gisw13_chapters

thailandThai cyber sexuality: Liberation, empowerment and suppressionThai Netizen NetworkChutimas Suksai and Thaweeporn Kummethawww.thainetizen.orgIntroductionThai women can be said to enjoy more equalitythan women in other countries in the region. Forinstance, Thailand is now ruled by its first femaleprime minister. Premarital sex, though taboo in conversation,is actually common. Thailand is also wellknown for its tolerance. Despite this, the society isdominated by patriarchal values, firmly held by theolder generation. There is a lack of legal recognitionfor the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender(LGBT) community, which is heavily stigmatisedby the media. As a result of social norms, sexualitiesare not openly discussed in Thai society exceptwithin the narrow frame of reproductive health andsexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, andmost formal sex education discourses involve abstinence-basedapproaches to prevent STIs and teenpregnancy.Cyberspace has been a new frontier to addressthe emerging issues and to challenge theabstinence-based approaches through directcommunication with teens and young adults –particularly women and teenage girls – as well asparents who seek information, advice and peer recommendationsor just want to talk with someonewho shares the same situation.Policy and political background“Public morality” plays a key role in Thai law asseveral sexual practices are considered to contravenepublic morality. In the name of publicmorality, prostitution, pornography, sex toys,swinging, group sex, swinger clubs, as well assome forms of kink, are illegal under the CriminalCode in Thailand and penalised with up to 15 yearsof prison. Nevertheless, the law is not strictlyenforced: such services and products are easilyfound on the streets of Bangkok.The current Thai constitution (2007) doesnot clearly stipulate respect for sexual orientation.However, the charter has a broad prohibitionagainst “unfair” discrimination based on “personalstatus” – although the civil liberties it respects mustbe in accordance with “public morality” and nationalsecurity.The Thai Computer Crime Act (CCA) also bannedpornographic sites and information related to themin the name of public morality. From 2007 to 2012,the Thai authorities blocked access to 23,456 websiteswith obscene content. 1 Under the CCA anyonewho posts immoral or obscene information orpornography on the internet can face a maximumimprisonment of five years or a fine of not more thanUSD 32,000 or both.The internet as a tool to help sexual well-beingRelationship counselling is not popular and rarelyavailable in Thailand because social norms dictatethat sexualities and sexual well-being are nottopics for discussion even with spouses, parentsor doctors. The internet provides an anonymousconnection to various online resources, includingsocial media sites and web boards, to answerquestions on sexual health and sexualities in anauthoritative way. Some websites also provideonline counselling or advice. Women and youngpeople can openly discuss sexual and reproductivehealth and get primary counselling on varioustopics, from STIs, to planned and unplanned pregnancy,to sexual pleasure. For example, sexualhealth Q&A websites run by doctors or medicalpersonnel can substitute for professional sex andrelationship counselling services, given that theseare scarce. The internet also helps to complementsexual and relationship counselling columnsfound in newspapers or magazines with interactiveforums. For example, middle-aged women postquestions on how to improve their boring sex liveswith their husbands on one of the most popularpublic web forums in Thailand, Pantip.com. Thissite has a Suan Lum 2 sub-forum created specificallyfor discussion on sexual health and an 18+sign is used to signify that the content is for adultsonly. Several members are medical doctors and experienced,knowledgeable users. Meanwhile, “CanI get pregnant from ....?” may be one of the most1 freedom.ilaw.or.th/sites/default/files/2012Statistic.pdf2 pantip.com/forum/lumpini225 / Global Information Society Watch