Sex and prostitution in Thailand, a subject that always appeals to the imagination and leads to many reactions. However, prostitution is the oldest profession in the world, Prime Minister Prayut will not be able to change that.
The fact that prostitution only arose with the arrival of the Americans during the Vietnam War can therefore be referred to the land of fables. That it was given a “boost” by 700.000 American soldiers is undeniable. The sex workers, however, had to deal with a completely different world and mentality. Moreover, Thai society earned a lot in that period from paid love and people did not look the other way.
This is Us Museum
In Bangkok there is the US museum, which is only accessible by appointment. On the wall hangs a painting that is 400 years old. It shows a Chinese trading ship in Thailand. There are also wooden buckets with rice. That was the sailors' payment for sex. “Sex cost 10 kilos of rice”. Converted, that would be 1.000 baht today. So the price hasn't changed much. At that time, sex work was legal until 1960. Due to the rise of crime and other "side effects", it ended up in the criminal code.
Access is strictly by appointment, says 68-year-old Chantawipa Apisuk, founder of the charity Empower, which runs the museum. The organization supports women who work in the sex industry and – unlike many others in the field – are not under pressure to leave it.
This Is Us Museum, Empower Foundation, 57/60 Tiwanon Rd., Nonthaburi, 02-526-1294, www.empowerfoundation.org
“Sex workers at that time was legal until 1960.”
But
“it was only after the communist north upped the ante and attacked US naval vessels in 1964 and 65 that the US took a more determined stance and began to mobilize vast numbers of troops to the battlefields of Vietnam.”
So during the boost it was already illegal and the rising crime and 'side-effects' must therefore have already played in the fifties.
If I see correctly.