time you meet a bar girl, ask her if she'd rather work in a sweat shop or in the rice fields for 300 baht or less a day, or stay in the bar. I know what they'll say

[NanLaew]

..... I can't even take my 6 year old daughter bowling without seeing 65 year old men groping and grabbing teenage hookers in their underwear. ...

Excuse me?! I will have you note that I am only 60 and that was top of the line Ann Summers lingerie she had on.

[IAMSOBAD]

The story is about prostitution... If you see a girl dressed like one and acting like one...its like her uniform.

She's proud of her job or she would not wear her LOOK 24/7.

[hellodolly]

They should fight first against the problem number one in Thailand: the corruption !

When this problem will disappear, the prostitution will stop, policemen will do their correct jobs to close the brothels but not extort money from go-go bars tenants to "protect" their illegal practices !

There is no point in deluding ourselves it will not stop tomorrow with the priviledges of the Hi-So who don't want lost them ! As long as the feudal system will be in effect the habits won't change in Thailand !

Well you are certainly right end corruption and you end prostitution. I am not a user and never have been a user of the prostitutes. How ever I am not a moral idiot willing to impose my ideas on others.

If I was I would suggest legalize prostitution and you would end a lot of corruption.

[ajarnjess]

You have.. HAVE to be kidding! Im an American and know and LOVE SNL! ( I wont discuss the downturn in quality since the likes of Chris Farley hah)

In NO WAY, does the show or the skit itself say ANYTHING that the world does not already know. The world has known for a long time that Bangkok and Pattaya have been major sex-tourist destinations. Its only "embarrassing" now because someone made fun of it. I think making some attempts to either regulate it(yes, regulate it) or completely clean it up would be a more effective route than WHINING about a comedy sketch.

PS... not ALL westerners think "ooooh Bangkok, I want to go there so I can schtupp an underage, disadvantaged farm girl who may or may not have various STIs"

To the author of this article: Im a little offended that you would denigrate ALL Westerners like that. You would be the first to squawk if I said all Thais are degenerate thieves who would rob their own grandmother blind, so dont do it to others.

[SPIKECM]

There's a joke people used to say around my parts. How are fat girls and mopeds the same? They are both fun to ride until someone sees you! I think is really the same case in Thailand regarding this issue. Nobody has a problem until people on the outside start taking a closer look at Thai society, and there are many facets that the good government representative don't want to face, let alone address.

Namely, the reason why the prostitution game is tolerated in the kingdom is because Thai society is inherently, at its very core, an unequal society. Exploitation in whatever form of the lowly minions by societal members on the top of the sakdina chain is and always has been totally acceptable in Thai society. It only becomes embarrassing when outside viewers see it and actually mock you for it.

Changing the underlying problem would require a sea change which isn't happening anytime soon.

True, but not the whole story. Exploitation in the likes of Pattaya in this paradox of a country, is almost always about Thai girls exploiting foreign men. If you explained this idea of foreign men exploiting the girls in Pattaya to a Pattaya working girl she would fall off her stool laughing.

You're slightly missing the point. Johns wouldn't even get a chance to be duped if it wasn't for societal acceptance of the lower classes working as sex workers in the first place. It's almost as if there is no will to address rural poverty because hey, you can always go sell your ass and get a dumb farang for all this loot in the process!

Am I making sense?

It is about lifestyle choice, which yes, in modern Thailand increasingly accepted. Also lack of the same judgementalism that is there in the West. I have two friends who run restaurants in Chiang Mai and neither can hold staff. One has an Italian place where the staff make 16 to 18k per month and he can't keep them. What does this little anecdote tell you? .....whatever it does, it does not tell a story of rural poverty which has to be addressed.. albeit in Chiang Mai.. Thais can uproot easier ....they can get on their bike and find work.. come to Chiang Mai, young rural poor! You won't have to sell your ass either! But they just may prefer that as a lifestyle choice. and in which case, in the land of "it is up to you" and "never mind", what business is that of anyone else's?... and this is the point..anything less and you are the one who's missing it.

[thaibeachlovers]

Blame the Farang Westerner...

If its so sad and disgraceful why do the girls chain smoke...have tattoos all over and drink so much? Sort of advertising what your job is isn't it? Walking around in really short skirts or shorts.

I don't see office workers or bankers it nurses do that

Lets grow up and call a spade a spade.

Don't blame foreigners for it.

Hmmmmm. If wearing really short skirts or shorts indicates that the wearer is a prostitute, 90% of the young women where I live must be on the game, and there is hardly a farang to be seen, certainly no tourists.

[Docno]

Just a few facts that this author needs to become aware of:

1. Prostitution in Thailand has a long history (as in many countries) that far pre-dates the Vietnam era and the advent of sex-tourism. For example, in the 17th Century, a state official was given a monopoly over prostitution in the then-capital of Ayutthaya, with many hundreds of prostitutes under his oversight.
   
2. Westerners (and foreigners in general) are in the minority of men who avail themselves of prostitutes in Thailand... you wouldn't know this from the article
   
3. Buddhism is not as judgmental as Christianity/Islam with respect to 'sin' in which no-one is being harmed (e.g., sexual morality). [The author seems to be surprised that you can find prostitutes in an ostensibly Buddhist country ... he or she needs to study Buddhism a little more].
   

[rinteln]

monkeycountry

Imagine for a second that all prostitution in Thailand stopped tomorrow. Do you think the girls would then be better off or worse off? Many of them would end up sitting on a farm in Isaan sleeping, eating and watching tv all day - just as many of their family members do as we speak. I wonder what long term damage that does to your brain? They would stay dirt poor, and so will their children.

I agree with you that if the girls had a bunch of options such as good schools and decent work, then that would be much better, but that is just not the case today, so to be honest with you, I do not know if me paying a girl to sleep with me is good or bad - for her?

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone said something like this. This theory is a bit like officials in the UK who now want to allow drug addicts to have more drugs because maybe it will be worse forcing them to stop than trying to deal with the problem. You are thinking like the Thais, short term and not long term. Do you really think that long term its better to just let this process carry on or better to stop it and see the benefits later and for longer. I should not need to explain the benefits that a whole generation would have if they were not working as sex slaves for 15 years or so.

Yes Im sure it will be very painful if girls now were forced to stop prostitution but the next generation will benefit and you could argue that they will only be in the position that they would of always been in without prostitution. The question needs to be asked what would they do if they never have had prostitution. Do you really think they would not of survived. No, they would of worked, the family would work. In my experience i would say a typical 2 adults 2 children family in Isaan don't need anymore than 15,000 a month to live healthy lives. Now that must be achievable if all or most of the family works or contributes in some way unless ofcourse you have greater needs....which maybe is the problem but only born out of western influence.

To answer this fully i suppose you have to separate need and greed. Since my time in Thailand i have thought more and more that i don't think there are as many girls that really really have to do this as i first thought when i came here first. I look at how much money these girls are getting and compare that to my time in Isaan and alot of all this is greed. Families don't need 50,000 - 100,000 a month to live. Considering they all know prostitution is bad and still carry on i consider it greed. My point is if they really wanted to im sure most families could avoid sending their child off.

I think in the short term you paying for a girl helps but only in the same way giving one more hit to a drug user helps. In the long term i don't think so no because its not giving them responsibility, its giving them a fake image of earning money, they don't respect the effort of earning money and also that cash is not giving them anything that will help in the future. What about post 35 - 40 , what are they going to do then. As i said before they wont work for 6000 a month after 15 years of easy money. You have to think about the second part of their lives. No skills, no education, probably wont enjoy sex as much or at all. Mentally used to lying and cheating and taking the easy way out. Not the way i would want to be at the still young age of 35 - 40 or around that age.

Please note that I wrote "so to be honest with you, I do not know if me paying a girl to sleep with me is good or bad - for her?"

I agree with most of what you are saying The Isaan family living on 15k/month may survive yes, but they will never get out of poverty, and the kids will never see a good school or a good job, giving them a better chance in life than their parents. The fact that they are so poor, and with no hope for the future, is what often leads them to drinking and drugs in the first place!

You say the next generation will benefit from a prostitution stop. How exactly will they benefit? Yes, they may get a job, but it will be the kind of job that brings a maximum of 15k/month for the entire family, and there will be no mental stimulation for anyone in that family - and so the circle continues.

The bar girl takes a gamble - often unknowingly. She gets a unique chance to bring herself and her kids and thereby the family future out of poverty for good, but at the risk of being broke and mentally damaged at 40! As I said, I do not know if this is good or bad, considering the alternatives?

Yeah that's a fair comment.

But as i said I surely don't have to explain why the stopping of mass prostitution would benefit a generation. If you cant think of anything then maybe its a sit with a beer discussion then.

The idea is that without prostitution people are forced into their normal evolution. How would that family normally survive !!! They would all contribute and work if possible or at least most. The girl may struggle but at least grows up with the values of hard work earning her way instead of the exact opposite. This can only have positive benefits down the line. And you know even if i couldn't explain any other benefit other than the girl simply not being a sex slave then surely not being a sex slave is enough on its own.

I think you also have to be careful with that word poverty. Getting by is not poverty. Remember it is only because of the western influence that many of these girls and families have bigger needs and wants and raises the benchmark too high.

"The bar girl takes a gamble - often unknowingly. She gets a unique chance to bring herself and her kids and thereby the family future out of poverty for good, but at the risk of being broke and mentally damaged at 40! As I said, I do not know if this is good or bad, considering the alternatives?"

Thats one of my points, only a chance and a slim one at best. Not many of these working girls stay forever with a guy and have stability. Most get so consumed by it all that they are unable to hold something down. So really they have 2 chances, either meet a good man who earns good money and stay with him or just have 10 - 15 years of so much success in prostitution that it sets her up for life. Now either of those is rare or at best certainly not enough end up like that to justify a whole industry.

If the alternative is literally that the family will starve or cannot live then ofcourse i would have to be a hearltless person to still say no you shouldn't do it just for morals but I doubt there are as many in the position as we may think.

You write like someone that doesn't actually know any bargirls, or at least only superficially.

IMO you don't know any "sex slaves" that work in the farang bar scene, or if one told you that she was, she was only telling a tale in the hope you would give her money to "escape" her terrible fate.

I don't dipute that there are sex slaves in Thailand, in the Thai sex industry, but not among the bar girls of Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin etc and the few small farang bar areas of Bkk.

Next time you meet a bar girl, ask her if she'd rather work in a sweat shop or in the rice fields for 300 baht or less a day, or stay in the bar. I know what they'll say

Well I think it depends what your definition of sex slave is. I think we can agree that's up for opinion. Bottom line is their work is sex. That is what I mean. You see this is part of the problem and your showing it and I have seen this so many times. You are not regarding them as prostitutes, you are giving them softly softly names and not accepting they are prostitutes but instead trying to soften the wording. This is what I mentioned earlier, the first step is actually accepting that this is prostitution and its wrong.

"You write like someone that doesn't actually know any bargirls, or at least only superficially"

So just like another guy earlier you are saying that just because you dont agree with me that this automatically concludes that i don't have any experience of it. Strange logic. It is possible for people to have knowledge of something but also have a difference of opinion on it.

You might aswell say the other one......... "you obviously don't live here then" line.....come on it must be coming. You must be able to guess my life history based on disagreeing with my view.

In regards to your last comment, what is your point then ? Ofcourse she will say she wants to be in a bar. I would like to be gambling and drinking whiskey all day for a living if i could but i know its not constructive. Are you suggesting that my whole argument is void or its a point against me just because your right in saying a bar girl would prefer to be in a bar !!!

Anyway you have only really stated what I have said, whats your opinion and take on it ?

[blackthorn2005]

'Thailand's Prostitution Image Is Embarrassing' They just realised! Amazing.

[hellodolly]

The only embarrassing thing about it to me is what some of the people back home think. I know it shouldn't bother me but it does a little bit. Fortunately most of the people I associated with were more interested in the incredible sight seeing on offer in Thailand

" It is noteworthy that audience members were laughing very loudly, showing that Americans knew all about Thailand’s sex industry"

They also forgot to post that there was signs urging the audience to laugh. If not enough laughter they had tapes to dub it in. Was good enough to fool one reporter. But then again does the nation employ real reporters.

[brewsterbudgen]

Funny how a while ago on a previous thread topic people were stating that prostitution is not illegal, yet here it states it is illegal.

Not really funny. It's too simple to just say it's illegal. The relevant legislation is actually quite cleverly worded.

"The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996) (the “Prostitution Law”), is the central legal framework prohibiting prostitution. The law defines prostitution as any act done to gratify the sexual desire of another in exchange for money or any other benefit, but only if it is done “in a promiscuous manner”. The Prostitution Law does not define what exactly a “promiscuous manner” constitutes. The crime of solicitation is equally ill defined. A “Jon” soliciting the services of a prostitute is liable under the Prostitution Law only if the solicitation is done “openly and shamelessly or causes a nuisance to the public”, the penalty being a fine of up to 1,000 baht."

"The second law regulating prostitution in Thailand is the Act on Entertainment Places, B.E. 2509 (1966) (the “Entertainment Act”). Massage parlors (excluding parlors providing legitimate massage services), go-go bars, karaoke bars and similar establishments are regulated and required to be licensed by the Entertainment Act. The Act regulates these businesses due to their influence on public morals and in order to ensure that minors are not allowed access to such businesses. While the Entertainment Act does not expressly permit prostitution, it does allow “service partners” and “bath service providers” and the like. The Entertainment Act distinguishes between those types of employees, who are required to wear red circular disks with their numbers, and non-sexual service staff, who are required to wear blue circular disks with their numbers. Employees of establishments regulated by the Entertainment Act are required to be at least 18 years old, and customers are required to be at least 20 years old. Given the close relationship of many of these businesses to the sex industry, the differences between massage parlors and go-go bars and prostitution establishments are not necessarily clear."

[thaibeachlovers]

[

Well I think it depends what your definition of sex slave is. I think we can agree that's up for opinion. Bottom line is their work is sex. That is what I mean. You see this is part of the problem and your showing it and I have seen this so many times. you are not regarding them as prostitutes, you are giving them a softly softly names and not accepting they are prostitutes.

In regards to your last comment, what is your point then ? Ofcourse she will say she wants to be in a bar. I would like to be gambling and drinking whiskey all day for a living if i could but i know its not constructive. Are you suggesting that my whole argument is void because a bar girl would prefer to be in a bar !!!

Anyway you have only really stated what I have said, whats your opinion and take on it ?

A "slave" has no option but to do what they are made to do by other people. My point is that the bar girls that attend farangs are not slaves, but free agents that can and do change occupation at will. They choose to work in the bar and they can choose to leave. A "slave" can't do that.

I will call them prostitutes if you call western women that get married or live with someone in exchange for wealth prostitutes.

I prefer to equate bar girls with women in the west that work as perfectly legal escorts.

Modified to allow posting.

[carib102]

Blame the Farang Westerner...

If its so sad and disgraceful why do the girls chain smoke...have tattoos all over and drink so much? Sort of advertising what your job is isn't it? Walking around in really short skirts or shorts.

I don't see office workers or bankers it nurses do that

Lets grow up and call a spade a spade.

Don't blame foreigners for it.

I"ve seen many nurses, policemen, soldiers, even Lotus workers etc walking around in attire that clearly indictaes their profession...what is your point?

Nurses? Don't you know that nurses in Thailand have uniforms? Not our problem if you have a fetish for nurses...they are simply wearing what is necessary for their jobs, not advertising for sexual services.

[lounger]

Prostitution is an emotive word. To see a prostitute in a western country is to see a reflection of all that is bad in society. To see a bar girl in Thailand is totally different; here is no stigma, shame, self consciousness on either side; normal people getting on with their lives.

I agree that some ladyboys camp it up and manage to reach that level of conspicuousness that make people cringe. but they are different. They reach a level of ostentation that is pure theatre, so even they are not worth putting in a sensitive article that the main post here is trying to achieve.