r/nottheonion • u/novagridd • 6h ago

Thailand's Prostitution Patrol on High Alert as 5,000 US Sailors Drop Ship After 200 Days at Sea

https://www.fashiontimes.co.uk/pattaya-police-intensify-prostitution-patrols-us-navy-visit-1763395
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285

u/Piggy145145 6h ago

I thought it was legal there

Edit read the article turns out despite being known a sex tourism place it is not in fact legal in Thailand .

121

u/21Rollie 4h ago

One of those things where it being de jure illegal but de facto legal is the best of both worlds for the state. You can get easy legal dirt on people, whilst still benefiting from the economic activity it generates, and not needing to protect the workers who make it possible.

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u/HotZilchy 3h ago

First time hearing if the term de jure before. Thanks

5

u/whimz33 1h ago

That's my favorite type of soup

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u/Prof_Acorn 1h ago

An example in the US would be going 1-to-5 mph over the speed limit. De jure illegal. De facto legal via lack of enforcement and commonality of the practice.

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u/APRengar 1h ago

For anyone who wants to learn something new today.

De Jure = "By Law" - What the law says

De facto = "In Fact" - Regardless of what the law says, this is the actual truth

So, de jure president between 2001-2009 was George W. Bush , but the de facto president between 2001-2009 was actually Dick Cheney.

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u/No_Internal9345 3h ago

The "prostitution patrol" is more like make sure everyone is playing nice and fair patrol.

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u/magnus_the_coles 2h ago

Wouldn't the state get more money by taxing legal brothels though?

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u/catechizer 1h ago

Probably evens out if they're issuing fines.

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u/Treewithatea 57m ago

Making it legal would massively benefit the workers and in theory your police spends less time and effort on those things.

But as a half Thai myself, Thai politics are seriously terrible, its hardly a surprise every neighbouring country is experiencing more economic growth than Thailand

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u/NSRedditShitposter 1h ago

What’s an externality?