Prostitution and Female Leadership in Rural Thailand: The Story of Phayao Province

Abstract

For all the attention paid to the economic, social, and moral dimensions of prostitution in Thailand, no scholar has thus far conducted an empirical study of the relationship between the vice and political change in the countryside, where most sex workers come from. Using the case of Phayao Province in northern Thailand, I attempt to redress this lacuna. I show how rampant prostitution, the most acute social issue in Phayao, has ushered in the rise to power of one virtuous woman from an ethnic minority family—Ladawan Wongsriwong. Located on the economic and social margins of Thailand, many village families in Phayao traditionally relied on prostitution for income, causing a massive influx of young girls into the lucrative sex industry in Bangkok and abroad. In the 1990s, however, AIDS started taking a heavy toll on Phayao's small population. Against this backdrop, Ladawan emerged as a prominent female leader in the male-dominant rural society of Phayao by conducting an extensive issue-oriented campaign against prostitution. This case questions much of the literature on rural politics and female leadership in democratizing Southeast Asia that underestimates the importance of social issues.

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“…Rather than questioning deeper aspects of the Thai worldview that have created different standards for males and females, the women’s movements have often focused on political matters, legal issues, and family problems such as domestic violence or division of labor (Van Esterik, 2000; Jeffrey, 2002). In particular, addressing various aspects of prostitution has been a major focal point for Thai women’s movements (Bishop and Robinson, 1998; Jeffrey, 2002; Steinfatt, 2002; Thianthai, 2004; Brody, 2006; Aoyama, 2009; Nishizaki, 2011; Molland, 2012; Sorajjakool, 2013). Nevertheless, Thailand is still largely dominated by traditional Buddhist values, which place specific, gendered expectations on daughters to care for their parents as a show of filial piety.…”

“…Many women from impoverished backgrounds work in the limited opportunities available to someone without an education, such as factory work or cleaning. However, the pressure from their families to bring in more finances has created a situation where many end up going into sex work (Bishop and Robinson, 1998; Nishizak, 2011). As previously discussed, for a Thai daughter, sex outside of marriage would be considered shameful.…”

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“…She also channeled around 250,000 baht of the state budget to six small Tai Lue textile weaving manufacturers in Chiang Kham in order to create jobs in the area and combat illegal human trafficking issues. From the 1990s-2000s, she worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for the Tai Lue in Chiang Kham, as well as the people of Phayao more generally (Nishizaki, 2011(Nishizaki, , p.1575.…”

“…It can be deduced that through the previous work of Laddawan, opportunities were created that facilitated the assembling of various individuals and organizations who shared similar views on development. However, as Nishizaki (2011) asserted, the rise of Laddawan should be situated within the complex local-national context. At that time, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was in full effect in Phayao, while Thailand was going through the rapid development of its industrial economy, which affected the social norms on materialism (p.1593).…”

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“…There also are examples of individuals seeking positions of power in order to protect their illegal gambling concerns. This was shown in Thailand where an increase in rural female political leaders allegedly occurred because they wanted to protect their illegal gambling and prostitution activities (Nishizaki, 2011).…”