Thailand August 2023 – Case Study

Over the last five years, our founder, Angela Francis, has visited Thailand and the Philippines multiple times of  to deepen her knowledge and understanding of the issue of child sexual exploitation, in particular child sex trafficking, in Southeast Asia. These visits have also provided an opportunity for her to identify and share best practice, as well as to exchange information and ideas with other entities. Valuable contacts and connections have been made and these collaborations continue today. 

Here, Angela shares her insights from her Thailand trip in August 2023.

Executive Summary

The Southeast Asian country of Thailand is home to a population of more than 66 million people, who are governed by a military dictatorship. According to Safe Child Thailand, it is also one of the most prolific places of child sexual exploitation in the world. The contributing factors of the issue are extreme poverty, and pornography, which in some cases leads to online child sexual exploitation. According to the Preda Foundation, it is estimated that approximately 7 million children are believed to be sexually exploited online or via contact offending across Thailand every year.

Context

During her trip, Angela visited charities involved in the challenge of child sexual exploitation, where she was able to learn from experts about this issue including the impact of child sexual exploitation on local communities. These charities included: 

• Fountain of Life Women and Children’s Centre (Good Shepherd Asia Pacific – Fountain of Life Children’s Center. Pattaya Thailand), 
• Tamar Center, Pattaya, Thailand (Outreach | tamarcenter )
• Wildflower Home (Home – Wildflower Home Foundation Chiang Mai )

The sheer volume of children trafficked for sex in Thailand was beyond shocking, especially as the practise is widely accepted and has become ‘normalised.’ It is evident that the protection of the most vulnerable is not an urgent concern of the kingdom of Thailand.

Having been to Thailand previously, Angela was interested in visiting the sex capital of Thailand  – Pattaya. All of Pattaya is a red-light district, with the worst areas being Tree Town, Walking Street and Soi 6. Angela visited all of these places.

Prostitution is currently illegal in Thailand and a law decriminalising prostitution was being drafted in 2023. The national police commissioner recently instructed every police station to control the bars and clubs. This does not seem to be happening.

Observations

The noticeably young age of the children involved in this illegal sex trafficking activity was shocking. Whilst child sexual exploitation is underground, children as young as 12 were working in the bars. These young girls are paraded within the bars -this was normalised, endemic and a huge tourist attraction.

Angela observed that vast numbers of Western men, ranging in age from 40 to 70 years of age, were actively seeking to participate in the trade. The fee for one hour with a young girl or boy was between NZ$50-$100. Blatant live sex shows were on offer for NZ$15. During this time, Angela was approached many times to buy sex in any  form, and it was a hard sell. She was given a menu of what was available which included a young girl and boy having sex. Angela noticed that the children appeared to be  dissociated and were frequently flicked with a brush, by the Madam to keep them alert and dancing.

The Soi 6 district is only 300m long, but on their main strip there were approximately 800 working girls. This number can  increase to 1,500 girls in peak season. The girls get two days off per month and they have to sit in the bar, on all other days from 11am to 3am. They are required to service 30 men per month and sell 200 drinks per month (in payment, they receive a third of the cost of every drink). If the girls don’t sit at the bar, they  have 50% deducted  from their payment as a penalty. Most of the bars are  controlled by the Chinese mafia. The Manager rules the bar, and the Madam rules the girls.

To request a young child for sex, a connection with the paedophile rings, gangs or mafia is needed. Online child sexual exploitation is also a common way for children to be sexually exploited

In the areas that Angela visited, abject poverty was evident. 

Lessons Learnt:

• Interfering with an illegal profit margin will take significant effort
• The apparent willingness of the Government to turn a blind eye. For example, the Mayor of Pattaya, when visiting Walking Street denied prostitution exists, and instead indicated it is about developing relationships
• It is up to the Thai people to lead the charge against this scourge on their society. 

In summary

In comparison with other countries, Thailand is considered to be a child sexual exploitation hot spot.

Many local charities exist and  do fantastic work including: Lift international; A21, Wildflower Home; Tamar Centre; Human Health Network; Fountain of Life Children’s and Women’s centre. 

The Fountain of Life Children’s and Women’s centre run classes and life skills such as English and German language, hairdressing, massage, computer skills as well as crafts. The centre is well structured, organised and well established. The Tamar centre helps young, trafficked girls to escape, providing them with five months training,  putting them in paid employment and arranging housing for them. The centre also provides life skills, a language school, hairdresser, bakery, and a restaurant. They also provide outreach and teach free English classes.