Tragic though it may be, the exploitation of women and forced sexual servitude has been around for a very long time. During the Ayutthaya period of Thailand’s history – from 1351 to 1767 – women were passed around amongst men as concubines, mere spoils of war given to men as rewards for their efforts on the battlefield.
The abolition of slavery brought about freedom from slavery, yet freedom without land, property or money to support a family often left the uneducated slaves little choice but to turn towards prostitution.
War also saw the explosion of prostitution as an industry. Thailand was occupied by the Japanese forces throughout World War II, and used Thai women as prostitutes throughout their occupation.
As Thailand began to modernise, its economy did the same. Moving from a sustenance-based economy to a capitalist one saw villagers needing cash to purchase goods. Many simply couldn’t afford to live, and so turned to prostitution, migrating in large numbers to big cities before returning home with more money than they could realistically have made elsewhere. This trend still exists today – for many, it’s the only way they can provide for their families, and so will often send cash home each month to do so.
Thailand began to see the potential in tourism, and so in the late 20th century they invested heavily in promoting Thailand as a tourist destination. The resulting boom in tourism also saw with it a boom in sex tourism; it’s estimated that today there are in excess of 4 million tourists heading to Thailand for its sex industry alone.
Human trafficking remains a huge problem; Thailand’s proximity to insurgency-ravished Myanmar and other poorer countries such as Laos and Cambodia means that vulnerable women are often trafficked into Thailand to work as prostitutes. Child sex work is also a grim reality; recently as this year it was alleged that underage girls were offered to government officials as “dessert”.
