Why Are There So Many Sex Workers in Thailand?
Why are there so many Sex workers in Thailand?
One question I am asked frequently is €why are there so many Sex workers in Thailand?€ I will give my opinion using information gathered from the Thai sex workers themselves to explain this question. But to answer this question I have to start by giving a quick background of Thai culture and Thai families.
As Thailand is a 3rd world country the Thai people are not very well off financially so a lot of Thai parents cannot afford to put their children through good schooling or University. Unless you have these qualifications it is very hard to find a job that earns well. As well in Thailand there is no welfare, no pension and no employer paid superannuation. You will also find as a lot of the Thai people are not well educated a larger percentage of Thai nationals cannot read or write.
The way a Thai family will work is very different to most of Western society. To a Thai person their family is number one (even over their husband/wife) and they will do whatever they can to help their family. When the children get married and have their own children, they will often give their children to the grandparents to raise them while they are out earning money to support, not only themselves but their children and their parents as they have given up work to raise their Grandchildren.
I will speak from my experience in the north-east region of Thailand (Isaan) but a €normal€ job for a person in this region would be as a labourer on a farm or to work on the family farm growing rice or other known Thailand exports. As a labourer, they are lucky to earn the equivalent to couple Australian dollars for a full day's hard work, for interests sack the current minimum wage in Thailand is 100B ($3 AUD) per day€¦ This is nowhere near enough to look after themself, let alone the rest of the family so most people while move 1000's of Kilometres away from their family to earn money. A lot of Thai people will try to find work in other countries where a larger income can be earned but once they hit a curtain age a visa will not be approved. Also they work that they can find overseas is work that no one wants to work so they are very hard working jobs. Ultimately if they are able to go to where the tourists go a large amount of money can be made.
Unfortunately for the Thai people unless they can speak English and are well educated it is very hard to find a job in the Tourist areas unless you were to work in the Sex trade. After working as hard as they can to try and support their family, they often find it is not enough and are almost forced to work in the Sex Trade. A move to the tourist areas also means long distances away from their children. It is normal for a Thai person to not see his/her children for many months at a time, but will continuously send money home to support them. Working in the Sex Trade can be looked down upon by some of the older Thai people as traditionally Sex is saved for after marriage, This is another sacrifice the Thai people will make for their families.
Prostitution is one of the oldest forms or work and earning money, this is no different in Thailand. A Thai woman working in the Sex Trade can earn up to 7000B ($230AUD) for one day's work with one customer. Although that work means sleeping with a total stranger that may be very overweight, unattractive and many years older than them, The Thai woman will do it with a smile as it is all for the benefit of the family and the opportunity for their children to have a better future. If you are a single man travelling to Thailand you will soon discover that if you want to have sex with a Thai woman you will be required to pay for it and now hopefully you will now understand why.
I have seen some amazing things that occur within the Sex trade. You will find 18 year old virgins giving themselves to 65 year old males, married woman sleeping with other men and even males opting to have a sex change to get involved, straight men getting involved in the Gay Sex Trade all so that their family can live a better life. In my opinion these Sex Workers are heroes. Although in saying this some of the Thai people will abuse the Sex Trade to benefit themselves and take advantage of many innocent tourists.
Travelling through Thailand you will find that all of the Tourist destinations will accommodate the Sex Trade in some form or another. You have your place's like Pattaya, Bangkok and Patong which are very €in-your-face€ with the Sex Trade and other locations like Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and even Udon Thani that are a bit more discreet, but it is still there.
I hope that this has answered the question as mentioned at the start of this post/article and hope that if you want to experience Thailand's Sex Trade that you will approach it a little differently and still treat these women with the respect they deserve.
For more information on the Thailand Sex Trade visit http://www.mythailandholiday.net/about-thailand/adult-nightlife
One question I am asked frequently is €why are there so many Sex workers in Thailand?€ I will give my opinion using information gathered from the Thai sex workers themselves to explain this question. But to answer this question I have to start by giving a quick background of Thai culture and Thai families.
As Thailand is a 3rd world country the Thai people are not very well off financially so a lot of Thai parents cannot afford to put their children through good schooling or University. Unless you have these qualifications it is very hard to find a job that earns well. As well in Thailand there is no welfare, no pension and no employer paid superannuation. You will also find as a lot of the Thai people are not well educated a larger percentage of Thai nationals cannot read or write.
The way a Thai family will work is very different to most of Western society. To a Thai person their family is number one (even over their husband/wife) and they will do whatever they can to help their family. When the children get married and have their own children, they will often give their children to the grandparents to raise them while they are out earning money to support, not only themselves but their children and their parents as they have given up work to raise their Grandchildren.
I will speak from my experience in the north-east region of Thailand (Isaan) but a €normal€ job for a person in this region would be as a labourer on a farm or to work on the family farm growing rice or other known Thailand exports. As a labourer, they are lucky to earn the equivalent to couple Australian dollars for a full day's hard work, for interests sack the current minimum wage in Thailand is 100B ($3 AUD) per day€¦ This is nowhere near enough to look after themself, let alone the rest of the family so most people while move 1000's of Kilometres away from their family to earn money. A lot of Thai people will try to find work in other countries where a larger income can be earned but once they hit a curtain age a visa will not be approved. Also they work that they can find overseas is work that no one wants to work so they are very hard working jobs. Ultimately if they are able to go to where the tourists go a large amount of money can be made.
Unfortunately for the Thai people unless they can speak English and are well educated it is very hard to find a job in the Tourist areas unless you were to work in the Sex trade. After working as hard as they can to try and support their family, they often find it is not enough and are almost forced to work in the Sex Trade. A move to the tourist areas also means long distances away from their children. It is normal for a Thai person to not see his/her children for many months at a time, but will continuously send money home to support them. Working in the Sex Trade can be looked down upon by some of the older Thai people as traditionally Sex is saved for after marriage, This is another sacrifice the Thai people will make for their families.
Prostitution is one of the oldest forms or work and earning money, this is no different in Thailand. A Thai woman working in the Sex Trade can earn up to 7000B ($230AUD) for one day's work with one customer. Although that work means sleeping with a total stranger that may be very overweight, unattractive and many years older than them, The Thai woman will do it with a smile as it is all for the benefit of the family and the opportunity for their children to have a better future. If you are a single man travelling to Thailand you will soon discover that if you want to have sex with a Thai woman you will be required to pay for it and now hopefully you will now understand why.
I have seen some amazing things that occur within the Sex trade. You will find 18 year old virgins giving themselves to 65 year old males, married woman sleeping with other men and even males opting to have a sex change to get involved, straight men getting involved in the Gay Sex Trade all so that their family can live a better life. In my opinion these Sex Workers are heroes. Although in saying this some of the Thai people will abuse the Sex Trade to benefit themselves and take advantage of many innocent tourists.
Travelling through Thailand you will find that all of the Tourist destinations will accommodate the Sex Trade in some form or another. You have your place's like Pattaya, Bangkok and Patong which are very €in-your-face€ with the Sex Trade and other locations like Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and even Udon Thani that are a bit more discreet, but it is still there.
I hope that this has answered the question as mentioned at the start of this post/article and hope that if you want to experience Thailand's Sex Trade that you will approach it a little differently and still treat these women with the respect they deserve.
For more information on the Thailand Sex Trade visit http://www.mythailandholiday.net/about-thailand/adult-nightlife
