Nikki Blog

Note the phony association of Thai women with beautiful and sexy – since when were any Thai celebrities or singers ever made it to the Top FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women? Note also the fact that I failed to name any famous international exporting celebs except Tata Young, but then again she is not an authentic Thai, is she? But more important than all that is this question: why are Thai women still being known for their beauty? It’s not like we possess the same sophisticated beauty like Jessica Alba, who was voted the most desirable women in 2006, nor do we own any sexy curves and infectious smile like Beyonce, who turns everything she touches into gold.

So this week I intend to give a balance view of who Thai women really are. I started off by asking our male counterparts, and they have come up with a broad spectrum of adjectives to describe Thai women.

Mr. Thai says “Thai women are committed house-wives, but kee-ngon”.
Mr. Divorce says “Thai women are narrow-minded, greedy and dishonest”.
Mr. Farang says “Thai women are beautiful, tender, attentive, supportive and high-tolerant”.
Mr. Bar-Goer says “Thai women are hot and sexy”.
Mr. Image Conscious says “Thai women are intelligent and conservative”.
Mr. She says “Do you think I look like one?”

Well, I’m a Thai woman, and most of the Thai women I know don’t seem to fit perfectly into any labels. They differ in education, financial situation, values, beliefs and appearances. It is an unjustified oversimplification to assume that thirty million Thai women fell into any particular categories.

The popularity of Thai women, among Western men, is old news, but it is something we should continue to work on. Women are constantly being mislabeled or associated with negative themes and grouped according to their nationalities, for example, Russian brides are for lonely men, French women have hygiene issues, Western women or Singaporean women are judgmental, and Chinese women are too loud. Why are all these assumptions? Is it just a simple ignorance? I’m not sure who first conjured up the image of Thai females as sex objects, but I always have a strong believe that Thai woman is like any other woman. We have varied personalities, attractiveness and life experiences of all races which make us captivating. As we all know a person’s character is defined by much more than nationality. If we want people to stop stereotyping Thai women, we should also stop labeling women of other nationalities.

In my opinion, Thai women possess a perfect package, combining beauty, sex appeal, an innate kindness, and a slight sarcastic edge. They are also hard working and serious young women who sometimes earned the money to support their entire families. How they manage their life and keep smiling at the same time? RESPECT, I say. Having traveled extensively, I have hardly encountered women with such a positive mind even with all the economical problems they have confronted with.

Thailand has been nicknamed “Disneyland for Adults” for its reputation of prostitution. I say we have to take responsibility for what occurs within our borders. We must not put a sign on the door that says “Cheap Sex”, and not expect to get the lowest common denominators of the human race to beat each other through the door. One should also note that is not just the all pushy farangs that treat Thai women as sex objects but also the Thai male that regularly visited massage parlor. In Thai society, visiting prostitutes is considered a norm; many women view “lady-bar” as the lesser evil compared to husbands taking “mia noi” (mistresses).

Sex industries play a big part in the tourism industry in Thailand. It has been estimated that a total number of 3 million sex workers are actively serviced by various channels. The trade accounts for US$4.5 billion per year or more. Although prostitution has been technically illegal in Thailand, but the prohibition is not enforced. Instead, the government passed the “Entertainment Places Act of 1966”, to facilitate the existence of such services. These places include massage parlors where men come and observe women in the glass window – think of crowded fish bowl, and pick who they like to sample. The women come to massage the men in their rooms, but in reality, it is usually left to the customers of what kind of special service they want, and technically allowed the place to avoid being designated as illegal brothels. Other places include night-clubs, hostess bars and karaoke places for the local customers. “Go-go bars” and beer bars are catered towards the Western expatriates or tourists. The other forms of prostitution are the “freelancers” who by definition expect financial support from the men they sleep with. These women are found around in hotel lobbies, clubs, bars and sometimes Thai universities.

And if we alienate this large sex trade (largest?) segment of tourism, is the country much worse off in terms of GDP? Not really, because payment that went behind the hotel’s closed-doors go unregistered. But sale of booze and rented hotel rooms might fall, and later reflected in the one or two percent dip of the GDP growth. I find this a rather refreshing thought though.

As Freakonomics book suggested, the way forward in reducing the number of crimes in the U.S. and in our case, sex trades, is to curb the population growth. Think…does legalizing the prostitution to benefit increase tax revenue, reduce corruption and improve the situation of worker will deter mistreatment? Do police actually lower prostitution number or protecting it? I have a hypothesis that there is a strong link between unwanted number of child born and future prostitution number. If Thailand gives woman opportunities to make her own decision about keeping the pregnancy, she generally does a good job of figuring out if she is in a position to raise the baby well. Curbing the population growth will not only put the Thai economy back on track, but there will be far less Thai kids who will have to endure growing up in poverty and later turned into the sex industry as a way to improve their financial status.