Prostitution is basically a by-product of unjust economic and
social structures and most obviously a complete form of gender
oppression. Although the phenomenon is well-known in Thailand, few
Thai people talk about it openly. Today Thai feminists and Buddhist
social activists are beginning to speak up and defend the rights of their
mothers, sisters, and daughters, reminding society that prostitution
represents a distortion of traditional cultural values and is caused by
modern structural poverty.5 Prostitution and other economic, social,
and political problems must become part of a new systematic code
of Buddhist social ethics—the core of Buddhist liberation theology—
which addresses the whole range of national issues, including human
rights, drug abuse, economic exploitation, patriarchy, and environmental
degradation.