In this joint submission for Thailand’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Empower Foundation and sex worker and rights advocate Sirisak Chaited demonstrates how sex workers in Thailand continue to face systemic human rights violations, severe economic disenfranchisement, and widespread police extortion despite state claims of legislative progress. Although the implementation of the 2022 Act on Imposition of Pinai Regulatory Fines was intended to reduce solicitation penalties to administrative fees, law enforcement officers routinely bypass these changes through entrapment and alternative charges, such as public nuisance or Computer Act violations, to demand steep bribes from workers under threat of prosecution. Furthermore, the Thai government abruptly halted a three-year participatory process to pass the civil-society-backed Sex Workers Protection Act, replacing it with an unannounced draft law that preserves criminal liability and prioritizes state control over rights protection.

This persistent criminalization denies sex workers, particularly LGBTIQ+ individuals and migrant workers, access to fundamental labor rights, social security, occupational safety standards, and avenues for legal redress. Aligning with explicit recommendations from the UN CEDAW Committee and international UPR obligations, this submission calls on the Thai government to fully decriminalize sex work by repealing the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996), advance participatory legislation that recognizes sex workers under standard labor laws, expunge past criminal records, and establish accountability for law enforcement misconduct.