March 04, 2022: “The Culpability of Religion – Reviewing the Impact of Theravada Buddhism on Thai Sex Trafficking and Prostitution” Noah Kurzenhauser, MA Security Policy.
Setting
Approximately 95% of Thailand is Buddhist, specifically practicing the Theravada doctrine.1 Built into the national culture, and undoubtedly influenced by Theravada’s central tenets, is an emphasis on the personal cultivation of success. Although success may certainly be tangible in nature (e.g., the accumulation of money), Thai individuals appear to be more concerned with achieving individual enlightenment. This success, a life-long process, indicates a mending of karma and an adherence to the Buddha’s principles. Additionally, Buddhism itself has become increasingly ingrained within the country’s political fabric and retains its status as one of Thailand’s three core pillars.
Thailand also boasts one of the world’s largest sex trades. Although the specific number ebbs and flows, an oft-used 2015 analysis by Havoscope found the trade to be valued at around 6.4 billion dollars; a more conservative estimate, other organizations have believed the number to be much higher.2 In 1988, data from the International Labour Organization suggested that “sex tourism” contributed between 2-14% of the Southeast Asia’s GDP, with Thailand reaching nearly 3%.3 This number is now estimated to exceed 10% of the country’s GDP, indicating the substantial growth the trade has undergone.4 Although prostitution itself remains a contentious political debate, what makes this status quo concerning is the sheer number of trafficking victims present in the trade and the age of these sex workers; several reports have alleged that between 30,000 and 40,000 of individuals in the trade were minors.
Although seemingly two separate topics, this brief makes the case that Buddhism – with its definition of karma and current status within Thai politics – has both indirectly sanctioned/permitted and even directly profited from the sex trade.
Buddhism-Sex Trade Nexus
Although critical to note that the large majority of temples do excellent work within communities, the larger culture around mending one’s karma and contributing to these temples financially is certainly related to the Thai sex trade. The primary argument is as follows: women, within Thailand, are thought to be born karmically inferior to their male counterparts. To mend one’s karma, individuals are encouraged to contribute to the temples via almsgiving and other related practices. Women, unlike men, however, are not permitted to become ordained as monks, a common practice for mending karma. Although women can be ordained as nuns, the religious impact varies from that of a monk. Thus, women are born karmically inferior to men and are being instructed to mend that karma while simultaneously not being provided options to do so. What some women end up doing, then, is entering the sex trade; money earned is sent back to families, some of which is then diverted to almsgiving. There have also been cases, albeit less so, of temples actively being involved within the trade and utilizing dirty money. one such example saw the establishment of a seven-story building on monastery grounds that was entirely funded through prostitution dollars.5
A final note of curiosity concerns the existence of the Buddhist third precept: refraining from sexual misconduct. Little information can be found as to why prostitution and the sex trade, more generally, are allowed to commence under this guiding philosophy. How can prostitution be considered a viable manner in which to mend karma within Thai Buddhist Society? Upon this point receiving further consideration and attention, Thai Buddhism will need to entertain expanding possibilities for women to mend karma within the religion itself. In addition, and although rather unprecedented, it might be wise for Buddhist leadership within the country to release joint remarks acknowledging the existence of this issue.
Policy Recommendations
It is first imperative that any policy recommendations aiming to, at the very least, understand the unique nature of this situation recognize and subsequently respect the inseparable relationship between Buddhism and Thailand’s central government. It is simply infeasible to implement a policy response on the prostitution-religion nexus without both enaging and listening to the religious political elite. Further, policy practitioners are forced to walk a tenuous tightrope between pressure and alienation when it comes to addressing the Buddhist temples’ societal ills and internal problems. Simply put, crafting efficacious policy that addresses the multi-dimensional nature of this crisis presents immense difficulties. The policy recommendations that follow are merely starting points for further discussion and ideas that attempt to isolate the core areas needing – or perhaps remain vulnerable to – substantive change.
1) Regulating temple financing. Thai temples rely heavily on alms giving; original tradition states the purpose of alms giving as food collection, though money is often provided as a substitute. Additional, and as previous criminal corruption cases brought forth by the government illustrate, some of the funds gathered by monks may be directly or indirectly tied to prostitution and sex trafficking. Although the 1962 Sangha Bill requires temples to conduct internal auditing, monks have rebuffed attempts to build this infrastructure into their temples and truly keep track of where money is going and, most importantly, where money is coming from (e.g. families of a lower socioeconomic status who may have daughters working in the sex trade, for instance). This paper recommends the regulation of temple financing, a policy that was attempted in the past. Implemented by the military junta in 2017, it received wide-spread support due to the massive corruption found within temples. The only resistance posed came from several prominent senior monks, who based their opposition on the allegedly invasive nature of government regulation of religious practice. Complicating the veracity of their opposition is the reality that Thai temples are able to petition the government for funding for various projects (e.g. education, Buddhism outreach, temple restoration); in 2017 this financial assistance was 2.6 million baht. If an entity is receiving governmental funding, regulation is both necessary and critical
2) Introducing socially-engaged Buddhism.Temples undoubtedly play a significant role within Thai society, building connections with the local populace and serving as a place of refuge (physically, mentally, or spiritually) for many civilians. Unfortunately, however, many of these temples struggle with truly involving themselves in the community and working to rectify spiritual ills. Within the premise of Theravada doctrine, it may be beneficial to engage religious authorities on the sociopolitical level and recenter some of its most fundamental tenets. This is a form of Buddhism known as “Socially Engaged Buddhism,” a practice that fits within the Theravada doctrine. The essential focus is to engage oneself with the fundamental processes underlying social functions, ills, and inequities; put differently, social justice is applied through a Buddhist lens. Inviting religious leaders to serve as key players, helping create social policy while refocusing their doctrine’s attention towards elevating those in poverty, may diminish their reliance on prostitution money. In addition, renovating the Buddhist approach to social issues like the sex trade may force governmental action and legitimize the religion’s political presence. Simply, instead of waiting on Buddhist authorities to decide whether entertaining discussion on prostitution and sex trafficking is worth their time – as well as the status of women within their understanding of karma – policy makers can take charge and invite them to participate as legitimate stakeholders.
1 Thailand. (2022, March 8). CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/thailand/
2 Amendral, A. (2021, February 3). How The Pandemic Has Upended The Lives Of Thailand’s Sex Workers. NPR.
3 Sex industry assuming massive proportions in Southeast Asia. (1998, August 19). International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_007994/lang–en/index.htm
4 Narula, A. (2019, October 24). What you want to see is what you get: realities, representations, and reputations of sex tourism in Bangkok. London School of Economics – Engenderings.
5 Avila, S. (2008). “Buddhism and its relation to women and prostitution in Thai society.” FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations.
Listen to an audio of Noah’s talk below
