ڤكرجا سيك س تايلاند سڠڬوڤ هادڤي ريسيكو چوۏيد-19 كران تردسق
Sex workers have been forced out of bars and onto desolate streets in Thailand following a shutdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 cauing Coronavirus.
With red-light districts from Bangkok to Pattaya gone quiet and with night clubs and massage parlours closed, an estimated 300,000 sex workers are out of jobs.
The Thai government has imposed a 10 pm to 4 am curfew since Friday and says it is ready to enforce a 24-hour curfew if necessary to control the virus which has since infected over 2,000 people and killed 20.
There are also concerns that aid from the Thai government to citizens affected by the shutdown will exclude sex workers given that the Thai sex industry is illegal.
South China Morning Post reports that sex workers have been forced out of bars and onto desolate streets in Thailand following a shutdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 cauing Coronavirus.
With red-light districts from Bangkok to Pattaya gone quiet and with night clubs and massage parlours closed, an estimated 300,000 sex workers are out of jobs.
This has pressed some onto the streets where risks are sharpened by the pandemic.
“I’m afraid of the virus but I need to find customers so I can pay for my room and food,” Pim, a 32-year-old transgender sex worker, said in an area of Bangkok where previously bawdy neon-lit bars and brothels have gone dark.
The Thai government has imposed a 10 pm to 4 am curfew since Friday and says it is ready to enforce a 24-hour curfew if necessary to control the virus which has since infected over 2,000 people and killed 20.
That has not come down well with Bangkok’s sex workers, many of whom were working for tips in the relative safety of bars, willing to go home with customers at times.
When their workplaces suddenly closed, most returned home to wait out the crisis while others who couldn’t make ends meet were forced onto the streets.
There are genuine fears the shutdown could last for months, yanking billions of tourist dollars from the Thai economy and leaving sex workers destitute.
There are also concerns that aid from the Thai government to citizens affected by the shutdown will exclude sex workers given that the Thai sex industry is illegal.
THE THIRD FORCE
