Origins and working conditions of female sex workers in urban Thailand: Consequences of social context for HIV transmission

This paper examines the social origins and working conditions of selected female commercial sex workers in Thailand. Quantitative data gathered from 678 commercial sex workers (CSWs) in low-price brothels, tea houses and other work sites in three urban centers were supplemented by focus discussions and in-depth interviews. The commercial sex establishments were selected from lists provided by local health officials. Social factors associated with entry into commercial sex work and condom use for sexual intercourse were investigated as they operate on contextual, intermediate and proximate levels. Women from the North region of Thailand predominated (68%) and they tended to be younger than the 27% from the Northeast. The majority of all women maintained financial ties to the home by sending income to parents, siblings and other relatives but this pattern is stronger among Northern women. Qualitative data suggest that women were systematically recruited into prostitution from villages in the North and their work enabled them to comply with traditional family support roles. Women from the Northeast revealed a more complex pattern of entry with intrafamily strife, divorce, efforts to find other employment, and entry into sex work at a later age than the women from the North. Northeastern women were more than twice as likely as Northern women to have had a husband as their first sex partner (55% vs 22%).