The wording would be blissfully simple and direct. But they are not there.
[QUOTE=EverythingThai;2936726]The key to understanding any law that is published is the vocabulary and the meaning of the vocabulary. Therefore, the law publishes a vocabulary list and the meanings of the vocabulary at the beginning of the ACT. This will answer your question.
Section 4. In this Act, "prostitution" means sexual intercourse, or any other act, or the commission of any other act in order to gratify the sexual desire of another person in a promiscuous manner in return for earning or any other benefit, irrespective of whether the person who accepts the act and the person who commits the act are of the same sex or not;.
"prostitution establishment" means a place established for prostitution or in which the prostitution is allowed, and shall include a place used for soliciting or procuring another person for prostitution;.
Section 5. Any person who, for the purpose of prostitution, solicits, induces, introduces herself or himself to, follows or importunes a person in a street, public place or any other place, which is committed openly and shamelessly or causes nuisance to the public, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand Baht.
Section 6. Any person who associates with another person in a prostitution establishment for the purpose of prostitution of oneself or another person shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to a fine not exceeding one thousand Baht or to both.
If the offence under paragraph one is committed on account of compulsion or under an influence which cannot be avoided or resisted, the offender is not guilty.
Section 7. Any person who advertises or agrees to advertise, induces or introduces by means of documents or printed matters, or by any means makes known to the public in a manner apparently indicative of importunity or solicitation for the prostitution of oneself or another person shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of six months to two years or to a fine of ten thousand to forty thousand Baht or to both.
Therefore, the definition of prostitution in the Act is clearly defined, so whenever the word "prostitution" is used in this law, it means what it says above. Therefore. Illegal.
Now for the part about the establishment. Any gents club in Pattaya falls under this. Therefore, it's illegal.
If you research the act, there is even a part about advertising. Therefore, if you see a Thai Friendly profile where a girl posts ST / LT and so on. That falls under section 7 above.
Also, if in a private message the girl and you negotiate the cost, that is illegal.
So, in Pattaya, establishments are permitted to operate. Do you know that every bar owner in Pattaya pays a fee to the police every month. I wonder what that fee is for if there is nothing illegal going on.
In closing, you said prostitution is legal. However, the law says it's illegal according to the definition of prostitution in the law. However, you have your own definition of prostitution, which is not relevant as Thailand's definition is: "In this Act, "prostitution" means sexual intercourse, or any other act, or the commission of any other act in order to gratify the sexual desire of another person in a promiscuous manner in return for earning or any other benefit, irrespective of whether the person who accepts the act and the person who commits the act are of the same sex or not;" Therefore, over at your local gents club, after you pay for the room and take your chosen lady upstairs, as soon as you pay her the fee for ST and discuss services, that falls under the definition of "prostitution" in this act and the club itself falls under the definition of "prostitution establishment" according to the act. The club allows it to go on.[/QUOTE]Do you have a link for that Act or law?
The wording in the PREVENTION AND SUPRESSION OF PROSTITUTION ACT you reference is as follows, according to your quoting of it:
[B]This Act prohibits both male and female prostitution in public places and brothels and classifies prostitution as illegal.[/B]
What about private places?
The wording there and in the Thai Penal Code, that does not appear to by shy about covering every angle of P4 P except the central issue, could easily have begun in TITLE IX with something on the order of, "Any exchange of sexual services for money or anything else of monetary value is strictly prohibited and punishable by not more than 1 Billion Baht and Life in Prison without the possibility of parole. ".
And yet no such words appear anywhere in the Code or the Act you referenced. Instead it is all about conducting such business in public, procuring or trafficking prostitutes as a business, living off the profits of a prostitute when you are not the one doing the fucking, sucking or handjobs, setting up an establishment, hanging signs and so on. Aspects of P4 P that have been illegal for a very long time. Those are the things bar owners get busted for, not prostitutes or their customers.
Do you think it was just an oversight, that they forgot to mention the part about a simple private exchange of money for sex between consenting adults being illegal and this is the punishment for it?
If the words I improvised above or anything like them for any level of penalty including 5 Baht and a 2 minute stern lecture were to appear in any Thai Penal Code or additional Act, it would cause a societal earthquake of cataclysmic proportions. It will never happen. Every soi with a hot 19 year old and a 40 year old Thai man with an extra 500 Baht at the end of the month would be awash in criminal activity.
No customer or prostitute of legal age and with their consent is going to be arrested and charged with a crime for which there is no citation in the Penal Code or even in a nice but unenforceable addendum to it.
The Pattaya Police Walk Though Found No Evidence of Prostitution!
[QUOTE=EverythingThai;2936860][URL]http://www.asianlii.org/th/legis/consol_act/pasopa1996528/[/URL][/QUOTE]Ah, which might bring us inevitably to the very showy annual stroll through Pattaya's Walking Street by the Chief of Police where it is grandly announced that they "found no evidence of prostitution here, nothing illegal is going on. ".
We all know how comical that sounds and I suppose it is understandable that someone would think the police are only turning a blind eye to all the "illegal" P4 P arrangements and trysts originating or perhaps taking place there.
But no. Read it again. Pay closer attention to the words they are using and not exactly to the spin on it in the headline. What they are looking for is "evidence" of prostitution going on, which could truly be illegal if it is the kind of "shameless" and "open" banner brandishing, loud verbal and visual antics that could fall within the concept of a "public nuisance" or as they state here "untoward. ".
They are not investigating or interrogating people who have engaged in discrete, private arrangements and negotiations for P4 P or even consenting adult couples or groups on their way to a hotel to engage in P4 P, none of which is cited in any Penal Code or Act that I have yet seen as a crime justifying any penalty.
Sure, they and everyone smile at the charade aspect of it. But the charade aspect of it, what they are looking for and in reality are not finding in those walk throughs is 100% in keeping with what is stated as infractions in the Thai Penal Code and the PROSTITUTION PREVENTION AND SUPPRESSION ACT OF 1996; blatantly shameless and open "evidence" of prostitution being offered or requested, behavior even a tourist or casual observer could "spot", not discrete negotiations for P4 P taking place in private.
[B]Video: Large police and army contingent inspect Walking Street - no prostitution found![/B]
[URL]https://aseannow.com/topic/1105034-video-large-police-and-army-contingent-inspect-walking-street-no-prostitution-found/[/URL]
[QUOTE][b]Pattaya's finest have once again been unable to find any evidence of prostitution in Thailand's most famous red light district.[/b]
Tourists have been advised to phone 191 if they spot anything.
Pattaya Update News posted a video and reported that a large contingent of police and military men joined with Department of Provincial Administration staff in inspecting Walking Street, South Pattaya last night.
The gathering strode manfully down the main drag and even went inside some establishments. Lots of pictures and videos were taken for the record.
The media said on Facebook that the point of the visit was to uncover evidence of prostitution and under age sex in the important tourist area frequented by many visitors.
Nothing untoward of any kind was found and no arrests were reported.
Deputy Chonburi police chief Pol Col Pongphan Wongmaneethet - standing in for the Pattaya police chief - said that if tourists or the public do see anything they can call 191.
Or they can contact the tourist police stationed at the end of the street if they spot anything illegal.
Thaivisa notes that previous exercises of this nature last year also failed to turn up any evidence. It might be concluded that such events are PR exercises, we note. [/QUOTE]
