General Reports

[EihTooms]

Can anyone dispute the plain language examples given by the following poster?

Would anyone care to dispute the examples given using the plain language of the law? Then explain to me how Prostitution is legal in Thailand.

I will stipulate that the law in Thailand does not address this specific example in a very specific situation, under very specific conditions that you have provided. Give an example (just one) of exactly how these situations occur in Thailand?

I should have mentioned this about that poster's example in my previous response as well:

Example foreign man walks up to a lady on beach road or walking street or soi Bukao and asks how much for sex ST. The Thai girl replies with 1000ST. They agree. Even if no one is considered a nuisance, it's considered shameless in Thai culture. The fact this happened and someone may have witnessed it makes it shameless. They both consented. Boom! Section 5 law is broken.

Spinning and twisting the Plain Language in Section 5 of Title IX of The Thai Penal Code has long been a favorite method of the "Prostitution is not legal in Thailand" or "Prostitution is illegal in Thailand" crowd to make their unsubstantiated claims and that Section is indeed almost the only Section ever cited in a report of Prostitutes getting arrested or rounded up, invariably in crowded public places.

So this would be a good time to point out how often those news reports include the fact that the police responded to a complaint but first had to observe the scene for a while themselves in order to come to the conclusion by their judgement that solicitation for Prostitution was indeed taking place openly and shamelessly or causing a public nuisance. Hell, at some time they might have been standing in the distance watching one of those African ladies dragging behind me with a death grip on my wrist for more than 200 meters on Soi 4 for all I know.

But that sequence of events in those reports makes it clear that Thai police can not and do not make an arrest based on Section 5 of Title IX of the Code simply on the say-so of someone who claims they were personally made to feel uncomfortable or annoyed by it. The police must first observe the activities themselves for a while so they can justify an arrest based on their own lawfully backed observation and judgement and not on the personal opinion of any Thai person in the vicinity who claims the solicitation was being done "shamelessly".

The same way an arrest for "reckless driving" under certain circumstances absent any other specific violation such as driving over the posted speed limit, during a rain storm for instance, can be made based on the police observation and judgement that someone was driving recklessly while the opinion of someone else who might have complained about it is irrelevant.

Oh, and a reminder here that a specific "reckless driving" violation in the observed judgement of a police officer does not magically make driving a car Illegal and a crime any more than violating the clear and specific qualifying details and Plain Language of Section 5 of Title IX in The Thai Penal Code magically makes Prostitution between consenting adults illegal and a crime in Thailand. The police arrest you for "reckless driving", not for "driving".

[EihTooms]

Read the code. Prostitution IS ILLEGAL in Thailand but it brings in sex tourists and billions $ of revenue a year to the economy, so the government conveniently looks the other way and lets it happens. Prostitution has always been there. It just became outrageous in public since the 60's with America's rowdy GIs on are and are.

What charges did the gevernment file against the people behind FIWFANS and what happened to them since? May be they did not pay their bribes in time?

The news said they were charged with promoting prostitution, pimping, trafficking ect, anything the government can conveniently throw at them.

Yep, promoting, pimping and trafficking prostitution are cited in The Thai Penal Code as crimes with specific penalties set for them. The same with age restrictions, forcing someone to do it, living off the proceeds that a Prostitute earns if you are over the age of 16, etc.

The Plain Language for those qualifiers and addendum that make certain Prostitution-related activities illegal have been quoted many times on this website, the result always being showing where those qualifiers and addendum are the crimes but not the Prostitution part of it.

There is no Section in Title IX of the Code, where laws related to sex are explained, that cites a crime or a penalty for the simple act of Prostitution between consenting adults.

https://www.thailandlawonline.com/ta...and-penal-code

If you have read The Thai Penal Code and discovered in it a sentence or two that convinces you that consenting adults exchanging sex for money is illegal, please quote those sentences in full here so the rest of us can read them and agree with you.

You will be the first one in the history of ISG to find and quote such a thing.

Now, on a related matter, over the years of living in Thailand I have known owners and operators of a Massage / Spa / Blow Job Bar and a Happy Ending Massage Shop quite well. The Farang and Thai owners of them. Right in ground zero for P4 P in Bangkok, minutes walks from BTS Nana and Sukhumvit / Asoke. I have asked them about these "bribes" they supposedly must surely pay the police or the government in order to stay open and run their businesses where, coincidently, despite their businesses offering therapeutic massage to the public, it turns out some of their staff make discreet and private agreements to exchange various forms of sex for money.

Both of them said they have never paid anyone a bribe to stay open and run their little therapeutic massage shops. And they have never been approached by anyone in authority asking for or demanding such a "bribe". But those are only two examples.

I have also known hundreds of street, club and online Freelancers. In no case has one ever mentioned even in passing a "bribe" they have had to pay in order to ply their trade without getting arrested and charged with a crime. Apparently they have no problem doing what they do for a living without committing a crime as long as they don't commit specifically qualified Prostitution-activity clearly spelled out in The Thai Penal Code. And since they were consenting adults merely exchanging sex for money there was no crime for which to arrest and charge them. The same for me, the one paying the money for sex.

But back to the bottom line point here, please be the first in the history of ISG to quote the sentences in The Thai Penal Code linked above that have convinced you that the consenting adult women who gave me sex for money and / or I, the one paying the money for sex, have engaged in something illegal and committed a crime in Thailand and what is the penalty for it.

Thank you.

[EihTooms]

Can anyone dispute the plain language examples given by the following poster?

Would anyone care to dispute the examples given using the plain language of the law? Then explain to me how Prostitution is legal in Thailand.

I will stipulate that the law in Thailand does not address this specific example in a very specific situation, under very specific conditions that you have provided. Give an example (just one) of exactly how these situations occur in Thailand?

Quoted by you in your post:

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.

Example foreign man walks up to a lady on beach road or walking street or soi Bukao and asks how much for sex ST. The Thai girl replies with 1000ST. They agree. Even if no one is considered a nuisance, it's considered shameless in Thai culture. The fact this happened and someone may have witnessed it makes it shameless. They both consented. Boom! Section 5 law is broken.

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.

Ok, see the highlighted qualifiers as cited by that poster who inexplicably tried as persistently as you have to scare International punters on this International Sex Guide website out of the market and curious Thai P4 P providers out of the business by insisting that Prostitution is NOT legal in Thailand and therefore must be illegal and a crime? Well, as it was then and is now successfully refuted, using that Plain Language:

1. Don't solicit for Prostitution openly and shamelessly..

1 a. Regarding his example, in their heart of hearts those two might feel shameless about it. But maybe not. What if we had every reason to believe both of them felt shame for what they were up to? Then it's not illegal, right? LOL. But I digress. The Code or Act he cited says "openly and shamelessly". Not just one of those ways. Both of those ways. Regardless how they feel about it in their heart of hearts, if two or more people cannot manage to have a conversation or negotiation about Prostitution on Beach Road in Pattaya or on Soi 4, Soi 11, Sukhumvit Road etc in Bangkok without making it "openly" clear to all around what they are saying, then it's time for them to conduct those conversations elsewhere. Probably next to the ice dispenser machine at the back of the nearest 7-11 would be fine. And, hey, it turns out the only ones who do get arrested for that particular Prostitution-related activity, all females and practically all foreigners, are the ones who apparently cannot manage to do it discreetly and privately.

Never heard of anyone getting busted for that particular Prostitution-related activity next to the ice dispenser at the back of a 7-11, have you? Now, don't tell me negotiations have never been conducted there in all of Thailand or on the steps leading up to a bts station or inside a gogo bar. Or are we now to believe Prostitution is only illegal and a crime in Thailand if the negotiations for it are conducted on Beach Road in Pattaya, on Soi 4 and Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok?

Can anyone imagine the law forbidding murder while qualifying that it's illegal, a crime and carries a heavy penalty if it is performed "openly and shamelessly, causes a public nuisance" and so on but otherwise the state has no opinion and nothing to say about it? Oh, also don't do it in a Murder Establishment. And imagine if they also just couldn't form the Plain Language to mention the penalty for good old fashioned hidden and shameful murder by Colonel Mustard, in the parlor, with a candlestick? Ridiculous.

2. Don't solicit for Prostitution in a manner that causes nuisance to the public..

3. As has been stated over and over again, Prostitution establishments are illegal in Thailand and operating one, being "employed" as a Prostitute in one or patronizing one for the purpose of Prostitution is forbidden by that Act. I would suggest you go into establishments for the purpose of getting a massage, having a drink, watching exotic dancing, meeting new people and making friends and then see what happens.

Who knows, you might meet a consenting adult in there who makes a discrete and personal decision to exchange sex for money with you. For which there is zero Section in either The Thai Penal Code or the Prevention and Suppresion of Prostitution Act as well as zero Plain Language sentence in either one that cites that behavior as well as the actual act of having sex in exchange for money as illegal, a crime or subject to a fine, imprisonment or any other penalty whatsoever.

Until someone can produce and quote the Plain Language statement in any Thai Penal Code or Act that states thr penalty for consenting adults engaging in Prostitution, sex for money or money for sex, or any credible news report of consenting adults getting arrested just for that with no qualifiers about where and how openly and shamelessly the solicitation for it was in a public place causing a nuisance, then I have no choice but to firmly conclude that Prostitution between consenting adults is neither illegal nor a crime in Thailand whether or not the state decides to "legalize" it for the purposes of allowing those aforementioned currently illegal Prostitution Establishments to be set up, regulated and taxed.

[Captain Solo]

Read the code. Prostitution IS ILLEGAL in Thailand but it brings in sex tourists and billions $ of revenue a year to the economy, so the government conveniently looks the other way and lets it happens. Prostitution has always been there. It just became outrageous in public since the 60's with America's rowdy GIs on are and are.

What charges did the gevernment file against the people behind FIWFANS and what happened to them since? May be they did not pay their bribes in time?

The news said they were charged with promoting prostitution, pimping, trafficking ect, anything the government can conveniently throw at them.

[SubCmdr]

Can anyone dispute the plain language examples given by the following poster?

If prostitution in Thailand is legal, why is there a whole written law about prostitution describing all the specific situations?

PREVENTION AND SUPPRESSION OF PROSTITUTION ACT be. E. 2539 (1996).

Prevention= the action of stopping something from happening or arising. Suppression / suppress= prevent the development, action, or expression of (a feeling, impulse, idea, etc.); restrain Prostitution= the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. Is there really a whole written law about this, but it is actually legal? I think not. The point of the law is to prevent and suppress prostitution. If it was legal, why does it need to be prevented and suppressed?

Read the name of the Act. Common sense guys. Now let's exam the specific clauses.

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.

Example foreign man walks up to a lady on beach road or walking street or soi Bukao and asks how much for sex ST. The Thai girl replies with 1000ST. They agree. Even if no one is considered a nuisance, it's considered shameless in Thai culture. The fact this happened and someone may have witnessed it makes it shameless. They both consented. Boom! Section 5 law is broken.

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..

Would anyone care to dispute the examples given using the plain language of the law? Then explain to me how Prostitution is legal in Thailand.

What is not stated as a crime or anything illegal is the discrete selling of sex between consenting adults in Thailand. Which is why nobody is arrested, charged, tried, convicted, sentenced or penalized in any way for it in Thailand.

I will stipulate that the law in Thailand does not address this specific example in a very specific situation, under very specific conditions that you have provided. Give an example (just one) of exactly how these situations occur in Thailand?

[EihTooms]

The arrests are being made for Prostitution. If they were selling candy the Police would have no case. It is not possible for a foreign girl to get a work permit for sex work in Thailand.

The Defense Rests!

If crowds of African and Vietnamese ladies were confronting tourists on the street, grabbing their hands and insisting the tourist buy their box of World Famous Chocolate or Girl Scout Cookies, I have no doubt the police would arrest them for disturbing the peace, creating a public nuisance, loitering or some such charge.

And check out their visa status along the way.

When they are behaving that way to sell sex, there is a specific charge in the law for that kind of "behavior. " It is stated quite clearly in the Code and the Act and it is the "bahavior" while soliciting for prostitution that is the crime.

What is not stated as a crime or anything illegal is the discrete selling of sex between consenting adults in Thailand. Which is why nobody is arrested, charged, tried, convicted, sentenced or penalized in any way for it in Thailand.

Buying, selling and eating candy and cookies is also neither illegal nor a crime in Thailand.

Or will you now try to unnecessarily spook international tricks, curious P4P girls, anyone else for whom English is not their first language as well as most other casual readers and visitors of this International Sex Guide website over how they'd better stay on the run as fugitives of justice if they dare to eat candy or a cookie in Thailand by posting disingenuous big bold statements on your posts' subject lines such as:

Eating candy and cookies is NOT legal in Thailand!

[SubCmdr]

The arrests are being made for Prostitution. If they were selling candy the Police would have no case. It is not possible for a foreign girl to get a work permit for sex work in Thailand.

The Defense Rests!

[EihTooms]

Of all the reported such arrests, I cannot remember any of the prostitutes being Thai.

"The group comprised three Vietnamese women, one Tanzanian woman and one Filipino transgender woman."

Right off the bat there is the issue of foreign prostitutes working at a job and earning money with Prostitution who very likely do not have a Work Visa. So that's when Immigration Police have a reason to take over. And along the way they might discover an overstay as well.

But on the issue of the illegal and criminal practice of "shamefully and openly" soliciting for Prostitution "in a public place" and all the usual "pestering", "disturbing the peace", "creating a public nuisance" type of addendum and qualifiers that are the actual crimes committed regarding Prostitution in Thailand under those circumstances, I can only say my experience walking down Soi 4, Soi 7/1, Soi 11 and on Sukhumvit in Bangkok has been that the African girls and yes, the Vietnamese girls, and certainly many Ladyboys of any ethnicity are the ones most grabby and insistent and vocal about wanting me to take them for a Short Time or Long Time. Many times I have had to struggle to extricate myself from an African lady who not only will maintain a grip on my wrist until I have dragged them skidding on the soles of their shoes practically from the Novotel Hotel to Charlie's Kitchen while they're asking if they can kiss me the whole way or a Vietnamese lady who will grab my wrist, not for as long as some African ladies but will still walk along next to me after I have said No Thanks from the front of Maison Hotel to past Fitsgeralds Pub and Restaurant. And we all know about Ladyboy pestering.

Now, I couldn't care less about that kind of pestering. I think its fun and funny. But I am still struggling to loosen their grip or shoo them away so I can go on to my destination.

But I am guessing there are many men from around the world who are not charmed by the behavior, don't think it is funny, are concerned about what the wife and kids might think if the happen to arrive onnthe scene after picking up a chicken skewer down the soi or, these days, definitely don't want the folks back home to see them dragging along a lady or Ladyboy on a YouTube video that might make it look like something it isn't. Or might be repulsed by the physical contact and attention. Whatever.

However, it is very rare that a actual female Thai Prostitute freelancer on the street behaves so aggressively. And especially not when the street is packed with other Thais and tourists to see them doing it so boldly.

But crowds of tourists don't stop some of the African ladies, Vietnamese ladies and Ladyboys I have been grabbed by on those streets.

I think even the police are trying to draw as broad and wide a line as possible between what is illegal and a crime with regard to the way Prostitution is being sold "shamefully and openly" in a public place and the basic exchange of money for sex between consenting adults which is obviously not illegal or a crime in Thailand, for the sake of any ladies who need the money. It just happens that Thai prostitutes don't take giant steps over that broad and wide line and into what is unavoidably obviously illegal and a crime as other Prostitutes do. In my experience at least.

[SubCmdr]

I have no dog in this fight but I have a question. Why did they arrest 5 when there over a 100 prostitues on the same Soi 4 every night?

Not a fight brother, a intellectual discussion.

For those that do not understand, street enforcement of the law is not done from Ivory Towers by lay people reading the law and given their interpretation of it. Those who make the best arguments are the ones that call the Police when things go bump in the night. They have never strapped on iron and confronted a armed suspect in protection of their fellow citizen.

What you are witnessing is called selective enforcement. When crime is being committed there are limited enforcement resources. Those resources are directed by the managers of the Police guided by the Prosecutors of the crimes.

All Law Enforcement is selective Law Enforcement

[SubCmdr]

This is not Law School. I am not in class. I will not be subjected to the Socratic method of teaching of Thai Law by a individual who is not a member of the bar in Thailand.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-ne...o-be-deported/

If you actually read these reports you link, you'll see the first one is the same old same old about foreign prostitutes apparently making a spectacle if their solicitation for prostitution in a public place and Immigration Police arresting them for visa violations

I am blind and cannot see. But my assistant reads the news stories to me. I understood the arrests to be for Prostitution. Bangkok police swooped on Sukhumvit Soi 4 after viral videos exposed street prostitution. They only find out about visa violations after the arrests for prostitution.

Why weren't they charged with "committing the crime of Prostitution" instead of the same tangential, independent violations for which Thai law and the ACT clearly state are illegal and crimes.

I don't know and you don't know either. Perhaps if you were a member of the bar you could call up the prosecutor and ask for some professional courtesy. You could ask them why? Then you could explain it to us. But you are not a member of the bar in Thailand are you. It is a restricted occupation even if you had a work permit. That is why the guy in the video is a managing director instead of an attorney in Thailand. He has a work permit that allows him to be in the office. But he is not allowed to practice law in Thailand.

How do I know this? It helps me to have an attorney on retainer when dealing with the laws in Thailand. I am a farmer. Farming is a restricted occupation in Thailand. As a foreigner I cannot own land in Thailand. But if I formed a corporation and hired 4 Thai workers I could buy land and farm. Wait, Wait, I couldn't farm but I could get a work permit, my title would be managing director and therefore I could be in the field directing my workers who are actually doing the farming.

Oh, and again, why do the police always have to wait until neighbors complain about being able to tell what the solicitations are about shamefully and openly and then they have to observe it from afar themselves before the realize, yep, those foreign ladies sure are shamefully and openly soliciting for prostitution alright?

Once again you are asking the wrong person. I am not a law enforcement officer or a member of the bar in Thailand. The police have their Standard Operating Procedures. Perhaps since you speak Thai and I don't you can ask the police and explain it to all of us.

If the crime was soliciting or offering sex for money anywhere and under any conditions because Prostitution is, according to you, illegal and a crime,

I never said that. I said prostitution is not legal.. That has been my position during this entire discussion. You are the one that says under these specific conditions prostitution has no criminal penalties. That does not make it legal. If it was legal ti would be allowed under all circumstances instead of just under these specific conditions

why don't plainclothes police just attach a hidden audio / video device, walk up to those ladies up close and personal and record what the ladies say to them? Why bring all this "shamefully and openly" bit into it? LOL.

Of course, it is because if the prostitute is discretely offering sex for money one-on-one up close and personal, the police have no case against them.

Objection, Councilor asked and answered his own question incorrectly.

Can you come up with another reason why they never, never, never do a sting operation like that rather than this "shamefully and openly" stuff?

Once again you are asking the wrong person.

I am not a law enforcement officer or a member of the bar in Thailand. The police have their Standard Operating Procedures. Perhaps since you speak Thai and I don't you can ask the police and explain it to all of us.

Your second link specifically spells out what "legalizing" Prostitution rather than simply not citing it as illegal or a crime would pro-actively do on behalf of Prostitutes, which Thailand now considers a legitimate "occupation" if need be, as alluded to in your first link above as well and was the topic Attorney Ben Hart referenced in his blog.

That is a correct reading of the article as I understand it.

See, you have also inadvertently, apparently, proven my prediction and assessment correct in that the new law proposed for what they repeatedly refer to as "sex workers" in that article is all about "legalizing" Prostitution in Thailand rather than "de-criminalizing" Prostitution in Thailand.

Actually no! I have proven that Prostitution is not legal in Thailand. That is why they propose:

The draft would repeal Thailands prostitution law and recognise sex workers as employees with labour and social security protections.

Why aren't they debating about whether or not to "de-criminalize" a behavior you claim is illegal or a crime, contrary to The Thai Penal Code and the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, instead of all this talk about "legalizing" it so the state can set regulations, safety measures and collect taxes on the income of it, which is the only thing the state means when they say "make legal" a transaction that already isn't illegal or a crime?

Objection: Speculation Sustained.

Once again you are asking the wrong person. Perhaps you should ask a member parliament here in Thailand.

Until now, the entire topic of Prostitution is only referenced in The Thai Penal Code, that ACT and possibly in Immigration rules that forbid foreigners from working at any occupation for money without a Work Visa if not outright forbidding them from "sex work. "

It is not possible for a foreigner from getting a work permit for sex work. It is a restricted occupation for Thais.

The proponent of the proposed law want to move it to the area of business licenses, benefits, insurance, safety regulations, oversight and taxable income. That's "legalization", not de-criminalization".

This is correct. Why? Because if prostitution was legal in Thailand there would not be a faction of individuals who wanted to make it legal.

The Defense Rests!

[HorseTrader]

I have no dog in this fight but I have a question. Why did they arrest 5 when there over a 100 prostitues on the same Soi 4 every night?

Of all the reported such arrests, I cannot remember any of the prostitutes being Thai.

"The group comprised three Vietnamese women, one Tanzanian woman and one Filipino transgender woman. ".

[Houston Player]

I read the entire article. I don't just cherry pick in order to make an argument. I have no need to save face.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-ne...o-be-deported/

Only in the minds of the delusional do the police make arrests for something that is legal in Thailand.

I have no dog in this fight but I have a question. Why did they arrest 5 when there over a 100 prostitues on the same Soi 4 every night?

[EihTooms]

I read the entire article. I don't just cherry pick in order to make an argument. I have no need to save face.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-ne...o-be-deported/

Five foreign women have been arrested in a late-night police raid on Bangkoks Sukhumvit Soi 4 after complaints and viral videos exposed alleged street prostitution in one of the capitals busiest nightlife districts.

Only in the minds of the delusional do the police make arrests for something that is legal in Thailand.

Yep, alleged street prostitution. There's the kind of magic word, qualifier and addendum that the Thai Penal Code and Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act specify is when prostitution activity becomes a crime even though Prostitution itself is not a crime. Can you think of any other reason they would include the word street in the report of those arrests?

Add your quote from the reports you linked to my quotes from them and there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that those arrests were for the tangential and independent "shamefully and openly" "in public places" activity related to prostitution and not "for Prostitution. "

[SubCmdr]

I read the entire article. I don't just cherry pick in order to make an argument. I have no need to save face.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-ne...o-be-deported/

Five foreign women have been arrested in a late-night police raid on Bangkoks Sukhumvit Soi 4 after complaints and viral videos exposed alleged street prostitution in one of the capitals busiest nightlife districts.

All five now face prosecution under Thailands Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act. Immigration authorities have also begun action to revoke their permission to stay before deporting them and placing them on a permanent blacklist.

Only in the minds of the delusional do the police make arrests for something that is legal in Thailand.

[EihTooms]

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-ne...o-be-deported/

When will the individuals claiming that prostitution is legal explain to me the framework being used to arrest foreign nationals for prostitution in Thailand? I guess a plain reading of the law by lay people and ivory tower observations do not stand up at the street level.

Then we have this:

Sex Worker Protection Act The draft would repeal Thailands prostitution law and recognise sex workers as employees with labour and social security protections.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-ne...hailand-legal/

Thailand wants to make something that is already legal, legal?

ROTFLMAO!

If you actually read these reports you link, you'll see the first one is the same old same old about foreign prostitutes apparently making a spectacle if their solicitation for prostitution in a public place and Immigration Police arresting them for visa violations:

Bangkok police swooped on Sukhumvit Soi 4 after viral videos exposed street prostitution, arresting five foreign women now facing prosecution, deportation and lifetime bans. The raid also exposed legal limits on police powers under Thailands prostitution laws.
..........
They were charged with soliciting, offering, following or harassing people in public for prostitution. The charge also covers conduct carried out in a manner considered public, shameful or a public nuisance under Thai law.

Investigators said the alleged offences occurred in full public view on one of Bangkoks best-known entertainment streets. Notably, the investigation relied on both public complaints and evidence circulating online.

Why weren't they charged with "committing the crime of Prostitution" instead of the same tangential, independent violations for which Thai law and the ACT clearly state are illegal and crimes while mysteriously omitting the simple words that would make Prostitution between consenting adults illegal and a crime?

Oh, and again, why do the police always have to wait until neighbors complain about being able to tell what the solicitations are about shamefully and openly and then they have to observe it from afar themselves before the realize, yep, those foreign ladies sure are shamefully and openly soliciting for prostitution alright?

If the crime was soliciting or offering sex for money anywhere and under any conditions because Prostitution is, according to you, illegal and a crime, why don't plainclothes police just attach a hidden audio / video device, walk up to those ladies up close and personal and record what the ladies say to them? Why bring all this "shamefully and openly" bit into it? LOL. Of course, it is because if the prostitute is discretely offering sex for money one-on-one up close and personal, the police have no case against them.

Can you come up with another reason why they never, never, never do a sting operation like that rather than this "shamefully and openly" stuff?

Your second link specifically spells out what "legalizing" Prostitution rather than simply not citing it as illegal or a crime would pro-actively do on behalf of Prostitutes, which Thailand now considers a legitimate "occupation" if need be, as alluded to in your first link above as well and was the topic Attorney Ben Hart referenced in his blog.

Thailands bid to legalise and protect sex workers has been thrown into doubt after Parliament voted 17-6 to classify the landmark reform as a financial bill. The move hands Prime Minister Anutin the power to decide whether the legislation lives or dies.

See, you have also inadvertently, apparently, proven my prediction and assessment correct in that the new law proposed for what they repeatedly refer to as "sex workers" in that article is all about "legalizing" Prostitution in Thailand rather than "de-criminalizing" Prostitution in Thailand.

Why aren't they debating about whether or not to "de-criminalize" a behavior you claim is illegal or a crime, contrary to The Thai Penal Code and the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, instead of all this talk about "legalizing" it so the state can set regulations, safety measures and collect taxes on the income of it, which is the only thing the state means when they say "make legal" a transaction that already isn't illegal or a crime?

Until now, the entire topic of Prostitution is only referenced in The Thai Penal Code, that ACT and possibly in Immigration rules that forbid foreigners from working at any occupation for money without a Work Visa if not outright forbidding them from "sex work. " The proponent of the proposed law want to move it to the area of business licenses, benefits, insurance, safety regulations, oversight and taxable income. That's "legalization", not "de-criminalization".