Kapiolani Community College
Horizons 2002

Thailand's Tourism Industry

by Alex Da Silva

It is impossible to understand Thailand’s tourism industry without learning first about its history, and then trying to understand factors that caused Thailand to turn into a phenomenal tourist destination, with attractions ranging from exotic sites to corrupt sex commerce. Thailand was first introduced to the world economy with the break of the Cold War. This forced the country to begin economic relations with the world, getting its name out in the world market and making some profit. However, Thailand suffered the consequences of such rapid economic development. Problems such as prostitution, overcrowding, and environmental concerns are some of the main issues that the country continues to experience more and more and has trouble managing.

Those who would become the inhabitants of Thailand first migrated to Northern Thailand descending from the Yuman Province of Southern China between the 9th and 13th century. The region was then divided into many kingdoms. One of them, Sukkhotai, is the most important kingdom in Thailand’s history according to the Thai people. During the period between the 9th and 13th centuries, known as “the Golden Age,” Thai writing originated and an expansion of the arts took place.

In the South, another kingdom based in the city of Ayutthaia was developing rapidly and influencing villages along the Chao Phraya. Ruled by representatives of the Chiang Saen Kingdom, the city of Ayutthaia was founded by Phya U-Thong, known as Ramathibodi I, who quickly took control over the Kingdom of Sukkhotai and the Khmer Empire. Around 1569, the Burmese captured Ayutthaia and destroyed it. In 1590, Naresuen became king and defeated the Burmese. At this time, Thailand established some economic ties European adventurers. By 1610, the British occupied some land in Thailand and built a trading factory. Thailand then began trade with China and Europe.

Another Burmese king named Alaungpaya captured Ayutthaia, but only a few months later, general Phya Tak Sin drove the Burmese out. He rebuilt another kingdom in what is now Thornburi, near Bangkok.

This marked the beginning of the Chakri Dynasty in which King Rama I assumed control. Rama passed along many reforms: slavery was abolished, some western ideas were studied by kings and education and military advances took place. In 1913, King Rama VI passed a law giving Thai people the right to have surnames, and in 1917 the first university was established. Soon after, the country entered World War I.

On June 24, 1932 a political coup took place. This coup ended Thai absolute monarchy, turning it into a constitutional monarchy. In 1939, the name of the country is officially changed from Siam to Thailand, “Land of the Free.”1 By 1941, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan requested free passage through Thailand for strategic attacks on British forces. Thailand gave this permission to Japan. However, Thailand never declared war on Great Britain and the United States, as requested by Japan. Soon, U.S., French and British troops drove Japan out of the region. This was a plan studied by Thai Kings, who used countries to protect themselves and thus, being able to maintain its independence once again. This is unique fact to Thailand among countries in Southeast Asia. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to be formerly colonized, and this is attributed to Thailand’s strong kings.

By 1945 Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh’s proclaimed independent Vietnam and the French came back to try and retake their control of the region. The Cold War had started.

The U.S started sending aid to French troops in Vietnam. Vietnam was by then divided into two parts; North (communist Vietnam) and South (non-communist). By 1959, 750 U.S. troops were sent to stop conflict between South and North Vietnam, and by 1961, over 31,000 U.S. troops were in South Vietnam. More troops were sent to the border of Thailand to counter Communist attacks in Laos and movement toward the Thai border. 13 years of conflict between the U.S and Taiwan followed, ending finally in 1975.

What happened during the Cold War was more than a territorial dispute. Firms in Thailand profited from technology used by the U.S. and also gained practically free access to the U.S. market for their exports. This was a very important step in introducing Southeast Asian countries into the world market. However, Thailand would come to feel the consequences of these new capitalistic ideas.

The tourism organization of Thailand (TOT) began in 1960 with the primary goal of turning Thailand into a tourism destination. At the time, less than 100,000 tourists were visiting Thailand. “That would soon change, however, as the Vietnam war escalated and Thailand became a rest and recreation (R&R) base for war-weary soldiers. Prostitution as an occupation grew dramatically from its Thai-based, more or less stable clientele to an increasingly large and fleeting dependency on foreigners.” This was where so-called “sex politics” first took hold in Thailand. The concept was introduced as a result of the end of the cold war and the thousands of soldiers that remained after the war ended. Other Southeast Asian countries that had served as bases in the cold war were affected by this as well.

Somerset Maugham, a famous novelist and short story writer who served as a British agent in World War I and II, received a calling card by a street woman during one of his visits to Thailand. The card read: “Oh, gentleman, sir, Miss Pretty Girl welcome you Sultan Turkish Bath, gentle polite massage, put you in dreamland.(É) You come now! Miss Pretty Girl want you.”1

“Even though the TOT and the Tourism Authority of Thailand see prostitution as an unwelcome tourist attraction and do not encourage or promote the sex industry, the Thai government understands that it is inevitable. Although the government passed a Prostitution Prohibition Act in 1960, six years later it undercut that ban by passing an Entertainment Places Act, containing enough loopholes to encourage coffee shops and restaurants to add prostitution to their menus. ”Tourists guidebooks and Thai tourism trade magazines can scarcely ignore the manner in which Thai tourism has become infamous“. The crude puns on the name of the capital and of the nation bear witness to this Ð ”Thighland“ for example. There’s no other place in the world that the tourist industry has been more directly linked to sex than in Thailand.3 The bureaucracy involved in this industry is disgusting in and of itself. While questioning where those thousands of prostitutes came from and what would make them sell their bodies and pride for something so unethical. I discovered that local military personnel, especially officers, use their authority to pursue these women. They venture into the countryside searching for beautiful girls, contributing to the industry for some extra cash. They work as agents in search of young rural females (“particularly at April ’harvest time’, when 12 and 13 year old girls finish the customary 6 years of schooling’’) that are tricked by their offers of a better life in the city. Sometimes, the parents of these young girls are offered money or even electrical appliances in exchange for their pretty daughters.1 As we can see, this industry is not only based on masculine sexual desires, which could not sustain a full-fledged prostitution industry on its own. It feeds on rural poverty, male entrepreneurship, urban commercialized demand, police protection, and overlapping governmental and economic interests to ensure its success. Military prostitution is not simply an economic institution. The women who told their stories were less concerned with parsing analytical categories - what is “economic,” what is “social,” and what is “political” Ð than with giving us an authentic account of the pressures, hopes fears, and shortages they had to juggle every day in order to ensure their physical safety, hold onto some self-respect, and make ends meet for themselves and their children.” For the sex industry to succeed, it needs these rural, uneducated women, who desperately seek better quality of life. When they enter this prostitution life they become so deeply involved in it, that it’s almost impossible for them to leave. Another critical factor in sustaining this industry are men from other nationalities who dream of Asian women and imagine them as being more liberal and available than the ones of their own country. Finally, it needs a government that needs foreign currency and the local and immigrant businessmen who invest in the industry.

By 1986, Thailand had made more money from tourism than from any other commercial activity, including its main export, rice. However, by October 1987, a strong drop on visitors alarmed tourist officials. The cause would be one that is always linked to prostitution.4

AIDS would be a certain outcome of prostitution. In the beginning, the Thailand government was scared about talking on the issue, fearing an even bigger loss of future visitors. But finally, after two groups of feminists (Empower and Friends of Women) began distributing brochures alerting women about AIDS, the government spread the word, and women working in bars and sex houses were tested for HIV. By mid-1987, only six people had died from the disease. Still fearing an enormous amount of foreign money, the Thai government began to search for alternative tourist attractions. In fact, it had already planned the building of new golf courses that would serve as alternative sites for tourists.4

In the end, however, prostitution thrived. Modern day Thailand has not changed and there isn’t a single neighborhood in Bangkok that is free of sex commerce. “ The venues include brothels, hotels, night clubs, massage parlous, bars, barber shops, parks, karaoke lounges and even golf courses. At the top are private member clubs, advertised in the glossiest magazines. At the bottom are locked brothels, where the women and even young girls are virtually enslaved.” “Than-Dam Truong, a Vietnamese feminist who has investigated the political economy of Thailand’s prostitution industry, also reminds us to view sexuality historically. Thai women working in prostitution, she discovered, had to learn new sexual skills in the 1980’s that they hadn’t needed in the 1960’s.” This happened because now, their new customers from other nations and civilians had new tastes.5

Another problem that tourism overall has created in Thailand is the tremendous growth of commerce centers such as Chiang Mai and Bangkok. This lead to an “uneven distribution of financial benefits, in favor of large enterprises while costs are shouldered by local people who have no direct gain from tourist promotion.” Also, the tourist industry is expanding too fast and already shows signs of expanding beyond a host city’s carrying capacity.

According to Prof. Dr. Karl Vorlaufer, who has worked in co-operation with the Prince of Songkala University, Phuket, the Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok and the TAT, and who in the spring of 2000 conducted surveys to understand the impact of the fast growing tourism and it’s impact, various problems with waste removal organization such as burning or burying are a major problem in Thailand. “Even people who are sensitive for waste problems-concerning both the locals and tourists- often do not see any possibility to act properly according to their environmental awareness, because disposal structures or the related information are missing,” . Phil Round, an ornithologist and conservationist in Thailand, says that even when litter is properly disposed in garbage cans, it will most likely be later thrown in the woods and burned. Air pollution caused by thousands of vehicles is also a problem. Vorlaufer also noticed that good drinking water is lacking following the main tourist seasons. “Instead of saving water, many hotels try to deal with the increasing problem by building expensive reservoirs, deeper wells etc. to satisfy the immense water consumption by the tourists.” When the issue was taken to hotel managers, they simply said that these procedures were carried out to satisfy hotel guests’ demands, and argued that guests show little, if any, response when asked to save water. This showed that tourists do understand the problem to an extent, but do not change their own behavior.8

Thailand is now suffering the consequences of fast growth in its tourism industry. While it seems at first that technology and monetary investment is ideal factor for the promotion of third world countries into the status of the world’s top nations, there are consequences that accompany such change. Thailand has recently seen the seeds of corruption sprouting more and more at an uncontrollable rate.

Often, if not always, when capitalistic ideas are exposed to the minds of those in power, money speaks much louder than respect. The problems capitalism brought to Thailand can be easily identified in the prostitution industry, an increase in social class distinctions, ecological problems, and an infrastructure that is unprepared to cope with them. Today it faces a major problem with few workable solutions for third world countries.

The explanation for Thailand’s problem is simple. More difficult is finding a solution. Thailand should better promote ecological tours. These would be a better option, for economical growth as well for natural preservation. Efforts should be made to try and discourage this sex industry. However, stopping this prostitution industry means taking a big chance and losing a lot of money. Thailand is still an incredible tourist destination; its people are incredibly friendly and the country itself is beautiful. Unfortunately, corruption acts like a cancer and when urbanized centers start to grow bigger and bigger, problems such as crime and prostitution follow its growth. Those who dominate the prostitution commerce and its people clearly have links with the government, and the suffering majority has no power to effect change.

WORKS CITED

“The low-price trap.” Bangkok Post. August 9, 2001. Journal online. Available from http://www.bangkokpost.net/horizons/090801_Horizons11.html; Internet; accessed 17 April 2002.

Cunningham, Susan. Insight Guides- Thailand- Discovery Channel. Langenscheidt Publishers, Inc. APA Publications GmbH & Co. 2002

Enloe, Cynthia. Bananas Beaches and Bases- making feminine sense of international politics. University of California Press Berkley and Los Angeles, 1990.

Enloe, Cynthia. The Morning After- Sexual politics at the end of the cold war. The regents of the University of California, 1993.

Gabriel, Satya J. “The end of the cold war and the crisis in Asia.” Economics Department, Mount Holyoke College 1998. Journal online. Available from http://www.mtholyhoke.edu/~sgabriel/asia.html; Internet; accessed 17 April 2002.

Glen T. Hvenegaard and Philip Dearden. “Ecotourism in Northern Thailand.” International Development Research Centre. Journal online. Available from http://www.idrc.ca/books/reports/1996/15-01e.html; Internet; accessed 11 April 2002.

Kaosa-ard, Mingsarn Santikara. “Thailand’s Tourism Industry - What do we gain and lose?” TDRI Quarterly Review vol.9 No.3 September 1994, pp. 23-26. Journal online. Available from http://info.tdri.or.th/library/quarterly/text/tourism.htm; Internet; accessed 15 April 2002.

Knopf, Alfred A. Knopf Guides- Thailand .New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1993.

Maga, Timothy P. The complete Idiot’s guide to The Vietnam War. Alpha Books, 2000

Richter, Linda K. The Politics of Tourism in Asia. University of Hawaii press 1989.

Vorlaufer, Karl.“Consumption of resources, problems of waste disposal and endangerment of the environment through mass-tourism in coastal areas of Thailand.” Journal online. Available from http://www.psychologie.uni-freiburg.de/umwelt-spp-eng/proj/z3_13.html ; Internet; accessed 10 April 2002.

 

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