The Civic-Minded Sex King

Chuwit acknowledges that in the West, a man such as he wouldn’t stand a chance in politics. But he reckons he’ll be rewarded for pointing fingers. Thai culture traditionally places great value on avoiding conflict and maintaining Jai Yen – a cool heart. “Thailand needs someone like me,” he says, “someone who is not afraid to talk.”

So far, the promised government “crackdown” on massage parlours has hit only Chuwit. Undercover cops visited his establishments one September night, had sex with several women, zipped back up, then whipped out their badges.

Yet all his establishments continue to operate. Chuwit says that if politicians seriously wanted to ban sex in massage parlours they could simply stop issuing licences to pleasure palaces such as his. But he predicts that both prostitution and corruption will continue to be a part of everyday life in Thailand. You cannot stop people from buying sex, because, he says, “it takes five, ten minutes to do it.” And how can corruption be seriously tackled when almost everybody is involved?