Understanding Prostitution laws in Thailand: Is it completely illegal?

Reviewed by Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556, for ThaiLawOnline, a Thai law firm acting for foreigners since 2006.

TL;DR Prostitution is illegal in Thailand on paper, but widely tolerated in practice. Laws target public solicitation and trafficking, while private consensual sex work often goes unpunished. A 2023 draft law aims to decriminalize and regulate the industry for adults over 20.

Key Takeaways to Get the Most Quickly

• Illegal but tolerated: Sex work thrives despite laws banning it, especially in bars and massage parlors.
• Strict laws on paper: Heavy penalties apply for pimping, brothels, trafficking, or involving minors.
• Private acts mostly ignored: Consensual sex work between adults is rarely prosecuted.
• Reform in progress: A 2023 bill proposes legalizing sex work for those 20 and older.
• Vulnerable workers: Current laws leave sex workers with little protection or legal support.

In recent years, Thailand has gained notoriety as a major hub for sex trafficking. Prostitution laws in Thailand are still making it illicit but it might change soon. This illegal trade has harmed many victims, including Thai and foreign people. It has become a major human rights issue. The Thai government has implemented various measures to combat sex trafficking, but the issue remains prevalent in the country. Prostitution in Thailand is still illegal but widely spread.

Sex trafficking is when people are recruited, moved, or kept against their will. This is done using force, fraud, or pressure for sexual exploitation. Many victims are lured under false pretenses, promising job opportunities. They believe they will get better living conditions, only to find themselves trapped in the sex trade.

This is why there are laws to protect the victims. Is prostitution illegal in Thailand? How does this affect the legal status of sex workers?Well, this is not a black-and-white issue. An act can be illegal but still tolerated. The legality of an act can change from country to country and over time. For instance, cannabis was taken off Thailand’s narcotics list in 2022, and its rules have changed again since. And how are the prostitution laws in Thailand evolving to address the complexities of sex workers’ occupational rights?

Thailand’s location, economic gaps, and tourism industry attract sex trafficking networks. Vulnerable people like women, children, and migrants are often targeted by traffickers who take advantage of their difficult situations. Here is how Thailand’s prostitution laws work.

Wording corrected: 3 October 2026, not a re-review. Two sentences still described soliciting as a fine and the 1996 Act as criminalising prostitution without the section 5 conversion to a civil penalty; three garbled sentences were rewritten.

Last reviewed: 3 September 2026. The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 was read in Thai in full, from the Royal Gazette text (vol. 113 part 54 Kor page 1, 22 October 1996), and every penalty on this page for sections 5 to 13 was taken from it. The Act on Conversion of Fines to Civil Penalties B.E. 2565 (vol. 139 part 66 Kor page 22, 25 October 2022) was read for sections 7, 9, 10, 34, 39, 41, 46 and 47 and for its Schedule 1, in which this Act is listed without any section qualifier. Penal Code sections 277, 279, 282, 283, 285 and 286 were checked against our own annotated Code. Not verified here, and said rather than implied: the Entertainment Places Act B.E. 2509 (read since, see the re-check note below); the estimates of how many people sell sex in Thailand, which are estimates and not official figures; the enforcement practice described throughout, which is practice and not statute; and whether any bill to decriminalise adult sex work has advanced since the March 2023 reports. Re-checked on 6 October 2026: the Entertainment Places Act B.E. 2509 was read in Thai in its consolidated text on the government’s central law register (as amended to No. 5 B.E. 2560, with the 2022 conversion of fine-only offences to civil penalties), sections 3, 4, 6, 16, 16/1, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28/3; the venue section now states what the Act itself provides instead of saying the text could not be obtained.

Is Prostitution Illegal in Thailand? What are the Prostitution Laws in Thailand?

Yes, it remains illegal, but it is widely tolerated and rarely punished between consenting adults. The current government wishes to amend the laws in collaboration with international organizations. The Thai government has implemented various laws and initiatives to address sex trafficking. The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996, for instance, prohibits prostitution and punishes related activities, although soliciting under section 5 has carried only a civil penalty since 26 October 2023. It focuses mainly on abuse and sex trafficking of children. Section 8 punishes the buyer. Having sexual intercourse with, or committing any other act for sexual gratification on, a person over fifteen but not over eighteen inside a prostitution establishment carries one to three years and a fine of 20,000 to 60,000 baht, whether or not that person consented. Where the child is not over fifteen it is two to six years and a fine of 40,000 to 120,000 baht. Consent is no defence in either case.

Legal Aspect	Explanation
Is prostitution legal?	Technically, the legal status of sex work in Thailand is complex and often debated. It is illegal under the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996).
Common enforcement issues	Enforcement is often inconsistent. Many venues operate under the radar, particularly those involved in prostitution in public places.
Penalty for selling sex	Soliciting in a street, a public place or anywhere else, openly and shamefully or so as to be a nuisance: a civil pinai penalty of not more than 1,000 baht, not a criminal offence and not a criminal record, since 26 October 2023 (section 5, converted by the Act on Conversion of Fines to Civil Penalties B.E. 2565). Congregating in a prostitution establishment for the purposes of prostitution: up to 1 month, or up to 1,000 baht, or both (section 6), with no offence at all where the person acted under compulsion or under a power they could not escape.
Penalty for buying sex	The 1996 Act creates no general offence of buying sex from a consenting adult. Buying sex in a prostitution establishment from a person over 15 but not over 18 is 1 to 3 years and a fine of 20,000 to 60,000 baht; where the child is not over 15 it is 2 to 6 years and 40,000 to 120,000 baht (section 8). A client in a raided venue is otherwise reached through section 6.
Brothel owners or operators	Owner, supervisor or manager of a prostitution business or establishment, or controller of the people working in it: 3 to 15 years and a fine of 60,000 to 300,000 baht (section 11). 60,000 is the minimum fine, not the maximum, and imprisonment is not an alternative to it. Where someone over 15 but not over 18 works there it becomes 5 to 15 years and 100,000 to 300,000 baht; where a child not over 15 does, 10 to 20 years and 200,000 to 400,000 baht.
Human trafficking implications	Severe punishment under separate trafficking laws (Anti-Human Trafficking Act B.E. 2551).
Age of consent	Legal age of sexual consent is 15, but commercial sex must not involve anyone aged 18 or under.
Tourist implications	Foreigners may face deportation or blacklist if involved in underage sex or trafficking.
Real-world practice	Despite the law, sex work is widespread in places like Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, etc.
Reform efforts	There have been ongoing debates about decriminalisation and improved rights for sex workers, including sex trafficking concerns.

The 1996 Act repealed the Prostitution Suppression Act of 1960 and is now the central statute on the subject. Its standing criticism is that it does not separate consensual adult sex work from trafficking. One statute carries a civil penalty of up to 1,000 baht for soliciting and ten to twenty years for coercing someone into prostitution, and the person selling sex can be processed as an offender under section 5 or section 6 before anyone has asked whether they were coerced.

Efforts have been made to strengthen law enforcement and improve victim protection. Specialized police units exist to combat human trafficking and the reliance on prostitution dating back through generations. There are victim-centered initiatives provide support and assistance to those rescued from the sex trade. Additionally, the government has implemented awareness campaigns and educational programs to raise public awareness about sex trafficking and its consequences. Despite the common cliche about this country, it is quite rare to see underage prostitution in Thailand. The authorities have taken a lot of precaution to lower sex trafficking in Thailand.

The law behind this page

English

Section 4 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

In this Act: "prostitution" means accepting sexual intercourse, accepting any other act, or performing any other act, to gratify the sexual desire of another person, being promiscuous conduct in exchange for hire or any other benefit, whether the person accepting the act and the person performing it are of the same sex or of different sexes; "place of prostitution" means a place arranged for prostitution or in which prostitution is permitted, and includes a place used for contacting or procuring another person to engage in prostitution; "reception centre" means a place provided by the government, or a place established under this Act by a foundation, association or other institution, to receive persons under protection and occupational development on a temporary basis in order to determine the method of protection and occupational development suitable for each individual; "protection and occupational development centre" means a place provided by the government, or a place established by a foundation, association or other institution, to protect the welfare of and develop the occupations of persons under protection and occupational development under this Act; "protection and occupational development" means mental rehabilitation training, medical treatment, occupational training and development, and improvement of the quality of life; "committee member" means a member of the Protection and Occupational Development Committee or of a Provincial Protection and Occupational Development Committee, as the case may be; "competent official" means a person appointed by the Minister to act under this Act; "Director-General" means the Director-General of the Department of Social Development and Welfare; "Minister" means the Minister in charge of this Act.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 5 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

Any person who, for the purpose of prostitution, approaches, solicits, introduces himself or herself to, follows or importunes a person on a road or in a public place, or does so in any other place, in a manner that is open and shameful or a nuisance to the public, commits a phinai offence and shall pay a phinai fine not exceeding 1,000 baht. [Note: section 39 of the Act on Phinai Fines B.E. 2565 converts criminal offences punishable by fine only into phinai offences and treats the rate of the criminal fine as the rate of the phinai fine.]

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 6 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

Any person who enters and gathers in a place of prostitution for the purpose of his or her own or another person's prostitution shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding 1 month, or a fine not exceeding 1,000 baht, or both. If the offence under paragraph one was committed under compulsion, or under a power that could not be avoided or resisted, the person is not guilty of an offence.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 8 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

Any person who, in a place of prostitution, has sexual intercourse with or commits any other act upon a person over 15 but not over 18 years of age, to gratify his or her own or another person's sexual desire, whether or not that person consents, shall be punished by imprisonment of 1 to 3 years and a fine of 20,000 to 60,000 baht. If the offence under paragraph one is committed against a child not over 15 years of age, the punishment is imprisonment of 2 to 6 years and a fine of 40,000 to 120,000 baht. If the act under paragraph one is committed against the person's own spouse, and not to gratify the sexual desire of another person, the person is not guilty of an offence.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 9 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

Any person who procures, lures or takes away any person so that the person will engage in prostitution, even with that person's consent, and whether the acts constituting the offence are committed inside or outside the Kingdom, shall be punished by imprisonment of 1 to 10 years and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 baht. If the offence under paragraph one is committed against a person over 15 but not over 18 years of age, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of 5 to 15 years and a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 baht. If the offence under paragraph one is committed against a child not over 15 years of age, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine of 200,000 to 400,000 baht. If the offence under paragraph one, two or three is committed by deceit, threat, physical assault, undue influence or coercion by any means, the offender shall be liable to a punishment one third heavier than that provided in paragraph one, two or three, as the case may be. Any person who, so that prostitution will take place, receives a person knowing that the person has been procured, lured or taken away as described in paragraph one, two, three or four, or who supports the commission of such an offence, shall be liable to the punishment provided in paragraph one, two, three or four, as the case may be.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 11 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

Any person who is the owner of a prostitution business, or the supervisor or manager of a prostitution business or a place of prostitution, or who controls persons engaging in prostitution in a place of prostitution, shall be punished by imprisonment of 3 to 15 years and a fine of 60,000 to 300,000 baht. If a person over 15 but not over 18 years of age engages in prostitution in the business or place of prostitution under paragraph one, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of 5 to 15 years and a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 baht. If a child not over 15 years of age engages in prostitution in the business or place of prostitution under paragraph one, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine of 200,000 to 400,000 baht.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 12 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Full text

Any person who detains or confines another person, deprives another person of physical liberty by any means, causes bodily harm, or threatens by any means to use physical force against another person, in order to coerce that person to engage in prostitution, shall be punished by imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine of 200,000 to 400,000 baht. If the offence under paragraph one causes the victim: (1) to suffer grievous bodily harm, the offender shall be punished by life imprisonment; (2) to die, the offender shall be punished by death or life imprisonment. Any person who supports the commission of an offence under paragraph one or two shall be liable to the punishment provided in paragraph one or two, as the case may be. If the offender or the person supporting the offence under paragraph one is an administrative official, a police officer, a competent official, or an officer of a reception centre or a protection and occupational development centre under this Act, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of 15 to 20 years and a fine of 300,000 to 400,000 baht.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Official text

Section 286Amended on 28 May 2019

This section punishes seven ways of profiting from or facilitating another person's prostitution: assisting, facilitating or protecting it; receiving a benefit in any form from it; compelling, threatening, deceiving or unjustly influencing a person, or taking a person into employment, for prostitution; arranging prostitution between a person engaged in it and a client; concealing or disguising the source of income or property obtained from it; habitually living with or associating with persons engaged in prostitution while unable to show the source of one's own income; and obstructing the work of an agency responsible for preventing or controlling prostitution. The penalty is imprisonment not exceeding twenty years and a fine not exceeding 400,000 baht, or imprisonment for life. Limbs (2) and (6) do not apply to a benefit a person is entitled to by law or by moral obligation.

Full text

Whoever does any of the following shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding twenty years and a fine not exceeding four hundred thousand baht, or to imprisonment for life: (1) assists, facilitates or protects the prostitution of another person; (2) receives a benefit in any form from the prostitution of another person, or from a person who engages in prostitution; (3) compels, threatens, deceives or unjustly exercises influence over another person, or takes another person into employment, for the purpose of prostitution; (4) arranges prostitution between a person who engages in prostitution and a client; (5) conceals or disguises the source of income or of property obtained from prostitution; (6) habitually lives with, or associates with, one or more persons who engage in prostitution and cannot show the source of the income on which he lives; (7) obstructs the work of an agency responsible for the prevention or control of prostitution, or for assisting or educating persons who engage in prostitution, persons who may enter into prostitution, or persons who may be endangered by prostitution. Paragraph one (2) and (6) do not apply to a person who receives a benefit in any form to which he is entitled by law or by moral obligation.

ThaiLawOnline translation

Our annotated sectionOfficial text

ไทย

มาตรา 4 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ในพระราชบัญญัตินี้ “การค้าประเวณี” หมายความว่า การยอมรับการกระทำชำเราหรือการยอมรับการกระทำอื่นใด หรือการกระทำอื่นใดเพื่อสำเร็จความใคร่ในทางกามารมณ์ของผู้อื่น อันเป็นการสำส่อนเพื่อสินจ้างหรือประโยชน์อื่นใด ทั้งนี้ ไม่ว่าผู้ยอมรับการกระทำและผู้กระทำจะเป็นบุคคลเพศเดียวกันหรือคนละเพศ “สถานการค้าประเวณี” หมายความว่า สถานที่ที่จัดไว้เพื่อการค้าประเวณีหรือยอมให้มีการค้าประเวณี และให้หมายความรวมถึงสถานที่ที่ใช้ในการติดต่อหรือจัดหาบุคคลอื่นเพื่อกระทำการค้าประเวณีด้วย “สถานแรกรับ” หมายความว่า สถานที่ที่ทางราชการจัดให้มีขึ้น หรือสถานที่ที่มูลนิธิ สมาคม หรือสถาบันอื่นจัดตั้งขึ้นตามพระราชบัญญัตินี้ เพื่อรับผู้รับการคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพไว้เป็นการชั่วคราวเพื่อพิจารณาวิธีการคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพให้เหมาะสมสำหรับแต่ละบุคคล “สถานคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพ” หมายความว่า สถานที่ที่ทางราชการจัดให้มีขึ้น หรือสถานที่ที่มูลนิธิ สมาคม หรือสถาบันอื่นจัดตั้งขึ้นเพื่อคุ้มครองสวัสดิภาพและพัฒนาอาชีพแก่ผู้รับการคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพตามพระราชบัญญัตินี้ “การคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพ” หมายความว่า การอบรมฟื้นฟูจิตใจ การบำบัดรักษาโรค การฝึกอบรมและพัฒนาอาชีพ ตลอดจนพัฒนาคุณภาพชีวิต “กรรมการ” หมายความว่า กรรมการคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพ หรือกรรมการคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพประจำจังหวัด แล้วแต่กรณี “พนักงานเจ้าหน้าที่” หมายความว่า ผู้ซึ่งรัฐมนตรีแต่งตั้งให้ปฏิบัติการตามพระราชบัญญัตินี้ “อธิบดี” หมายความว่า อธิบดีกรมพัฒนาสังคมและสวัสดิการ* “รัฐมนตรี” หมายความว่า รัฐมนตรีผู้รักษาการตามพระราชบัญญัตินี้

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 5 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดเข้าติดต่อ ชักชวน แนะนำตัว ติดตาม หรือรบเร้าบุคคลตามถนนหรือสาธารณสถาน หรือกระทำการดังกล่าวในที่อื่นใด เพื่อการค้าประเวณีอันเป็นการเปิดเผยและน่าอับอายหรือเป็นที่เดือดร้อนรำคาญแก่สาธารณชน มีความผิดทางพินัยต้องชำระค่าปรับเป็นพินัยไม่เกินหนึ่งพันบาท*

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 6 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดเข้าไปมั่วสุมในสถานการค้าประเวณีเพื่อประโยชน์ในการค้าประเวณีของตนเองหรือผู้อื่น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินหนึ่งเดือน หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งพันบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่งได้กระทำเพราะถูกบังคับ หรือตกอยู่ภายใต้อำนาจซึ่งไม่สามารถจะหลีกเลี่ยงหรือขัดขืนได้ ผู้กระทำไม่มีความผิด

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 8 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดกระทำชำเราหรือกระทำอื่นใดเพื่อสำเร็จความใคร่ของตนเองหรือผู้อื่นแก่บุคคลอายุกว่าสิบห้าปีแต่ยังไม่เกินสิบแปดปีในสถานการค้าประเวณี โดยบุคคลนั้นจะยินยอมหรือไม่ก็ตาม ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่หนึ่งปีถึงสามปีและปรับตั้งแต่สองหมื่นบาทถึงหกหมื่นบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่งเป็นการกระทำแก่เด็กอายุไม่เกินสิบห้าปี ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สองปีถึงหกปีและปรับตั้งแต่สี่หมื่นบาทถึงหนึ่งแสนสองหมื่นบาท ถ้าการกระทำตามวรรคหนึ่งเป็นการกระทำต่อคู่สมรสของตน โดยมิใช่เพื่อสำเร็จความใคร่ของผู้อื่น ผู้กระทำไม่มีความผิด

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 9 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดเป็นธุระจัดหา ล่อไป หรือชักพาไปซึ่งบุคคลใดเพื่อให้บุคคลนั้นกระทำการค้าประเวณีแม้บุคคลนั้นจะยินยอมก็ตาม และไม่ว่าการกระทำต่าง ๆ อันประกอบเป็นความผิดนั้นจะได้กระทำภายในหรือนอกราชอาณาจักร ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่หนึ่งปีถึงสิบปีและปรับตั้งแต่สองหมื่นบาทถึงสองแสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง เป็นการกระทำแก่บุคคลอายุกว่าสิบห้าปีแต่ยังไม่เกินสิบแปดปี ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่ห้าปีถึงสิบห้าปีและปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งแสนบาทถึงสามแสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง เป็นการกระทำแก่เด็กอายุยังไม่เกินสิบห้าปี ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สิบปีถึงยี่สิบปีและปรับตั้งแต่สองแสนบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง วรรคสอง หรือวรรคสาม เป็นการกระทำโดยใช้อุบายหลอกลวง ขู่เข็ญ ใช้กำลังประทุษร้าย ใช้อำนาจครอบงำผิดคลองธรรม หรือใช้วิธีข่มขืนใจด้วยประการใด ๆ ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษหนักกว่าที่บัญญัติไว้ในวรรคหนึ่ง วรรคสอง หรือวรรคสาม หนึ่งในสาม แล้วแต่กรณี ผู้ใดเพื่อให้มีการกระทำการค้าประเวณี รับตัวบุคคลซึ่งตนรู้อยู่ว่ามีผู้จัดหา ล่อไป หรือชักพาไปตามวรรคหนึ่ง วรรคสอง วรรคสาม หรือวรรคสี่ หรือสนับสนุนในการกระทำความผิดดังกล่าว ต้องระวางโทษตามที่บัญญัติไว้ในวรรคหนึ่ง วรรคสอง วรรคสาม หรือวรรคสี่ แล้วแต่กรณี

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 11 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดเป็นเจ้าของกิจการการค้าประเวณี ผู้ดูแล หรือผู้จัดการกิจการการค้าประเวณีหรือสถานการค้าประเวณี หรือเป็นผู้ควบคุมผู้กระทำการค้าประเวณีในสถานการค้าประเวณี ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สามปีถึงสิบห้าปีและปรับตั้งแต่หกหมื่นบาทถึงสามแสนบาท ถ้ากิจการหรือสถานการค้าประเวณีตามวรรคหนึ่งมีบุคคลซึ่งมีอายุกว่าสิบห้าปี แต่ยังไม่เกินสิบแปดปีทำการค้าประเวณีอยู่ด้วย ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่ห้าปีถึงสิบห้าปีและปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งแสนบาทถึงสามแสนบาท ถ้ากิจการหรือสถานการค้าประเวณีตามวรรคหนึ่งมีเด็กอายุยังไม่เกินสิบห้าปีทำการค้าประเวณีอยู่ด้วย ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สิบปีถึงยี่สิบปีและปรับตั้งแต่สองแสนบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 12 พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการค้าประเวณี พ.ศ. 2539

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดหน่วงเหนี่ยว กักขัง กระทำด้วยประการใดให้ผู้อื่นปราศจากเสรีภาพในร่างกาย หรือทำร้ายร่างกาย หรือขู่เข็ญด้วยประการใด ๆ ว่าจะใช้กำลังประทุษร้ายผู้อื่นเพื่อข่มขืนใจให้ผู้อื่นนั้นกระทำการค้าประเวณี ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สิบปีถึงยี่สิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่สองแสนบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่งเป็นเหตุให้ผู้ถูกกระทำ (๑) ได้รับอันตรายสาหัส ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตลอดชีวิต (๒) ถึงแก่ความตาย ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษประหารชีวิต หรือจำคุกตลอดชีวิต ผู้ใดสนับสนุนในการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่งหรือวรรคสอง ต้องระวางโทษตามที่บัญญัติไว้ในวรรคหนึ่ง หรือวรรคสอง แล้วแต่กรณี ถ้าผู้กระทำความผิดหรือผู้สนับสนุนการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง เป็นพนักงานฝ่ายปกครองหรือตำรวจ หรือพนักงานเจ้าหน้าที่ หรือเจ้าหน้าที่ในสถานแรกรับหรือสถานคุ้มครองและพัฒนาอาชีพตามพระราชบัญญัตินี้ ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สิบห้าปีถึงยี่สิบปีและปรับตั้งแต่สามแสนบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

ข้อความทางการ

มาตรา 286แก้ไขเมื่อ 28 พฤษภาคม 2562

ข้อความเต็ม

ผู้ใดกระทำด้วยประการใด ๆ ดังต่อไปนี้ ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินยี่สิบปี และปรับไม่เกินสี่แสนบาท หรือจำคุกตลอดชีวิต (๑) ช่วยเหลือ ให้ความสะดวก หรือคุ้มครองการค้าประเวณีของผู้อื่น (๒) รับประโยชน์ไม่ว่ารูปแบบใดจากการค้าประเวณีของผู้อื่นหรือจากผู้ซึ่งค้าประเวณี (๓) บังคับ ขู่เข็ญ หลอกลวง หรือใช้อำนาจครอบงำผู้อื่น หรือรับผู้อื่นเข้าทำงานเพื่อการค้าประเวณี (๔) จัดให้มีการค้าประเวณีระหว่างผู้ซึ่งค้าประเวณีกับผู้ใช้บริการ (๕) ปกปิดหรืออำพรางแหล่งที่มาของรายได้หรือทรัพย์สินซึ่งได้มาจากการค้าประเวณี (๖) อยู่ร่วมกับผู้ซึ่งค้าประเวณีหรือสมาคมกับผู้ซึ่งค้าประเวณีคนเดียวหรือหลายคนเป็นอาจิณ และไม่สามารถแสดงที่มาของรายได้ในการดำรงชีพของตน (๗) ขัดขวางการดำเนินการของหน่วยงานที่ดูแลในการป้องกัน ควบคุม ช่วยเหลือ หรือให้การศึกษาแก่ผู้ซึ่งค้าประเวณี ผู้ซึ่งจะเข้าร่วมในการค้าประเวณี หรือผู้ซึ่งอาจได้รับอันตรายจากการค้าประเวณี ความในวรรคหนึ่ง (๒) และ (๖) มิให้ใช้บังคับแก่ผู้รับประโยชน์ไม่ว่ารูปแบบใดซึ่งพึงได้รับตามกฎหมายหรือตามธรรมจรรยา

ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)

มาตราพร้อมหมายเหตุของเราข้อความทางการ

Français

Article 4 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Définit notamment la prostitution, à savoir accepter un rapport sexuel ou tout autre acte, ou accomplir un acte, pour assouvir le désir sexuel d'autrui, par promiscuité contre rémunération ou autre avantage, quel que soit le sexe des personnes, ainsi que l'établissement de prostitution et les centres d'accueil et de protection.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 5 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Quiconque, à des fins de prostitution, aborde, sollicite, suit ou importune une personne dans la rue, un lieu public ou ailleurs, de façon ouverte et honteuse ou gênante pour le public, commet une infraction de phinai passible d'une amende de phinai n'excédant pas 1 000 bahts.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 6 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Se réunir dans un établissement de prostitution pour sa propre prostitution ou celle d'autrui est puni d'un mois d'emprisonnement au plus, de 1 000 bahts d'amende au plus, ou des deux. Aucune infraction en cas de contrainte ou de pouvoir irrésistible.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 8 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

En établissement de prostitution, acte sexuel sur personne de plus de 15 à 18 ans, même consentante: 1 à 3 ans et 20 000 à 60 000 bahts. Enfant de 15 ans au plus: 2 à 6 ans et 40 000 à 120 000 bahts. Exception: conjoint, hors plaisir d'autrui.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 9 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Procurer, attirer ou emmener une personne pour la prostitution, même consentante, au Royaume ou ailleurs: 1 à 10 ans; plus de 15 à 18 ans: 5 à 15 ans; 15 ans au plus: 10 à 20 ans, avec amendes. Tromperie ou contrainte: un tiers de plus. Receleur, complice: mêmes peines.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 11 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Propriétaire, surveillant ou gérant d'une activité ou établissement de prostitution, ou contrôleur des personnes prostituées: 3 à 15 ans et 60 000 à 300 000 bahts. Personne de plus de 15 à 18 ans s'y prostituant: 5 à 15 ans; 15 ans au plus: 10 à 20 ans, avec amendes.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 12 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539

Séquestrer, blesser ou menacer une personne pour la contraindre à se prostituer: 10 à 20 ans et 200 000 à 400 000 bahts. Blessures graves: perpétuité; décès: mort ou perpétuité. Complice: même peine. Agent administratif, policier ou de centre: 15 à 20 ans et 300 000 à 400 000 bahts.

résumé non officiel

Texte officiel

Article 286Modifié le 28 mai 2019

Jusqu'à 20 ans et 400 000 bahts, ou perpétuité, pour notamment aider ou protéger la prostitution d'autrui, en tirer profit, y contraindre, l'organiser, dissimuler ses revenus ou entraver les organismes compétents. Exception pour les bénéficiaires légaux ou moraux, points (2) et (6).

résumé non officiel

Notre article annotéTexte officiel

Supreme Court decisions

• 2417/2540 (1997): Where Penetration Does Not Occur the Offense Is Attempted Rape

Sources

• Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539, retrieved 31 October 2026
• Penal Code, Office of the Council of State, retrieved 31 October 2026
• deka.supremecourt.or.th, Supreme Court of Thailand decisions database (copy held in our library), retrieved 19 February 2026

The Offences Most Guides Leave Out

The 1996 Act is usually summarised as three offences: selling, buying and keeping a venue. It contains several more, and the ones left out are the ones that carry the heaviest sentences. Every figure below is read from the Thai text of the Act.

Procuring: section 9, and consent is no answer to it

Section 9 is the provision that reaches agents, recruiters and anyone who arranges the supply of people. It punishes procuring, luring or taking away any person so that they engage in prostitution, and it says two things that matter more than the headline penalty. The person’s consent is not a defence: the section applies “even though that person consents”. And it has extraterritorial reach, applying whether the acts constituting the offence were done inside or outside the Kingdom.

The penalty is 1 to 10 years and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 baht. Where the person procured is over fifteen but not over eighteen it rises to 5 to 15 years and 100,000 to 300,000 baht, and where the person is a child not over fifteen, to 10 to 20 years and 200,000 to 400,000 baht. Paragraph four then adds a further aggravation that is easy to trigger: where the act was done by deceit, threat, violence, undue influence or any form of coercion, the penalty is increased by one third.

Section 10 extends this to the family. A parent or guardian of a person aged eighteen or under who knows of a section 9 offence against the person in their charge and connives at it faces 4 to 20 years and 80,000 to 400,000 baht.

Coercion: section 12, the heaviest penalty in the Act

Section 12 covers detaining or confining another person, depriving them of liberty, causing them bodily harm, or threatening violence, in order to compel them into prostitution. The penalty is 10 to 20 years and 200,000 to 400,000 baht. If the victim suffers grievous bodily harm the penalty is life imprisonment; if the victim dies it is death or life imprisonment. A person who supports the offence is punished as the principal is.

The paragraph nobody quotes is the last one. Where the offender or the supporter is an administrative or police official, or an officer of a primary shelter or of a protection and occupational development centre under this Act, the sentence becomes 15 to 20 years and 300,000 to 400,000 baht. The statute anticipates that the people running the protective system may be the ones exploiting it, and punishes them more heavily for it.

Advertising: section 7

Section 7 punishes advertising or accepting advertising, and soliciting or introducing by document, printed matter or by making it public through any method, in a manner that can be seen to be a solicitation or contact for prostitution, one’s own or another person’s. The penalty is 6 months to 2 years, or a fine of 10,000 to 40,000 baht, or both. The words “by any method” are what carry it onto online listings and messaging apps, which is where this conduct now happens.

One consequence sits outside the penal scale entirely. Under section 13, where the parent or guardian of someone who commits a section 5, 6 or 7 offence has connived at their prostitution, the public prosecutor may apply, at the request of the Protection and Occupational Development Committee, for the removal of that parent’s or guardian’s parental power and the appointment of a replacement guardian, with the guardianship provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code applying to the appointment.

Penal Code and Prostitution Laws in Thailand

Living off the earnings of prostitution is dealt with by section 286 of the Penal Code. The whole section was repealed and replaced by the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 27) B.E. 2562, Royal Gazette volume 136 part 69 Kor, 27 May 2019, in force from 28 May 2019. It now lists seven separate ways of committing the offence, and the penalty for any of them is imprisonment not exceeding twenty years and a fine not exceeding four hundred thousand baht, or imprisonment for life.

The seven limbs are: assisting, facilitating or protecting the prostitution of another person; receiving a benefit in any form from another person’s prostitution or from a person who engages in prostitution; compelling, threatening, deceiving or unjustly influencing another person, or taking another person into employment, for the purpose of prostitution; arranging prostitution between a person who engages in prostitution and a client; concealing or disguising the source of income or property obtained from prostitution; habitually living or associating with one or more people who engage in prostitution while unable to show the source of the income one lives on; and obstructing an agency responsible for preventing or controlling prostitution or for assisting or educating the people caught up in it. The final paragraph excludes anyone receiving a benefit they are entitled to by law or by moral obligation, which is what keeps a sex worker’s dependent family outside the second limb

Two things about section 286 matter in practice. The fourth limb, arranging prostitution between a sex worker and a client, is what reaches an agent, a booker or a venue that puts the two in contact, and no money has to pass through that person’s hands for it to bite. And the old wording that punished a person over sixteen who lived off a prostitute’s earnings, together with the presumptions built around living with or habitually associating with a sex worker, has not been law since 28 May 2019. Any English summary still quoting a seven to twenty year term under section 286 is quoting a repealed provision.

The Penal Code has a wide rule against any indecent act with a child aged 15 or under. This rule includes child prostitution.  Section 279 of the Penal Code states:

“Whoever commits an indecent act on a child not over fifteen years of age, whether or not such child consents, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or fined not exceeding two hundred thousand Baht, or both.” Children are clearly protected by Thailand’s prostitution and sex trafficking laws.

Indecent Acts and the Age of Consent

The Penal Code in Thailand does not define what constitutes an “indecent act.”

Section 279 raises the penalty where the child is not over thirteen: imprisonment of one to ten years, or a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 baht, or both. A third paragraph of the same section raises it again, to one to fifteen years or a fine of 20,000 to 300,000 baht or both, where the act was committed by threat of any kind, by violence, while the child was in a state in which they could not resist, or by making the child mistake the offender for someone else

Section 277 of the Penal Code makes sexual intercourse with a child not over fifteen who is not the offender’s spouse an offence whether or not the child consents. The penalty is five to twenty years and a fine of 100,000 to 400,000 baht (Penal Code section 277). The provision has been gender neutral since the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 27) B.E. 2562, which also inserted the definition of sexual intercourse at section 1(18); English texts that still speak of a “girl” are quoting the pre-2019 wording.

Where the child is not over thirteen the penalty rises to seven to twenty years and a fine of 140,000 to 400,000 baht, or imprisonment for life. Two further paragraphs raise it again: ten to twenty years and a fine of 200,000 to 400,000 baht, or life, where the offender made the child believe he was carrying a firearm or an explosive, and life imprisonment where the offender carried a firearm or an explosive, used any weapon, or acted jointly with others in the manner of a gang rape.

The marriage exemption no longer exists. Until 2019 an offender could escape punishment under section 277 where the court permitted him to marry a child over thirteen but not over fifteen. The Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 27) B.E. 2562 repealed that paragraph outright and replaced it with something different: where the offender is himself not over eighteen and the child was over thirteen but not over fifteen and consented, the Juvenile and Family Court may order welfare protection measures under the child protection law instead of imposing punishment, and if those measures fail the court may still sentence below the statutory minimum. Marriage is not a route out of a section 277 prosecution, and since 23 January 2025 the door is narrower still, because section 1448 of the Civil and Commercial Code now requires both parties to have completed their eighteenth year unless a court permits an earlier marriage.

In Thailand the age of consent is fifteen. The provision is section 277, not section 279: section 277 covers sexual intercourse and section 279 covers indecent acts, and both apply whether or not the child consented. Above fifteen, consent does not close the question. Sections 282 and 283 punish procuring, luring or taking away a person of any age for an indecent purpose to gratify someone else, with the penalty stepping up where the person is over fifteen but not over eighteen and again where they are not over fifteen. Section 285 adds one third to the sentence where the victim was an ascendant, a descendant, a pupil in the offender’s care, or anyone under the offender’s control, guardianship or power. And sex with anyone aged eighteen or under in a prostitution establishment is separately an offence under section 8 of the 1996 Act, whatever the age of consent may be.

It is important to know that the age of consent is 15. However, other laws may also apply. These laws help protect minors and prevent exploitation.

Here are some important articles from laws about sex workers, human trafficking, and prostitution in Thailand.

• Thai Penal Code, Section 279: indecent act on a child not over fifteen, whether or not the child consents. Section 279 is not the intercourse provision; that is section 277.
• Thai Penal Code, Section 277: sexual intercourse with a child not over fifteen. “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a child not over fifteen years of age, who is not his own wife or her own husband, whether or not the child consents, shall be liable to imprisonment from five to twenty years and a fine from one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand baht. Where the offence under paragraph one is committed against a child not over thirteen years of age, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from seven to twenty years and a fine from one hundred and forty thousand to four hundred thousand baht, or to imprisonment for life.” Coercion against a person over fifteen is not section 277: it falls under section 276, or under sections 282 and 283 where the person was procured for another’s gratification.
• Child Protection Act (2003) section 4. “Child” means a person below 18 years of age, but does not include those who have attained majority through marriage.
• Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act B.E. 2551 (2008), section 4: “Child” means any person under eighteen years of age.”
• Civil Code of Thailand, specifies that majority is 20 years old (section 19) while marriage requires both parties to have completed their eighteenth year (section 1448). A court may permit an earlier marriage where there is appropriate cause, and a minor who marries needs the consent of the persons listed in section 1436 (section 1454). The minimum age was seventeen until 23 January 2025.

Who Sells Sex in Thailand, and Under What Pressures

Prostitution laws in Thailand have not worked to reduce commercial sex work. This helps us understand the effects on sex workers. Many people choose this profession or do it because of money issues. They often work in public places and brothels. Sex workers in Thailand face many challenges. These challenges are social, economic, and legal. They affect how much these workers rely on prostitution. This issue has been around for many years. A lot of the population agree that prostitution laws in Thailand need to change. The current laws do not match what the public thinks.

Prostitution remains prevalent, disregarding the current prostitution laws in Thailand. Many people choose to engage in commercial sex work for economic reasons or personal choice. This often happens in places like Pattaya, where the reliance on prostitution dating back decades is evident. The complexities faced by sex workers in Thailand encompass a range of social, economic, and legal factors. Many Thai citizens support changing the prostitution laws in Thailand. They want the laws to match public views on sex work. This includes jobs like sex workers, escorts, and bar prostitutes.

Economic factors greatly influence individuals’ decision to enter the realm of commercial sex work. Poverty, few job options, and the need to support families often push people into the sex trade. The promise of higher pay compared to other jobs is a big reason many people choose sex work.

Social stigma around commercial sex work creates problems for those in the industry. It makes it hard for them to meet clients’ sexual needs safely. Sex workers in Thailand often face ostracism, discrimination, and limited access to healthcare and social services. The marginalization of sex workers exacerbates their vulnerability to exploitation, violence, and abuse. Remember that religion can shape the believes and the behavior of a country. Prostitution laws in Thailand can be very different from those in other countries. They can also change from year to year.

Policing, Reform and the Position of Sex Workers

Prostitution laws in Thailand is a complicated problem for sex workers. They work in a gray area of the law and often face harassment and corruption from the police. It can be hard to tell if someone is doing sex work by choice or being forced into it. Sex workers need help and support if they are being mistreated or taken advantage of.

Soliciting stopped being a crime in 2023, and almost nobody has noticed

Section 5 is no longer a criminal offence. The Act on Conversion of Fines to Civil Penalties B.E. 2565 (Royal Gazette vol. 139 part 66 Kor page 22, 25 October 2022) lists the 1996 Act in its Schedule 1, and section 39 of that Act converts every fine-only criminal offence in a Schedule 1 law into a pinai offence, a civil penalty, once 365 days from publication have elapsed. The conversion therefore took effect on 26 October 2023. The 1,000 baht ceiling is unchanged, because section 39 deems the old criminal fine rate to be the new civil rate, but almost everything else about it is different: a state official or the court sets the amount on the facts, including the person’s economic circumstances (section 9); state agencies are forbidden to enter it in a criminal record (section 34); there is no detention in lieu of payment; and someone who offended out of severe poverty or dire necessity may ask for a figure below the statutory one, for community service instead, or for a warning with no fine at all (section 10). Section 6 is not converted, because it carries a month’s imprisonment as an alternative and section 41(1) excludes any offence carrying imprisonment.

The change reaches backwards as well. Section 46 provides that a person under a final judgment for an offence converted by section 39 ceases to be an offender and is deemed never to have been convicted of it; any detention in lieu of the fine ends, and an unpaid fine lapses. Section 47 then cancels the criminal record itself: it may not be used against the person, and the agencies holding it were required to delete the entry within 365 days of the conversion. A Thai national carrying an old section 5 conviction is entitled to have it gone.

What this does not do is legalise sex work. The conduct in section 5 is still prohibited and still penalised, and every other offence in the Act keeps its criminal character, its prison terms and its fines. What changed is the machinery applied to the section 5 offence.

Prostitution has been prohibited since the Prostitution Suppression Act of 1960, replaced by the present Act in 1996. The “up to 20 years” figure that circulates online is not what a sex worker faces. Selling sex by soliciting in public carries a civil penalty of up to 1,000 baht and nothing more, and since 26 October 2023 it is not a criminal offence at all. The long sentences in the Act attach to procuring, to running the establishment and to coercion, which is to say to the people around the sex worker rather than to the sex worker. Estimates of the number of people selling sex in Thailand range from about 100,000 to 400,000, and no official count exists.

There are groups and activists who are trying to protect the rights of sex workers in Thailand. They want to end the stigma, improve working conditions, provide healthcare, and make sure sex workers are legally protected.

Even though the government is trying to stop sex trafficking, it is still a big problem in Thailand. It is important for the police to work with international groups to stop sex trafficking. Changes are needed to deal with the economic, social, and legal issues related to prostitution laws in Thailand.

Venue Licensing: Where Enforcement Actually Happens

Almost every English article on this subject stops at the 1996 Act and the Penal Code. That is not where a bar, a massage parlour or a karaoke venue actually gets into trouble. Proceeding against an individual sex worker under section 5 produces a civil penalty of up to 1,000 baht and no criminal record. What closes a business is its licence.

An entertainment place, in Thai sathan borikan, is licensed under the Entertainment Places Act B.E. 2509 (1966), and ministerial regulations issued under it fix the categories of venue and the permitted opening hours. The most recent of those, the Ministerial Regulation Prescribing Opening and Closing Times of Entertainment Places (No. 2) B.E. 2566, signed on 21 August 2023 and published on 26 August 2023, lets venues inside the Eastern Aviation City promotion zone open twenty four hours.

Sitting on top of that licensing regime is Head of the National Council for Peace and Order Order No. 22/2558, dated 22 July 2015, Royal Gazette volume 132 special part 171 Ngor page 7, amended by Order No. 46/2559, Royal Gazette volume 133 special part 169 Ngor page 4. It is still in force. It is not among the orders repealed by the Act Repealing Certain Announcements and Orders of the National Council for Peace and Order B.E. 2568, whose schedule reaches orders 3, 4, 5, 23, 29 and 36 of 2558 but not order 22.

Clause 4 forbids the operator of an entertainment place, or of any premises operating in a manner similar to an entertainment place, from doing any of the following:

• allowing anyone under twenty years of age to use the premises;
• selling alcohol to anyone under twenty;
• opening beyond the hours the law allows;
• selling alcohol beyond the hours the law allows;
• allowing weapons, explosives or narcotics onto the premises;
• allowing an offence of human trafficking to be committed on the premises;
• allowing gambling on the premises.

The consequence is the part worth reading twice. Where any of those happens, the competent authority may revoke the licence, or order the premises closed and prohibit any entertainment place from operating at that address again for five years. A pending renewal is refused, and no new licence may be issued to that operator for five years. Where the venue stands near a school or a student dormitory the prohibition is permanent, and the liquor licence is revoked with it. Clause 4 then provides that the order is final, so there is no appeal against it. Reopening inside the five year ban is a separate offence under clause 6/1, punishable by up to one year, or a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both.

Two things follow for anyone operating or investing in a venue. The phrase premises operating in a manner similar to an entertainment place is deliberate: not holding a licence does not put a bar outside the Order, it puts it outside the protection of one. And clause 4(1) uses twenty years of age, not eighteen and not the age of consent. A venue that admits a nineteen year old customer has committed the breach that carries the five year closure, whether or not anything sexual took place there.

Running in parallel, section 11 of the 1996 Act reaches the owner, supervisor or manager of a prostitution establishment personally, at three to fifteen years and a fine of 60,000 to 300,000 baht, and section 286(1) and (4) of the Penal Code reaches anyone who assists, facilitates or protects another person’s prostitution or arranges it between a sex worker and a client. Those are the provisions under which the management, rather than the premises, is prosecuted.

What the Entertainment Places Act B.E. 2509 itself says, read in its consolidated Thai text (as amended to No. 5 B.E. 2560, with the fine-only offences converted to civil penalties by the 2022 Act on Conversion of Fines to Civil Penalties). Section 3 defines an entertainment place: a dance hall; a venue selling food or drink with hostesses to attend customers; a bath, massage or sauna establishment with staff serving customers, other than a licensed medical or health establishment; a venue where singers, performers or staff sit with customers, karaoke with staff singing with customers, or dancing on stage or at the tables; a venue with music or shows that closes after midnight; and any other place a ministerial regulation adds. Opening one without a licence, operating it while the licence is suspended, or running it outside the licensed category is punishable by up to one year, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both (section 26). A licensee may not employ anyone under eighteen (section 16(1)), and may not let anyone under twenty who does not work there in during opening hours, which means checking photo identification at the door (section 16/1); each of those is now a civil penalty of up to 50,000 baht (section 27), and either can cost the licence, since the official may refuse renewal, suspend or revoke it for any breach of the Act (section 21). Allowing an obscene show is up to three years, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both (section 28/3). A suspension or revocation can be appealed within fifteen days, to the national police chief in Bangkok and to the Permanent Secretary of the Interior elsewhere, and that decision is final (section 22). Order 22/2558 sits on top of all this and is the heavier instrument for a venue.

FAQs about Prostitution Laws in Thailand

Sources and Further Reading

The sections quoted above are reproduced in full, with commentary, in our annotated Penal Code, and the Supreme Court has applied section 277 in the two judgments below.

• Penal Code section 277, sexual intercourse with a child not over fifteen
• Penal Code section 279, indecent act on a child not over fifteen
• Penal Code section 286, living off the earnings of prostitution
• Supreme Court Decision 6336/2557, on what counts as an act falling within section 277 paragraph two
• Supreme Court Decision 2417/2540, on distinguishing attempted rape from an indecent act by the offender’s intention from the outset
• Age of consent in Thailand, which sets out the age rules these sections turn on
• Human trafficking under Thai law, the offence most often charged alongside the ones on this page
• Criminal law in Thailand, for how a prosecution actually proceeds
• Draft law to decriminalise sex work, reported March 2023. It has not been enacted.