Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - December 15, 2002
Witchayant Bunchot
Singaporean and Malaysian men sponsor teenage students as their sex partners because the risk of being infected with the deadly HIV virus is considered lower than from women working in brothels and massage parlours. The foreign patrons rent apartment rooms for their partners - dubbed "rented wives" - and pay them monthly allowances.
Fa, an 18-year-old college student, said a Malaysian businessman paid her 40,000 baht a month and rented an apartment room for her. She said she was not the only one from her college to enter the sex trade.
Fa said it was easy to see which students were financially sponsored by foreigners as there would be many cars with Malaysian licence plates parked outside their apartments at weekends.
Fa said she'd been a "rented wife" for five months, earning enough money to finance her education and lifestyle. She said she was fond of fashionable items such as new mobile phones, and never had to ask her family for money.
She lived comfortably on the monthly payment from her patron, who visited once a week or fortnight. She did not need to have sex with more customers, unlike other women who got between 1,500-2,000 baht a client.
Tum, a 30-year-old transvestite, said he was a procurer who had seven or eight teenage students working under him. "I never force any girl into the sex trade. Most students voluntarily sell sex as they want to earn money. I act as an agent who contacts clients for them. I get some money for my work. Our clients are Malaysian and Singaporean businessmen aged between 35-45 and Thai customers who are mostly senior government officials, politicians and businessmen," said Tum.
A source who runs an entertainment venue in Hat Yai said senior civil officials often used the sex service through agents who brought young girls to meet them at restaurants or hotels. If the customers were interested, they would ask the brokers to bring the girls to their rooms.
The source said the girls got 1,500-2,000 baht if they slept with their patrons for a few hours, or between 2,500-4,000 baht for an overnight stay. The payment would depend on their beauty and service. "Some Malaysian businessmen financially support students as their rented wives as they want the women to assist them in contacting local officials for their businesses in Hat Yai. This practice is popular among foreign businessmen as it's better than hiring employees or buying services from other prostitutes," the source said.
Suleemarn Wongsuparb, a lecturer at Prince of Songkhla University who researched sex workers, said the main reason Malaysian and Singaporean men sponsored Thai women was so their partners could facilitate their businesses, such as having companies registered in the women's names.
She said female students were more popular among foreign patrons as they were not considered high-risk regarding HIV, and many were not addicted to drugs like other sex workers.
Her research also found that most students who entered the sex trade could not turn their backs on it. They normally continued their lives as sex workers.
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