In Thailand it is not always easy to distinguish between prostitution and legitimate relationships. Let’s say a foreign man hires a woman to be his girlfriend for a certain amount of time – quite a common scenario in Thailand – and pays her a fixed salary. That must be prostitution, you would think.

But what if that same man gets involved in a relationship with a Thai woman, lives with her indefinitely, but still pays her a certain amount of money every month, which she expects from him, and she would not stay with him once he stops paying. Now is it still prostitution? There is no clear and easy answer, since I have just described a high percentage of western man/Thai woman relationships. Read the rest of this entry