PATTAYA, Thailand – There is a story one of the lawyers in our office likes to recount. It always brings a knowing smile – not because it is humorous, but because it captures something deeply and unmistakably Thai.
An Indian man had arranged to purchase sexual services from a person he believed to be a woman in Pattaya. The terms were agreed upon: a price, a place, and a mutual understanding. The encounter took place as arranged. Trouble began afterward, when the man refused to pay. His explanation was blunt: “You are transgender, not a real woman. I paid for a real woman.”
The dispute escalated. Voices were raised. Eventually, both parties ended up at a police station, arriving separately on motorcycle taxis. The image might sound faintly comic, but to anyone familiar with Thailand’s legal landscape, it was entirely routine. The police listened, considered the facts, and then delivered their conclusion in a single, definitive sentence: “In Thailand, the buying and selling of sexual services is illegal. Therefore, the police cannot take action for either party.” And that was the end of it. No payment. No redress. No party found to be right or wrong. In legal terms, the incident itself was deemed not to have existed at all.
A country where nothing exists, yet everyone sees it
Anyone who has walked along Pattaya Beach Road – particularly near Walking Street – will recognize the contradiction. Beneath the palm trees sit and stand women, and others who do not fit neatly into legal definitions, smiling at tourists and striking up conversations. Sometimes those interactions go beyond small talk. In our office, we half-jokingly refer to this stretch as the “Palm Bar.” There is no signboard, no license, no official recognition – just palm trees, streetlights, and an unspoken understanding shared by everyone present.
Legally, however, none of this exists. Thailand does not recognize sex work as a lawful occupation. There is no legal status for sex workers, and therefore, in strictly legal terms, there is no sex trade. It is a position that is technically correct and entirely at odds with everyday reality.
When the law chooses not to see
Thai police are neither naïve nor unaware, and the public is not blind. Everyone knows what is happening. The law simply chooses to look the other way – until it decides not to. That moment usually comes: when complaints are filed, when Thailand’s tourism image is seen to be at risk, or when too many foreigners become involved. Then enforcement begins. Arrests are made. Charges are filed. Visas are cancelled. Headlines follow. Afterward, the pressure eases. The palm trees remain, the streetlights continue to glow, and the activity that officially does not exist quietly returns to daily life.
A joke that should not be funny
The story of the Indian man and the transgender woman still draws laughter in our office. One believed he had purchased a service. The other believed she had provided one. The state, meanwhile, insisted that nothing had happened at all. And when nothing happens, no one is responsible for anything.
The question no one wants to answer
Some countries choose to legalize sex work—not as an endorsement, but as an acknowledgment of reality, opting for regulation over denial. Thailand has chosen a different path. That choice is the state’s prerogative. But as long as the official position remains that “Thailand has no sex trade,” while crowds continue to pass those palm trees every night, another truth must also be accepted: sometimes, the things the law insists do not exist are the most visible realities of all.
Victor Wong (Peerasan Wongsri)
Victor Law Pattaya/Finance & Tax Expert
Email: <[email protected]> Tel. 062-8795414
