GRINNING from ear to ear, an overweight, bare-chested British pensioner shuffles along the streets of an exotic beach resort, clutching the hand of the Thai girl he’s paid to be his lover.
Nearby, randy holidaymakers visit so-called ‘b***job bars’, shamelessly romp in the sea, and buy sex for as little as £12 in what locals have dubbed the “porn version of Disneyland”.
The explosion of sex tourism has seen online ‘travel agents’ give Brits advice on touring sex hotspots[/caption]
Pattaya earned the nickname of ‘the sex capital of the world’ despite the fact that prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand[/caption]
This is Pattaya – home to the world’s seediest open sex market, where ‘red light vacationers’ indulge in prostitutes and ‘happy ending’ massages at bargain prices.
The city, once a quiet fishing village in eastern Thailand, is now a neon-lit magnet for Westerners drawn to its sex shows, go-go bars, brothels, and ‘barely legal’-looking girls.
It has also become a hotbed of ‘sex-pats’ – older men who have moved overseas from Britain and elsewhere, on the hunt for girls often 40 years younger than themselves.
These ‘sex-pats’ are seen tottering through Pattaya’s vibrant entertainment district, where bar names include Horny, Lips Lounge, Sexy in the City, Seduction, and Kittens.
The sight is a far cry from other parts of Thailand, which is known for its stunning white sand beaches, picturesque islands, diverse cuisine, and beautiful Buddhist temples.
“The sex-pats own this area of town,” says British primary school teacher Sherri, who used to live and work in Pattaya but struggled to turn a blind eye to its “in-your-face” sex market.
“They drive around on bikes like they’re in a Harley Davidson promo… it’s as if they live in a bubble erased of humanity and have happily invested in a porn version of Disneyland.”
Sherri, 38, tells The Sun it isn’t unusual to see “old, white Western men” drinking in bars from 10am, eyeing up scantily-clad female workers and ladyboys (‘Kathoeys’ to locals).
“It’s also a very familiar sight to see older men walking down the street with a local woman or man who’s half their age, as a legitimate partner or fleeting pay-per-hour worker,” she says.
Yet, while these pensioners may be smirking with pride, experts warn that the ‘girlfriends’ on their sunburned, wrinkled arms may be victims of abduction and trafficking gangs.
Some, they say, are sickeningly just children – with creeps obsessed with ‘barely legal’ pornography increasingly seeking out Thai girls and women because they often look young for their age.
“Not only is there an open sex market in Pattaya, it is flourishing,” top UK criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone, who specialises in sex crime, tells The Sun.
“Many British men travel to Pattaya because they have unlimited access to very young Thai girls.”
He adds: “Gangs are becoming ever more powerful. The internet has spawned a new interest in sex tourism.
“More and more girls are needed to service the sex tourists. This has resulted in many children being abducted from poorer areas of the country and trafficked to Pattaya.”
Sex capital of world
Marcus, of Cheshire-based PCD Solicitors, describes how the explosion of interest in sex tourism has seen online ‘travel agents’ give Brits advice on touring Thai sex hotspots.
And Pattaya – which has earned the nickname of ‘the sex capital of the world’, despite the fact that prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand – is no doubt top of the list.
“There’s an ever-increasing number of sites and videos explaining where to go in Thailand to gain access to prostitutes,” says Marcus.
“There are also men who make money out of arranging ‘holidays’ to Thailand – so the visitors can easily gain access to the young girls.”
Two shameless Westerners sparked a police investigation by romping in the ocean at the city’s Jomtien Beach[/caption]
In Pattaya’s vibrant entertainment district, bar names include Horny and Lips Lounge[/caption]
Amid the neon lights and blaring music, workers try to entice tourists inside[/caption]
“To gain unrestricted access to Thai prostitutes, the men need to arrange apartments, rather than hotels, where prostitutes can come and go without concern.”
At these apartments, he says, “nothing” is monitored.
“This, of course, allows easy access for the abuse of children,” Marcus tells us.
“The gangs can make more money from prostituting children.”
Pattaya’s now-notorious sex trade began in the 1960s, when it became an R&R (rest and relaxation) spot for American soldiers during the Vietnam War.
Some servicemen are said to have dubbed the breaks “I&I” instead – standing for “intoxication and intercourse”.
Inside the life of a sex worker
DR EMMA CUNNINGHAM, senior lecturer in criminology, with research interests in violence against women and girls, says:
“Some sex workers insist this is just a job, and they are making lots of money from it.
But there appear to be many more with awful experiences of violence and PTSD who become trapped in this work.
Some women may be topping up low-paid employment.
Some charities – Beyond Streets and Women’s Aid – have said the cost-of-living crisis has pushed more women into the informal economy of sex and escort work.
From films like Pretty Woman there is a romanticised notion of escorting, and it is not a crime to buy or sell sex between two consenting adults in the UK.
Many sex workers end up with PTSD.
Many are trafficked and exploited and take drugs to forget the trauma they have experienced.
Many female sex workers have experienced severe repeated violence.
How can a woman who is selling sex to a man who is physically much stronger than her withdraw her consent if he hurts her?
He is potentially capable of killing her.
According to research, women selling sex are 18 times more likely to be murdered than those who do not.”
Today, the sun-soaked destination attracts more than 24million visitors each year – with families enjoying its water parks, zoos, aquariums, beaches, and famous botanical garden.
But at night, some of its streets are the opposite of family-friendly – with the likes of Walking Street and Soi 6 packed with swarms of skimpily-dressed girls.
Amid the neon lights and blaring music, these workers can be seen approaching tourists, hollering “handsome man” and “sexy man” to catch their attention before offering them sex.
Some workers, it is said, charge less for sex than the cost of a McDonald’s family meal deal.
Many British men travel to Pattaya because they have unlimited access to very young Thai girls
Marcus Johnstone
One Reddit user claims revellers in some streets of Pattaya can purchase a “short-time” fling for just 500 Thai Baht (THB) – under £12. Others say the price is more like 1,000 THB (£23).
“If they were really hot, I’d just do 2,000 [THB],” recalls one tourist, who visited Pattaya six years ago, when he was 28. He adds that workers aged over 30 “were down for 1,000”.
Prices are reported to have soared in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which stripped many workers of their income, with venues forced to close and foreign men unable to travel.
Yet this week, a Facebook post advertising a bar on Soi LK Metro (an area less well-known among tourists) flogs beers in the company of “sexy policewomen” for only 60 THB (£1.30).
Some workers charge less for sex than the cost of a McDonald’s family meal deal[/caption]
Many British men travel to Pattaya for unlimited access to very young Thai girls, said UK criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone[/caption]
Thai tourism chiefs have previously vowed to clean up ‘Sin City’[/caption]
Another post from a different bar promotes a “sexy stocking party” with “cute ladies”, while messages on the Telegram app show lingerie-clad Pattaya bar girls striking explicit poses.
Thai tourism chiefs have previously vowed to clean up their ‘Sin City’ – yet men continue to flock to Pattaya’s ‘b*** job bars’, where women are lined up and chosen “like cattle”.
Customers can choose whether to have the sex act performed on them in a private upstairs room or – for those less shy – in the middle of the open bar area in front of others.
While it is impossible to put an exact figure on the number of sex workers in Pattaya, it was reported in 2017 that almost 20 per cent of the population were employed in the sex trade.
Some of the workers are freelancers, who promote themselves – with pictures and details of their height and weight – on online dating sites, as well as in freelancer-friendly bars.
Unlike with bar girls, the customers of freelancers don’t have to pay for so-called ‘lady drinks’ or fork out on a bar fine (a sum of money paid to take a bar girl out of the venue).
Sherri, who runs the blog Travel Mermaid, says she had known of Pattaya’s murky reputation before moving there with her husband to work at an international school.
She had hoped she could “turn a blind eye” to its seediness.
‘Seedy s***hole’
But she admits: “The sex-trade in Pattaya is so in your face that it’s hard to overlook.”
Sherri, who relocated to the city around a decade ago, says her first impression was that “it was a seedy s***hole”. And, after a year of living there, she admits she still didn’t love it.
In fact, Sherri found herself “counting down the days” until her work contract expired.
The teacher, originally from London and now living in Saigon, Vietnam, tells us: “Walking Street is where the main action happens. [It] is filled to the brim with go-go bars doing regular ping-pong shows, strip clubs, ‘massage parlours’ and short stay ‘rooms for rent’.”
She adds: “While you often can’t see what’s going on inside through the blacked-out windows, everyone knows the craic.”
While prostitution is technically illegal in the country, experts warn the law is complex – and that sex tourists can feel a false sense of safety because sex work is widely tolerated.
The sex trade in Pattaya is so in-your-face that it’s hard to overlook
Sherri
“This discrepancy creates a false sense of legality and security, particularly among British tourists, who may not realise the serious legal and reputational risks involved,” says Adam Jones, a tourism legal expert at HD Claims.
He adds: “For Brits considering soliciting sex services in Thailand, it’s important to recognise that engaging in illegal activity abroad can still carry serious consequences.
“If arrested, individuals may face fines, deportation, or even imprisonment.
“More significantly, being accused of a sex-related offence – such as assaulting a sex worker – can lead to severe legal implications both in Thailand and back home in the UK.”
Sadly, assaults are far from uncommon, with studies showing that 15 per cent of the country’s female sex workers experienced physical or sexual violence in one week alone.
Horrifyingly, this percentage soared to 25 per cent for those aged under 18, according to research by Dr Michele R Decker, a US expert in gender-based violence. And, with some attacks undoubtedly going unreported, the real number of victims could be much higher.
In 2020, a former British Army soldier was accused of killing a sex worker with a machete and a pool cue.
Just last month, a Chinese tourist was reported to have confessed to killing a younger Thai transgender woman in Pattaya after she refused to sleep with him.
Fu Tongyung, 42, is said to have told police he wanted to “play” with the 25-year-old’s corpse, and later apologised for the crime.
Chinese tourist Fu Tongyung confessed to killing a young Thai transgender woman after she refused to sleep with him[/caption]
The resort is also plagued by drunken violence, street crime and petty theft. In one incident in February a Western tourist in his 50s was found ‘murdered’ floating in sea with rock tied round their neck.
Though sex tourism generates a hefty income for Thailand – more than £4.7billion annually – sex workers can be jailed for up to 20 years for earning an income as a prostitute.
There are also “laws against engaging in prostitution, soliciting, operating premises for prostitution (brothels), or being a pimp,” explains Marcus.
“To get around this problem, the ‘brothels’ operate as bars, massage parlours, karaoke clubs, and so on, where money is exchanged not for sex but for a drink or an entrance fee,” he continues.
“The bar owner (pimp) then allows the sex tourist access to the girls, who he will pay separately for sex.”
These vulnerable girls, Marcus says, have “little hope of escaping”.
Due to the nature of their work, they have no employment nor legal rights.
“They cannot report anything to the police for fear of being imprisoned or deported themselves,” says Marcus.
“They are themselves acting illegally and the police may be corrupted.”
It was reported in 2017 that almost 20 per cent of the population was employed in the sex trade[/caption]
Despite the country-wide tolerance for sex work, Thai police dramatically rounded up more than 50 alleged sex workers along Pattaya Beach earlier this month.
Officers stormed the popular area on May 21 in a coordinated operation aimed at banishing the city’s reputation-damaging sex trade, The Thaiger news outlet reported.
It came six years after two shameless Westerners sparked another police investigation, further along the coastline, by romping in the ocean at the city’s Jomtien Beach.
It’s yet to be seen whether the latest operation will make a dent in Pattaya’s open sex market, which will undoubtedly get a boost from more sexed-up tourists this summer.
Even Brits who have never set foot in Thailand are contributing to its sex trade – by sending messages, and money, to Thai girls and making sickening pornographic requests.
“Many men want access to ‘barely legal’ material,” Marcus says.
“Thai girls often look much younger than they are.”
Horrifying cases
Describing one case that was brought to him, Marcus tells us: “A man was sending money to a Thai woman who he met online. He believed this was his girlfriend and that they may eventually meet and be together. He invited her to the UK.
“She needed financial help for her poor family so he started sending money to her. They exchanged photographs of one another, including some sexual images.
“He was arrested by the police.
“The 18-year-old girl he had been communicating with was, in fact, 14.”
And some cases are even more horrifying.
“I am aware of cases involving men based in the UK who pay Thai prostitutes to abuse their own children for money,” says Marcus.
Yet again, ruthless gangs are involved.
“[The abuse] is recorded and sent via encrypted sites,” Marcus adds.
“Crypto currency is used to pay the gangs controlling the prostitutes.”
Whether Pattaya’s prostitutes are operating online or offline, in the resort’s streets and brothels, it is clear many of them are desperate. Some have relocated from poorer parts of the country – such as Isan, Thailand’s northeastern region – to make money.
But it comes at a heartbreaking cost.
“All I want to do is get out of this job,” admitted one Pattaya sex worker, who told documentary makers she fell pregnant by a German client who then dumped her.
“But what can I do? There’s no work in my village.”
Pattaya used to be a quiet fishing village[/caption]
