In Chiang Mai’s Santitham district, known as a budget-friendly red-light district, a Shan man worked as a sex worker in host bars, drinking with customers and going out with them. But just before the New Year, he lost his job after contracting a sexually transmitted disease. It was not HIV, but it meant he became unemployed.

For his safety and privacy, he is referred to as “04”. It was his number at one of the bars he worked at. In these bars, hosts have a number they wear on their outfits, which varies depending on where they are working that night.

After almost a month of unemployment, 04 contacted a Chiang Mai resident for help with his medical fees. The resident reached out to sex worker and migrant worker rights groups in Chiang Mai for assistance and took him to a hospital on 3 January. He was examined, treated, and told to come back for a follow-up appointment a few days later.

04 (on the wheelchair) during his hospital visit

We met 04 at the hospital during his follow-up appointment. The 20-year-old has tattoos along his arms and legs. His hair is dyed bright orange.

“I think I’m going to dye my hair a new colour,” he told us. The young man was not talkative, but still has the conversational skill of a host. Fortunately, the doctor told him his condition is treatable. The resident paid his bill as no organization has so far taken his case.

04 spent all day at the hospital – such is the nature of public hospital visits in Thailand. While waiting for his ride, he told us that he was not trafficked and started working as a ‘host’ of his own volition.

Living in Shan State, 04 was ordained as a novice monk when he was 9 years old. At the age of 18, as the oldest son with 2 younger brothers, he left the monkhood so he could work and take care of his family. Soon after, his father was drafted into the army.

04 came to Chiang Mai and found work in the service industry. He worked as a server in a grilled pork restaurant, where he was required to work from 4 in the afternoon to 1.30 the next morning for 260 baht. After 3 – 4 months, he quit his restaurant job and started working in host bars, where the pay was better and the work lighter.

In the bars, he worked from 10 pm to 5 am. The men are paid by the number of drinks their customers order. 04 said he has worked at several bars in Chiang Mai. At some, he only stayed a few months. At others, where the pay is good and paid on time, he stayed longer.

Before he got sick, 04 worked in the Santitham district. Among Chiang Mai residents, it is known that white tourists go to bars on Loi Kroh Road, while Thais frequent the budget-friendly bars in Santitham, where drinks do not cost much and most workers are migrants trying to make a living.

04's tattoos

04 was not an employee at these bars in that the owners did not pay his wage. He made money from the drinks his customers bought, and the bars took a cut. If a drink costs 250 baht, the bar takes 50 and he takes the rest. He could make as much as a full day of work at the grilled pork restaurant from one drink.

“At the grilled pork place the work is harder. Working at the bars, if you ask me if it’s tiring, it is, but working there is better,” he said. “At the restaurant, I get 2 days off, but the bar gives me 5 days off and I can take them whenever I want. The work is also a different kind. I have to observe the customers to see if they like to play games. If they do, then I would take them to play. The most drinks I ever got was 30 in one hour, and the customer wanted to keep going, but on any day I don’t get a drink at all, then I don’t make any money. like working for free.”

“Living in Thailand, if you don’t have money, you can’t go anywhere. It’s like migrants need to have money all the time.”

He said that working at the bar is more flexible. Customers sometimes contact him for “entertainment” gigs, where he is paid 500 baht per hour, but sometimes, these gigs put him at risk of assault. He said he was once hired to entertain a group of Thai men with a group of other workers. That night, the customer tried to drag him into a room and pressured him for sex, but he refused, so the customer did not pay him. At another gig, a Chinese customer told him he would receive an additional 2000 baht if he used drugs with him. And at another, a customer made him drink until he passed out and only came to when another worker woke him up and called him a ride home.

04 said he didn’t like it when customers grope him. If he likes a customer, he said, then they could talk about sex, but he didn’t like it when some customers tried to pressure him into it by grabbing or trapping him in a room.

Working at the bars, 04 said he sent 5000-6000 baht home to his mother. He said that before he got sick, he was considering going to Bangkok, as he was told that a Shan sex worker who wants to make good money should go to Bangkok or Pattaya, where there are a lot of Chinese customers. Now, he plans to go home after completing his treatment. His work permit has expired, and he has to go back to Myanmar to renew his documents. He also said that if he comes back to Thailand again, he would not work in a host bar anymore. His mother doesn’t like him being involved in sex work, while he feels that he has been drinking too much and didn’t like being harassed by the customers.

On 9 January, his youngest brother died suddenly. He said that his father was allowed a 4-hour leave from the army for the funeral and did not have enough time to even stop by the family’s home. With his middle brother ordained as a novice monk, his mother is home alone. He plans to go home immediately after he has seen his doctor for the remaining two follow-up appointments. The sex worker rights group Empower Foundation have found some funding to cover part of his medical bills. The Chiang Mai resident who took him to the hospital covered the rest, as no NGO in Chiang Mai currently works directly with male sex workers.

When asked if he is worried about being drafted into the army if he goes back to Shan State, 04 said “They already took my father. They probably won’t take me too.”