BANGKOK, Thailand—International prostitutes, union organizers, researchers and others have gathered to try and legalize commercial sex worldwide, but a California stripper said Thailand was too shy to even discuss the issue openly.

Hailed as an "international seminar on the sex industry in the Asia-Pacific region," guests mingled at various venues, including upstairs above the Super Pussy bar on Bangkok's red-light Patpong Road, where the seminar's Thai organizers offer classrooms for hookers who want to learn English and other skills.

Delegates from 12 countries, including the United States, attended the conference which was organized by Bangkok-based Empower, a non-government human rights group for prostitutes.

Thai police, however, emphasized prostitution is illegal in this Southeast Asian nation and warned any Thais who appeared at the seminar — scheduled for November 15 to 19 — could later be arrested if found working in a nightclub or massage parlor.

The conference offered "all of the information about sex work and sex workers," announced Empower's founder, Chanthavipa Apisuk.

"It is not a personal issue, it is not a country issue, but it is a global issue and it is known to the world," she said.

"Our voices have been heard by the whole society and throughout the world.

"Many people are asking questions like, 'What do you expect will change?' So we would like to answer: 'Sex workers will change the whole world, from today.'"

Chanthavipa's slogan was gleefully cheered by prostitutes and others inside the classroom where Empower and international delegates met journalists amid a display of photographs, pamphlets, t-shirts and bits of memorabilia from prostitution groups in Sydney, San Francisco and elsewhere.

"We are everywhere. And we are together," Chanthavipa added.

Jenifer Wanous, a 21-year-old American delegate, said she found big differences between prostitution in Thailand compared with the sex industry in the United States.

"I'm doing an internship at Empower, Bangkok, and it's part of a field study program at my university, which is University of California at Santa Cruz," Wanous said, referring to her quest for a bachelor's degree in "community studies."

In an interview at the Empower reception, Wanous said, "Coming here has definitely sparked my interest in organizing sex workers all around the world, because there is definitely a lot of work to be done.

"Working at Empower has helped me to start to learn how that happens. Empower is well-known for its organizing efforts.

"I've done sex work in San Francisco at the Lusty Ladies.

"Its a unionized strip club on Kearny. I worked there for about a year. I'm still technically employed there.

"And I did peep shows, and private shows, and things like that.

"Its a full nudity place, so you can't drink or anything. Its a hands-off peep show type thing."

Wanous said she earned up to 80 US dollars an hour "for different shows, like masturbation, orgasm, things like that.

"It's really just how much you could get from the men. It's not really involving exactly what you do," she added.

"I wouldn't be opposed to the idea" of eventually becoming a prostitute and having sex with clients, she said, smoothing her curly copper-colored hair.

"We'll see how my profession advances. Maybe that's what I'll be when I grow up."

Her stint at Empower and the seminar enabled her to compare sex work in both countries.

"I've been here for five months and I have one more month, and then I go back" to America, she said.

In Thailand, "it's a really different way of sex work. Like here it's a hushed issue.

"And even if the issues are talked about, they are not talked about in specific terms in Thailand.

"In the States, people will talk about it openly. Like this magazine," she said, indicating a vivid, cartoon-like "zine" written by American prostitutes to explain their job in a humorous way.

"This one was published in the States. And it's like, this woman is obviously, you know, it's like something that's in your face.

"In Thailand, this would never be out. Because people would blush or laugh at the sight of it.

"That's a major difference I found. I tried to put together the newsletter for Empower but my ideas were totally, you know, I came at it from a cultural stance that wasn't sensitive" to the image Empower and other Thais wanted to project, she said.

"It was too much. Like talking about specific sex workers' stories, like sex explicitly, and things like that."

For example, her suggestion for "a cartoon drawing of, like, women who wear lingerie and are spread-eagle, or different things like that," was not allowed into Empower's newsletter, she said.

"And maybe abortion, or different issues which are very political here. There's still a lot of work to be done here.

"Granted, there is still a lot of work to be done everywhere. This is what this seminar is about."

Enlightening Thai prostitutes about sexually transmitted diseases was also difficult for Wanous, compared with conversations she had with colleagues back in America.

In Thailand, "I had some trouble at first talking about STDs and HIV prevention and condom usage, because it's something that — as much as Empower is known for health education and everything — it's not easy to talk about, even with sex workers.

"Culturally, it's like, just hard to talk about. And you have to get to know (Thai) people and have a comfortability level before you can get to start talking about things like that.

"In the States, I feel they talk about it in the schools, so you can openly discuss issues like that.

"I think it is a different ball game.

"It is also really easy for the women to get exploited here, especially because of where they come from, economically."

Both nations, however, do share "common issues," including "exploitation, class issues" and other financial concerns.

"But it is a whole different dynamic here.

"You have the tourists and the go-go bars, and then the dark alleys for Thai men," who usually avoid Patpong Road's neon and prefer much cheaper brothels.

Thai and foreign men also experience a friendlier ambiance when engaging a sex worker in Thailand, compared with a sometimes impersonal, business-like negotiation common in the United States, Wanous noted.

"Like here, especially in the Patpong area, I think it's a lot less explicit.

"You can't go in and necessarily be like, 'oh, hey, you wanna fuck?' or something like that, because you have to buy a woman a drink, do different things, and take her out or whatever, and negotiate a price.

"I don't know if that's a cultural stigma that the Thai women have, that they're more virgin-like and they have to be talked into it, or brought into it gently."

Compared with America, in Thailand "it's not so cut and dry. Maybe the women will spend the night with them."

In the United States, "the women are not necessarily hoping for 'the Pretty Woman dream' to come true. It's just like, 'this is what I've gotta do right now, so let's just get it over with'.

"Here in Thailand, it's more like maybe a potential to come into something else, like a marriage. If not a marriage, then to get enough money from this man to send to their family.

Reflecting on her work in San Francisco, she added, "Professionally, personally speaking, it has been more of a cut and dry thing for me, because it is like a paycheck, and you do what you do, professionally, while you're there.

"Like you're not going to take your work home with you. That has worked better for me than if you get too involved emotionally."

In America, "guys all go out, and get riled up, and have a few drinks, and then go and see those women, but they are not wanting to take her on a vacation with them" — which is relatively common among male tourists who sometimes travel with a local prostitute while holidaying at Thailand's tropical beaches or tribal zones.

The sex industry, meanwhile, needs to be legalized worldwide to liberate females who are victimized by the business, and benefit women who enjoy the job, she said.

"There are victims. But there are also people who make the conscious choice of it.

"For me, speaking of myself, I made that decision. I had other choices. It's something that I enjoy doing.

"I like the people that I was working with, and it was easy work, for me.

"It's not easy for a lot of people, of course. But there are a lot of women who choose to.

"I know a woman in Santa Cruz who does favors for her dentist, or whatnot, and everybody else who she can get something out of, as a trade.

"And she likes doing it, you know, something that she enjoys doing. And I think that is the case for a lot of women, who it's not forced upon.

"I think when they make the choice, that's when they can enjoy it.

"If the stigma was removed or if it was lessened — like what we are trying to do now — it should be a viable option for women, and it should be a respected profession.

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Richard S. Ehrlich has a Master's Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, and is the co-author of the classic book of epistolary history, "HELLO MY BIG BIG HONEY!" -- Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews.

His web page is located at http://www.oocities.org/asia_correspondent and he may be reached by email: animists *at* yahoo dot com