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International Social Work
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DOI: 10.1177/002087289704000204
1997 40: 163 International Social Work
Martha Mensendiek
Women, migration and prostitution in Thailand

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163
Women,
migration
and
prostitution
in
Thailand
Martha Mensendiek
The
rising
number of Southeast Asian women in
prostitution
has
alarmed individuals and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
throughout
the world. Thailand in
particular
has been the focus of
concern as sex tourism has become
highly
visible,
and the
problem
of AIDS has
dramatically
increased. In
1992,
estimates of the
number of
prostitutes
in Thailand
ranged
from
200,000
(official
estimate)
to
800,000
(NGO estimate),
with a
projection
of
up
to 2
million
prostitutes by
the
year
2000
(Prudthathorn, 1991).
Thai
women have also been trafficked abroad in
great
numbers,
partic-
ularly
to
satisfy
the demands of the
flourishing
sex and
entertainment
industry
in
Japan.
This article will
explore
the reasons behind the
migration
of
women from rural areas of Thailand into the
cities,
often into
prostitution.
It will tie the issue of
prostitution
to environmental
and
development problems
in Thailand. It
argues
that
prostitution
is the outcome of numerous interconnected
problems affecting
women in
developing
countries,
and an
example
of how
develop-
ment
impacts
women
detrimentally.
At the same
time,
any analysis
of
prostitution
must take into
account the
social,
cultural and economic circumstances
specific
to
that
country.
It is
suggested
that there are socio-cultural factors
unique
to Thailand which have
implications
for the status of women
and
help
to
explain
the
high
incidence of
prostitution
as well as the
acceptance
of it
by
Thai
society.
The status of women in Thai
society
Family
structure and womens
responsibilities
Thai
family
structure is described as matrilocal and matrilineal. The
family
is structured around female
members,
and
although
the
Martha Mensendiek is Lecturer in the
Department
of Social
Welfare,
Doshisha
University, Kamigyo, Kyoto
602,
Japan.
International Social Work
(SAGE, London,
Thousand
Oaks,
CA and New
Delhi),
Vol.
40, 163-176
(0020-8720; 1997/04).
by guest on September 14, 2013 isw.sagepub.com Downloaded from
164
authority
rests with the senior
male,
it is transmitted
through
the
female line. The
family
home is allotted to the
youngest daughter
who is
expected
to care for her
parents
in old
age.
Women also
manage
the finances of the
family. Although
traditional division of
rural labor
exists,
the line between womens work and mens work
is flexible.
(While
women do the domestic
chores,
rear children and
grow vegetables,
and men do work in the
fields,
women and men
help
each other
considerably.) Apart
from the work in the fields
and in the
home,
women also
play a significant
economic and social
role in the
exchange
of food and in other
trading (Thitiprasert,
1991).
Likewise,
in urban
Thailand,
women are
prominent
in trade
and
professional jobs.
In From Peasant Girls to
Bangkok
Masseuses,
Pasuk
Phongpai-
chit
(1982)
states that the
key
to
understanding
modern
patterns
of
migration
is the economic
responsibility imposed
on women
by
their traditional social role.
Likewise,
in her
analysis
of Thai
prosti-
tution,
Marjorie
Muecke
(1992)
states that Thai women have
long
been
responsible
for the economic maintenance of the household.
Traditionally,
women sold food to meet household needs. Now
(due
to
changes
in rural Thailand which will be
explained below),
daughters
sell their bodies to meet the same needs. Muecke con-
cludes that
todays prostitute
is
upholding
the same value her
mother did of
carrying
out womens traditional
obligations
to take
care of
ageing parents
and
younger siblings.
This
helps
to
explain
why
in Thailand so
many
women
migrate
in search of
work,
while
we observe that in other societies it is more common for men to
migrate.
The traditional role of women
upholding
the household
has meant that women have needed to seek
ways
to
respond
to the
changing
rural
economy.
The failure of the traditional subsistence
farming economy
has driven women to
migrate
in search of a
way
to
support
their
family.
Indeed,
Phongpaichits study
of
migrant
women found that most send their
earnings
back home as remit-
tances,
and return to their families after a
period
of time. She
concludes that it is not
helplessness
but the sense of
responsibilities
they
feel that drives them into
prostitution,
and that the trade
provides
a means of survival for the rural
poor (1982: 68).
Buddhist
ideology
Another factor
contributing
to the
high
levels of
prostitution
in
Thailand is the
religious
belief
system.
Muecke describes how
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165
Theravada Buddhism
shapes
the
meaning
of
prostitution through
the
concepts
of karma and
merit-making;
A
person
can
change
her/his karma
by purposefully making
merit. The most
common
ways
to make merit are to
give gifts
to monks and
temples,
and to
sponsor
an ordination of a monk ...
Degree
of economic wealth is
popularly
taken as a direct indicator of karmic
status,
with the
royal family
and Buddhist
monks
being
those with the
greatest
store of merit.
Popular
belief holds that men
are
karmically superior
to women.
According
to this
schema,
prostitutes
rank
low on merit because
they
are women and come from
poor
families.
(Muecke,
1992:
893)
Prostitutes make merit
by giving money
and
gifts
to a
temple.
Sending
remittances home is also seen as
merit-making.
A common
attitude towards
prostitutes
is that
helping
her
family
or
making
merit counterbalances the demerit of
prostituting
herself.
Thus,
religious ideology provides
a basis which sanctions the
girls
work
as
prostitutes.
Prostitutes who fulfil the traditional
obligations
of
proper daughters (taking
care of
parents
and
siblings, returning
home with
gifts, donating
to
temples,
and
sponsoring
ordinations of
their
brothers)
are considered
justified.
These attitudes and beliefs
contribute to the tolerance of
prostitution
as an
option
for women
and a
coping
mechanism for the rural household.
The double standard
of gender
Phongpaichits study
of
prostitutes provides
us with a historical
background
to the evolution of
prostitution
in Thailand. She
explains
that the shift from the
indigenous
matriarchal Thai culture
came about
through
contact with
patriarchal
Indian and Chinese
culture. This
change
also introduced the
repression
of women.
Contact with aristocratic cultures
changed
the status of women
from
productive
workers to that of decorative status
symbols.
The
culture of male dominance
brought
the
practice
of
polygamy
and
concubinage
as status
symbols.
She concludes that the
growth
of
urban Thailand resulted in two
developments
in sexual
politics:
the
expansion
of
prostitution
and the
legitimization
of the rich to take
many
consorts. This has led to the commoditization of women
(Phongpaichit, 1982).
In Make
Money
Not Babies:
Changing
Status Markers of North-
ern Thai Women
Marjorie
Muecke
(1984)
also offers an answer to
the
question
of
why prostitution
has become so common. She
argues
that modernization and urbanization have resulted in a
breakdown of the matrifocal
system.
Muecke
explains
that in
traditional Thai
society,
women
gained
status
through
motherhood
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166
and matrilineal ancestors.
Now,
education and wealth have become
new status markers for women as well as men. For
many
dis-
advantaged
Thai,
the choice available to achieve status is limited to
urban
prostitution.
She refers to the women as an
underprivileged
population
that constitutes the fourth world
(1984: 469).
It is clear that womens status has suffered
doubly
from rural
Thailands efforts to
cope
with
poverty.
Women have lost the status
and
power they enjoyed
in traditional
culture,
but have retained the
traditional
obligations
of
providing
for
parents
and
siblings.
Sons
still have the
option
of
making
merit for their
parents through being
ordained as
monks,
but
daughters
do not have that choice. Prostitu-
tion has become an
acceptable option
for
family
survival.
This
acceptance
of
justified prostitution
for the sake of the
family
rests on a double standard. That
is,
there is a common belief
in Thailand that men need
sex,
leading
to wide
acceptance
of men
buying
sexual favours to fulfil their sexual desires. As Muecke
writes:
Beliefs that
boys
are mischievous and men
irresponsible,
whereas
girls
are dutiful
and women
loyal,
run
deep
in Thai
society
... The double standard has
long
stigmatized
the female
prostitute.
Until now. Now a new common sense allows a
double standard within the double standard.
Although
not
explicitly
labeled as
such,
there are not
only good
and bad
girls/women
but
justified
and
unjustified
prostitutes
as well ... This cultural
analysis
shows that the
ideologies
of the
family
and
village religion,
and of womens
centrality
in
supporting
both institu-
tions,
... ensure the
perpetuation
of
prostitution
because
they
channel its
wages
into direct
consumption
of consumer
goods
for
parents, siblmgs,
or merit-
making,
rather than into the
capital development
that could reduce
poverty
and
unemployment,
and even
prostitution...
What is
happening
is more
accurately
the
prostitution
of the
ideologies
of
family
and
religion
for material rewards.
(Muecke,
1992:
898)
The above
analysis
of traditional Thai
family structure,
religious
ideology,
and
gender
roles
helps
to
explain
the status of women in
Thai
society.
This
background
is crucial to
understanding
the
high
prevalence
of
prostitution
in
Thailand,
and these socio-cultural
factors must be
kept
in mind when
considering
other causes of
womens
migration,
such as environment and
development
issues.
Environment and
development: changes
in rural Thailand
Consequences of development
in rural economies
Thailand is one of Southeast Asias
Newly Industrializing
Coun-
tries
(NICs)
and has shown remarkable economic
growth
in the
past
few decades. The
rapid growth
of the
economy
is manifested
by
the
mushrooming
of
industries,
high-rise
condominiums,
resort
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167
hotels and the
booming metropolis Bangkok.
However,
the
major-
ity
of the
countrys predominantly
rural
populace
do not
enjoy
the
benefits of this economic
prosperity.
This section will discuss une-
qual
income
distribution,
land
speculation
and loss of farm
land,
the
resettlement of hill tribe
people,
and the
marginalization
of
women,
as
examples
of the
negative impact
of
development
in rural Thai-
land.
According
to the Thai
Development
Newsletter
(1991):
Farmers remain the
countrys
cracked
backbone,
ridden with debts that
they
may
not be able to
repay
in their lifetime. Countless children from the
country-
side have to
languish
in the sweat
shops
of their
employers, deprived
of both
education and the care of their
parents. Young
northern
girls
are
being
lured
by
the thousands into the
flourishing
flesh trade each
year. Obviously
the cake
generated by
the economic boom over the
past couple
of
years
has
yet
to be
shared
equitably, particularly among
the rural
poor.
So
long
as the
majority
of
the Thai
population
is excluded from the fruits of
development, government
claims of economic achievements must be taken with more than a
pinch
of salt.
(P. 2)
Thus,
a
major negative consequence
of
development
in Thailand is
the
unequal
distribution of
wealth,
which manifests itself in the
widening gap
between rural and urban areas. Lack of land owner-
ship
and
capital
lies at the root of rural
poverty. Many
farmers face
large
debts,
and with limited rural
employment opportunities,
migration
to the
city
to find work becomes the means for survival.
Thailand has concentrated its
development
efforts on
industry
and tourism at the
expense
of the
agricultural
sector. Land
spec-
ulators
eyeing prime
land for
large-scale
farms,
fruit
orchards,
plantations
and tourist
resorts,
as well as
government plans
to
create national
parks
to attract more tourists have led to the
eviction of farmers from
agricultural
land. Government and
private-sector promotion
of cash
crops,
which
require
a
high
invest-
ment,
is
decreasing
the
capabilities
of small farmers for
self-sufficiency.
Decreased
self-sufficiency,
medical
bills,
consumer-
ism and investment in modernized
agriculture
have increased the
farmers debts. The debts can
only
be
paid
off
by sending family
members to the cities.
The
government policy
toward the hill tribes
(Thailands
ethnic
minorities)
has also had a detrimental effect on the
plight
of rural
Thailand. From the 1960s the
government
has included welfare of
the hill tribes as
part
of their
development
scheme.
Promoting
a
sense of
citizenship, improving
their economic
situation,
and
sup-
pressing opium production
were the aims of these
plans.
However,
behind the
development
efforts was the unstated aim of
integrating
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168
hill tribe communities into the
majority
Thai
society
rather than
raising
their
living
standards
(Benchawithayatham
and Boonkam-
reung, 1993 : 22).
As
part
of this
policy,
the hill tribe
population
was
relocated to resettlement
camps.
The states failure to find fertile
land for
resettlement,
and the lack of
understanding
of the
diversity
of the different hill tribes have been
major problems
with this
plan.
The hill tribes
traditionally practised
swidden
agriculture.
Swidden,
or
slash-and-burn,
agriculture
is a form of horticulture in which the
forest cover of a
plot
is cut down and burned before
planting
to
allow the ashes to fertilize the soil. Hill tribes
practised
rotational
cultivation,
and
joint ownership
of land allowed communities to let
forests recover their nutrients after a
period
of cultivation. Reset-
tlement has forced the hill tribes onto infertile and limited land.
They
are no
longer
able to
practise
their conservational methods of
farming.
Modern
agricultural programmes
which advocate the cul-
tivation of
mono-crops
for
export
have reduced the
capacity
of the
hill tribe communities to maintain their
self-reliance,
forcing
them
to
rely
on the
supplies
and demands of an external market. All of
this has meant that the sustainable nature of the hill tribe commu-
nities has been undermined.
The hill tribe
people
in
Thailand,
like
many
ethnic
minority
peoples
all over the
world,
face discrimination and
exploitation.
They
lack land and
nationality rights
and receive
inadequate
health
and educational services.
Opportunities,
which are
already
limited
for the rural
poor,
are even more limited for the hill tribe
people.
According
to
Benchawithayatham
and
Boonkamreung,
the inte-
gration process
has been characterized
by many
hill tribe women
becoming prostitutes (1993: 23).
This is an
example
of how devel-
opment negatively impacts
the lives of
women;
for hill tribe
women,
their
minority
status is a double burden.
Special
attention must be
given
to the
negative consequences
of
development
on women. The needs of women were
ignored during
the first two decades of Thailands
development planning.
In the
1970s,
women
development
workers around the world
began
to
criticize the
impact
of
development
on women. Criticism led the
United Nations to declare 1975 as International Womens Year and
1976-1985 as The Decade of Women. This led
policy-makers
to
give special
attention to women as a
target group by integrating
women into
development through
vocational
training
and educa-
tion.
According
to the Thai
Development
Newsletter,
this
strategy
of
integration
was insufficient because it did not
question
the under-
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169
lying assumptions
of this
development
and was not directed at
womens
problems
which are caused
by
the social structure of male
domination
(1991: 11).
Government
agencies
and NGOs tend to overlook womens
important
role as
producers
and farmers. Most
development agen-
cies are male-dominated and choose men for their
target groups.
Even
though
women are the backbone of
agriculture, they
are left
out of
agricultural
and technical
training,
and are denied access to
credit and
marketing
information. In
addition,
women still bear the
major responsibilities
in the
household,
such as
raising
children and
caring
for the
elderly.
The
failing
rural
economy
has forced families
to search for
migrant
labour. This has
disrupted
the traditional
reciprocity
between men and womens work.
Furthermore,
the
labour
options
for women are limited to the
lowest-paying jobs
in
factories or the service
industry. Clearly,
the
negative consequences
of
development
have fallen hardest on women.
Environmental
degradation
The deterioration of the environment is another cause of rural
poverty
in Thailand. The
depletion
of Thailands forests has resul-
ted in
problems
such as
drought, desertification,
flooding during
the
rainy
season,
and soil erosion. This has lowered the
agricultural
productivity
of land which was once fertile and sustainable.
As the
analysis
below will
demonstrate,
the causes of environ-
mental destruction are rooted in the
development policies
instituted
by
the
government, including
the
governments forestry
policies.
This section will show how the hill tribe
people
have been
unjustly
blamed for deforestation in Thailand and
give
an overview
of the real causes of environmental destruction.
A
majority
of Thai
people
believe that rotational slash-and-burn
cultivation
practised by
tribal minorities and the encroachment
by
rural
people
into the forests are
major
causes of deforestation. In
Shifting
Cultivation in Northern Thailand: Possibilities for Devel-
opment,
Grandstaff
(1980)
dismisses the
commonly
held false
assumptions concerning
traditional swidden
agriculture
as
prac-
tised
by
the hill tribes. He
explains
that for the hill
tribes,
swidden
agriculture
is a
way
of
life,
with conservation of resources at its core.
Although
most
development
assistance
programmes
start with the
assumption
that
swiddening
must be
replaced,
Grandstaff
argues
that swidden
systems
are
adapted
to the environment and essential
to the
peoples
livelihood. He
explains
that the modern
agriculture
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170
and
forestry practised by
lowland Thais are more destructive and
less conservational. He
argues
that rather than
replacing
swidden
systems
it is more
appropriate
to make the
existing system
more
economically
and
ecologically
viable. He concludes that the
great-
est obstacle to the
improvement
of swidden
agriculture
is the lack
of land
ownership
and the land tenure
system.
In Destruction of Thai Forests:
Scapegoating
of the Hill
Tribes,
Ramitanondh
(1993) provides
a
compelling analysis
of the
history
of forest destruction. He traces the
origins
of deforestation to the
history
of colonial
expansion
when enormous amounts of teak
timber were
exported.
The view that forests are a vast timber
resource to be
exploited commercially
has
persisted
and is reflected
in the various
forestry
laws and
policies.
It is not
surprising
that the
large-scale
commercial
logging
enter-
prises, though highly profitable,
have created severe
ecological
problems
for rural
people living
near the concession areas. The
government
instituted a
logging
ban in
1989,
but it is well known
that
illegal logging
still
occurs,
due to the
governments
failure to
enforce the law. Influential
people
as well as
government
officials
continue to
profit
from
illegal logging.
It is an
irony
that the
governments
reforestation
campaigns
have
actually
exacerbated the destruction of the environment. The
gov-
ernment reforestation
projects
consist of
clearing degraded
forests
to accommodate commercial
eucalyptus plantations
which are
incompatible
both with forest conservation and with
village
live-
lihood.
Eucalyptus
is known to
grow extremely quickly, overtaking
other
species
of
plants.
It
monopolizes
soil
nutrients,
is useless for
fodder,
damages
local soil
quality, depletes ground
water and
irrigation
sources,
and
supplies
little firewood to the
community.
Furthermore,
it
provides
none of the natural forest
products
that
rural dwellers
rely
on. It is harvested
every
five or six
years
for
export, leaving
the
ground temporarily
bare. Since labour
require-
ments are
small,
the
plantations
do not
supply
much
employment
for
poor
farmers. In
short,
eucalyptus brings profits
to the few
wealthy plantation
owners and leaves the small farmers with less
land to cultivate.
Larry
Lohmann,
in his
in-depth analysis
of the
eucalyptus,
concludes: The
eucalyptus struggle
is
only
one
stage
of
a much
longer
and
larger
conflict in rural Thailand between econo-
mization on the one
hand,
and livelihood and environment on the
other (1990: 15).
Deforestation is often attributed to increased
population pres-
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171
sures.
Many people
believe that the
large
size of families
explains
rural
poverty. Although
it cannot be denied that
population growth
increases the demands on
land,
this one-sided view
again
blames the
poor
as the
major
cause of forest destruction and conceals the main
causes such as commercial
logging,
cash
crop promotion,
infra-
structure
development
and tourism. This
thinking
also
helps
to
justify
the commercial reforestation
projects.
Kanoksak
Kewthep
(1976) explores
the
relationship
between
population growth, pov-
erty
and landlessness and warns that we must
distinguish
between
causes and effects of
poverty.
He
argues
that
poverty
is caused
by
the socio-economic factors which create
unequal
distribution of
political
and economic
power.
His
study
concludes that the
popula-
tion
problem
is not the cause of
poverty
but
is just
one
phenomenon
of
underdevelopment.
And in The Future
of People
and Forests in
Thailand
After
the
Logging
Ban,
Leungaramari
and
Rajesh (1992)
demonstrate the
linkages
between Thailands
development prior-
ities and the
plight
of the farmers. Their
findings
indicate that
aggressive
economic
development
and the search for industrialized
country
status are the fundamental causes of deforestation.
They
assert that
ecologically
unsustainable trends of
development
have
undermined self-reliant traditional
farming
methods
(1992: x).
Tourism
Over the last three
decades,
tourism has been
promoted by
the
World Bank and the International
Monetary
Fund as well as
industrialized countries with their official
development
assistance.
It has been
promoted
as a
panacea
that will
generate foreign
currency, bringing
countries out of
debt,
and create
employment.
With a
failing agricultural economy,
an
increasing population,
growing unemployment,
and a decline in
exports
of
agricultural
goods,
Thailand too has turned to tourism to
bring
in much-needed
foreign exchange.
Tourism has become the
single largest
source of
foreign exchange
in Thailand. It is
argued,
however,
that tourism
has caused more harm than
good
to
Thailand,
especially
to the rural
population
and to women. This final section will discuss the
neg-
ative
impacts
of tourism
by looking particularly
at the introduction
of consumer
culture,
resorts and
golf
courses,
and sex tourism.
In their
report
on the future of
people
and forests in
Thailand,
Leungaramari
and
Rajesh point
out that
although
tourism is a
major
source of
revenue,
it is an
unproductive
sector in the
long
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run. It consumes
capital
and natural
resources,
and it tends not to
lead to
equitable
distribution of income. It also
adversely
affects
local
customs,
cultures and leads to environmental destruction
(1992: 40).
Dr Koson
Srisang
of the Ecumenical Coalition on Third
World Tourism offers a more
systemic critique
of tourism. He
states: Tourism is
nothing
more than the commercialization and
industrialization of the human needs to travel for the
profit
of
some,
at the
expense
of
many.
And at the
expense
of the
poor
in the Third
World countries
especially (Koson, 1991/2: 46).
Tourism has
promoted
the commodification and monetarization
of Thai
society.
As more and more farmers turn to
jobs
in the
service
industry
because
agriculture
cannot sustain
them,
rural Thai
society
has
changed
to a cash-based
economy. Advertising
of
modern
goods
and contact with
wealthy
tourists foster the desire
for material wealth
among
the rural
population.
In The Trial of
Culture and Tourism Sanitsuda Ekachai
(1991/2) argues
that self-
reliance is the criterion on which
to judge
whether a
society
has
changed
for the better or for the worse. She
argues
that tourism is
the
baby
of a
capitalist
market
economy
based on the maximiza-
tion of
profit
and unlimited use of natural resources.
Tourism,
she
argues,
has turned natural resources
including people,
into mer-
chandise,
and undermines the
villagers
self
sufficiency (1991/2:
29).
This commodification has resulted in the erosion of traditional
culture.
Trekking companies capitalize
on the
regions
natural
beauty
and the lure of the exotic.
However,
these treks are contrib-
uting
to the erosion of the environment
(through
the
development
of roads to
provide
better
access),
as well as to the destruction of
tribal life.
And,
while tourist
money
is often cited as a
positive
aspect
of
trekking, usually only
the one or two households within a
village
where the trekkers
stay overnight
benefit from the tourist
money.
Golf courses are another
problematic
tourist
attraction,
in terms
of both environmental and human costs. Thailand has
experienced
an
explosion
of interest in the
game
of
golf
in the
past
few
years
and
has discovered that
golf
tourism is a
profit-making enterprise.
The
Tourism
Authority
of Thailand has
promoted golf
and the con-
struction of more
golf
courses and resorts to accommodate the
growing
demand from abroad. It is believed that Thailand will
become the centre of Asian
golf
tourism over the next few
years.
Multinationals,
hotel
chains,
tour
operators,
and airlines are
profit-
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173
ing
from the
promotion
of
golf.
But
golf
course
development
is
occurring
at the
expense
of the
well-being
of rural Thailand. Golf
course construction swallows
up large
areas of farmland or land
that could be used for
forestry
or
housing.
Golf courses also
require
great
amounts of
water,
depleting
the water sources of farmers
nearby.
Pesticide use is an environmental hazard for the farmers
and for the hired labourers who do the
spraying.
Golf courses in
Thailand use toxic substances which are banned in
developed
countries that have stricter environmental
regulations.
Golf courses
in Thailand are also
popular among
tourists because of the
excep-
tional service
provided by
the caddies.
According
to a tourist
brochure,
in addition to
carrying
the
golf bags,
the women are
trained in finer arts of
etiquette.
What is meant
by
finer arts of
etiquette
is not
explained (Pleumarom,
1991/2:
35).
The hard
labour of the women for low
wages,
and the
expectation
that
they
provide
extra favours for the
customers,
represent yet
another
example
of how women are
exploited by
the tourist
industry.
The final form of tourism to be addressed is sex tourism. This
brings
us full circle to the
beginning
of this
paper,
and the
question
why
so
many
Thai women are in
prostitution.
The other side of the
answer to this
question
is that the sex tourism
industry
has created
a
great
demand for women in the service sector. It is no secret that
male
foreign
tourists
visiting
Thailand outnumber females. The
sexual service
industry
has become an attraction for male tourists.
Travel
agencies
abroad advertise the
availability
of sexual services
for
cheap prices.
Given that the entertainment and service sector
offers much
higher pay
than
factory
work,
it is not
surprising
that
women are lured into
selling
their sexual services.
Many
sex tourists believe that
they
are
helping
to
support
the
livelihood of Thailands sex workers
by bringing
in
foreign
exchange. They
believe that women
selling
sex services are ade-
quately paid
to live a normal
life,
and
they
do not consider the risks
associated with
prostitution.
Women in the commercial sex indus-
try
are at a
high
risk of
contracting sexually
transmitted diseases
including
the AIDS
virus,
HIV
(Ford
and
Koetsawang, 1991).
Since
customers
prefer
not to use
condoms,
most establishments are
reluctant to insist on a safe sex
policy.
For those who
profit
from the
sex
industry,
women are commodities
easily replaced
if
they
become ill or die. Prostitutes are confronted with
dehumanizing
work,
cramped living
conditions and violence. It is not uncommon
for
prostitutes
to be killed or to kill themselves. And in recent
years,
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174
the
trafficking
of women to other countries has increased the scale
of sex tourism and the
exploitation
of
women.
Cynthia
Enloe
provides
an
insight
into the nature of sex tourism
in the context of international
politics.
She
argues
that tourism is
embedded in the
inequalities
of international trade and is
creating
a new kind of
dependency
for
poor
nations. She
explains
that the
international
politics
of debt and the
pursuit
of
pleasure
are
tightly
linked:
To
succeed,
sex tourism
requires
Third World women to be
economically desper-
ate
enough
to enter
prostitution
... and
requires
men from affluent societies to
imagine
certain
women,
usually
women of
color,
to be more available and
submissive than women in their own countries.
Finally,
the
industry depends
on an
alliance between local
governments
in search of
foreign currency
and local and
foreign
businessmen
willing
to invest in sexualized travel.
(1989: 36)
Enloe concludes that travel for
pleasure
and adventure is
pro-
foundly gendered:
Without ideas about
masculinity
and
femininity -
and the enforcement of both -
in the societies of
departure
and the societies of
destination,
it would be
impossible
to sustain the tourism
industry
and its
political agenda
m their current
form... The
very
structure of international tourism needs
patriarchy
to survive.
Mens
capacity
to control womens sense of
security
and self worth has been
central to the evolution of tourism
politics. (p. 41)
Conclusion
This article has
analysed
social, economic,
political
and environ-
mental factors which have contributed to the
migration
of women
into
prostitution
in Thailand.
Many
of the
problems
described
above are not
unique
to Thailand. Other
developing
countries in
Asia face the same
issues,
such as
poverty,
environmental
degrada-
tion,
and other
negative impacts
of
development
and tourism.
Faced with these
problems,
the rural
poor
all over Asia are
having
to
migrate
to make ends meet. I have
suggested
that there are
factors which are
unique
to Thailands
history
and
society
which
explain why,
in
Thailand,
the
response
to
poverty
is so often the
migration
of women into
prostitution.
This discussion of the
changes
in rural Thailand
brought
about
by
development,
environmental
degradation
and tourism has focused
on their
impact
on women. It is clear that women have suffered
from the
consequences
of
development.
It is also clear that Thai-
land has
profited
from the commodification of women in
prostitution
and the service sector.
NGOs,
other local
groups
and advocates for women have called
upon
the
government
to consider womens needs and
rights
in the
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175
process
of
development. They
advocate for
development projects
which create more
options
for
women,
and which involve women in
the
decision-making process. They point
out that the
government
must devise an alternative economic
development
measure to
replace
tourism
development. Obviously,
these are not
easy prob-
lems to solve. A discussion of solutions to Thailands
development
problems
is
beyond
the
scope
of this article. Wanee
Thitiprasert
from the NGO Friends of Women asks:
The
big question
is whether the
government
and NGOs can find a viable solution
for
bankrupt
rural communities. Or are
they
satisfied with the
present
situation
with women and
girls flooding
into the urban
areas,
working
in the service sector
in
response
to the
governments
tourist
policy? (1991: 20)
It is
hoped
that the
government
will listen to the advocates for
women,
and the
proponents
of alternative
development,
and
begin
to address the issue of the victimization of women.
Finally,
the field of social work must concern itself with the issue
of
prostitution
as an international social issue which should not be
ignored.
Social workers can
play a
vital role in a
variety
of
ways
through
direct service and
advocacy. Many
NGOs in
Thailand,
the
Philippines, Japan
and other Asian countries are
already respond-
ing
to the needs of women in
prostitution, through providing
shelter
(crisis intervention),
education and
advocacy.
The
challenge
to the
social work
profession
in the next decade is to become a visible
part
of the network of
organizations addressing
the issue of
prostitution,
and to offer its
expertise
in efforts to find
development
alternatives
which are not detrimental to women.
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