Trade getting larger....

[pattaya127]

Still, it is strange that the numbers oscillate between 250 000 and 2.8 million. that's like 1000% difference!

One way or another, people are not talking seriously, as they should add with the press report what categories enter their datas. brothel? Karaoke? sex tourism Girls? freelancers? rent due tomorrow? ::

[Guest]

 

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.

************

 

I agree, in that, much of a researchers focus may last only so long as a grant (3 years max in USA) and then fade, or move on to the hot topic dujour or perhaps even some other academic area where their 'name' is better made but, that being said, I think what studies show is same-same to what keeps us here-- eg. food for thought.

 

Which leads me to some food I recently chanced on when I had access to some powerful databases and nothing better to do with my time. Found some pretty interesting stuff too that would add a real historical context to what is said in this thread, and could very well have been overlooked or never known by many of the talking heads in Public Health circles that put out these recent statistics.

 

Just to read the abstracts attached to the source information is quite interesting. At present that is as far as I have gone. I have none of these papers at present and have not read them either. I am very motivated to get my hands on copies though, so if anyone elss were interested in reading the originals I'd offer to acquire them were I to get a PM that requested such.

 

So, here goes: [all authors names' have been removed by me]

TI: Foreign Bodies. Tourism and Prostitution in Thailand; Corps etrangers.

Tourisme et prostitution en Thailande

SO: Anthropologie-et-Societes; 2001, 25, 2, 55-70.

JN: Anthropologie-et-Societes

LA: French

PY: 2001

AB: This paper puts sex tourism, which has expanded in Thailand since the 1960s,

back into the global context of prostitution as it is locally conceived &

practiced. Various historic & cultural factors are considered to explain the

scale of the phenomenon. The images of the prostitutes & of their Western

customers depicted by the local urban elites & the poor peasantry are compared,

& their differences pointed out. Based on mobility & contact with foreigners

from inside or outside, prostitution stands in a deep state of ambiguity that

relates to the identity stakes it crystallizes & to the latent tensions between

social classes & ethnic components of the nation it expresses. 35 References.

Adapted from the source document

 

TI: Genealogies of Exotic Desire: The Thai Night Market in the Western

Imagination

LA: English

PY: 1999

AB: Explores the demand side of international sex tourism, in which Western men

travel to Thailand in search of sexual experiences they have imagined will be

unlike any other in the world. The roots of this fantastical conception of Thai

sexuality are traced to three particular discursive texts: (1) Denis Diderot's

fictional Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage, or Dialogue between A and B on

the Inconvenience of Attaching Moral Ideas to Certain Physical Actions Which Do

Not Admit of Them (1773); (2) an anonymous posting on the Internet in 1994, Sex

in Thailand: The Basics; & (3) Cldo Odzer's academic treatise, Patpong Sisters:

An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World (1994). Various promotional

travel brochures are also analyzed, & the depictions of Thai sexuality in these

texts are echoed by the responses of prostitutes & their male customers (total

N = 64) interviewed 1992-1996 at heterosexual bars in Bangkok. 18 References.

 

 

TI: Conscription: Asian sex slaves: the development of Thailand's modern-day sex

tourism industry.

SO: Monolid-Magazine. 2:10-13, no 3 Winter/Spring 2002

PY: 2002

AB: Discusses role of the US armed forces in military prostitution and

institutionalized sex tourism, and international sex trafficking of Thai women.

Reprinted from Asian Law Journal, v. 7, no. 1, 2000. Geopolitical roots of

militarized prostitution, US investment in Thai "rest and recreation" (R&R)

entertainment/tourism industries catering to US armed forces, and how sex

tourism encourages sex slavery and sex trafficking.

LA: E; English

 

TI: Sex, money and morality: prostitution and tourism in Southeast Asia.

PY: 1990

AB: Focuses on Thailand. Partial contents: Sexual labour in prostitution;

Foreign exchange, tourism and prostitution in Thailand.

LA: E; English

[gobbledonk]

TI: Conscription: Asian sex slaves: the development of Thailand's modern-day sex tourism industry.

SO: Monolid-Magazine. 2:10-13, no 3 Winter/Spring 2002

PY: 2002

AB: Discusses role of the US armed forces in military prostitution and institutionalized sex tourism, and international sex trafficking of Thai women.

Reprinted from Asian Law Journal, v. 7, no. 1, 2000. Geopolitical roots of militarized prostitution, US investment in Thai "rest and recreation" (R&R) entertainment/tourism industries catering to US armed forces, and how sex tourism encourages sex slavery and sex trafficking.

 

You've unleashed a real can of worms with that one, Gohok. Unless the defintion of 'sex tourist' is broadened to include Japanese salarymen in Tokyo and their peers throughout Asia, then I dont accept the premise of this particular paper. Whatever the reality, its a discussion topic which the mods strongly discourage - it will be interesting to see how your post fares.

[Guest]

one more:

TI: Women, migration and prostitution in Thailand

AF: Author Affiliation

Doshisha U, Dept of Social Welfare, Kyoto, Japan [Mensendiek]

SO: International Social Work. Vol 40(2), Apr 1997, pp. 163-176

AB: Discusses the social, economic, political, and environmental

factors which have contributed to the migration of women from

rural areas of Thailand into the cities, often into prostitution.

Sociocultural factors cited include the matrilineal family

structure and women's responsibilities, the religious belief

system, and the double standard of gender. Unequal income

distribution, land speculation and loss of farm land, the

resettlement of hill tribe people, the marginalization of women,

and environmental degradation as examples of the negative impact of development are discussed. Finally, the negative impact of

tourism on the rural population and on women is presented.

LA: English

 

I know I presented no statistics an mostly anecdotal info anyway, but this is also info relevant to the context of the trade (at least)

[Guest]

You've unleashed a real can of worms with that one, Gohok. Unless the defintion of 'sex tourist' is broadened to include Japanese salarymen in Tokyo and their peers throughout Asia, then I dont accept the premise of this particular paper. Whatever the reality, its a discussion topic which the mods strongly discourage - it will be interesting to see how your post fares.

*********

#1 opening a can of worms was not at all my intention, nor on my agenda and I do therefore hope whatever is found as offensive by the mods will be merely erased at their discretion (in perpetuity).

 

and #2 I would assume that 'sex tourist' would (rightly) include the Japanese salarymen or any and all other asian nationalities that come with nooky(foremost) in mind. :hubba:

Why would it not? There is no nation-centric bias in the 'sex tourist' stigma that I am aware of.

 

and #3 I sent a PM to Khun Sanuk right away as a 'controversy alert'

 

But!... #4 what does Japanese salarymen or other asian nationalities have to do with that particular citation anyway? Nothing as far as I can see, it is about the US military and their 'possible' culpability on the subject. However, the abstract does not at all indicate 'if' the there is a guilt or fault to be found either. Does it?

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"and #3 I sent a PM to Khun Sanuk right away as a 'controversy alert' "

Thanks, was appreciated.

 

I just read the posts you made, and do not see any problems with them. I do wish to stress though that "and how sex

tourism encourages sex slavery and sex trafficking." is probably not a topic I wish to see discussed here.

 

Sanuk!

[Guest]

Hi,

 

My pleasure. No worries going there, that's as far as I'll take that topic.

 

But here is a final citation I'll add to this thread that is maybe the most intriguing to me of all so far:

 

Title: A history of sexually transmitted diseases in Thailand: policy and politics.

Authors: Bamber,-S-D; Hewison,-K-J; Underwood,-P-J

Journal: Genitourinary-medicine 1993 Apr; 69(2): 148-57

Abstract: This paper provides a brief history of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Thailand. The presentation is divided into three main sections: the period up to the 1930s; the period from the 1930s until the end of the early 1980s; and the period from the early 1980s until the present, the so-called 'AIDS Era'. The discussion in each of these sections focuses, as far as sources permit, on the epidemiological picture, as well as describing public and official responses to these diseases. In the final part of the paper consideration is given to these findings in relation to the present situation in Thailand regarding the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have afflicted Thais since premodern times. Medical descriptions of STDs in the 1800s addressed the link between prostitution and STDs. During 1910-1925, STD rates in Bangkok were estimated to be 75-80% of adult males. Movement of people across the borders of China and Laos contributed to the spread of STDs in the early 1900s, as it does today.

 

In 1908, Thailand enacted a law which required all female prostitutes to undergo a regular medical examination to become registered. It also set up brothels. Policymakers wanted to prevent STD transmission from prostitutes to men. They did not address male clients' responsibility. They were not concerned with the women. This official pattern persists. Beginning in 1930, Bank Rak Hospital housed the Control Unit to Reduce Venereal Diseases.

 

The 1908 law was still in force during 1930-1949 despite attempts to ban sex work. In 1952, the UN provided Thailand assistance for STD education for students.

 

During 1950-1965, businessmen and government officials profited from prostitution. In 1960, Thailand passed a law banning prostitution. In the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s, US military personnel in Thailand sought prostitutes, resulting in expansion of illegal prostitution. At the same time, Thailand was promoting itself as a tourist destination. One high-profile deputy premier, banker, and businessman asked provincial governors to promote sex tourism. In the mid 1980s, STDs spread rapidly in Thailand. The first AIDS case was in 1984. In 1987, there were 8 AIDS cases and 112 HIV-positive cases, most of whom were gay males (50% foreigners). It took just a few months for about 100,000 IV drug users to be HIV infected. In one year, the HIV infection rate among prostitutes in Chiang Rai Province jumped from 1 to 37%. HIV/AIDS is expected to reach all population groups by 2000. The official response to the AIDS epidemic was first denial, then active monitoring and public education, and now increased community support for sufferers and multisectoral development programs.

 

So then, this means prostitution has only been illegal in Thailand for 44 years. Interesing to me! In all that I have previsouly read (which isn't that much) in popular press about Thailand I've never seen mention of a once legal prostitution industry. Since finding this out I've wondered if the proponents of legalizing it wouldn't do themselves a favor to have a look at papers such as this and mine the favorable aspects of the legal era for some benefits to the women of today. Just a thought....

[Guest]

Hello. It's very nice to see intelligent discussion on this topic. My recollection is that the outlawing of prostitution in 1960 was imposed from abroad as a condition for receiving loans and development assistance. There was no domestic groundswell of support for a ban.

 

Without going too far into politcal matters, the Thai propensity to leave conflicting laws on the books leads to a great potential for abuse by selective enforcement. Coupled with the ability of police to make policy and enforcements decisions outside of formal prosecutions, it's quite a mess.

 

I have noticed that overall the term "sex-tourist" is invariably conflated with the sexual exploitation of children and sexual enslavement and trafficking by the media and within academe. I consider these things abhorrent as do all reasonable people and wish there was another term that could be used to differentiate responsible punters.

 

I have seen the word "whorist" used but it seems a bit crude. Is there another descriptor for "moral" pleasure travelers?

[pattaya127]

yes, i am always interested by studies about Thailand, so you can send me anything.

 

Some of the verbose, I recognize, it is in majority, definitely anti-western and anti-(white) male, and in academic neo-marxist tongue (Foucault and all that) that sometimes challenges one to stay awake while reading it.

 

BUT: that does not mean there are no information and historical understandings to glean from them, and I have collected a few of these books, for references and archiving of laws and behaviours in Modern Thailand.

 

They all have a big flaw by the way, as they usually patronize the prostitutes, by assuming they are only to be used in their studies as victims and exploited (which at large may be true, but in specifics, asks for more field work other than one interview in a Patpong bar), without really letting them talk for themselves. Ultimately, when coming from western feminist scholars, quite a neo-imperialistic and ethno-centric way to get one's view across and not one's subject (the girls).

 

The best book I have read, around that type of topic is "materializing Thailand", as the author, a woman, lived for decades in thailand, in a small town, and reallized that year after year, her certitudes about the plight of women in thailand, were giving way to cluelessness, in view of the immmense social and cultural tapestry that is thai life, and thai gender roles. very honest of her to admit that.

 

In short she realized that in Thailand, western notions of gender propriety are only good as one stays on the surface of things.

 

I have none of her knowlegde, but I dare think that what she found out is that again: in Thailand when something happens, its contrary can happen too, with the cherry on the cake: and there is no contradiction between the 2 ways/happenings.

[Guest]

^ Both great additions to the thread.

****

"They all have a big flaw by the way, as they usually patronize the prostitutes, by assuming they are only to be used in their studies as victims and exploited (which at large may be true, but in specifics, asks for more field work other than one interview in a Patpong bar), without really letting them talk for themselves. Ultimately, when coming from western feminist scholars, quite a neo-imperialistic and ethno-centric way to get one's view across and not one's subject (the girls). "

 

What I have read would cause me to agree entirely with you here. The bent being all women are trapped and devoid of free will, or so the academics convey.