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Based on interviews and participatory research, this book explores Thai women's experiences of the global sex trade. Kaoru Aoyama questions the long-standing feminist debate concerning how these women identify themselves: as sex workers, or sex slaves, while also considering the issues of gender, deviance, and migration.
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Thai Migrant Sexworkers This page intentionally left blank Thai Migrant Sexworkers From Modernisation to Globalisation Kaoru Aoyama Graduate School of Letters Kyoto University © Kaoru Aoyama 2009 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN-13: 978-0-230-52466-8 ISBN-10: 0-230-52466-4 hardback hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 18 9 17 8 16 7 15 6 14 5 13 4 12 3 11 2 10 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne 1 09 Contents Acknowledgements Acronyms and Key Thai and Japanese Terms Figures and Tables vii ix xi Introduction: From Personal Troubles to Public Issues 1 Migration, sexwork and trafficking: 25 years from Thailand to Japan Personal involvement Learning troubles to know: troubles of representation and troubles of reflexivity The fieldwork, the respondents and the researcher’s relationships to them EMPOWER in Bangkok and the streets of Bangkok SEPOM in Chiangrai Strangers in Tokyo Structure and outline of chapters Conclusion 1 4 6 10 13 16 18 21 25 Chapter 1: Modernisation, Gender and Globalisation: Situating the Migrations of Thai Sexworkers 27 Centralising lived experiences: finding middle ground in the feminist divide on ‘prostitution’ Deciding factors of ‘sexwork’ and ‘sexual slavery’ The problem of the notion of ‘Social Death’ Diverse experiences of sexwork Four substantive issues 1 The impact of industrialisation under national social engineering on individual lives 2 Gendered senses of social expectancy, obligations and responsibility congruent with the meanings of women’s sexuality 3 Globalisation of culture and economy 4 Globalisation of migration Conclusion 28 31 32 38 40 41 42 46 51 53 Chapt