When foreigners think of Thailand they think of sex, say Thais

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, wealthychef said:

0.2% of what?  The number of citizens in Thailand?  Are you going by surface area?  Which orifice did you pull that number out of, and based on what?  The question is, what is the perception of Thailand.  If you are asking, what percentage of Thais engage in prostitution, that would be an interesting number indeed.  I think it's higher than some might want to admit.  

You wrote: "It's not a "view," it's a set of facts.  It's not all the facts about Thailand, but it's certainly a fair characterization of three of them", that in response to

"cheap sex, spicy food and dirty water and beaches" - that "set of (partially and sometimes correct) facts" representing something in the order of 0.2% of the total picture when describing Thailand!

 

The problem is that trying to generalise about the state of Thailand just based on those four points is ridiculous and impossible - not all beaches are dirty although I understand Pattaya beach is but I wouldn't know; cheap sex, well er um yes, cheap is a function of developing countries in Asia and the availability of cheap sex is also a function of most of SE Asia; ditto spicy food; dirty water is also a function of a developing country.  The other aspect that is ridiculous is trying to compare what happens in one part of Thailand with what happens in another, Pattaya and Chiang Rai for example couldn't be two bigger opposites so in effect it is a view rather than a set of facts because it's only one persons opinion of one particular area of Thailand.

 

[wealthychef]

1 minute ago, simoh1490 said:

You wrote: "It's not a "view," it's a set of facts.  It's not all the facts about Thailand, but it's certainly a fair characterization of three of them", that in response to

"cheap sex, spicy food and dirty water and beaches" - that "set of (partially and sometimes correct) facts" representing something in the order of 0.2% of the total picture when describing Thailand!

 

The problem is that trying to generalise about the state of Thailand just based on those four points is ridiculous and impossible - not all beaches are dirty although I understand Pattaya beach is but I wouldn't know; cheap sex, well er um yes, cheap is a function of developing countries in Asia and the availability of cheap sex is also a function of most of SE Asia; ditto spicy food; dirty water is also a function of a developing country.  The other aspect that is ridiculous is trying to compare what happens in one part of Thailand with what happens in another, Pattaya and Chiang Rai for example couldn't be two bigger opposites so in effect it is a view rather than a set of facts because it's only one persons opinion of one particular area of Thailand.

 

 

Again, I don't know what your 0.2% is trying to capture.  Obviously if you don't pay for sex, go to beaches or care about food, they don't matter, but I think that a large number of foreigners spend a lot of their time in Thailand focusing on one of those three.  So what is your 99.8% composed of?  

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, wealthychef said:

 

Again, I don't know what your 0.2% is trying to capture.  Obviously if you don't pay for sex, go to beaches or care about food, they don't matter, but I think that a large number of foreigners spend a lot of their time in Thailand focusing on one of those three.  So what is your 99.8% composed of?  

I live on the edge of the mountains which are very beautiful and devoid of any sex tourists and dirty beaches, my 99.8% comprises wonderful scenery, my garden, my orchids, affable and courteous neighbours, some truly outstanding food at a range of places within a twenty mile radius, those kinds of things, normal everyday Thai stuff.

[ben2talk]

Opinions barried. Wish you a happy life too.

There's a PT in there???
Opinions 'Barried'.
Really, I understand there are many dialects of English around the world. I do try to be sympathetic and to catch on as quickly as I can.
These dialects, however, Appearso far removed from British usage that I think I should just quit trying.


Sent from my nose.

[lamyai3]

8 hours ago, ben2talk said:

Letters not get confused....

 

Sent from my nose.

Letters... Let us... Lettuce?

I'm confused already! 

[thurien]

50 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Letters... Let us... Lettuce?

I'm confused already! 

 

he means "leathers"

[simoh1490]

9 hours ago, digibum said:

Calm down there.  I was referring to Thai men.  

 

81% of Thai soldiers said they have visited a Thai prostitute in the last 6 months.  73% of Thai soldiers said that they had lost their virginity to a prostitute.  And 97% of Thai soldiers said they regularly visit prostitutes.  

 

http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/ecology/childthai.pdf

 

Not sure what corner of the world you're in but there's a boatload of prostitution going on in Thailand.  

 

It's estimated that there are about 2,000,000 women working in the sex business.  Only about 50,000 of those are in the farang sex business.  Simple math will tell you that 1.95 million Thai women are selling sex that you probably don't know about unless you know where to look.  

 

"It's estimated that there are about 2,000,000 women working in the sex business.  Only about 50,000 of those are in the farang sex busines".

 

Where is it estimated, provide a link from a reliable source otherwise you made it up.

[Harold the Great]

Sex trade is not the issue, cheating is!

[metisdead]

Posts containing inappropriate language and profane language have been removed as well as the replies. 

[William C F Pierce]

With tourism expected to double by 2030 there won't be enough women to satisfy the demand. This shows how ridicules opinions can be. The fact that there are fewer temples in Bangkok than other parts of Thailand per 100,000 people. Just  shows that Bangkok does not represent the whole of Thailand. What do I look for in Thailand? The temples, ancient architecture, wildlife, scenery, food, the many friends I have made over a number of years and the most important the weather in comparison to my own country. You can't buy that with a cheap screw.

[Get Real]

12 hours ago, ben2talk said:

There's a PT in there???
Opinions 'Barried'.
Really, I understand there are many dialects of English around the world. I do try to be sympathetic and to catch on as quickly as I can.
These dialects, however, Appearso far removed from British usage that I think I should just quit trying.


Sent from my nose.

Would probably be a good idea! At the same time we are not using this forum for criticising peoples dialects and spelling. The reason for that is there are too many people posting from different nationalities.

[FarangJon]

On 3.5.2017 at 5:15 AM, elgenon said:

I have several female neighbors and daughters of neighbors who have been to Thailand and loved it. And want to return.

 

The people, the food, the culture. The female manager and female tellers at my bank all wish they could afford to go to Thailand.

 

I know the American press obsesses over aides. But that is because of the puritanical thinking of the country. In France sex is good, violence is bad but Americans believe the opposite. To generalize. I am certainly not that way.

 

Obviously the sex is there if you want it. But to me there is so much more. For one thing, I like seeing how Buddhist principles are incorporated into daily life. It makes me a better person.

 

If you get out of the sex ghettos and get to meet real Thais your world is enlarged. I have some very good Thai friends (including families) whom I have learned a lot from. I have been invited to participate in ceremonies (eg cremation) with families. But I forget who I am talking to.

Dissembler.

[phetpeter]

The Thai's have had the sex Trade long before the Yanks when to Pattaya.

Even now the smallest of villages in Nakon upthehill has at least one 'Karoke' bar and not a westerner insight. The Thai movie from the 70's called I think 'hotel angel' shows no Westerners just Thai men. It is I think a bit like Ryan Air bad publicity is good publicity. At least most of the sex trade isn't drug addicts and hanging around street corners as is the case in the UK and Europe. Plus clean and with a beautiful lady.

[oldlakey]

4 hours ago, phetpeter said:

The Thai's have had the sex Trade long before the Yanks when to Pattaya.

Even now the smallest of villages in Nakon upthehill has at least one 'Karoke' bar and not a westerner insight. The Thai movie from the 70's called I think 'hotel angel' shows no Westerners just Thai men. It is I think a bit like Ryan Air bad publicity is good publicity. At least most of the sex trade isn't drug addicts and hanging around street corners as is the case in the UK and Europe. Plus clean and with a beautiful lady.

I just had to google the figures for Thailand and the UK, I strongly advise you not to follow suit

It will burst your bubble  555555555

[digibum]

23 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

"It's estimated that there are about 2,000,000 women working in the sex business.  Only about 50,000 of those are in the farang sex busines".

 

Where is it estimated, provide a link from a reliable source otherwise you made it up.

 

Google.  

 

Here's an article from Wikipedia.  

 

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

 

You'll notice a huge variance in the numbers.  A lot of that is due a result of who is doing the counting and their political agenda.  For instance, NGOs have an incentive to play up foreigner sex and ignore local prostitution.  If you're relying on people handing you money to combat problems, you are far more likely to open wallets by focusing on how white men are ruining Thailand rather than trying to stop prostitution amongst locals.  There's a reason that countries with known sex tourism get 90% of the spotlight in fighting prostitution while places that get little or no sex tourism are completely ignored in the press and media.   

 

So, if you look at that Wikipedia article, a study done at Chulalongkorn University said there were 2.8 million people sex workers in Thailand.  I would trust that over the WHO's 150,000 - 200,000 estimate since the WHO wouldn't even know where to start looking to estimate Thai on Thai prostitution.  But even by the WHO's estimates there are only between 76,000 - 77,000 are in registered entertainment establishments (read, go-go bars, beer bars, massage joints, etc in places like Soi Cowboy, Nana, Patpong, Patong, Pattaya, etc).  Since that number also includes bartenders, cleaning staff, and anybody else employed by a bar, the estimate of about 50,000 seems like a more realistic number.  

 

Even if you used the WHO's numbers, farang sex tourism only accounts for about half of all sex workers.  

 

But the WHO knows that more dollars flow their way and to other NGOs if the farang related prostitution seems to be problematic.  They're incentivized to undercount Thai on Thai prostitution lest people think that Thailand's prostitution problem is simply systemic and can't be cured by throwing money at the problem.  

 

And the numbers by NGOs and the WHO just don't make any sense.  If you have 76,000 out of 150,000 women catering to sex tourism, that means that 35 million Thai men are being serviced by just 74,000 prostitutes.  Given the abundance of Thai-only sex establishments, massage parlors, gentlemen's clubs, karaoke parlors, etc, this doesn't even pass the sniff test.  

 

Also, given the other study I cited which mentioned that 73% of Thai conscripts had lost their virginity to a prostitute and the numbers just make no sense.  That's just Thai military conscripts.  The numbers are just way too large for only 74,000 prostitutes to be servicing a population that large.  There were only 32 million tourists, total, in 2016.  Many of them are on Chinese group tours, many coming for medical tourism, lots of farangs coming with families or to visit their Thai wives/girlfriends, etc.  

 

I mean, Chinese tourism alone is about 21% of all foreign tourism in Thailand.  How many Chinese have you seen pulling women out of Nana bars?  Over 50% of Thailand's tourism comes from China, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, and Cambodia.  Do you see a lot of tourists from those countries hitting up the local gogo bars?   

 

Sex tourism is far more obvious because it's concentrated into entertainment zones and appeals to the crass nature of foreigners.  There's no doubt what's being offered at the Tilac Bar on Soi Cowboy but what's being offered in a karaoke bar in some backwater Issan bar in a town of 200,000 people is far more discreet for obvious reasons.  

 

My numbers of 2 million with 50K being in farang related prostitution are based off estimates prior to the study done at Chula.  I hadn't seen the updated numbers but I would have no problem believing 2.8 million with 50K - 75K being involved in farang related prostitution.  

[Destiny1990]

There are prostitutes in every country not think Thailand is unique about that.in mine country Thailand is famous for its Thai food,tropical beaches and massages.

[simoh1490]

9 hours ago, digibum said:

 

Google.  

 

Here's an article from Wikipedia.  

 

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

 

You'll notice a huge variance in the numbers.  A lot of that is due a result of who is doing the counting and their political agenda.  For instance, NGOs have an incentive to play up foreigner sex and ignore local prostitution.  If you're relying on people handing you money to combat problems, you are far more likely to open wallets by focusing on how white men are ruining Thailand rather than trying to stop prostitution amongst locals.  There's a reason that countries with known sex tourism get 90% of the spotlight in fighting prostitution while places that get little or no sex tourism are completely ignored in the press and media.   

 

So, if you look at that Wikipedia article, a study done at Chulalongkorn University said there were 2.8 million people sex workers in Thailand.  I would trust that over the WHO's 150,000 - 200,000 estimate since the WHO wouldn't even know where to start looking to estimate Thai on Thai prostitution.  But even by the WHO's estimates there are only between 76,000 - 77,000 are in registered entertainment establishments (read, go-go bars, beer bars, massage joints, etc in places like Soi Cowboy, Nana, Patpong, Patong, Pattaya, etc).  Since that number also includes bartenders, cleaning staff, and anybody else employed by a bar, the estimate of about 50,000 seems like a more realistic number.  

 

Even if you used the WHO's numbers, farang sex tourism only accounts for about half of all sex workers.  

 

But the WHO knows that more dollars flow their way and to other NGOs if the farang related prostitution seems to be problematic.  They're incentivized to undercount Thai on Thai prostitution lest people think that Thailand's prostitution problem is simply systemic and can't be cured by throwing money at the problem.  

 

And the numbers by NGOs and the WHO just don't make any sense.  If you have 76,000 out of 150,000 women catering to sex tourism, that means that 35 million Thai men are being serviced by just 74,000 prostitutes.  Given the abundance of Thai-only sex establishments, massage parlors, gentlemen's clubs, karaoke parlors, etc, this doesn't even pass the sniff test.  

 

Also, given the other study I cited which mentioned that 73% of Thai conscripts had lost their virginity to a prostitute and the numbers just make no sense.  That's just Thai military conscripts.  The numbers are just way too large for only 74,000 prostitutes to be servicing a population that large.  There were only 32 million tourists, total, in 2016.  Many of them are on Chinese group tours, many coming for medical tourism, lots of farangs coming with families or to visit their Thai wives/girlfriends, etc.  

 

I mean, Chinese tourism alone is about 21% of all foreign tourism in Thailand.  How many Chinese have you seen pulling women out of Nana bars?  Over 50% of Thailand's tourism comes from China, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, and Cambodia.  Do you see a lot of tourists from those countries hitting up the local gogo bars?   

 

Sex tourism is far more obvious because it's concentrated into entertainment zones and appeals to the crass nature of foreigners.  There's no doubt what's being offered at the Tilac Bar on Soi Cowboy but what's being offered in a karaoke bar in some backwater Issan bar in a town of 200,000 people is far more discreet for obvious reasons.  

 

My numbers of 2 million with 50K being in farang related prostitution are based off estimates prior to the study done at Chula.  I hadn't seen the updated numbers but I would have no problem believing 2.8 million with 50K - 75K being involved in farang related prostitution.  

I have difficulty believing the numbers especially from Wiki and in any case, the article itself cites that in the case of the higher Chula. estimates, "the figures for women and minors were considered to be grossly inflated by most observers". That's grossly inflated, not mildly wrong, not inaccurate but grossly inflated!

 

The very fact that there is a such a huge spread is telling, 200k vs 2/2.8 mill., in that example I would much rather trust the WHO solely because they have solid methodologies for arriving at their estimates. I think it's rather cynical on your part to suggest that the WHO undercounts for reasons of financial incentives, that suggests you believe there is not an ounce of professionalism anywhere in the planets largest health care body and I think that's quite wrong.

 

We don't disagree the numbers are not small, whatever they might be but we do disagree they are massive. Much depends on a persons line of sight in Thailand, where they have lived and visited and the influence that has had on their opinion of this subject. For example, a person who spends all their time in Pattaya can be forgiven (to a lesser degree) for thinking the entire country is the same way and that everyone here is engaged in a sex related businesses. People living in the rural North on the other hand will probably have a very different view, that is not to suggest there is no sex industry in the North because there certainly is, but much of it is for locals and is very traditional and quite discreet, the foreign tourist sex industry segment in the North is quite tiny by comparison or indeed tiny by any measure.

[oldlakey]

8 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

There are prostitutes in every country not think Thailand is unique about that.in mine country Thailand is famous for its Thai food,tropical beaches and massages.

OH for goodness sake

[Destiny1990]

11 minutes ago, oldlakey said:

OH for goodness sake

That is what tourist think yes and probably you as an expat have another opinion.

[Blackheart1916]

20 minutes ago, oldlakey said:

OH for goodness sake

It's true, there is great food here, and there are still some reasonably clean beaches, and some actual proper massages and other health treatments. Why, there is even decent scuba diving, and dirt bike riding, I have found some great golf courses, and jammed with some great rock bands. Oh for goodness sake, get out and have a look!!!

[Destiny1990]

2 minutes ago, Blackheart1916 said:

It's true, there is great food here, and there are still some reasonably clean beaches, and some actual proper massages and other health treatments. Why, there is even decent scuba diving, and dirt bike riding, I have found some great golf courses, and jammed with some great rock bands. Oh for goodness sake, get out and have a look!!!

Lovely Thai food and paradise beaches and massages and a tropical climate  is what Thailand gets associated with with citizens from mine home country not with prostitution that have in any other country also.

[rodney earl]

And it has been that way since (maybe before) the war in Vietnam when thousands of servicemen came here for R & R

[timkeen08]

Lovely Thai food and paradise beaches and massages and a tropical climate  is what Thailand gets associated with with citizens from mine home country not with prostitution that have in any other country also.

The poll was done in Bangkok with only 1,158 polled out of the millions in Bangkok. A university professor organized the polling so based on the small numbers, maybe his students or their families and friends were polled as a class project or, is there another answer for the small number polled, and is this therefore an accurate indication of what all Thai people think? There is no other demographics to help valididify the poll results. The poll has nothing to do with accurate statistics but with what some people think and someone's attempt to prove something. Or, was this just as it seems, a class project and everyone is getting all worked up about it?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[Essaybloke]

4 hours ago, Blackheart1916 said:

It's true, there is great food here, and there are still some reasonably clean beaches, and some actual proper massages and other health treatments. Why, there is even decent scuba diving, and dirt bike riding, I have found some great golf courses, and jammed with some great rock bands. Oh for goodness sake, get out and have a look!!!

Yes and a very innovative incredibly original group of film makers. 

[Destiny1990]

23 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Thailand has tried to reinvent itself as a wholesome destination in the last few years but the country is still far too mired in it's own problems to be taken seriously. It is still by some margin the most dangerous tourism destination for Aussies, Brits and Swedes, according to their respective consular services. 

 

Yes there are prostitutes in other countries but in Thailand it is far easier and cheaper to obtain sexual services as they are absolutely everywhere.

 

Go for a haircut, it's on offer; go for a massage, it's on offer; go to play golf, it's on offer; go to karaoke, it's on offer; go to a Thai restaurant, it's on offer... I think you get the picture.

 

I sense naivety because you've only been here for a couple of weeks and you are young (born 1990?), or maybe it is because I am just 'hansum man'? 

 

Thailand is famous as being the World's premier sex-tourism destination and rightly so. 

Maybe hookers are cheaper in Thailand because most manual labor things are cheaper in Thailand than abroad?

Look if u Think Thailand is only about chain snatchers and prostitution than u have a distorted vision!And yes most tourist come for see temples and beaches and enjoy the food.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/2/2017 at 4:50 PM, EnlightenedAtheist said:

• Exhibit A

• Exhibit B

The documented history of prostitution in Thailand goes back at least six centuries, with overt and explicit references by the Chinese voyager Ma Huan (1433) and subsequently by European visitors (Van Neck, 1604; Gisbert Heeck, 1655 and others). It is certainly not a new phenomenon, though it may have been exacerbated by the Japanese occupation during World War II and by the extensive use of Thailand as a "Rest and Recreation" facility by US forces during the Second Indochina War (c. 1963 - 1973)^[20][21]

Thailand has an ancient, continuous tradition of legal texts, generally described under the heading of Dhammasattha literature (Thai pron., tam-ma-sat), wherein prostitution is variously defined and universally banned. The era of traditional legal texts came to an end in the early 20th century, but these earlier texts were significant in regard to both the writ and spirit of modern legislation.^[22]

In the twentieth century a variety of laws relating to the sex industry were passed, including the Contagious Diseases Prevention Act of 1908 and the Entertainment Places Act of 1966.^[18] Prostitution itself was made illegal in Thailand^[2] in 1960, when a law was passed under pressure from the United Nations.^[23] The government instituted a system of monitoring sex workers in order to prevent their mistreatment and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.^[1] The 1960 law was repealed by the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996)."

 

What a bunch of hypocrites, many from BKK ! They make foreigners look like depraved losers, exhibiting them in cities like Pattaya and such, while they hide their little side-businesses (that they sometimes indulge into a little more than they should), because --let's think about it --someone has to run these businesses and someone has to turn a blind eye. LOL To think that officers who are supposed to uphold the law would engage in CHILD prostitution is absolutely disgusting, but the truth is that it is allowed. Why are we surprised? Why are we allowing the same group to "crack the case'? Not to say that this happens just in Thailand, of course, but child prostitution is going surreal.

 

Still, I know that there are some very decent people in this country, but they have to strop being "decent". Of course, we know the apple is rotten all the way up. How high? I cannot say, 

 

Innocent question here: When they say that 25% of GDP is tourism/expat related, does that include these extra streams of revenues?

Bit high on the GDP estimate there. Used to be quoted about 6% but on google it is now 17.7%.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/02/thai-tourism-boosts-gdp/

[thaibeachlovers]

44 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

I have lived in Thailand longer than you have probably been alive.

 

I know exactly what Thailand is all about and the sex industry is ubiquitous, massive and definitely part of Thai culture. It is no wonder then that the reputation for licentiousness that has been apparent for 200 or more years continues today. Foreign visitors from Europe to the courts here all have commented on the licentious nature of the locals. 

Sir Anthony Rumbold, who served in Bangkok for two years until 1967, wrote in his missive that Thailand had "no literature, no painting" and "hideous" interior decoration.
“Nobody can deny that gambling and golf are the chief pleasures of the rich, and that licentiousness is the main pleasure of them all,” he added.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/6365249/Secret-letters-disclose-true-views-of-British-ambassadors.html

As I said Thailand has tried to reinvent itself maybe nowadays the tourists come to see the temples and eat the food but you can be damn sure that wasn't the case 15-20 years ago. You can also be rest assured that a lot of these wholesome tourists also want to have a quick look at the sanitized red light areas for foreigners like Patpong, Cowboy, Nana, Patong and Pattaya. 

"Ping pong show upstair, take a look Sir"

 

 

Recently in Bangkok I visited the Nana gogo that used to be the best in Bkk back in the mid 90s. Sadly, if that is representative of a Nana gogo now, the wowsers need not worry, as it is going to go out of business. Hardly any customers to view the rather depleted line up of chubby to fat "dancers". Some, in the ultimate sin of a gogo, were actually ugly.

Then the drink price was excessive. Hate to think what a lady drink would cost.

As for the horrid noise that the DJs are playing in lieu of actual music- GROSS and too loud. One shouldn't need to wear ear plugs to enjoy a night out. IMO the noise level is contributing to the lack in customers.

Also, the place seems to have been taken over by ladyboys. There has always been ladyboy gogos, but now they seem to comprise a large proportion of the non ladyboy gogo staff as well.

Of course, even if Nana bites the dust, it won't make any difference to the overall "business", given that many are on line now. Cuts out the need to shuffle around on a stage all night hoping someone takes them out.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Thailand has tried to reinvent itself as a wholesome destination in the last few years but the country is still far too mired in it's own problems to be taken seriously. It is still by some margin the most dangerous tourism destination for Aussies, Brits and Swedes, according to their respective consular services. 

 

Yes there are prostitutes in other countries but in Thailand it is far easier and cheaper to obtain sexual services as they are absolutely everywhere.

 

Go for a haircut, it's on offer; go for a massage, it's on offer; go to play golf, it's on offer; go to karaoke, it's on offer; go to a Thai restaurant, it's on offer... I think you get the picture.

 

I sense naivety because you've only been here for a couple of weeks and you are young (born 1990?), or maybe it is because I am just 'hansum man'? 

 

Thailand is famous as being the World's premier sex-tourism destination and rightly so. 

Go for a haircut, it's on offer

LOL. I have heard that ever since I came to LOS, many years ago, but have yet to be propositioned in a hairdressing establishment. During my last haircut the lady did say i was hansum, but I doubt she was offering "extras". The most I ever got was a shoulder massage and my nose hairs cut.

[EnlightenedAtheist]

50 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Bit high on the GDP estimate there. Used to be quoted about 6% but on google it is now 17.7%.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/02/thai-tourism-boosts-gdp/

Total seems to be 21% from this source (1), but still not 25%, I must concede. LOL (I cannot remember where I got the 25%, but it might be from a book that was printed 15 years ago (State of the World). I did not have access to the internet when I posted at the time.) Thanks for the peer review though. LOL

 

(1) https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/countries-2016/thailand2016.pdf

Edited May 5, 2017 by EnlightenedAtheist

[simoh1490]

The total contribution to GDP from direct and indirect is widely understood to be 17.5%.