Patpong looks after its own

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From Coconuts Bangkok

The Patpong red-light district in October 2020, when many venues were open as Bangkok enjoyed a calm in the eye of the pandemic storm. Photo: Chayanit Itthipongmaetee / Coconuts Bangkok

Weeks after sex workers grabbed attention with their high heels and panties to demand a piece of the government safety net, their means of survival – even access to much-needed vaccines – remain ignored.

Not only does social stigma make sex workers convenient pandemic scapegoats for the authorities, but the fact that prostitution enjoys no legal protections leaves sex workers forgotten in the margins, despite being among the most at-risk groups for COVID-19.

“What we do generates a lot of income for the country, yet, we are often overlooked by the authorities,” Siriprapa “May” Sukcharoensri, a 32-year-old sex worker employed by Patpong’s Barbar Fetish Club, told Coconuts Bangkok. “We’re always the first place to close and the last to reopen.” 

Months of closure for Patpong’s red-light venues, May said, forced many sex workers back to their hometowns to save on living costs and care for their families. 

And despite the risks coming into intimate contact brings for disease transmission, their young age puts them near the back of the line for vaccines. May’s boss, Barbar owner Michael Messner, used business channels to secure 100 doses of Chinese-made Sinopharm doses, enough to sponsor the inoculation of 50 workers.

“This wave has increased the suffering of the Patpong workers and community, and nobody is talking about it anymore,” said Messner, whose entertainment group also owns the Patpong Museum and Candle Light Studio art gallery. “There is zero help from the government, it almost seems that this sector could be designated ‘collateral damage.’”

That’s led sex workers remaining in the famed red-light district, which has been dark since April, to band together to find any means to survive. Those who have remained in the capital have had to shift online to channels such as OnlyFans or rebrand themselves for a domestic audience instead of foreign tourists.

“Although we’re affected directly, 100%, we cannot stop moving,” May said. “Like other people, we have expenses and families to take care of. There was one woman who had to pay her own university tuition, and I admired her so much for that.”

“Survival mode is a key to staying afloat,” Messner said. “This means canceling their rented flats, and 3-4 moving in together into one flat sharing the expenses, selling their gold and liquidating other assets, like motorcycles, TVs and other possessions that can quickly be turned into cash.”

Continues at

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/features/failed-by-govt-that-scorns-sex-workers-patpong-looks-after-its-own/