Thailand's first female tourism minister has vowed to crack down on the country's infamous sex industry in the wake of several police raids.
"We want Thailand to be about quality tourism," Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul told Reuters. "We want the sex industry gone."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One project involves holding a month-long travel festival for women, which will include discounts on products and services and female-only pink immigration lanes and parking zones at airports.
Prostitution has been illegal since 1960 but underground brothels thrive across Bangkok and other popular tourist spots. The police are accused of turning a blind eye in exchange for cash.
"Experts say it will be hard to rid Thailand of an industry that is so entrenched and that provides pay-offs to untold numbers of officials and policemen," Reuters reports.
Police raided dozens of brothels in several major cities in search of underage and illegal workers last month, but only one was shut down.
The sex industry is part of a "shadow economy" that one economist estimates is worth more than two-fifths of the nation's gross domestic product, says Bloomberg.
"On the streets of Bangkok, there are undocumented and untaxed businesses everywhere," it adds. "Inside the buildings and away from the capital are darker corners of the illicit market: sex workers, gambling dens, drug smuggling and human trafficking."
Organisations supporting sex workers say the crackdown is unrealistic and accuse the military government of being in denial about the industry's contribution to the economy and tourism.
"The police presence already drives off a number of clients who come to relax or drink at bars," said Surang Janyam, director of Service Workers in Group, which provides prostitutes with free medical care and vocational training. "Wiping out this industry is guaranteed to make Thailand lose visitors and income."
-
World’s oldest rock art discovered in IndonesiaUnder the Radar Ancient handprint on Sulawesi cave wall suggests complexity of thought, challenging long-held belief that human intelligence erupted in Europe
-
Claude Code: the viral AI coding app making a splash in techThe Explainer Engineers and noncoders alike are helping the app go viral
-
‘Human trafficking isn’t something that happens “somewhere else”’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
