Thailand first addressed the problem of trafficking of women into Thailand in 1928 by passing the Trafficking in Women and Girls Act (Anti-Trafficking Act).28 The statute specifically exempts trafficking victims inThailand from imprisonment or fine, but they must be sent to a state reform institution for at least thirty days. At this time, prostitution was still legal in Thailand. Thailand criminalized prostitution in 1960 through the Suppression of Prostitution Act. Still in effect, this law prohibits prostitution and penalizes both prostitutes and those who procure them or benefit from their exploitation, but not the clients.29 It does not explicitly exempt persons forced into prostitution from punishment. Similar to the Anti-Trafficking Act, the Suppression of Prostitution Act views prostitutes as women in need of "moral rehabilitation."
Despite the passage of the Suppression of Prostitution Act, the Thai government's commitment to eradicating prostitution was called into serious question six years later with the introduction of the Entertainment Places Act of 1966, which regulates nightclubs, dance halls, bars and places for "baths, massage or steam baths which have women attend to customers." The use of such licensed establishments for prostitution is outlawed, but police enforcement is lax and many "places of service" fail to register altogether. The Thai Penal Code, adopted on November 13, 1956, also criminalizes procurement for the purpose of prostitution. In fact, the penal code assigns higher penalties to this offense than does the anti-prostitution law.
Therefore, by 1990, Thailand had four separate legal regimes, addressing different but sometimes overlapping elements of both trafficking and prostitution. The resulting inconsistencies, while not insurmountable, have undermined the development of clear legal sanctions on forced prostitution and trafficking. But the Thai government's failure to combat forced prostitution and trafficking results primarily from its unwillingness to enforce even the most straightforward provisions, such as the prohibition against trafficking in women and girls. Worse still, not only has the Thai government failed to protect trafficking victims, but its agents are directly complicit in many of the human rights violations against Burmese women and girls. Thai law enforcement officials routinely profit from non-enforcement of the law by extorting protection fees from brothel owners and subject trafficking victims to discriminatory and abusive treatment.
The Anand Panyarachun administration, installed in 1991, attempted to respond to the rising problem of forced and child prostitution. Most notably, Prime Minister Anand established an anti-prostitution task force within the Crime Suppression Division, a division of the Central Investigation Bureau that has jurisdiction over the entire country. Unfortunately, this task force has been plagued since its inception with problems of understaffing and inadequate funding. Responding to growing international and local pressure, Anand's successor, Chuan Leekpai, announced a stepped-up campaign against child and forced prostitution in November 1992, two months after his election.
Despite the highly publicized police crackdown on brothels under the Chuan administration, the trafficking of Burmese women and girls continues virtually unchecked. Although evidence exists that members of Thai police and border patrol forces are directly involved in the flesh trade, to our knowledge, none has ever been punished for trafficking or forced prostitution. Brothel owners, pimps and recruiters also have been largely exempt from punishment. The main targets of the Chuan administration's crackdown on forced and child prostitution have been the victims themselves; thus, the government's high profile "rescues" in reality have been arrests.
Since our investigation in 1993, the Thai government has made limited efforts toward legal reform. In July 1994 the Thai Cabinet approved a draft anti-prostitution bill that would increase penalties against procurers and brothel owners and, for the first time, punish clients who patronized a prostitute between fifteen and eighteen years old. The sanctions would be significantly harsher for clients of prostitutes under age fifteen. As of June 1995, this law had not been passed by parliament.
28 The Anti-Trafficking Act was adopted in response to the presence of large numbers of foreign nationals in Thai brothels. Many were women who were initially brought into Thailand as slaves. The abolition of slavery in 1905 by King Rama V brought about an immediate increase in prostitution, as former women slaves weredrawn into the sex trade. Sukanya Hantrakul, "Prostitution in Thailand," paper presented at the Women in Asia Seminar Series, Monash University, Melbourne, July 22-24, 1983.
29 Suppression of Prostitution Act, 1960, Sections 6, 9 and 10.
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