The sex worker rights group Empower Foundation has formally proposed a bill to parliament repealing the 1996 anti-sex work law and outlining protection for sex workers.

A campaign was launched in March 2025 to collect signatures for the bill. It was submitted to parliament on 28 May 2026, after gaining 11,765 signatures. 

Tanta Laowilawanyakul, coordinator for the Empower Foundation, said that the 1996 anti-prostitution law is outdated. She argues that the law, which makes sex work a crime even though transactions are consensual, puts sex workers at risk of exploitation and discrimination. She believes that the 1996 law should be repealed, but because it involves a sensitive issue that concerns several groups including customers and business owners, she thinks that a new law needs to be drafted to ensure everyone’s safety. The bill would protect customers and workers, ensuring that the latter receive protection under labour laws. 

She added that the bill is not meant to encourage sex work but rather to decriminalise it so that sex workers receive the same fundamental rights as people in other occupations.