Social views Thai society has its own unique set of often contradictory sexual
mores. Visiting a prostitute or a paid mistress is not an uncommon, though not necessarily acceptable, behaviour for men. Many Thai women, for example, believe the existence of prostitution actively reduces the incidence of rape. According to a 1996 study, the sexual urge of men is perceived by both Thai men and women as being very much stronger than the sexual urge of women. Where women are thought to be able to exercise control over their desires, the sexual urge of men is seen to be "a basic physiological need or instinct". It is also thought by both Thai men and women that men need "an occasional variation in partners". As female infidelity is strongly frowned upon in Thai society, and, according to a 1993 survey, sexual relationships for single women also meets disapproval by a majority of the Thai population, premarital sex, casual sex and extramarital sex with prostitutes is accepted, expected and sometimes even encouraged for Thai men, the latter being perceived as less threatening to a marriage over lasting relationships with a so-called "minor wife". Another factor contributing to this issue is that ordinary Thais deem themselves tolerant of other people, especially those whom they perceive as downtrodden. This acceptance has allowed prostitution to flourish without much of the extreme social stigma found in other countries. According to a 1996 study, people in Thailand generally disapprove of prostitution, but the stigma for prostitutes is not lasting or severe, especially since many prostitutes support their parents through their work. Some men do not mind marrying former prostitutes. A 2009 study of
subjective well-being of prostitutes found that among the sex workers surveyed, sex work had become normalized.
Politicians Chuwit Kamolvisit was the owner of several massage parlours in Bangkok and considered by many a "godfather of prostitution" in Thailand. In 2005 he was elected for a four-year term to the Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the Constitutional Court removed him from office. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok but was not elected. He revealed in 2003 that some of his best clients were senior politicians and police officers, whom he also claimed to have paid, over a decade, more than £1.5 million in bribes so that his business, selling sex, could thrive. Although Thailand's sex trade aimed at foreigners can be considered overt, the industry that caters exclusively to Thai men had never before been publicly scrutinised, let alone the sexual exploits of Thailand's unchallengeable officials. Attitudes towards women were exemplified by
MP Thirachai Sirikhan, quoted in
The Nation, "To have a
mia noi [mistress] is an individual's right. There should be no problem as long as the politician causes no trouble to his family or society". Apparently, this is standard practice as a separate police force did the same in Pattaya in May 2007.
Organized crime According to a
Library of Congress study published in 2003, "The red-light districts of Thai cities are home to...brothels, casinos, and entertainment facilities that function both as sources of income and as operations centers for trafficking in humans...." It has been estimated that organised crime groups have brought over a million women into Thailand from Yunnan in China,
Laos, and
Vietnam. Most of the women trafficked from China to Thailand and Malaysia are from ethnic minorities like the
Dai ethnicity from areas like the from
Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in
Yunnan province and they are trafficked by men of their own ethnicity. The Dai people are related to
Thai people. In November 2015, Prime Minister
Prayut Chan-o-cha launched a "clean up Thailand" campaign to eliminate organised crime in all areas, including vice.
Religion Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the
Theravada school, which is followed by 95 percent of the population. "While Buddhism regards the celibate monastic life as the higher ideal, it also recognizes the importance of marriage as a social institution."
Thai Buddhism encourages adherence to the fundamental code of
Buddhist ethics for the laity.
The Five Precepts contains an admonishment against
sexual misconduct, although what constitutes misconduct from the perspective of a particular
school of Buddhism varies widely depending on the local
culture. In the traditional
Pāli Canon, the
Sigālovāda Sutta contains a
large section which advises men on honoring their wives by remaining faithful. In the book
Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy,
Kevin Bales argues that in
Thai Buddhism, women are viewed as naturally inferior to men, and that
Buddha told his disciples that women were "impure, carnal, and corrupting." This is also supported by the belief that women cannot attain
enlightenment, although this view is disputed by other Buddhist scriptures such as the
Vinaya Pitaka in the
Pali Canon. The current
Dalai Lama has asserted that women can attain enlightenment and function as equals to men in spiritual matters, but his branch of Buddhism is not the one practised in Thailand, which has its own
particular canon of beliefs. Bales also points to the fact that ten kinds of wives are outlined in the Vinaya, or rules for monks. In the rules, the first three categories are women who can be paid for their services. Those in a position to benefit have a financial interest in seeing the status quo continue. Business owners and individual sex workers complain that since the junta came to power in 2014, harassment has increased, as have the sums demanded. This has the effect of driving businesses out of business and sex workers to the street or internet as freelancers. ==Crime==