Survey reveals most respondents oppose legalising pornography in Thailand

A new survey is revealing that a majority of respondents oppose legalising pornography in Thailand. The National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, conducted the survey over the phone between November 22nd and the 24th. The 18 years of age and older respondents with varying levels of education and occupations seemed to point towards a vast majority of Thais opposing such hedonistic entertainment outlets, including the production of pornography videos.

Although a survey over this subject matter could receive some not-so-truthful responses, the Nida Poll asked respondents if they have ever viewd pornography. The answer was that over half, or 54.14% said ‘no.’ 45.78% said ‘yes.’ The rest apparently weren’t interested in answering or weren’t interested.

The survey also revealed that 56.5% of respondents reported that they had viewed porn videos, while 43.5% said they had not.

When asked if they favour the production of pornographic videos, 77.04% said they strongly opposed it as they thought children and youth would become preoccupied with sex.

The same group of respondents also felt that such materials were immoral, since Thailand is a Buddhist country, with such videos possibly leading to more sex-related crimes and/or harrassment. A minority of 20.53% said they agree with legalising pornography, citing the modern times’ shift in allowing the production more liberal subjects.

In recent years, Thailand’s government has banned such adult content websites as PornHub, and other sites in an effort to crackdown on pornography. The digital minister says the ban is part of the efforts to restrict such material as it is prohibited by the country’s cybercrime laws.

On November 16th, a group of people went to parliament and submitted a proposal to the House Speaker’s office calling on the legalisation of sexually explicit videos as well as sex toys. The group also included the 19 year old OnlyFans content creator who had been arrested on pornography charges.

The arrest of the OnlyFans content creator back in September drew criticism and sparked a renewed debate on whether pornography should be legalised. Many former bar girls or prostitutes have made the switch to OnlyFans after bars and entertainment venues were shuttered in Thailand due to the Covid pandemic.

OnlyFans is a subscription based website where content creators can make money off those who subscribe. It’s widely known for being used to sell and distribute sexually explicit content.

Under Section 287 of Thailand’s Criminal Code, the trade of material considered “obscene” carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and an up to 6,000 baht fine. The group that went to parliament, proposed to amend Section 287.

SOURCE: Chiang Rai Times