THE SEX INDUSTRY IN THAILANDECONOMIC MOTIVATIONSIn 1998 the International Labour Organisation, a United Nations
agency, advised Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, to rec-
ognise prostitution as an economic sector and income generator. It
is estimated that one-third of the entertainment establishments are
registered with the government and the majority pay an informal tax
in the form of police bribes. One bar manager we spoke with said that
they pay 5000B per month to the police.
Economic Motivations
Regardless of their background, most women in the sex industry are
there for fi nancial reasons: many fi nd that sex work is one of the high-
est paying jobs for their level of (low) education, and they have fi nancial
obligations (be it dependents or debts). The most comprehensive data
on the economics of sex workers comes from a 1993 survey by Kritaya
Archavanitkul. The report found that sex workers made a mean income
of 17,000B per month (US$18 per day), the equivalent of a mid-level
civil servant job, a position acquired through advance education and
family connections. At the time of her study, most sex workers had not
completed high school.
The International Labor Organisation, however, estimates a Thai sex
workers’ salary at US$9 a day, or the average wage of a Thai service-
industry worker.
These economic factors provide a strong incentive for rural, unskilled
women (and to a lesser extent, men) to engage in sex work.
As with many in Thai society, a large percentage of sex workers’ wag-
es are remitted back to their home villages to support their families
(parents, siblings and children). Khun Kritaya’s 1993 report found that
between 1800B and 6100B per month were sent back home to rural
communities. The remittance-receiving households typically bought
durable goods (TVs and washing machines), bigger houses and motor-
cycles or automobiles. Their wealth displayed their daughters’ success
in the industry and acted as free inducement for the next generation of
sex workers.
Anecdotally, rural families have been known to put pressure on their
female children to become prostitutes when debts begin to mount. The
bar manager we interviewed said that she tried to return home after a
stint as a sex worker in Pattaya but her mother chastised her saying,
‘Everyone can do this, so can you.’
Working Conditions
The unintended consequence of prostitution prohibitions is the lawless
working environment it creates for women who enter the industry. Sex
work becomes the domain of criminal networks that are often involved
in other illicit activities and circumvent the laws through bribes and
violence.
HIV/AIDSThailand was lauded for its rapid and eff ective response to the AIDS epidemic through
an aggressive condom-use campaign in the 1990s. Infection rates of female sex workers
declined to 5% by 2007 but rates have recently doubled among informal sex workers
(street prostitutes and freelancers). Analysts warn that the country is on the verge of a
resurgence as public education eff orts have declined and cultural attitudes towards sex
have changed. Of the country’s 610,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, intravenous drug
users make up the largest portion (30% to 50% in 2007).