Culture,+Society,+Drugs+and+the+Sex+Industry+in+Thailand

=Culture, Society, Drugs and the Sex Industry in Thailand =

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Buddhism
Buddhism is the prevailing religion of Thailand (Newman, Shell, Li, & Innadda, 2006). About 95% of all Thai are Buddhist (Newman et al., 2006). Buddhism teaches its followers five precepts: (a) kill no living being, (b) never take that which is not freely given, (c) avoid sexual misconduct, (d) tell the truth, and (e) refrain from taking intoxicants (Newman et al., 2006).

Cultural History
Bars and brothels contribute substantially to Thailand's economy, both as a tourist industry and also as a source of income for rural poor (Manderson, 1992). The sex industry in Thailand is not an industry that was created for tourism. In fact, most of the clients are Thai men (80%) from the upper and middle classes (Manderson, 1992). In the west, sexuality is concentrated on the couple, whereas in Thailand, kinship ties trump coupling ties (Manderson, 1992). For women, sex work is seen as a way to provide a family's basic needs (Manderson, 1992). In Thai culture the responsibility for providing for a family falls to women. The abolition of slavery in 1905 resulted in the development of free prostitution; early brothels were stocked by released slave women and others sold by their kin (Manderson, 1992). Most of Thailand's prostitutes work in conventional brothels but free (street) prostitution, involving both women and men, flourishes on the streets and by beaches (Manderson, 1992). Thailand has undergone major changes in the past several decades, with economic growth and population shifts toward urban centers and away from agriculture, along with changes in social norms across a range of behaviors (Jenkins & Dusitsin, 2008).

Values
Within Thai culture, male polygamy and promiscuity are valued (Manderson, 1992). For women, fidelity is valued only within the context of marriage. Women are not subject to condemnation as a result of prostitution; the only real breach is that of adultery (Manderson, 1992). Within village society, women who have worked as prostitutes are relatively easily re-integrated, possibly as a result of the expectation that providing for one’s family is a duty. Sex is harnessed to an economic end. Men are seen as targets, a source of income (Manderson, 1992). Marriage is one possible outcome of working as a prostitute – European husbands are prized (Manderson, 1992). There is also a functional advantage of prostitution as an alternative preferred by wives to second wives, and as a way for young men to gain sexual experience while other women maintain their virtue and virginity (Manderson, 1992).

Social Structures that Accommodate the Sex Industry
In addition to marriage and prostitution, the Buddhist monastery provides another life stage structure outside of marriage (Manderson, 1992). For women, prostitution or other forms of sex work usually cease when an individual gets married and re-enters the village. Some women work as prostitutes at the beginning of their sexually active life, and may move back out of marriage and become nuns in mid-life, when they have stopped sexual reproduction and ceased to be engaged in sexual relations (Manderson, 1992). Entrance to a monastery provides women with a temporary or permanent retreat from corporeal existence, but marriage marks the transition to adulthood (Manderson, 1992).

For men, life stage boundaries between brothels, marriage, and the monastery are fluid; movement between all three institutions is common and simple (Manderson, 1992). There is some defined transition with age; men are more likely to visit prostitutes when young and unmarried, and most likely to devote themselves to a monastery as older men with adult families. Patronage of of prostitutes may occur throughout men’s lives (Manderson, 1992).

In Thailand, the brothels provide an institutional means for men to step outside of marriage briefly, as for most does the monastery--without disrupting basic personal, economic and kinship ties (Manderson, 1992). Divorce is not that common; the monastery and brothel are both common and culturally acceptable alternatives. For most men, commercial sex and celibacy are intervals within marriage; For women, commercial sex is the mechanism by which many women today fulfill their obligations as mothers and daughters (Manderson, 1992). For women, the body and sexual expression are a means of production rather than a mirror to the self (Manderson, 1992).

Modern Thailand and Drugs
Thailand is facing a drug epidemic tied to heroin (the historically dominant drug in the region) and to amphetamine-type stimulants, in particular methamphetamine (Del Casino, 2012). Asia is now the largest regional consumer of amphetamine-type stimulants (Del Casino, 2012). Methamphetamine in Thailand, called ‘yaa baa’ (the crazy drug), is part of the work life of Thai laborers, migrant workers, and youth participating in Thailand’s club scene (Del Casino, 2012). Within this context, it is not surprising that methamphetamine is widely used in the commercial sex work industry (Del Casino, 2012).

Methamphetamine’s growing popularity is based both on its performance-enhancing characteristics, and a growing demand for ‘designer drugs’ among club goers (Del Casino, 2012). Drugs and alcohol enhance the places that have been designated for the sex trade. It is socially expected of Thai men to frequent such places, even if they do not engage in direct sexual services (Del Casino, 2012). Utilizing drugs especially alcohol is expected as part of the custom of socialization (Manderson, 1992). A sexually charged environment outside of the family home is normalized Thailand (Del Casino, 2012).

Over the past decade, the economic autonomy of newer generations of Thais has also created new sociosexual networks and spaces (Del Casino, 2012). Active club scenes, informal raves, and casual drinking establishments are popular with a growing affluent middle-class of Thais. This opens up a new, wider arrangement of bodies and spaces fpr both formal and informal commercial sex work and drug use (Manderson, 1992). Thailand has long been as an ideal space through which illegal drugs have moved, due to its well organized transportation structures that situate it within the global network of the drug trade (Del Casino, 2012). The expansion of the methamphetamine market in Southeast Asia has strongly impacted changing economies of commercialized sex in Thailand (Del Casino, 2012).

Use
Stimulant use in general can be used to manage body image by discouraging weight gain and makes work more accessible for longer periods of time (Del Casino, 2012). Methamphetamines coupled with prescription drugs, such as Viagra and other sexuopharmaceuticals, can promote sustained sex practices for people either as commercial sex workers or as client's (Del Casino, 2012). Early methamphetamine use first increases dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin production in the brain—producing incredibly heightened senses of pleasure at levels far exceeding the most common dopamine producers, sex and food—and then slows those same transmissions down, producing a need to increase use over time (Del Casino, 2012.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Conclusion
The ancient structures of Thai culture allows for a social system in which people are able to move in and out of distinct social and cultural environments with some fluidity: sex trade, marriage, and the monastery. The overall power of the sex trade both economically and socially has engendered a modern and prolific drug trade to spring up alongside of it. The growing machine of the Thai economy has also brought new venues for the commercial sex and drug trade to exist in – such as raves- that have opened drug use to the upper and middle classes. These new spatial and economic structures are able to drive the economy of the sex and drug trade but might cause a problem for fluid entry or reentry to the other spheres of Thai life disrupting the previously harmonious systems. Time will tell how this society is able to evolve given the reality associated with addiction.

// Back to Sexuality and Drug Use //

= References =

Del Casino, V. J. (2012, March). Drugs, sex, and the geographies of sexual health in Thailand, Southeast Asia. Social & Cultural Geography, 13(2), 109-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2012.655766

Jenkins, T. R., & Dusitsin, N. (2008, May). Effects of the culturally-sensitive comprehensive sex education programme among Thai secondary school students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(4), 457-469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04609.x

Manderson, L. (1992, November). Public sex performances in Patpong and explorations of the edges of imagination. Journal of Sex Research, 29(1), 451-475. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9702200809&site=ehost-live

Newman, I. M., Shell, D. F., Li, T., & Innadda, S. (2006). Buddhism and adolescent alcohol use in Thailand. International Journal of the Addictions, 41(13), 1789-1800. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/t00696-000