What Happens to Thailand’s Sex Tourism During the Riots?

The Son Of the Khmer Empire

Thai prostitutes and Thai king

It is interesting to read the article by Jessica Olien on  What Happens to Thailand’s Sex Tourism During the Riots?. The article elaborates how the sex trade pumped millions of dollars into Thai economy affected and how the foreigners felt by the riots when Thailand’s most famous sex districts were banned, barbed with razor-wire and signs designating the area a “live-fire zone, and put under the emergency and curfew regulation like Patphong, Nana Plaza, Go Go Bar, and Pattaya. As one of  old farangs said:

“I’ve been coming here for years. I’m 75. Where else am I going to find a 25-year-old girl who will sleep with me?“

[…]

Where else is there to go? A man with the username UKmatt on the popular expat (and sexpat) forum thaivisa.com suggests the Phillipines as a viable alternative to Thailand. There, he says, there are “beautiful Hispanic-looking women with big boobs,” but goes on to cite a high crime-rate and bad food as reasons for not going. As for other countries: Sex tourism is not permitted in Laos or Malaysia, and neither Cambodia nor Vietnam has, to my knowledge, ever been referred to as the “Land of Smiles,” as the popular Thailand slogan goes. Also, the advanced age of many of the men who come to Thailand for sex also means they need to be close to adequate medical care, which much of the rest of Southeast Asia lacks. Thailand has fantastic hospitals for those who have a heart attack or an erection lasting longer than 48 hours.

This also reminds me of Mr. Tony who recently wrote a very challenging article on The Role of Thai Prostitution and the Thai King in Economic Development, which implies that without prostitution Thailand would never have gain its status as today.