The more time I spend out in the bars, on the beach, and simply walking the streets of Phuket I find myself wondering about every Thai woman and foreign man who walk by me. It’s really hard to turn my mind off. As I sit writing this I can look around the room and see tables of foreign men with Thai women.
Growing up in church, especially in youth group, we got “the talk” more times than I can probably count. True love waits. It’s not that I disagreed I guess I just never really understood ‘the big deal.’ Being in Thailand I’m realizing how far we’ve strayed from the truth. We live in a world that has taken the gift of sex and completely destroyed it. Being here really sheds new light on waiting until marriage for sex.
Many of the men (and women) we meet and talk to don’t see anything wrong with what goes on in these streets. The women are being compensated, yes. Both man and woman are technically consenting to the agreed upon act. No strings attached. Yet, I see a deeper issue. While prostitution can be more easily justified because many women in way or another choose this life for themselves, whether out of sheer choice or necessity. I believe we have created a demand for sex in our world.
It starts small. It begins with the lies Satan feeds us, and we let him. It could be sex outside of marriage, watching pornography; pick your poison. Prostitution is a part of the lies and warped view of sex. Sexual tourism feeds the beast of sexual slavery, which introduces another hot topic in Thailand, sex trafficking; and those women and children definitely never chose that for themselves.
Call me crazy, because I never thought it was that big of a deal either. But it is. I’m not saying everyone who has sex outside of marriage, watches pornography etc. is going to eventually visit a brothel but I do believe these issues have evolved from the distorted belief our world has on sex. And that includes those seemingly ‘smaller’ issues.
My prayer this year over and over again has been “God, break my heart for what breaks yours.” I stand on Bangla Road and simply people watch and my heart aches for the people I see. How much more is God’s heart breaking?
What strikes me as most odd is that according to a 2009 study sex work has become normalized. Meaning the stigma for prostitutes is not as severe as it once was because women sell their bodies to support their families.
Parallel with the tenet of Thai Buddhism, Thai sex workers (and the whole culture, generally) does not feel guilt; thus sex workers can often feel respectable. I’m not saying I want them to feel guilt or shame but simply highlighting that prostitution is being considered normal. When it is anything but.
I read those things and my heart breaks for the lies the enemy has fed us. Bodies, which are meant to be a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1), are being sold. And they’re being sold to the enemy. We’ve been lied to and we’re buying every word of it. This is not normal. God has love, purpose and freedom for these women.
Here are some more facts on prostitution and sex trafficking here in SE Asia:
o According to a 2004 study there are a total of 2.8 million sex workers, including 2 million women, 20,000 males and 800,000 minors under the age of 18.
o A 2003 study placed the trade at $4.3 billion USD per year (about 3% of the Thai economy).
o Thailand is listed as a top destination for victims of human trafficking and a major source of trafficked persons.
o 60% of men that fly into BKK International Airport are here for some form of sex tourism.
o 80% of the prostitutes in Thailand are women, 50% of those women are under 18.
o 27 million people are trafficked each year.
o Southeast Asia is one of the world’s largest exporters of sex slaves as well to brothels in Japan, China, Australia, Europe, and the United States.
o A number of studies conducted in both Cambodia and Thailand show that approximately 40 to 50 percent of local men pay for commercial sex during the course of a year. By far the largest proportion of ‘johns’ come from the local population.
o Moreso, we like to think this is an overseas problem. However, the states with the largest incidence of slavery are California, Florida, Texas, and New York.
*Most of those statistics were gathered from a book called Not For Sale, which I highly recommend to anyone wanting to know more. Some other great places to check out are: International Justice Mission, Polaris Project.
