Working at the bar : sex work and health communication in Thailand / Thomas M. Steinfatt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Steinfatt, Thomas M., 1941-

Series:

Civic discourse for the third millennium.

Civic discourse for the third millennium

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex industry--Thailand.

Sex industry.

Communication in medicine--Thailand.

Communication in medicine.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (448 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Other Title:

Sex work and health communication in Thailand

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn : Praeger, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Commercial sex is the occupation of a significant portion of the women of the world, providing economic support for millions of people and their families. Working at the Bar is the first-ever, long-term, longitudinal, in-depth study of a large sex work industry-and Thailand, the most prominent nation in the rapidly growing sex tourism industry, makes for an excellent case study. While previous works have provided brief glimpses of one group of workers studied from a particular point of view, author Thomas Steinfatt examines considerations of health, behavior, economics, morality, religion, and worker safety. The result of data gathered from thousands of workers and customers in Thailand over a period of twelve years, Working at the Bar covers all aspects of an industry that, although it does not conform to various Western ideals, is nevertheless enormously significant. Among the most provocative of Steinfatt's arguments is that sex work is not itself immoral, and that far from being the exploitation industry we might imagine, sex work in Thailand is beneficial to everyone involved-especially given that education in this nation has proven not to be a viable alternative. Providing an opportunity for economic progress unavailable through other means, and providing working conditions far safer than those of the average Thai factory, sex work is ripe for a study that explores all aspects and perceptions associated with it. Working at the Bar is that long overdue study.

Contents:

Cover

WORKING AT THE BAR

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

TABLES

FIGURES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A NOTE ON THE GLOSSARY AND THE USE OF BOLDFACE AND ITALIC

1 ON STUDYING SEX WORK

INTRODUCTION

WHY STUDY AIDS?

WHY STUDY COMMERCIAL SEX?

The Free/Paid Distinction

Needed Research

Basic Questions

WHY STUDY THESE ISSUES IN THAILAND?

Commercial Sex Is Dependent on Population Density

Projected Growth Rates in Asian Cities

Asian Cities Will Be Young and Poor, and the Poor Are Female

Commercial Sex Providers Are Mainly Young Poor Females

THAILAND AS A GLOBAL PLAYER

Features of Commercial Sex in Thailand

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Bar Worker

Names

"Prostitute"

"Prostitution"

A CRIME OF COMMUNICATION

"Dirty Old Foreign Men with Money"

Context of Understanding

2 NUMBERS AND TYPES OF WORKERS AND WORKPLACES

GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING STUDY

Existence of Streetwalkers

Proportions of Venue Types and Worker Types

Number of Workers in Bangkok

Number of Workers in Thailand: Point-in-Time Estimate

DIRECT VERSUS INDIRECT VENUES AND WORKERS

VENUES NOT STUDIED

Barbershops, Teahouses, Karaoke Parlors, and Khao Tom

Massage Parlors

Local Thai Bars

Brothels

Brothels in the North

The Role of Brothels, Hotels, and Outcall Services in Foreign-Oriented Commercial Sex

FOREIGN-ORIENTED BARS

Areas Studied

Patpong

Nana

Cowboy

South Pattaya

Format Changes over Time

Types of Bars

Hostess Bars and Discos

Go-go/Downstairs-Type Bars

Show/Upstairs-type Bars

Specialty-Service Bars

After-Hours Venues

CLIP JOINTS

Screening of Applicants

THE SHOW

Artistic Acts

Body Painting

Fire Show

Candle Show

Floor Exercise

Bath or Shower Show

Traveling Man/Snake Show

Simulated S&amp

M Show

Insertion/Expulsion Acts

Extraction Acts.

Insertion Acts

Meaning of the Show

3 THE ROUTES TO BAR WORK

INFLUENTIAL FIRST SOURCES OF BAR WORK INFORMATION

Phase I Data: Optimal Heterophily in Workers as Information Sources

Phase II Data

Indentured Servitude, Slavery, and Abuse

MOTIVATIONS TOWARD BAR WORK

Ability

Money

Economic Hardship

Economic Advantage: Increase in Standard of Living

Love and Money

Boredom versus the Excitement of the Bar

The Dating/Exciting Model

The Home/Family Model

Friendship

Status

English

4 REASONS FOR NOT WORKING

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Loss of Status

Sex without Love

Loss of Boyfriends and the Ability to Marry

Loss of Self-Respect

Parents

Hassles

Arrest, Fines, and Incarceration

Considerations of Foreign Workers

LATER CONSIDERATIONS

Difficulty and Nature of the Work

Job Satisfaction

Hardening and Desensitization

Job Hazards

Assault and Refusal to Pay

Disease

Losing Money to Pimps

Abandoning Children Conceived in the Occupation

A Bad Ending

Required Intimacy with Unattractive Partners

Required Intimacy with Unknown Partners

Enjoyment of Sex on the Job

SUMMARY OF LACK OF REASONS FOR NOT WORKING

FUTURE RESEARCH

5 MORAL AND RELIGIOUS CONCERNS

BUDDHISM

Lay Buddhism

Sexual Immorality

Merit Making

Status of Women

Buddhism as Practiced

RELIGIOUS PRACTICE WITHIN THE BAR

THE MORALITY OF BAR WORK

Promiscuity

Honesty

Reopening the Closed Deal

COMMERCIAL SEX AND WESTERN MORAL THOUGHT

THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODEL AND THE SUPPRESSION OF SEX WORK

6 BAR WORKER DEMOGRAPHICS

AGE

Comparisons with Other Studies

Age-Cohort Friendship Groups

The Youngest Workers

Comparison of U.S. and International Data

United States

International

Thai-U.S. Comparison

Number of Underage Workers

The 800,000.

Empirically Based Estimates

Enforcement Effects

The Oldest Workers: Two Cases

Suay

Noi

FAMILY OF ORIGIN AND RESIDENCE

Area Definitions

Origin

Means of Support of Family of Origin

Current Living Situation

EDUCATION

PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CHALLENGES

Hearing Impairment

Drug Use

7 EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

PRIOR BAR WORK EXPERIENCE

MONTHS WORKED

AGE FIRST WORKED

EMPLOYEE TURNOVER

Turnover Rate

Employment Activity Rate

Workforce Half-Life

Observed Turnover and Employment Activity

Observed Half-Life

Reenter Percentage

Novice-Worker Percentage

Applications of the Reenter and Novice-Worker Percentages

Number of Workers in Thailand: Yearly Ever-Worked Estimate

Effect of Foreign Workers and Working Abroad

Yearly Population Proportion Estimate

SUNLIGHTING: WORK IN ADDITION TO BAR WORK

NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS

INCOME

Salaries and Commissions

Tips

Customer Payments for Services

Fines

Calculating Income

Income Variation

Income Comparisons

Comparisons with Previous Studies

Thai Minimum Wage

Other Thai Income Comparisons

Incomes of Outcall Workers

DISTRIBUTION OF CUSTOMER PAYOUT

BAR WORKER EXPENSES: WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

Savings

Major Expenses

Lesser Expenses

8 PARTNER SELECTION AND NEGOTIATIONS

INTERACTION STAGES IN SHOW BARS, GO-GO BARS, AND SALARIED HOSTESS BARS

The Approach Stage

The Decision to Approach

The Selectivity Index

The Approach Itself

The Social Interaction Stage

The Negotiation/Sell Stage

Use of Extraction Fabrications

Cooperation and Competition in the Negotiation/Sell Stage

Negotiating to Go

Inside versus Outside

Preemptive Payments

Inducing a Reluctant Worker to Go

Delivery of Services

INTERACTION STAGES IN PHI HOSTESS BARS.

INTERACTION STAGES IN SPECIALTY-SERVICE BARS

INTERACTION STAGES IN OUTCALL WORK

9 AIDS IN THAILAND

THE EXTENT OF THE AIDS PANDEMIC

THE EPIDEMIC IN THAILAND

The Five Waves of HIV Infection in Thailand

The Extended Cost of AIDS

Changes in Risk Factors and Prevalence in Thai Population Subgroups

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "YOU'VE GOT AIDS?"

Testing in Sex Work Venues

α and β: Type I and Type II Error Rates in HIV Testing

Western Blot Error Rates

ELISA Error Rates

Effects of Communication of a Positive Test Result

The Effects of Communication of a Negative Test Result

AIDS BELIEFS AND KNOWLEDGE IN THAILAND

SEX EDUCATION IN THAILAND

SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN THAILAND

Visits to Sex Workers

Number of Customers of Sex Workers

AIDS AND COMMERCIAL SEX IN THAILAND

Sexual Transmission Rates

Infection Rates and Related Risk Factors in Commercial Sex

Infection Rates among Female Sex Workers

Infection Rates Among Males

The Decline in Infection Rates and in Brothel Visits as a Risk Factor

CONDOMS, COMMERCIAL SEX, AND AIDS IN THAILAND

Do Condoms Encourage Sex?

Condom Effectiveness and Breakage

Decreased Sensation

Condom Use

The "100% Condom Campaign"

Risk of HIV during Oral Sex

Continued Condom Use

Alcohol Consumption, Sexual Behavior Patterns, and Condom Use

Use of Multiple Condoms

Condoms and Cervical Cancer

The Female Condom

THE EFFECTS OF KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION ON RISK BEHAVIOR

Knowledge

Fear Appeals

Locus of Control

Knowledge of AIDS Vaccine Trials

Studies of Unique Populations

Sexual Beliefs and Behaviors of IV Drug Users

Men Who Have Sex With Men

Hill Tribe Studies

AIDS Education in Thai Commercial Sex

Outreach Programs

Health Education

EMPOWER

WELD and Microloans

The Model Brothel Program

Diffusion of Innovations.

RELATIONAL BONDS, CONDOM USE, AND THE "CAUSE" OF AIDS

Commercial Yes, Noncommercial No

The Relational Bond Effect

Feen Relationships, Casual Sex, and Marriage

A Mechanism for Blaming Sex Workers for HIV Transmission

Occupations Do not Transmit AIDS

10 CONDOM USE AND HEALTH COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN-ORIENTED BARS

DO ORAL RESPONSES RELATE TO ACTUAL CONDOM USE?

CONDOM USE PROPORTIONS IN BAR TRANSACTIONS

BAR TYPE, WORKER TYPE, AND CONDOM USE

BAR WORKER CONDOM REQUESTS PRIOR TO VAGINAL SEX WITH CUSTOMERS

Bar Worker Condom Use with Noncommercial Partners

BAR WORKER NATURAL MESSAGE STRATEGIES IN INDUCING CONDOM USE

Opening Strategies

Fallback Strategies

EFFECTIVE WORKER COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

11 HOPES, DREAMS, AND THE FUTURE

SHORT-TERM GOALS

MID-RANGE GOALS

LONG-TERM GOALS

The "No Thai Men" Rule

A Perceptual Domain Explanation

A Comparison with "Sarong Party Girls"

RETIREMENT

The Sample of Retired Workers

Pattern 1 (Representing 13 Retirees)-Ah, Ton's Wife

Pattern 2 (Representing 12 Retirees)-Bun, Older Sister

Pattern 3 (Representing 10 Retirees)-Kop, Sister and Student

Pattern 4 (Representing 5 Retirees)-Lek, Never on Sunday

Pattern 5 (Representing 5 Retirees)-Doi, The Emigrant

Pattern 6 (Representing 10 Retirees)-Lai, Coping and Thinking of Japan

On Working Abroad

Closing Comments on Retirement

12 SUPPORT STAFF, MANAGEMENT, AND OWNERS

SUPPORT STAFF

MANAGEMENT

The Manager

Why Have a Mamasan?

The DJ

Manager Style

Hiring Decisions

The Manager's Views on Health Issues: Phase I

The Manager's Views on Health Issues: Phase II

Sok, the Manager

Mamasan

Conducting Staff Meetings

Mamasan's Views on Health Issues: Phase I

Mamasan's Views on Health Issues: Phase II

Pattern 7 (Representing 9 Retirees)-Mrs. Daeng, Mamasan.

OWNERS.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 401-423) and index.

ISBN:

9798216038726

9786610314959

9781280314957

1280314958

9780313010514

031301051X

OCLC:

70720622