“Waew,” 59, is no stranger to risks.
As a sex worker in Thailand’s capital for almost three decades, “Waew,” who declined to give her real name for privacy reasons, said she worked from 4 p.m. to midnight, charging 300 baht (U.S. $8.83) per client.
“We’ve been paid, so we have to accept whatever happens. It’s very risky. I have to be wary of the customers,” she told BenarNews in a video interview.
“If a customer is drunk, we’ll signal the motel staff to keep track of the time. If the customer is drunk and there’s any commotion, the staff can help.”
In Thailand, prostitution remains illegal, leaving an estimated 250,000 sex workers vulnerable to exploitation and legal action/arrests.
But advocates for the rights of sex workers in Thailand are pushing to decriminalize sex work and protect the workers’ rights.
Thanta Laovilawanyakul, coordinator of the Empower Foundation, told BenarNews that criminalizing sex work makes it very difficult for those who want to leave the profession and find other jobs.
“Current laws place sex workers in the same category as criminals, even when they work in legal entertainment venues. It’s absurd,” Thanta said.
“If they get arrested, they acquire a criminal record that prevents them from finding other work. They are essentially trapped in the profession with no future.”
On Oct. 2, sex workers from bars, massage parlors, and karaoke venues organized a rally, which they called “Sex Work Is Work,” to demand that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra expedite the passage of the Sex Workers’ Protection Act draft bill.
The bill, proposed through a public petition in 2023, seeks to provide sex workers basic labor protections and benefits.
One Bangkok sex worker, Manao Klonglod, said that if Thailand passed the Sex Workers’ Protection Act, at least one of their potential daily problems would go away.
“We are at risk from both our customers and the police because our work is illegal,” Manao, a single mother who has been a sex worker for more than 20 years, told BenarNews.
“We just hope that this profession becomes legalized so we don’t have to worry about whether on a good or bad day, we would be arrested or get beaten.”
Waew said that no sex worker is proud of their profession but has no other choice.
“Every day when we go to work, we feel ashamed. But please don’t look down on us … we work hard, dealing with all kinds of customers,” she said.
“If this profession becomes legal with benefits and social security like other jobs, people might accept that we do honest work and understand our profession better.”
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