pattaya127 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Mai khao jai. ----------------------- Well, the idea behind 90% studies is to get a grasp of a problem, not hail to a great accomplishment. But if we look at the responses to the "problem" of prostitution ever since they tried to grapple it in its modern shape (70 years), it's mostly indifference, or enforcing regulations punishingly onto the women mostly. Other research in other fields have led to policies trying to change a situation or eradicate a problem (so many, meechai condom campaign against rampant natality and Aids comes to mind, to stay near a sexual subject), but with prostitution, people write a book, lead a field of research, then move on. Then, thais either cry because foreigners come to rent/use/buy their women, or deny there's any problem, just the Int. media being so imperialistically unfair. Sure gonna take them far ahead, with their heads stuck in the sand like this..... :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Hi christo23, >>>Getting an exact number might be close to impossible, there is no registration afaik and there is probably little point in starting a survey and asking all thais wether they work in the p4p area.<<< Nobody has suggested that a survey to all Thais will produce an acurate number. The problem is, in detirming a realistic count of Thailand's sex workers, is there is no reliable way to make an accurate count. Numbers go from 50,000 to 5 million, depending on who you talk to. My understanding is that there is a push by the Thai Gov. to register sex workers, so that can gain tax money from this industry. But that will never show the true numbers. The report shown here, says that 2/3 of workers are involved, as a side-line occupation, and as such, they will probably not report the income, even if this law comes to fruitation. True numbers will never be known. All you can hope for is a reasonable ball-park figure. But as far as Thai sex workers goes, this has been really hard to nail down, to even closely acceptable numbers. Why? Because the major market is the Thai p4 Thai market. And as such, only can Thai's, willing to to take an internal look at itself....and not a farang looking from the outside in, can detirmine the real exstent of the true numbers, present there at any given time, IMO. HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 >>>>Well, the idea behind 90% studies is to get a grasp of a problem,<<<< Hahaha...well said. Because it is has not been seen as a problem, to be seriously delt with, explains the lack of studies. READ: TOLERANCE, and acceptance. I will now rest my case. HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 That's why I find the whole idea that prostitutes could/should be looked down at, anywhere, totally hypocritical in their society. The last ones to blame are the girls. Of course, those who see being a thai sex worker as basically a shameful, dishonest way out will disagree. Another way to think is one's personal opinion on how many "good" girls (would) sell themselves, even temporarily, when being (+ their family) in a bind (like hospital bills). The easiness of the proposition is also telling a lot about women's place in thai society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Hi, "As evident even in this thread, you have people who actually live there, and are in complete denial of the facts. Drive by a factory 1 hour outside of BKK with 5,000 workers, and think none of them are involved in the trade?" I don't think they believe none of them are involved in the trade (at least I did not read that), but refuse to believe that more than 200 of them are involved in it. And I agree with that. "We have a Chula professor here, who set out to research, and detirmine, the real numbers." Looked for my copy of "Guns, Girls and Ganja", but couldn't find it. I think this paper gives figures as well. I think P127 has a very valid point when he pointed out that the numbers thrown around are in a very wide range. Makes them a lot less trustworthy I'd say. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sickbuffalo Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 The figure considered most reliable for the number of prostitutes nationwide is 200,000 - 210,000. This was based on a 2 year study by Chulalongkorn University. EMPOWER which is a pressure group for sex workers, believes the number could be as high as 250,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Hi, Funny enough, that sounds too low to me Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 yeah 250k doesn't sounds like much compared to say 2.8mill (less than 10%), but who we're counting varies a lot. some possible groups to include: *farang oriented BG's in the major hotspots incl. gogo, bar beer, disco/bar/pub freelancers. the difficult part just here is to distinguesh between the dek serve/cashier who NEVER provides p4p & to include only full time freelancers or also part time? *nationwide brothel/street walker girls *naughty massage girls *ktv girls *paid mia nois? it all can add up very quickly, but I guess without adding 'parttime' & questianable true sex workers the lower 250k figure may just cover the 'hardcore' sex workers, while the upper 2.8M figure is perhaps even to high even we count every single girl who at one point is just remotely connected mto the sex industry... in any case it's an amazing country no doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Hi HT, I always give the benefit of the doubt to the researcher. One needs to look at the methodologhy, hypothesesis, sampling size, sampling techniques, biases and recognized weaknesses that a qualified professional will introduce/state in the report and above all magin errors. One would need to look at both the unpublished and published report to really render a meaningful opinion. Do you know where the official report was published? What journal? I was criticized for saying it is erroneous for someone to even render an off the cuff opinion based on one's own personal experiences or observations on whether the numbers are too high, too low or accurate. This is not the best way (probably one of the worst) to assess a statistical population report. I think more harm is done this way than the report itself. I have no idea so i think it is best just to acknowledge the numbers and not to pass judgment unless one can really discuss in a professional and knowledgeable manner. If one is going to agree or disagree, it would be interesting on hearing on how one reaches their conclusion other than just stating one agrees or disagrees? Is it on comparing other reports, one own research data, personal observations and experiences, etc,. All the public reads is a summary slanted to favor whatever one's agenda with the report. The same numbers could be sumarized in differing accounts. My comments were aimed at saying that personal beliefs and feelings towards the topic at hand and society in question (whether positive or negative) due enter into one's opinions (high or low) especially in the absence of statistical data either supporting or refuting the original report.... This is an interesting topic regardless and reports like these can and do have positive or negative effects like impacting social services and public health budgets...... Cardinalblue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 Numbers go from 50,000 to 5 million, depending on who you talk to. My understanding is that there is a push by the Thai Gov. to register sex workers, so that can gain tax money from this industry. But that will never show the true numbers. The report shown here, says that 2/3 of workers are involved, as a side-line occupation, and as such, they will probably not report the income, even if this law comes to fruitation. I am not even going to venture a guess at this point at what the actual percentage is, but several good points do stand out. First, that many workers are involved in the trade as a side-line occupation. If you hang out in NEP or Soi Cowboy this will not be evident since most of the girls there work exclusively in the trade, but if you frequent discos and other semi-mainstream venues over time and speak a modicum of Thai, the fact that many Thai girls 'side-line' will become obvious. Second, the implications of the fact that so many girls do side-line. What does this tell us? Well it tells me that the disapproval of the trade is only skin deep. It is more image and face than anything else. It is OK so long as certain people don't know you do it, and if they do know, the polite thing for them to do is say nothing about it. What does that say about the liklihood of stamping out the trade? Lots of luck. :: Third, the number of girls involved in servicing the Farang sector has increased dramatically and is continuing to increase. And I don't see any end in sight. Hurray for globilization. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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