Journalist Investigates Sex Workers' Rights on Bangkok Internship
4 February 2025
In this article, University of Canterbury graduate Bella Craig writes about her experiences interning at Thailand's most widely circulated English-language newspaper, the Bangkok Post. During her internship, Bella explored the complexities of Bangkok's sex industry, uncovering a world that is both highly profitable and deeply exploitative, where sex workers have minimal rights and inadequate safety protections.
Bella: "Being able to share stories in Thailand was rewarding and eye opening, and it has changed the way I will approach my own work going forward."
Sex work is a trillion-baht industry in Thailand - but the government has yet to give sex workers the same human rights as other citizens.
Sex workers are not considered under the Labour Protection Act, if an issue arises while they are working, they can't report it to authorities without the fear of being arrested.
Back home, I often heard people speak about Thailand's entertainment venues before going travelling - without considering the vulnerability of workers.
Entertainment venues are legal under The Entertainment Place Act, protecting the owner of the establishment - but not the workers themselves.
Thailand is a conservative country; sex work is often frowned upon and remains an underground business.
Some scholars have reported the sex industry contributes an estimated 10-12 percent to Thailand's overall GDP, but it is not recognised in the Thai economic system.
According to statistics provided by the Thai government, in 2008 there were 250,000 sex workers living in Thailand. Khun Surang Janyam, who helps run walk-in clinics across Thailand under a non-profit organisation called Service Workers IN Group (SWING) believes this number could now be up to 2 million.
There are no current official statistics on the industry for policy making.
The sex workers who shared their stories with me said amending the bill would make them feel less unsafe while they're working and help to destigmatise the industry.
Being able to work on this story was one of the opportunities I experienced through my media internship with the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
When I first stepped off the plane in April at Suvarnabhumi airport, I was smacked in the face with a 42-degree heatwave, 90 percent humidity and an abundance of people rushing into long queues.
I was in Bangkok for an internship with The Bangkok Post, the largest English-speaking newspaper in Thailand, which covers a range of current affairs, politics, social issues, international relations news and entertainment news.
My news boss and reporters told me that I'd come at the wrong time of the year - as I'd stepped foot into the country's hot season, and around this time Bangkok has been recorded as being the hottest city on earth.
Reporters worked from home in the morning and generally came in from 3:00pm and finished around 8:00pm, at first, I thought this was strange.
But as I became familiar with Bangkok's infamously heavy traffic and the newsroom's air conditioning, which on hot days couldn't cope with the sheer size of the office - I understood.
In my first week, I was asked to cover a story on a United States aircraft carrier that had just docked at Laem Chabang, close to Pattaya in the Chonburi province. Early the next morning, I was sent a press release and sent off with a video journalist in an old truck.
When we passed all security checkpoints, we were taken through a tour on the ship and then joined the press conference on the runway.
I was told the aircraft carrier had arrived to deter tension between the US and China in the South China Sea.
Bella participates in a media scrum aboard an American aircraft carrier docked in Bangkok
During my time at the Bangkok Post, I spent a bit of time with a reporter called Jay as we had similar interests in social issues and he helped me during interviews with some translating.
I met the New Zealand Ambassador for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos Jonathan Kings, when working on a story about why Thai university students were choosing Aoteraoa as a place to study.
After getting a few stories published on different pressing issues, I started working on a feature article.
During the time I was in Thailand the government was discussing whether the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act would be amended and if sex work would be decriminalised.
Changes to the bill would allow sex workers to have the same labour rights and social welfare benefits as other workers in the country.
I spent a few days interviewing sources in Patpong, Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy - three notorious red-light districts in Bangkok.
Clinics run by SWING, provide vital work across communities that have a harder time accessing healthcare across Thailand, administering primary health care, HIV and sexual and reproductive health services.
Red light district in Bangkok. Photo: Bella Craig
I spent time at one of their walk-in clinics in Patpong, where I interviewed people who were volunteering at the clinic.
The organisation aims to empower people and improve the health and wellbeing of sex worker communities, using a human rights-based framework.
They support the decriminalisation of sex work and support sex workers individually but do not support sex trafficking and exploitation, another issue at large in Thailand.
Some sex workers said they went into the job through choice and wanted to make more money, utilising online platforms to protect themselves.
Others said they had no option but to go into the industry if they wanted to make ends meet - because of the low paying minimum wage.
New Zealand was officially the first country to decriminalise sex work in 2003. We are ahead of other countries but still have a way to go with discrimination and social stigma.
During my internship, I spent my weekends travelling around the city, visiting various temples and markets, as well as meeting journalists from Thailand, across Asia and foreign correspondents for various media outlets.
I visited floating markets and Bang Kachao, the Green Lung in Bangkok, a bit of land that sits in the middle of the Chao Praya River.
It's a lesser-known destination but is a green oasis in the middle of a busy, polluted city.
Getting around Bangkok was relatively easy, with the reliable MRT and BTS train networks and motorbike taxis.
I always felt safe in Bangkok even travelling solo - the locals were filled with kindness and would always help if I found myself lost on the other side of town.
Being back home and working in a New Zealand newsroom, although Thailand experiences some issues on a larger scale - there are some similarities.
In Bangkok especially I noticed the socio-economic divide between different areas.
In the centre of the city there were extravagant malls, hotels and bars, people driving expensive cars and wearing designer clothing.
But weaved in between the luxury was poverty, homelessness and pollution.
Although in Thailand the divide between rich and poor seemed more noticeable - in Aotearoa we also face these same issues.
Being able to share stories in Thailand was rewarding and eye opening, and it has changed the way I will approach my own work going forward into the future.
Before doing research, I assumed the sex industry was legal in Thailand because of the amount of information I had seen posted on social media.
I learnt the importance as a journalist of sharing stories from communities that don’t receive as much coverage - to provide the whole picture.
Bella's Bangkok Post stories
-Asia Media Centre
