Thai Civilized Party MP Mongkolkit Suksintharanon is pushing hard to make prostitution legal in Thailand, along with adult sex toys to help combat a growing trend of rape cases across the country.
Mr Mongkolkit is an adviser and a member of a House committee tasked to tackle the problem of rape in the country.
The MP plans on formally bringing up the idea to the committee and government as a whole, an idea that has been debated for many years at the highest level of government but has been shot down numerous times by conservative politicians.
Prostitution in Thailand has been a taboo subject to many, with some ultra-conservative Thai leaders and law enforcement even going as far as to claim there is no prostitution in the country, which liberal leaders say is simply not true and that instead prostitution is often viewed as the so-called “elephant in the room”, with many leaders too embarrassed to discuss the reality or even claiming they will wipe out prostitution entirely. Critics say this is an impossible task and is not realistic.
The House committee says it will take a look at all proposals to deal with sex crimes before submitting its own proposals for a new bill in July.
The media has recently reported several high-profile rape cases, including one case involving 7 people that were identified as neighbours and relatives of the victim.
This has also led to calls for the government to introduce chemical castration as a deterrent to would-be rapists.
