Pattaya authorities have launched a sweeping crackdown on the city’s red-light district in a bid to brush the sex trade under the carpet as the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives from the Middle East.
The crackdown is clearly intended to sanitise the image of a seaside resort that has for decades been notorious as Thailand’s “Sin City”.
Critics have condemned the cleanup as cosmetic and hypocritical, pointing out that the sex industry remains a cornerstone of Pattaya’s economy.
“They want a good, clean image, pretending that Thailand has no sex workers – all while knowing the truth,” said Surang Janyam, director of the Service Workers in Group Foundation (SWING) which protects the rights of sex workers.
“But there is no hiding from the fact that prostitution is an everyday reality in Thailand.”
The aircraft carrier docked at Chon Buri’s Laem Chabang port on Wednesday (September 2), bringing 5,000 crew members ashore for five days of rest and recreation following nine months at sea.
Surang spoke to Thai PBS World soon after police and officials conducted highly publicised raids on Pattaya Beach and nearby red-light districts. On Saturday (August 29) alone, authorities arrested 25 suspected sex workers – 18 Thais, five Laotians and two Ugandans.
Mayor of Pattaya City Poramet Ngampichet defended the operation, declaring that prostitution remains illegal in Thailand and he did not want his city associated with the sex trade.
“I know prostitution exists here, but this problem is common to tourist destinations worldwide,” he said.
When asked whether an industry so vital to Pattaya’s economy should be legalised, Poramet declined to comment, saying he would leave the issue up to civil society organisations to champion.
Push for decriminalisation
SWING and allied civil society groups submitted a draft bill to repeal the 1996 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act on June 11. The draft, which would decriminalise sex work, was formally added to the House of Representatives agenda late last month.
“Sex workers who enter the trade voluntarily must be allowed to work legally,” Surang emphasised. “Only when their occupation is recognised will they gain legal protections and labour rights that are standard in any other profession.”
She added that as long as it remains illegal, prostitution will continue to be a major source of rights abuses.
Under their current criminalised status, sex workers cannot file police reports if clients refuse to pay. Nor can they secure bank loans or act as financial guarantors, leaving them prey to loan sharks. They also risk arrest if they report violent or sexual abuse to authorities.
Several civic organizations have also pushed for the Sex Worker Protection Bill - which hinges on two key pillars: decriminalisation and protection of labour rights. By decriminalising consensual adult sex work, advocates hope to dismantle the cycle of exploitation, extortion and unjust arrests, while extending standard labour protection, including fair wages, social security, health insurance, workplace safety and the right to unionise.
Won’t it make problems worse?
Responding to fears that decriminalising prostitution would spawn social problems and encourage exploitation of girls and women, Surang pointed to existing safeguards.
“There is no need to worry about young people being coerced, because child protection and anti-trafficking laws are strictly enforced,” she said.
Somchai Homlaor, chair of the Human Rights and Development Foundation, echoed this view at a recent seminar. He emphasised that if existing laws were enforced effectively, no youngster would be forced into prostitution.
“In addition to the anti-trafficking law, we also have a strong Criminal Code,” he added.
Assoc Prof Dr Arnon Mamout, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, said that decriminalising prostitution would restore human dignity and rights.
“Sex workers should be legally protected under the Social Security Law,” he said.
Voice of prostitutes
A sex worker who wished to be identified only as Anna highlighted public misconceptions surrounding the trade, saying that many individuals enter voluntarily due to economic hardship or to support their families.
“They are not victims of human trafficking,” she insisted.
Surang said illegality also invites widespread police corruption, alleging that officers regularly extort sex workers trying to earn a living.
“They sometimes have to pay as much as 1,000 baht to keep the police away,” she said, adding that paying bribes means sex workers have to stay in the trade longer.
She claimed that police officers sometimes write the Thai character “ป” on the wrist of sex workers who have paid bribes to signal that they should not be charged again.
“How can you ‘brand’ another human being’s body? It’s unacceptable,” Surang said.
Global context
A 2023 report by the International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) estimated that Thailand has roughly 250,000 sex workers, ranking eighth in the world behind China, India, the United States, the Philippines, Mexico, Germany and Brazil.
These figures cover in-person services, venue-based entertainment like strip clubs and online platforms like OnlyFans.
The report pointed out that despite generating billions of baht for the country, sex-trade revenues are omitted from Thailand’s official gross domestic product (GDP) figures due to the industry’s illegal status.
They also go untaxed, robbing the national coffers of massive potential proceeds.
Prof Dr Chalidaporn Songsamphan, chairperson of SWING and a political science lecturer at Thammasat University, said that sex workers contribute significantly to Thailand’s key economic engine: tourism.
“Yet despite their huge economic contribution, sex workers face continuous abuse, extortion and social stigma, perpetuated by officials and the Thai society,” she said.
