ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the culture of ‘open-ended’, tourism-oriented prostitution during its heyday in the early 1980s, as it was observed in the hinterland of one of the major tourist entertainment areas in Bangkok. It examines the culture of tourist-oriented prostitution during a specific period of Thai history. The chapter provides the comparative study of prostitution in general and specifically to the study of relations between prostitution and society. Prostitution existed in Thailand long before the country became a popular destination of sex tourism. Tourism, however, had a crucial impact on the trade. Prostitution has been conceived of by sociologists as an emotionally neutral, indiscriminate, specifically remunerated sexual service. Traditional Thai culture emits contradictory messages, which facilitate conflicting interpretations of the nature of Thai society and the extent of change in contemporary Thailand.
