EMPOWER

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EMPOWER (Education Means Protection Of Women Engaged in Recreation) or Moolniti Songserm Okard Pooying is a non-profit community organisation in Thailand that supports sex workers; it offers free classes in language, health, law and pre-college education as well as individual counseling to these people. The organisation also lobbies the government in an attempt to extend regular labour protections to sex workers.

Unlike most Thai organisations operating in this field, EMPOWER takes a neutral stance towards sex work and does not pressure people into leaving the trade. Partly because of this, EMPOWER receives little financial support from the Thai government; the bulk of the donations come from abroad.

EMPOWER was founded in 1985 by Chantawipa Apisuk; she still runs the head office in Nonthaburi Province. The organisation maintains main offices in Patpong (Bangkok), Chiang Mai and Mae Sai.

EMPOWER publishes a Thai language newsletter called "Bad Girls" which allows sex workers to express themselves.

At the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok in 2004, EMPOWER set up a mock go go bar complete with a dancer to highlight efforts to increase condom use among sex workers; this was criticised by by then Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan.

Shortly after the tsunami of December 2004, EMPOWER opened an office in Patong Beach, Phuket; in September 2005 they started a radio programme for sex workers there.