Prostitutes own their own bar now

Mark Fenn
19 October 2007
At the Can Do bar in northern Thailand the sex workers are the owners

Bar manager Ruchaneekon U-para, or Lek, middle.

thai-bar-story3When the words "bar" and "sex" are put together in
Thailand, one doesn't usually think about progressive labor relations
or stuff like profit sharing. But in at least one small corner of the
country's huge sex industry, a few women are trying to get a better
deal for themselves out of giving pleasure for money.


At the small Can Do bar in the northern city of Chiang Mai, sex
workers are using their brains as well as their bodies in an
experiment aimed at tackling exploitation. The bar is owned and
managed by a collective of women from the Empower Foundation, a
support group for sex workers known for its "sex positive" stance on
prostitution.


The country's first so called experitainment bar aims to provide
working girls with a safe and fair working environment.


The bar, which complies fully with Thai labor laws, has just
celebrated its first birthday and is proving successful on both "a
political and an economic level," said Liz Hilton, who works with
Empower. The bar has won acceptance, Hilton says, for providing decent
working conditions for the women who work there.


"The women who came up with the idea and started putting it together
had been working for many years and never had good conditions," she
said.


Now that has changed. Bar manager Ruchaneekon U-para, or Lek, says she
is happy in the job because of the "freedom and good money" it offers
her. The 36-year-old, who has two daughters, has been a prostitute for
five years.


Before sex work, she said, she worked long hours in a beauty salon for
a small salary. Working in bars has given her the freedom to do other
things, and the money to pay for her daughters' schooling, although
she hasn't always enjoyed such comfortable working conditions.


Estimates of how many prostitutes there are in Thailand range from
around 150,000 to a whopping two million, out of a population of 65
million. The figures are difficult to calculate because many
prostitutes work part-time or only occasionally, and move around the
country. However, few dispute that prostitution is big business, or
that with it come social evils such as trafficking in women and
children. Go-go bars and hostess bars catering mainly to Western men
are only the tip of the iceberg, but are the most visible part of the
industry to foreigners.


The majority of women working in these bars face unfair and, in some
cases, degrading conditions, with long hours and few days off. Often,
they must persuade customers to buy them a certain number of "lady's
drinks" to make money for the bar, or meet a quota of "bar fines" paid
by customers wanting to take the women to bed. They may be pressured
to sleep with customers, and if they don't, their salaries may be cut.


But in a country where a waitress may make between 4,000 and 6,000
baht a month and a prostitute can make that amount in two or three
nights, there is no shortage of women attracted to the sex industry.
Many have limited educations and few other opportunities.



The Empower Foundation as its name suggests - aims to educate sex
workers and it treats their jobs with dignity. The Can Do bar is one
of many projects it runs in different parts of the country. It opened
last year after around 50 sex workers - including migrants from
neighbouring countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia contributed
to a community fund. They each bought a share in the bar for between
1,000 baht and 50,000 baht, together raising a total of one million
baht, or around $31,000.


This was used to rent and renovate a three-story building which houses
the bar downstairs. On upper floors are a meeting room and an
information room for staff and visitors, with books and reports on
prostitution and safe sex in Thai and English. There is also a
classroom where migrant workers and those from the region's hill
tribes can study Thai.


The bar employs three permanent, full-time members of staff, including
Lek. Other sex workers - whether shareholders or not can also
register as staff and join the government's social security scheme.


Hilton says workers in bars and other entertainment places are not
usually covered by Thai labour laws, which are strictly enforced at
Can Do.


thaibar2The staff members work a maximum of eight hours a night, with
a one-hour break, and have one day off a week - in other bars women
get only two days off a month as a rule. They are also entitled to
paid sick leave and 10 paid holidays a year, plus 13 public holidays.


If the women working in the bar wish to leave with a customer, that is
considered a private arrangement between them, with safe sex strongly
encouraged and free condoms and lubricant provided by the bar.


Unlike in virtually every other bar, the women are encouraged not to
drink alcohol. "We need to save our bodies for when we go out with
customers," says Lek, matter-of-factly. "When we are drinking, we
cannot service customers."


Workers, including ladies who do part-time shifts, receive a
commission of 30 baht on each drink bought for them.


Lek says between five and 10 women usually work at the bar each night,
dancing, singing karaoke and talking to customers. The number of
visitors fluctuates - in the tourist season, the bar is often very
busy. During the low season, however, it receives fewer visitors and
only opens on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


Not surprising Hilton says the bar is popular with staff from NGOs,
who come to study how it works and the conditions it offers its
workers. The walls are covered with messages of support from visitors.
"I love you more than I can pay," reads one.


Sai Pilachan, 24, and Arya Ma-yut, 22 work together at Can Do. Sai, a
founding member of the bar, says she enjoys working there because it
is fun, it gives her freedom, and it supports the workers when they
are sick.


Sai has been a sex worker for about four years, and says the job
allows her to support her family. They have no problem with what she
does for a living, she says, but they don't talk about it much. Sai,
whose first language is Akha, the hill tribe the sisters belong to,
also works as a volunteer Thai teacher, helping foreign and hill-tribe
workers at the bar. Her sister Arya says she also enjoys working there
as it's "sanuk" (fun).


Lek says she and the other women are proud to be sex workers, and
proud to work in the bar. "We don't care what people say," she said.
"This is my life. We are not shy. We don't care."
Comments (2)

feel better posting that ?

"joeblow" a écrit dans le message de
ups.com...
Mark Fenn
19 October 2007
At the Can Do bar in northern Thailand the sex workers are the owners

Bar manager Ruchaneekon U-para, or Lek, middle.

thai-bar-story3When the words "bar" and "sex" are put together in
Thailand, one doesn't usually think about progressive labor relations
or stuff like profit sharing. But in at least one small corner of the
country's huge sex industry, a few women are trying to get a better
deal for themselves out of giving pleasure for money.


At the small Can Do bar in the northern city of Chiang Mai, sex
workers are using their brains as well as their bodies in an
experiment aimed at tackling exploitation. The bar is owned and
managed by a collective of women from the Empower Foundation, a
support group for sex workers known for its "sex positive" stance on
prostitution.


The country's first so called experitainment bar aims to provide
working girls with a safe and fair working environment.


The bar, which complies fully with Thai labor laws, has just
celebrated its first birthday and is proving successful on both "a
political and an economic level," said Liz Hilton, who works with
Empower. The bar has won acceptance, Hilton says, for providing decent
working conditions for the women who work there.


"The women who came up with the idea and started putting it together
had been working for many years and never had good conditions," she
said.


Now that has changed. Bar manager Ruchaneekon U-para, or Lek, says she
is happy in the job because of the "freedom and good money" it offers
her. The 36-year-old, who has two daughters, has been a prostitute for
five years.


Before sex work, she said, she worked long hours in a beauty salon for
a small salary. Working in bars has given her the freedom to do other
things, and the money to pay for her daughters' schooling, although
she hasn't always enjoyed such comfortable working conditions.


Estimates of how many prostitutes there are in Thailand range from
around 150,000 to a whopping two million, out of a population of 65
million. The figures are difficult to calculate because many
prostitutes work part-time or only occasionally, and move around the
country. However, few dispute that prostitution is big business, or
that with it come social evils such as trafficking in women and
children. Go-go bars and hostess bars catering mainly to Western men
are only the tip of the iceberg, but are the most visible part of the
industry to foreigners.


The majority of women working in these bars face unfair and, in some
cases, degrading conditions, with long hours and few days off. Often,
they must persuade customers to buy them a certain number of "lady's
drinks" to make money for the bar, or meet a quota of "bar fines" paid
by customers wanting to take the women to bed. They may be pressured
to sleep with customers, and if they don't, their salaries may be cut.


But in a country where a waitress may make between 4,000 and 6,000
baht a month and a prostitute can make that amount in two or three
nights, there is no shortage of women attracted to the sex industry.
Many have limited educations and few other opportunities.



The Empower Foundation as its name suggests - aims to educate sex
workers and it treats their jobs with dignity. The Can Do bar is one
of many projects it runs in different parts of the country. It opened
last year after around 50 sex workers - including migrants from
neighbouring countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia contributed
to a community fund. They each bought a share in the bar for between
1,000 baht and 50,000 baht, together raising a total of one million
baht, or around $31,000.


This was used to rent and renovate a three-story building which houses
the bar downstairs. On upper floors are a meeting room and an
information room for staff and visitors, with books and reports on
prostitution and safe sex in Thai and English. There is also a
classroom where migrant workers and those from the region's hill
tribes can study Thai.


The bar employs three permanent, full-time members of staff, including
Lek. Other sex workers - whether shareholders or not can also
register as staff and join the government's social security scheme.


Hilton says workers in bars and other entertainment places are not
usually covered by Thai labour laws, which are strictly enforced at
Can Do.


thaibar2The staff members work a maximum of eight hours a night, with
a one-hour break, and have one day off a week - in other bars women
get only two days off a month as a rule. They are also entitled to
paid sick leave and 10 paid holidays a year, plus 13 public holidays.


If the women working in the bar wish to leave with a customer, that is
considered a private arrangement between them, with safe sex strongly
encouraged and free condoms and lubricant provided by the bar.


Unlike in virtually every other bar, the women are encouraged not to
drink alcohol. "We need to save our bodies for when we go out with
customers," says Lek, matter-of-factly. "When we are drinking, we
cannot service customers."


Workers, including ladies who do part-time shifts, receive a
commission of 30 baht on each drink bought for them.


Lek says between five and 10 women usually work at the bar each night,
dancing, singing karaoke and talking to customers. The number of
visitors fluctuates - in the tourist season, the bar is often very
busy. During the low season, however, it receives fewer visitors and
only opens on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


Not surprising Hilton says the bar is popular with staff from NGOs,
who come to study how it works and the conditions it offers its
workers. The walls are covered with messages of support from visitors.
"I love you more than I can pay," reads one.


Sai Pilachan, 24, and Arya Ma-yut, 22 work together at Can Do. Sai, a
founding member of the bar, says she enjoys working there because it
is fun, it gives her freedom, and it supports the workers when they
are sick.


Sai has been a sex worker for about four years, and says the job
allows her to support her family. They have no problem with what she
does for a living, she says, but they don't talk about it much. Sai,
whose first language is Akha, the hill tribe the sisters belong to,
also works as a volunteer Thai teacher, helping foreign and hill-tribe
workers at the bar. Her sister Arya says she also enjoys working there
as it's "sanuk" (fun).


Lek says she and the other women are proud to be sex workers, and
proud to work in the bar. "We don't care what people say," she said.
"This is my life. We are not shy. We don't care."
Comments (2)

In article , Runge4 says...
feel better posting that ?

Actually I found it interesting. So there are up to 2 million sex
workers in Thailand? How any of them have aids?
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

"Runge4" wrote in message
feel better posting that ?


**Feel better posting your reply? :-)



"joeblow" a écrit dans le message de
Mark Fenn
19 October 2007
At the Can Do bar in northern Thailand the sex workers are the owners

Bar manager Ruchaneekon U-para, or Lek, middle.

thai-bar-story3When the words "bar" and "sex" are put together in
Thailand, one doesn't usually think about progressive labor relations
or stuff like profit sharing. But in at least one small corner of the
country's huge sex industry, a few women are trying to get a better
deal for themselves out of giving pleasure for money.


At the small Can Do bar in the northern city of Chiang Mai, sex
workers are using their brains as well as their bodies in an
experiment aimed at tackling exploitation. The bar is owned and
managed by a collective of women from the Empower Foundation, a
support group for sex workers known for its "sex positive" stance on
prostitution.


The country's first so called experitainment bar aims to provide
working girls with a safe and fair working environment.


The bar, which complies fully with Thai labor laws, has just
celebrated its first birthday and is proving successful on both "a
political and an economic level," said Liz Hilton, who works with
Empower. The bar has won acceptance, Hilton says, for providing decent
working conditions for the women who work there.


"The women who came up with the idea and started putting it together
had been working for many years and never had good conditions," she
said.


Now that has changed. Bar manager Ruchaneekon U-para, or Lek, says she
is happy in the job because of the "freedom and good money" it offers
her. The 36-year-old, who has two daughters, has been a prostitute for
five years.


Before sex work, she said, she worked long hours in a beauty salon for
a small salary. Working in bars has given her the freedom to do other
things, and the money to pay for her daughters' schooling, although
she hasn't always enjoyed such comfortable working conditions.


Estimates of how many prostitutes there are in Thailand range from
around 150,000 to a whopping two million, out of a population of 65
million. The figures are difficult to calculate because many
prostitutes work part-time or only occasionally, and move around the
country. However, few dispute that prostitution is big business, or
that with it come social evils such as trafficking in women and
children. Go-go bars and hostess bars catering mainly to Western men
are only the tip of the iceberg, but are the most visible part of the
industry to foreigners.


The majority of women working in these bars face unfair and, in some
cases, degrading conditions, with long hours and few days off. Often,
they must persuade customers to buy them a certain number of "lady's
drinks" to make money for the bar, or meet a quota of "bar fines" paid
by customers wanting to take the women to bed. They may be pressured
to sleep with customers, and if they don't, their salaries may be cut.


But in a country where a waitress may make between 4,000 and 6,000
baht a month and a prostitute can make that amount in two or three
nights, there is no shortage of women attracted to the sex industry.
Many have limited educations and few other opportunities.



The Empower Foundation as its name suggests - aims to educate sex
workers and it treats their jobs with dignity. The Can Do bar is one
of many projects it runs in different parts of the country. It opened
last year after around 50 sex workers - including migrants from
neighbouring countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia contributed
to a community fund. They each bought a share in the bar for between
1,000 baht and 50,000 baht, together raising a total of one million
baht, or around $31,000.


This was used to rent and renovate a three-story building which houses
the bar downstairs. On upper floors are a meeting room and an
information room for staff and visitors, with books and reports on
prostitution and safe sex in Thai and English. There is also a
classroom where migrant workers and those from the region's hill
tribes can study Thai.


The bar employs three permanent, full-time members of staff, including
Lek. Other sex workers - whether shareholders or not can also
register as staff and join the government's social security scheme.


Hilton says workers in bars and other entertainment places are not
usually covered by Thai labour laws, which are strictly enforced at
Can Do.


thaibar2The staff members work a maximum of eight hours a night, with
a one-hour break, and have one day off a week - in other bars women
get only two days off a month as a rule. They are also entitled to
paid sick leave and 10 paid holidays a year, plus 13 public holidays.


If the women working in the bar wish to leave with a customer, that is
considered a private arrangement between them, with safe sex strongly
encouraged and free condoms and lubricant provided by the bar.


Unlike in virtually every other bar, the women are encouraged not to
drink alcohol. "We need to save our bodies for when we go out with
customers," says Lek, matter-of-factly. "When we are drinking, we
cannot service customers."


Workers, including ladies who do part-time shifts, receive a
commission of 30 baht on each drink bought for them.


Lek says between five and 10 women usually work at the bar each night,
dancing, singing karaoke and talking to customers. The number of
visitors fluctuates - in the tourist season, the bar is often very
busy. During the low season, however, it receives fewer visitors and
only opens on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


Not surprising Hilton says the bar is popular with staff from NGOs,
who come to study how it works and the conditions it offers its
workers. The walls are covered with messages of support from visitors.
"I love you more than I can pay," reads one.


Sai Pilachan, 24, and Arya Ma-yut, 22 work together at Can Do. Sai, a
founding member of the bar, says she enjoys working there because it
is fun, it gives her freedom, and it supports the workers when they
are sick.


Sai has been a sex worker for about four years, and says the job
allows her to support her family. They have no problem with what she
does for a living, she says, but they don't talk about it much. Sai,
whose first language is Akha, the hill tribe the sisters belong to,
also works as a volunteer Thai teacher, helping foreign and hill-tribe
workers at the bar. Her sister Arya says she also enjoys working there
as it's "sanuk" (fun).


Lek says she and the other women are proud to be sex workers, and
proud to work in the bar. "We don't care what people say," she said.
"This is my life. We are not shy. We don't care."
Comments (2)