Проституция в Таиланде: Законодательство и Реальность

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Prostitution in Thailand is not itself illegal, but public solicitation for prostitution is prohibited if it is carried out "openly and shamelessly" or "causes nuisance to the public". Due to police corruption and an economic reliance on prostitution dating back to the Vietnam War, it remains a significant presence in the country.

The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B. E. 2539 (1996) is the statute most directly dealing with prostitution. Under the act, the definition of "prostitution" is "Sexual intercourse, or any other act, or the commission of any other act in order to gratify the sexual desire of another person in a promiscuous manner in return for money or any other benefit, irrespective of whether the person who accepts the act and the person who commits the act are of the same sex or not." A clear definition of the phrase "in a promiscuous manner" is not provided. The criminal code also stipulates penalties for procuring or using money earned from prostitution. The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act was written with a particular focus upon sexual abuse and trafficking of children. Section 8 penalizes those who sexually abuse children under the age of 15 years with a prison term of two to six years and a fine of up to 120,000 baht. For child victims between the ages of 15 and 18 years, the prison term is one to three years, and the fine is up to 60,000 baht. does not state that prostitution in Thailand is illegal. However, Title IX, Section 286 of the Penal Code states: “Any person, being over sixteen years of age, [sic] subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes [sic], shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.” While penalties are not specified, the same section of the act penalizes any person who (i) is found residing or habitually associating with a prostitute, (ii) receives boarding, money or other benefits arranged for by a prostitute or (iii) assists any prostitute in a quarrel with a customer.

The Entertainment Places Act of 1966 places the onus upon the owner of certain types of entertainment establishments if prostitution occurs on the premises, thereby making them criminally liable. According to the act, sex workers must also undergo rehabilitation for one year at a reform house upon the completion of punishment for practicing prostitution there.

Since the Vietnam War, Thailand has gained an international reputation among travellers from many countries as a sex tourism destination. The precise number of prostitutes in Thailand is difficult to assess. Estimates vary widely and are subject to national and international controversy. A 2004 estimate by Dr. Nitet Tinnakul of Chulalongkorn University gave a total of 2.8 million sex workers, including two million women, 20,000 adult males, and 800,000 minors under the age of 18, but the figures for women and minors were considered to be grossly inflated by most observers, and to have resulted from poor research methods. According to a 2001 report by the World Health Organization: "The most reliable suggestion is that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 sex workers." The state department's 2013 Human Rights Report for Thailand made no estimates of the extent of prostitution, but in 2015 Havocscope, a database providing information about the global black market, gave an approximate figure of about 250,000 for the number of prostitutes working in Thailand. UNAIDS in 2015 estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 147,000. It has been suggested for example that there may be as many as 10,000 prostitutes on Ko Samui alone, an island resort destination not usually noted for prostitution, and that at least 10 percent of tourist dollars may be spent on the sex trade. An estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$4.3 billion per year, or about three percent of the Thai economy. In 2015 Havocscope said that about US$6.4 billion in annual revenue was being generated by the trade, a figure which accounted for 10 percent of Thailand's GDP. Havocscope says that sex workers in Thailand send an annual average of US$300 million to family members who reside in more rural areas of Thailand. In July 2016, it was reported that the Thai government intended to abolish the sex industry. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, the tourism minister, said "Tourists don't come to Thailand for [sex]. They come here for our beautiful culture" and that "We want Thailand to be about quality tourism. We want the sex industry gone". Kobkarn was replaced as tourism minister in November 2017. The Royal Thai Police says that more than 24,000 people were arrested, prosecuted and fined for offences related to prostitution in 2019.

The primary tourist "prostitution zones" of Thailand are often identified as the red light districts of Bangkok, as well as Patong Beach Resort on Phuket Island. In addition, Hat Yai and other Malaysian border cities cater to Malaysians. In Bangkok, the areas most commonly associated with prostitution include the entertainment district of Patpong, Lumphini Park in central Bangkok is well known as a prostitution spot after dark. In Pattaya the primary areas associated with prostitution are Boyztown, Many other service sector workers offer sexual services as a sideline. Thai prostitution is divided into different sectors that serve different markets (the main criteria being the socioeconomic status of customers and the nationality of both customers and prostitutes). Owners of such establishments are only accused of crimes when breaking other laws, such as the employment of underage workers or illegal migrants. In this type of establishment, male clients can engage in sexual activity with female prostitutes. There are so many soapy massage businesses in some sections of Bangkok, using massive quantities of water pumped illegally from groundwater, that they have been accused by authorities of contributing to Bangkok's subsidence of one centimeter per year.

Karaoke bars are also used as a venue in the country's sex industry, one that is more popular with locals than tourists. Women working there act as bargirls – singing, conversing with and entertaining clients. They earn money from commission on drinks and may be bought money garlands. On some occasions their clients pay a bar fine to take them out of the bar for a girlfriend experience. They may then also negotiate for the sale of sexual services.

Although Thailand is known for Thai massage, its non sexual, traditional style of massage, known as nuat phaen boran, some massage parlours provide customers erotic massage at additional cost including handjobs, oral sex, and sexual intercourse. The Federation of Thai Spa Associations (FTSPA) in 2016 urged authorities to clamp down on sexual services being offered at some massage parlours. The FTSPA maintains that influential figures have used legal loopholes to open "pretty spas" or massage parlours where tourists can buy sexual services. The difference between this type of massage and ab ob nuat is that not all massage parlours offer sexual services.

Women ("bargirls"), or men, in the case of gay bars, or transsexual ("kathoeys") are employed by the bars either as dancers (in the case of go go bars) or simply as hostesses who will encourage customers to buy them drinks. Apart from these sorts of bars, there are a number of other sex trade venues. In most of these establishments the prostitutes are directly employed, but in hotels, some bars and discos freelance prostitutes are allowed to solicit clients. Prostitutes will usually receive a commission when a customer buys drinks and sexual services can be arranged to take place on premises or elsewhere (with the latter requiring the customer to pay a "bar fine" to release the prostitute from the bar). The relationships established in such contexts superficially mimic the "dating" culture of the west, with a mix of friendship, intimacy, sexual entertainment, and money.

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). 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. The abolition of slavery in 1905 left many women who had been bought as concubines in a state of homelessness and unemployment. Many of these became prostitutes, primarily serving migrant Chinese labourers in the country. In 1908 prostitution was legalised and medical care was provided to prostitutes under the Contagious Diseases Prevention Act, one of a variety of laws relating to the sex industry passed during the twentieth century. During World War II, large numbers of brothels were opened to serve occupying Japanese soldiers, and subsequently the British and Indian military stationed in the country after the war had ended. During the Vietnam War, Thailand's decision to offer "Rest and Recreation" facilities to US forces deployed in the region brought in considerable income to the country, raising the number of prostitutes there from around 20,000 in 1957 to around 400,000 in 1964. Prostitution itself was made illegal in Thailand The government instituted a system of monitoring sex workers in order to prevent their mistreatment and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. During the Cold War, Japanese businessmen went on sex tourism with Filipino women, Thai women and South Korean women. Since the end of the Vietnam War, there has been an enormous expansion in prostitution in Thailand, resulting in it reaching its present prominence. The 1960 law was repealed by the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B. E. 2539 (1996). Under this law prostitution as such is technically illegal.

In 2003, the Ministry of Justice considered legalising prostitution as an official occupation with health benefits and taxable income and held a public discussion on the topic. Legalisation and regulation was proposed as a means to increase tax revenue, reduce corruption, and improve the situation of the workers.

In 2008, 532,522 Thais were suffering from HIV/AIDS. The UNAIDS estimated in 2013 that from 380,000 to 520,000 Thais were living with HIV. In 2017, the number of Thais living with HIV was 440,000. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among Thai adults aged 15–49 is estimated to be 1.1 percent (2016). Among freelance female sex workers, the prevalence of HIV was 2.8 percent in 2017. has campaigned tirelessly to increase the awareness of safe sex practices and use of condoms in Thailand. He served as minister for tourism and AIDS prevention from 1991 to 1992, and also founded the restaurant chain Cabbages and Condoms, which gives free condoms to customers. After the enactment of the Thai government's first five year plan to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, including Mechai's "100% condom programme", as of 1994 the use of condoms during commercial sex probably increased markedly. No current data on the use of condoms is available. The programme instructed sex workers to refuse intercourse without a condom, and monitored health clinic statistics in order to locate brothels that allow sex without condoms. Only half of participants stated that they were tested for HIV and one had seen a health care provider in the past 12 months. Female prostitution is often preferred to Kathoey as they are viewed as less likely to carry sexually transmitted diseases.

Thai society has its own unique set of often contradictory sexual mores. Visiting a prostitute or a paid mistress is not an uncommon, though not necessarily acceptable, behaviour for men. Many Thai women, for example, believe the existence of prostitution actively reduces the incidence of rape. According to a 1996 study, the sexual urge of men is perceived by both Thai men and women as being very much stronger than the sexual urge of women. Where women are thought to be able to exercise control over their desires, the sexual urge of men is seen to be "a basic physiological need or instinct". It is also thought by both Thai men and women that men need "an occasional variation in partners". As female infidelity is strongly frowned upon in Thai society, and, according to a 1993 survey, sexual relationships for single women also meets disapproval by a majority of the Thai population, premarital sex, casual sex and extramarital sex with prostitutes is accepted, expected and sometimes even encouraged for Thai men, the latter being perceived as less threatening to a marriage over lasting relationships with a so called "minor wife". Another factor contributing to this issue is that ordinary Thais deem themselves tolerant of other people, especially those whom they perceive as downtrodden. This acceptance has allowed prostitution to flourish without much of the extreme social stigma found in other countries. According to a 1996 study, people in Thailand generally disapprove of prostitution, but the stigma for prostitutes is not lasting or severe, especially since many prostitutes support their parents through their work. Some men do not mind marrying former prostitutes. A 2009 study of subjective well being of prostitutes found that among the sex workers surveyed, sex work had become normalized.

Chuwit Kamolvisit was the owner of several massage parlours in Bangkok and considered by many a "godfather of prostitution" in Thailand. In 2005 he was elected for a four year term to the Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the Constitutional Court removed him from office. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok but was not elected. He revealed in 2003 that some of his best clients were senior politicians and police officers, whom he also claimed to have paid, over a decade, more than £1.5 million in bribes so that his business, selling sex, could thrive. Although Thailand's sex trade aimed at foreigners can be considered overt, the industry that caters exclusively to Thai men had never before been publicly scrutinised, let alone the sexual exploits of Thailand's unchallengeable officials. Attitudes towards women were exemplified by MP Thirachai Sirikhan, quoted in The Nation, "To have a mia noi [mistress] is an individual's right. There should be no problem as long as the politician causes no trouble to his family or society". Apparently, this is standard practice as a separate police force did the same in Pattaya in May 2007.

According to a Library of Congress study published in 2003, "The red light districts of Thai cities are home to brothels, casinos, and entertainment facilities that function both as sources of income and as operations centers for trafficking in humans " It has been estimated that organised crime groups have brought over a million women into Thailand from Yunnan in China, Laos, and Vietnam. Most of the women trafficked from China to Thailand and Malaysia are from ethnic minorities like the Dai ethnicity from areas like the from Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province and they are trafficked by men of their own ethnicity. The Dai people are related to Thai people. In November 2015, Prime Minister Prayut Chan o cha launched a "clean up Thailand" campaign to eliminate organised crime in all areas, including vice.