Sexwork Cyber Center
By Dave in Phoenix dave@davephx.com
PO Box 32835, Phoenix AZ 85064-2835
Promoting Intimacy and Other-Centered Sexuality

August 2006 Update:

Thailand Child Prostitution and Trafficking - International Justice Mission (IJM) - BIll Gates Support
First the IJM said they were combating child prostitution. When it became apparent to everyone that child prostitutes are quite rare, they jumped on this trafficking bandwagon. Once it becomes obvious that sex slaves are even less common than child prostitutes, what will be their next excuse to get grant money from the US government?

The girls unfurl a banner with a photo of Burmese sex workers being abducted from Thai brothels to illustrate that one of the organizations (the International Justice Mission, or IJM) Bill and Melinda have aligned themselves with is bad news. Khartini Slamah, a Malaysian transsexual activist, elbows past the press and says, "You're dumping your money in the wrong place" upon which Bill and Melinda are whooshed away, all in under two minutes.

To be fair, the Gates have given money to some awesome sex-worker organizations in India, but the IJM is described by Andrew Hunter from the Asian Pacific Network of Sex Workers as "rabidly fundamentalist." He talks about the "rescue and repatriation" tactics of the IJM. After kidnapping sex workers with the help of the local constabulary, they incarcerate them, then force them back to their native countries, one of which is Burma, a military state that a lot of women leave expressly because it's a military state. Sometimes they just plop the women somewhere halfway and they are left with the dangerous and expensive task of returning themselves. This is all done under the auspices of anti-trafficking (oddly, using the same methods as traffickers), though many of these sex workers are not trafficked.

Source: Woodhullfoundation mailing list

Lets look at this common attack: They say,
"In countries such as Thailand, child sexual exploitation builds on a long-standing and vast prostitution industry, and thrives where law enforcement is weak or corrupt. That sex with young teens is not a strong taboo in some Asian cultures makes fighting the problem even more difficult."

Let's see. "Young girls working in local brothels bringing in family income" has been for centuries normal and often honored by the monks in the local communities. But now its called "child exploitation" by Western moralists trying to impose their values on Thai culture. They need to "fight the problem" that its not a strong taboo in the culture. Maybe the "problem" is the Western moralists trying to impose their morality on a Buddhist culture that doesn't accept their sex negative attitudes. Much of this is Christian fundamentalist based - ignoring that in biblical times an arranged marriage at 12-13 yrs old based on a family deal was the accepted norm. Today puberty is reached earlier and now its child sexual exploitation?

Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996) passed due to Western morality pressure making prostitution illegal but it did not revoke The Entertainment Places Act of 1966 that exempts special services at Entertainment Places which is all the gogo bars, massages places etc where Westerners usually go. They protected the vast amount of income going to adult women to help support their children, their parents and Grandparents often in poverty in rural Thailand by making the vast consenting adult "prostitution" businesses open to foreign visitors legally bringing in millions of dollars/baht to support usually impoverished women and their children.

As a Western visitor the child thing is totally mind blowing to me. With severe penalties for owners of Entertainment Places to hire them and when I was there I didn't see any children as far as I know. I was active on many Thai sex tourist boards and I never read a word about anyone seeking under aged girls. Many guys wanted to be sure to avoid accidentally being picked up by one. The advice is to avoid the street or beach gals that solicit you and stay with the Entertainment Places where the owners risk prison and huge fines if they hire anyone under aged.

It is not surprising that the "corrupt" Thai police don't go out busting the local usually rural Thai brothels which few foreigners would ever find. Why enforce a law forced on a culture by outside moralists against what has for centuries been a normal part of Thai culture just to please another foreign culture that has no business imposing its morality on the Thai people in the first place.
 

March 2006: Pleasure Tours to Thailand and Philippines Under New Federal Legislation
Discussion and Specific Tour Recommendation

October 2004 Update: Condoms and Comedy to the Rescue in Thailand

Thailand Intimacy & Healthy (Adult) Sexuality Research Report

Wonderful Girlfriend like Sensual Body/Body Massage !