However, the government is trying to change that practice. Associated Press says the country has launched a campaign offering cash to men if they promise not to pay for sex from prostitutes after year-end office parties.

The move is aimed at changing the party culture in a male-dominated society by winning commitments from male employees to abstain from hiring prostitutes after the party is over, said an official at the Gender Equality and Family Ministry.

A total 4.6 million won (Bt176,000) will be paid to companies based on the largest number of volunteers who sign a written pledge, said the official. South Korea has stepped up its crackdown on prostitution since 2004, when the legislature passed new anti-prostitution laws targeting human traffickers, pimps and prostitutes. Still, the practice remains widespread.

A government-funded study showed South Korea's sex industry generated 4.1 per cent of the country's gross domestic product in 2002 and employed 330,000 women.

It may surprise you to learn that many Thai men also buy sex after parties. Those girls under the shade of the tamarind trees at Sanam Luang are not always there just to enjoy the park. Some of them are so eager that whenever a car cruises by, they make all sorts of gestures.

Perhaps the Culture Ministry should be allocated some money to discourage these transactions, if only to help prevent the spread of dangerous social diseases. Certainly the campaign would be more than welcome, particularly among wives, although the ladies of the night might have a different view.

achara_d@nationgroup.com