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Factbook on Global Sexual
Exploitation
Thailand
Trafficking
Around 80,000
women and children have been sold into Thailand's sex idustry since 1990, with most coming
from Burma, China's Yunan province and Laos. Trafficked children were also found on
construction sites and in sweatshops. In 1996, almost 200,000 foreign children, mostly
boys from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, were thought to be working in Thailand. (Mahidol
University's Institute of Population and Social Research, "Trafficking of children on
the rise," Bangkok Post, 22 July 1998)
Pattaya has a multi-billion dollar multinational sex industry with links
to drug trafficking, money laundering and an expanding regional cross-border traffic in
women. (Mark Baker, "Sin city can’t shake vice’s grip," Sydney
Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)
In Thailand, trafficking is a Bt500 billion annual business, which is 50%- 60% of the
government's annual budget and more lucrative than the drug trade. (Authorites and
activists, Kulachada Chaipipat, "New law targets human trafficking," The
Nation, 30 Novermber 1997)
Twenty years ago, Thailand was in the forefront as a sending country for trafficked
women. Thailand has now become a destination country, receiving women from Russia,
Yugoslavia, Poland, and the Czech and Slovak Republics, South America. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Women from Thailand are trafficked particularly to the Netherlands and Germany of the
European Union, Japan, Austrlia, India, Malaysia and nations of the Middle East.
("Trafficking of Women to the European Union: Characterisitics, Trends and Policy
Issues," European Conference on Trafficking in Women, (June 1996), IOM, 7 May 1996)
and (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
The internal traffic of Thai females consists mostly of 12-16 year olds from hill
tribes of the North/ NorthEast. Most of the internally trafficked girls are sent to closed
brothels, which operate under prison-like conditions. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking
in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Thousands of women from
rural Thailand, China, Laos, Burma and Cambodia are sold to brothels in Bangkok or in
other countries by unscrupulous "job brokers," who often operate in organized
international syndicates. ("Survival the name of the game," Bangkok Post,
3 July 1998)
One million women from Burma, southern China, Laos, and Vietnam have been trafficked
into Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific "Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the
Asia Pacific" (17)
In 1996, foreign women made up the majority of prostitutes in 40
sex establishments in 18 border provinces that are brothels masquerading as karaoke bars,
restaurants and traditional massage parlours. In some venues, there are no Thai women at
all. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol
University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in
Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee
Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)
Large numbers of women and children from neighbouring countries are lured into
prostitution and trafficked through the four Thai borders: Chiang Rai, Ranong and Mae Hong
Son at the Burmese border, Trat and Sa Kaew at the Cambodia border, Mukdahan and Nong Khai
at the Lao border and Yala and Narathiwat at the Malaysian border. (Wanlop Phloytaptim,
Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1
May 1997)
In mid-1997 an increasing number of young girls, more than 60% of which are under 18
years old, were entering Thailand through Mae Sai checkpoint into massage parlors,
brothels etc. (World Vision’s Bansit Thathorn, the coordinator of the NGO Burmese
women, Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai,"
Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)
50% of the prostituted women in Chiang Rai are Burmese. Thousands of indigenous Burmese
women from Shan State in the north and from Keng Tung in Eastern Burma have been sold into
brothels in Bangkok and throughout Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women
and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Women from Burma's Shan state and China's southern province of Yunnan constitute 16% of
the 77,000 women in the sex industry in Thailand. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for
Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women in
Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action in
war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation,
28 May 1997)
10,000 foreign women are trafficked for sexual exploitation each year from nearby
countries to replace Thai women who have moved on other roles in the sex industry.
(Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The
Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand,
"Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok,
Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)
Fewer girls from Northern Thailand have entered the sex industry in the past few years.
As their numbers decline they are replaced by women and girls from Burma and southern
China. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol
University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in
Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee
Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)
There are 500 Chinese and 200 European women in prostitution in Bangkok, many of whom
entered Thailand illegally, often through Burma and Laos. Earlier reports, however,
suggest there were thousands of foreign women in the sex industry. (Police Colonel Sanit
Meephan, deputy chief of Tourism Police Bureau, "Thailand popular haunt for foreign
prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)
Russian females, supplied
by prostitution rings in Pattaya and Bangkok, have become a common sight since 1994.
Although no one knows their exact number, some estimate there are at least 20 in Pattaya
and hundreds flying in and out upon orders given mostly by wealthy Thai men.
("Pattaya: Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April
1998)
Of the estimated 20,000 prostitutes in Pattaya, hundreds are children who are either
lured from their villages by the idea of opportunity or by criminal networks. (Mark Baker,
"Sin city can’t shake vice’s grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17
May 1997)
Chinese women paid Bt40,000 to Bt50,000 for expenses and received Bt1,500 to Bt2,000
for servicing men. Procurers take at least half of what the women make. Those women from
Europe paid Bt60,000 to Bt70,000 for expenses and stayed at apartments in Pratunam or Soi
Nana. As Westerners, the women received a comparatively more, Bt4,000 to Bt5,000 for
servicing men in area venues in Thong Lor, Sukhumvit and Sam Yan. ("Thailand popular
haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)
In 1991, Thai women were being sold to Japan for US$2,4000-18,000 each. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Many Thai girls, some in
their early teens, have been reported at various times working in brothels in Sydney,
Australia. An investigation is underway into a gang trafficking Southeast Asian girls to
North America and Australia. ("Survival the name of the game," Bangkok Post,
3 July 1998)
Girls, age 13-15, from Ban Vanaluang, were sold to pimps for 5,00 - 10,000 baht by
their parents, who may be drug addicted. The girls are deceived about their destination,
which is often Chiang Mai. (Anjira Assavanonda, "Drugs and prostitution flourish in
quiet village," Bangkok Post, 3 January 1998) Trafficking women and children
from the Mekong countries - China, Burma, Laos and Cambodia has been increasing. The
largest groups of newly trafficked women into the sex industry are from Burma’s Shan
state, and minority women from the Northwest border areas. (1996 study conducted at 40
commerical venues in Bangkok, Kulachada Chaipipat, "New law targets human
trafficking," The Nation, 30 Novermber 1997)
Experts
fear a resurgence of commercial sexual exploitation, child prostitution and human
trafficking across the region, because Thailand's economic meltdown has doubled
unemployment to more than two million people; pay cuts have reduced living standards for
millions more and the government has cut social security funding. Experts warn conditions
are ripe for sex traffickers – "job brokers" who sell women and girls to
brothels in Thailand and overseas. ("Survival the name of the game," Bangkok
Post, 3 July 1998)
Child
trafficking will increase in Thailand due to the Asian economic crisis. There is a child
labor shortage resulting in a need for labor from neighboring poorer countries as well as
an increase in domestic child labor. Middle class Thai children are increasingly becoming
involved in prostitution, drugs, and begging. ("Children hard-hit by Asian
crisis," United Press International, 22 September 1998)
The Asian economic crisis is leading to an increase in street
children in Thailand. Before the crisis the majority (80%) of street children where from
poor families; in 1998, 10-15% of the children are from middle class families. The
children are involved in prostitution, drugs, and begging. Some have lived in the streets
so long and have suffered abuse, that they begin abusing younger street children and
trafficking in children for prostitution. Official estimates there are 15,000 street
children. ("Expert says Thailand turns into hub of child trafficking," Bangkok
Post, 22 September 1998)
Thousands of girls from China's southern are trafficked
into Thailand's sex industry; some go on to Malaysia or Singapore. The economic crisis has
no impact on this segment of the sex industry. More affluent Chinese businessmen from
mainland China or Taiwan who do business in Thailand purchase sex from these Chinese
girls. (Supalak Ganjanakhundee, "Migrant workers booming as Asian economy
declines," Kyodo News, 23 September 1998)
Thailand is
becoming a center for human trafficking, taking in people from neighboring countries and
sending its own citizens to developed nations such as Japan. (Supalak Ganjanakhundee,
"Migrant workers booming as Asian economy declines," Kyodo News, 23
September 1998)
Methods and Techniques of
Traffickers
Victims of trafficking from other nations are easily deceived or lured because they
face poverty, unemployment, broken families and unstable governments in their own
countries. (Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The
Nation, 1 May 1997)
Girls in China are kidnapped and trafficked through Burma to Thailand.
In one kidnapping scheme in the central Thai provinces, an agent photographed village
girls on their way to school; showed the photos to a brothel keeper who ordered the girls
he wanted. The agent returned and kidnaped the chosen girl. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking
in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
The networks in Thailand involved in the trafficking of women have liaisons in Japan,
Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. (Chulalongkorn University, "There’s money
everywhere for Thai police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)
Thailand is a staging point for the international trade in prostitutes and illegal
workers, with facilities for the production of false travel documents and processing of
foreign nationals to third countries. (Chulalongkorn University, "There’s money
everywhere for Thai police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)
Russion women, looking for a better life and to escape the
Russian economic crisis, are being trafficked to Pattaya. Most of the women became
involved with job placement agencies offering high-paying work as dancers, waitresses,
domestic servants or sale representatives. Trafficking networks in Russia charge the women
anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 (60,000 to 120,000 baht) and once in Thailand, the women
are kept in constant fear. They have their passports taken away upon arrival. The women
are forced to work long hours for little pay and threatened with death or the death of
their families if they don’t cooperate. ("Pattaya:
Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April 1998)
Most European women in prostitution in Thailand are from Russia, the Czech Republic and
Romania. The women enter via procurers in Thailand and their native nations. Procurers
take women to Yaowaraj, Surawongse, Urupong and Kingphet to be prostituted in apartments.
("Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January
1997)
Brothel owners in Thailand prefer foreign women because they are easier to control and
more ''loyal". ''They will not cheat us like Thai women do, or escape from us. They
are also abundant in number. Certainly, the clients prefer them to Thai women, they say
the foreign women are less likely to be infected with HIV." (Kritaya Archavanitkul,
Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women
in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action
in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation,
28 May 1997)
The AIDS pandemic is how the sex industry is excusing recruiting more young girls from
remote areas in Thailand, Shan State in Burma, Southern China, Kampuchea and Laos, under
the false pretense that younger girls will not be infected with the disease. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Cases
Three sisters left Nong Khai province, Thailand in June 1997 with a man who promised
them a job in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Instead he trafficked them into
prostitution. They were rescued after one sister convinced a man who bought her to let her
make a phone call. She called her mother who alerted officials. On July 23, 1997, about 50
Malaysian policemen, accompanied by a few Thai officials, broke into the downtown Namapaya
Restaurant. The group, headed by Kuala Lumpur police chief Dato Baki, found 35 girls -
including Mrs Chandee's daughters - locked up behind bars on the third floor of the
building. (Of flesh and blood: Forced Prostitution: One family recounts a journey into
hell and back, Surat Jinakul, Bangkok Post, May 17, 1998)
Thai police are looking for an ethnic Chinese man and
his accomplices who lured local women to South Africa and forced them into sex slavery. A
police spokesman told Reuters at least seven Thai women had complained they had been
offered jobs in South Africa as dancers or hostesses in night clubs but when they arrived
found they were required to serve as unpaid prostituted women. The women said they were
tricked into paying the gang a "commission" for their tickets, work permits and
employment before they left Thailand. In South Africa they were forced to work day and
night, they said. "Some of them have already returned home and some are in the
process of repatriation," said the police spokesman. He said the operation appeared
to be part of a well-organized business sending Thai women and girls to Africa but did not
say how the women had managed to escape. ("Thai women lured to South Africa as sex
slaves," Reuters, 24 August 1998)
The story of
two Thai women:
Two Thai women forced trafficked to Saudi Arabia have come
forward leading to the surrender of their trafficker, another Thai woman named Suna
Thianmanee. Both women had contacted Suna in hopes of finding high paying work in Saudi
Arabia, but instead were forced into prostitution. The women were forced to travel, in a
tiny compartment below the truck's undercarriage or empty oil tank of the vehicle tanker
in the scorching sun, from one construction site to another and to offer their sexual
services.
Upon arriving in the Saudi capital, they were forced to share a
five-metre-by-four-metre room with seven other girls, one of whom was Suna's sister. They
were told that they would be engaged in prostitution, not restaurant helpers as promised,
if they wanted to live. One of the women said that all nine girls, including herself and
Suna's sister, had been wrongfully lured into the sex trade. Each girl had to service four
to ten customers a day. Suna would earn about 200 to 800 riyals (Baht 2,000-Baht 8000) per
visit while the girls would get free room and boarding and earn occasional tips. In five
months, Suna was able to expand her brothel by renting a two-story, three-bedroom house.
Most customers were Thai and Filipino workers and some Saudi citizens. (Preecha
Sa-Ardsorn, "Saudi woman procurer surrenders before police," The Nation,
19 July 1998)
A Taiwanese man, Chen Chin En, 48, was arrested
and charged with the procurement of Thai women for prostitution in Taiwan. A Thai man
complained to police in July 1998, that his wife had been told by Chen she would work as a
housewife in Taiwan, promising her a salary of Baht 15,000 per month. His wife had to
register for a marriage certificate with another Taiwanese man in Thailand to apply for a
visa. When she arrived in Taiwan she was taken to a brothel in Kaosung and forced into
prostitution. Police said more than 500 Thai women had been lured into prostitution in
Taiwan under the same method used by the gang. ("Taiwanese ‘procurer’
held," The Nation, 29 July 1998)
Policy and Law
Children are increasingly
trafficked across Southeast Asia for prostitution, with Thailand being the main
destination. Government policy to repatriate some 300,000 illegal workers was criticized
because the measure would push illegal migrants, especially children, "further
underground". (International Labour Organization, "Trafficking of children on
the rise," Bangkok Post, 22 July 1998)
In Thailand, the new Measures in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women
and Children Act only issues authorities the right to detain suspected victims of
trafficking, not the suspected traffickers. (Kulachada Chaipipat, "New law targets
human trafficking," The Nation, 30 Novermber 1997)
Prostituted women who are illegal immigrants when found by police are deported and
blacklisted. (Police Colonel Sanit Meephan, deputy chief of the Tourism Police Bureau,
"Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January
1997)
Most of the police operations, which work closely with the Immigration police and Crime
Suppression Division to suppress foreign prostitution rings, were against procurers and
sex establishment operators rather than the women. ("Thailand popular haunt for
foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)
Official Response and Action
Local law enforcement
officials have ignored the expansion of Russian traffickers’ involvement in
prostitution in Pattaya, because it causes "no trouble." ("Pattaya: Murder,
prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April 1998)
A crack-down on a prostitution ring in Saudi Arabia, into which
Thai women are trafficked, in being coordinated by Bangkok Member of Parliament and
women's and children's rights advocate Paveena Hongsakul. (Preecha Sa-Ardsorn, "Saudi
woman procurer surrenders before police," The Nation, 19 July 1998)
Thailand’s President Wan Muhammad Noor Matha
said that Bangkok should make it clear to Saudi officials that the Thai government wants
justice in a case in which nine Thai women were forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia.
Wan Noor said he was confident the Saudi authorities would co-operate with their Thai
counterparts. ("Wan Noor urges Riyadh to punish wrongdoers," The Nation,
18 July 1998)
Thai women were being lured
into prostitution in Ivory Coast, Japan and Australia and Member of Parliament Paveena
Hongsakul in August 1998, sought help from the Foreign Ministry. Paveena Hongsakul and
relatives of the women met Deputy Permanent Secretary Sakthip Krairiksh who assured them
that embassies would do their best to trace and help those coerced into prostitution.
("Help for women sought," The Nation, 7 August 1998)
The Thai Embassy in Japan helps hundreds of trafficked Thai women
return to Thailand every year. Many of them were abducted or tricked into prostitution in
Japan. (Supalak Ganjanakhundee, "Migrant workers booming as Asian economy
declines," Kyodo News, 23 September 1998)
Reduced punishments for prostituted women and harsher penalties for pimps and brothel
owners has not curbed the problem of trafficking into Thailand. Officers in charge of
enforcing the law, particularly immigration police do not take the matter seriously, or
fail to take immediate action against violators. (Senator Keerana Sumawon, Sirinya
Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1 May
1997)
Official Corruption and Collaboration
Marut, a well-known pimp in Pattaya, was
introduced to Russian traffickers by a local expatriate restaurateur. The Russians needed
a local link to clients, especially wealthy Thai men. Over 60% of Marut's clients are
government officials, including policemen. Some do not pay for what Marut describes as
"special service," because they are powerful men. The price for "special
service" is 3,000 to 6,000 baht depending on the status of the client.
("Pattaya: Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April
1998)
Some trafficked women, who were detained at immigration offices, were escorted out of
the office at night with permission from officers or ordered to have sex with officers. In
one cases four Laotian girls were gang-raped by inmates at a Rayong police station where
the women were detained on charges of illegal entry and gambling (Surita Sandosham,
Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1
May 1997)
Prostitution
Close to 300
million dollars is transferred yearly to rural families by women engaged in prostitution
in urban areas, a sum that in many cases exceeds the budgets of government-funded
development programs. Between 1993 and 1995, it is estimated that prostitution in Thailand
produced an annual income of between 22.5 and 27 billion dollars. (Dario Agnote, "Sex
trade key part of S.E. Asian economies, study says," Kyodo News, 18 August
1998)
There are 200,000 to 300,000 prostituted persons in Thailand.
Prostituted persons are mainly adult women, but there are also male, transvestite and
child prostitutes, both girls and boys. (International Labor Organization. Dario Agnote,
"Sex trade key part of S.E. Asian economies, study says," Kyodo News,
18 August 1998)
A 1993 estimate showed 30,000 to 35,000 children,
who were forced into prostitution due to poverty. (Dario Agnote, "Sex trade key part
of S.E. Asian economies, study says," Kyodo News, 18 August 1998)
There are 75,000 prostituted children in Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific,
Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
In Thailand, up to 400,000
children under the age of 16 are believed to be working in brothels, clubs or bars. (Jill
Serjeant, "Asia to launch joint crackdown on child sex trade," Reuters,
1 April 1998)
There are 300,000 people in prostitution and many more in related sex industry
ventures. (Chulalongkorn University, "There’s money everywhere for Thai
police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)
The 'green rice season', when farmers are short of money, is the prime season for girl
hunting in the rural and hill tribes. Prostitution agents recruit girls into prostitution
or buy them from their parents. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and
Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Origin
of Thai prostituted persons in Thailand – from survey conducted nationwide in January
1998. 54.01% of prostituted persons came from the North, 28.90% from the Northeast, and
9.67% from the Central Region. (Thai Public Health Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi,
"Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post,
17 June 1998)
Between 12,000 and 18,000 children including 5,510 foreigners mainly from Burma, Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province were involved in the sex industry in
Thailand in July 1998. About 90,000 women, girls and boys were prostituted in Thailand,
with large numbers of street children from Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya being lured
into the sex trade. (Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social
Research study, "Study probes Thai child prostitution," UPI, 28 July
1998)
Of 16,423 foreign persons
engaged in prostitution in Thailand, 30% are younger than 18. (Mahidol University's
Institute of Population and Social Research, "Trafficking of children on the
rise," Bangkok Post, 22 July 1998)
From 1994 to 1997 the prostitution industry grew into a Bt60 billion business in
Thailand. (Sangsit Piriyarangsan, an expert on the outlaw-economy, "Researcher
discovers vice is big business," The Nation, 1 June 1997)
Earnings
from prostitution average $800 a month in Thailand and are higher than in other unskilled
jobs. (International Labor Organization, Elif Kaban, "UN labour body urges
recognition of sex industry," Reuters, 18 August 1998)
There are between
200,000-300,000 persons in the sex industry in Thailand, which generates hundreds of
millions of dollars a year. "You are talking about billions of baht of seedy, dark
money being involved. It's not just the person in the brothel, or the brothel owner, but
the whole chain in the economy... It's a massive phenomenon," said Vitit Muntarbhorn,
a former UN special rapporteur on human trafficking. ("Survival the name of the
game," Bangkok Post, 3 July 1998)
In 1994, there were 200,000 prostitutes in Thailand. (paper presented to a regional
conference on the prevention of human trafficking, quoting independent research reports
compiled in 1994 by the Thai Red Cross Society and Mahidol University's Institute for
Population and Social Research, Kulachada Chaipipat, "New law targets human
trafficking," The Nation, 30 Novermber 1997)
4.6 million Thai men regularly, and 500,000 foreign tourists annually, buy women in
prostitution. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia
Pacific)
8,016 establishments offer the
"services" of 63,941 person engaged in prostitution (61,135 women and 2,806
men), says a Public Health Ministry survey conducted nationwide in January 1998. The
survey is considered accurate because it involved representatives from the Interior,
Labour and Social Welfare ministries, the Thai Red Cross Society, the Prime Minister's
Office, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, various universities and NGOs. The
survey, classifies prostituted persons into 25 categories, includes freelancers ranging
from call girls to those who solicit in public places. The 1997 survey showed there were
7,759 establishments and 64,886 persons engaged in prostitution. (Thai Public Health
Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go
underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
Bangkok has 1,421 sex venues that employ 26,361 workers and attract 36,473 patrons per
year. In the provinces, there are 6,338 venues employing 38,525 workers and attracting
67,789 patrons per year. ("Sex industry census shows more venues," The Nation,
29 July 1997)
There are 1-2 million people in the sex industry in Thailand. (NGOs, "Sex industry
census shows more venues," The Nation, 29 July 1997)
There are 60,000 brothels and other sexual service centers in Thailand. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Number
of persons engaged in prostitution per type of sex industry establishment: 11,665 persons in restaurants; 9,397 in traditional massage parlors; 7,338 in karaoke bars;
5,964 in massage parlors; 5,743 in cafes; 5,229 in beer bars; 5,155 in brothels; 3,340 in
go-go bars; 2,555 in cocktail lounges; and 1,936 in gay bars. Survey conducted nationwide
in January 1998.(Thai Public Health Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge
hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
Half a million women are in sexual slavery, accounting for 18-20% of all Thai women
aged 18-30. (Pino Arlaccki, Head of UN International Drug Control Programme, in charge of
UN efforts to fight organized crime, Associated Foreign Press, 13 November 1997)
The number of prostitutes is falling while the number of venues for prostitution is
rising. In 1996 venues increased 5% from 7,759 to 8,200. The number of prostitutes
decreased from 86,494 in 1990 to 64,886 in 1997. (Dr Vichai Chokevivat, Health Ministry,
Annual sex industry census, "Sex industry census shows more venues," The
Nation, 29 July 1997)
Women are prostituted in bars, brothels, massage parlors, hair salons, restaurants and
golf clubs. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia
Pacific)
2,237 of the 64,886 prostitutes in Thailand are male. (Dr Vichai Chokevivat, Health
Ministry, Annual sex industry census, "Sex industry census shows more venues," The
Nation, 29 July 1997)
55% of the total number of
women in prostitution and 75% of men in prostitution became involved in prostitution when
they were under 18 years of age. (Mahidol University Institute for Population and Social
Research, Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Child Prostitute Problem Worrying," Bangkok
Post, 28 July 1998)
Officials estimate that there are between 12,000 and 18,000
children under the age of 18 engaged in prostitution in Thailand, 5,510 of them foreign
nationals. Out of 17,978 of these children, 16,651 are girls and 1,327 boys, and of
foreign children, 5,419 are girls and 91 boys. The Mahidol University' Institute for
Population and Social Research and several other governmental, non-governmental and
international agencies, also estimate that there are 90,000 persons engaged in
prostitution, contrasting with the Public Health Ministry's latest survey, which comes up
with a figure of 63,941. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Child Prostitute Problem
Worrying," Bangkok Post, 28 July 1998)
Estimates from January 1998 show 14% of
prostituted persons are younger than 18 years and most of them from neighboring countries.
(Thai Public Health Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as
prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
40% of the two million in prostitution in Thailand are under 18, meaning that about
850,000 children are in prostitution. (Centre for the Protection of Children’s
Rights, Chris Gelken, "Row Over Call to Boycott ‘Paedophile
Playground’," Gemini News, 28 February 1997)
400,000 children under the age of 16 are exploited in brothels, clubs or bars in
Thailand. (Campaigners, Robin Cook, "Clampdown on child sex tourism," BBC
News, UK, 4 April 1998)
There are 200,000 children in prostitution. (Chris Beddoe, representative of the
international End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), Chris Gelken, "Row
Over Call to Boycott ‘Paedophile Playground’," Gemini News, 28
February 1997)
250,000 children are bought and sold for sex in Thailand alone. (UNICEF, "UK
police join fight against Thai child sex tourism," BBC, 9 December 1997)
The government accepts that there are 200,000 "sex workers," 25% are probably
below 18. (Dr. Saisuree Chutikul of the National Committee for Women’s Affairs, Chris
Gelken, "Row Over Call to Boycott ‘Paedophile Playground’," Gemini
News, 28 February 1997)
There were 14,250 homeless children in 1997, up from 13,227 in 1996. Most are between
eight and 14 years of age, 90% are boys. More than 5,000 are in Bangkok, in places such as
Hua Lampong train station, parks or "red light" districts. They survive by
begging, washing cars, collecting plastic bottles or by prostitution. (The National
Committee on Social Welfare, "Street teachers help overcome false starts,"
Ratchada Chitrada, News-Scan International Ltd, 2 October 1997)
In every brothel raided over the past two years (1996-1997) children were found.
(Wanchai Boonphacra, Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights, "More foreign
workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok
Post, 24 November 1997)
Men who use women in prostitution are the largest cause of the spread of AIDS in
Thailand. Young boys often have their first sexual experiences in brothels. Grown-up men
regularly buy prostitutes. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids problem," The
Nation, 20 May 1997)
There are more brothels than schools in Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking
in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Children work in fisheries, construction, industrial and factory work, the service
sector, and agriculture, in 14 border provinces and the Bangkok area. Prostitution was the
highest paid with children earning about 6,281 baht a month. The money was spent on
clothes and cosmetics and sent home to families for house construction and electrical
applicances. (Prof Kusol Sunthorntada, Researcher, Institute for Population and Social
Research, Mahidol University, ("More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai
girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)
Northern girls in Thailand are prized for their pale complexions so tok khiao or
''fishing for the green" is particularly prevalent in that part of the country (khiao
is the colour of tender young rice shoots). Girls are recruited for the sex industry in
the following way: an agent for a brothel or ''massage parlour" (often a former
prostitute herself) visits a poor village to scout out likely recruits. Her prey are girls
reaching the end of their compulsory term of primary education – usually students in
Prathom 5 or 6 Having identified a potential candidate, the agent then visits the girl's
parents and offers a down-payment in cash for their daughter. When the girl finishes
primary school, usually around the age of 11 or 12, the agent returns to make the final
payment and receive delivery of the ''goods". ("Fishing for the Green," The
Nation, 30 April 1997)
Among the factors leading to the selling of girl children in the North is the arrival
of electricity and television in rural areas, the new-found ''need" for consumer
goods and the diminishment of the old sense of community where neighbours helped each
other with the planting and harvesting of crops. Filmmaker Supachai Surongsain says,
"Electricity has become a part of their lives so now everybody must have a
refrigerator, a TV and a radio. Motorised ploughs that require gas and oil have now
replaced buffaloes. All these things require money, of course. People no longer help each
other for free; they want to be paid for their time." Consumerism has severely
weakened the villagers' traditional customs and values. ("Fishing for the
Green," The Nation, 30 April 1997)
The network between brothels keeps women from escaping bondage. The owner sells
prostituted girl or women to another brothel just before she repays her "debt."
She then must pay a new "debt," starting at the next brothel. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Child prostitutes are badly treated by the brothel owners and the men who buy them.
Brothel owners make them work without a day off, steal their wages and warn them not to
leave their work places telling them they will be arrested as illegal immigrants. Some are
beaten for refusing to work and men who buy them may become violent if the girls refuse to
perform various sex acts. (Prof Kusol Sunthorntada, Researcher, Institute for Population
and Social Research, Mahidol University, ("More foreign workers join sex industry as
fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24
November 1997)
In Thailand, Patpong, Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Pattaya are main
areas of the child sex industry. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of
Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Health and Well-being
The rate of HIV infection is 50% or higher among female prostitutes in Northern
Thailand. (New England Journal of Medicine, Sarah McNuaght, "Prohibition," The
Boston Phoenix, 23-30 October 1997)
In 1990 there were fewer than 200 reported AIDS carriers, and only a handful of AIDS
patients. By 1997, the number of reported carriers is believed to have far exceeded one
million, with more than 30,000 deaths recorded in official papers. The AIDS epidemic has
threatened to overwhelm at least six upper Northern provinces - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai,
Lamphun, Lampang, Phayao and Mae Hong Son. Hospitals in these provinces are usually packed
with AIDS cases, who outnumber other patients. At a certain hospital ward in Chiang Rai,
AIDS patients occupy 15 out of the ward's 22 beds. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids
problem," The Nation, 20 May 1997)
Of 103 prostitutes tested for AIDS this year, 37.8% were HIV positive, most of them
from Burma's Shan state. (Dr Sura Kunkongkaphan, Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of
Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)
NGOs say most prostitutes come from provinces in the north; a large number after
travelling to cities like Bangkok to work return to their villages once they become
infected with HIV/AIDS. They in turn, infect others. AIDS is mostly transmitted through
heterosexual contact. Men often get the disease from a prostitute then infect their wives
who then infect their unborn children. Northern Thailand accounts for about half of the
country’s 800,000 cases of HIV. (Sutin Wannabovorn, "Thai Prime Minister vows
end prostitution, AIDS victims react," Reuters, 29 July 1997)
Thailand has the fourth largest number of AIDS cases in the world with nearly 60,000.
This is only the number of officially reported cases and health workers say the actual
number is sveral times higher. (Sutin Wannabovorn, "Thai Prime Minister vows end
prostitution, AIDS victims react," Reuters, 29 July 1997)
More than 70% of Thailand’s returning migrants are HIV positive. The men buy women
in prostitution when they are abroad. Of 500 returning migrants in Khon Kaen, more than
400 are HIV positive. Migration is a key factor in the spread of AIDS. (NGOs working on
HIV/AIDS issues in Issan, recent informal sample by a doctor, IOM, Leyla Alnayak,
"Returning migrants to Thailand show high AIDS incidence," Earth Times,
11 April 1998)
Cases
18 women were rescued by police in a raid of the Baan Nok Pirab (Pigeons' House)
brothel in Ban Pong district in Ratchaburi province. One woman had been a slave there for
12 years. Sod Seusa-nga, 42, the manager of the brothel, was arrested on charges of
prostitution and illegal detention. ("Police rescue 18 women to end prostitution
ring," The Nation, 31 July 1997)
Two Pattaya policemen have been arrested for running an operation that sold under-age
boys to prostitution tourists and planted drugs on other boys in order to blackmail them.
Another officer has been charged with running a brothel and kidnapping a 15-year-old girl
for prostitution. (Mark Baker, "Sin city can’t shake vice’s grip," Sydney
Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)
A 25-year-old woman, named Ploywilai, was enslaved in a brothel for 12 years. After she
was rescued in a raid, she told police she ran away from home at the age of 13 to
stay with her boyfriend in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province. After her boyfriend was
arrested for using marijuana, a man lured her into prostitution in a brothel in Mahachai.
After staying there for about two months, she was sold to the brothel in Ratchaburi. ''I
was at Baan Nok Pirab for 12 years and they never let me go out. I wanted to go home but
escape seemed impossible," she said. Ploywilai said she wrote to her mother to seek
police help and asked a brothel visitor to be her messenger. ("Police rescue 18 women
to end prostitution ring," The Nation, 31 July 1997)
Policy and Law
In August 1997, The House of Representatives passed the first reading of a government
bill to outlaw the laundering of money obtained from prostitution and the drug trade. It
will permit authorities to freeze assets suspected of having been obtained from the drug
trade or prostitution. The owners would be required to prove that they had earned the
assets legally. (Jintana Panya-Arvudh, "House votes on new money laundering
bill," The Nation, 7 August 1997)
According to an anti-prostitution law, it is criminal to procure anyone under 18, the
punishment of which is four to twenty years in jail and an 80,000 to 100,000 baht fine.
(Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai," Bangkok
Post, 2 June 1997)
The Thai Foreign Ministry
will be urged to advise foreign visitor before they arrive in Thailand of the
anti-prostitution law, which punishes persons involved in the prostitution of children
below 18 years of age, including customers. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Child Prostitute
Problem Worrying," Bangkok Post, 28 July 1998)
Since enforcement of the
anti-prostitution law in December 1996, police pursue cases of child prostitution less
frequently, partly because the cases are complicated. According to Professor Kritaya
Archavanitkul of Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research,
"The police at local level do not cooperate much because the Interior Ministry has
announced that police authorities will be penalized if child prostitutes are found in
areas under their responsibility." (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Child Prostitute
Problem Worrying," Bangkok Post, 28 July 1998)
Enforcement of the Prostitution Prevention
and Suppression Act of 1997 caused movement of many prostituted persons from brothels to
restaurants and beer bars. This puts them out of the reach of health workers, which
hampers efforts to control sexually transmitted diseases by driving prostituted persons
from the mainstream red-light premises. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders
campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
Budget cuts have forced the Communicable
Diseases Control Department to cut its free condom distribution program from 45 million
pieces in 1997 to 12 million in 1998. In fiscal 1999, the ministry has requested funds to
buy 25 million condoms. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as
prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
The Asian economic crisis is affecting the
sex industry. Before the economic crisis, each prostituted woman had at least four
customers per day but now it is about three every two days. This has potentially lead to a
decrease in the in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases because of a decline in
the frequency of intercourse with prostituted persons. (Thai Public Health Ministry.
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go
underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
Many Russian crime syndicates have set up operations in
prostitution, narcotics, and contract killings hidden behind legitimate businesses like
bars and restaurants in Pattaya. (Superintendent of Pattaya police station Police Coronel
Pinit Satyacharoen, Preecha Sa-Ardsorn, "Police worry Russian mafia getting stronger,"
The Nation, 9 April 1998)
Official Response and Action
Two economic advisers to Thailand’s Interior Minister recommended that
prostitution be legalized, so the 200,000 women in prostitution could generate Bt60
billion per year for the Thai government. (Pasuk Pongpaijit and Sangsit Piryarangsan of
the Economics department of Chulalongkorn University, Parith Iampongpaiboon, "Plan
for illegal work proposed," The Nation, 1 July 1997)
21 men have been arrested under the Anti-prostitution Act aimed at curbing child
prostitution from December, 1996, when it took effect to April 1997. (Wanlop Ploythaptim
the director of Occupational Assistance Division, "Police asked to focus raids on
prostitution," The Nation, 11 April 1997)
Thailand is now one of the world's AIDS capitals. The crisis is most severe in the
North, where it is recommended that a state of AIDS emergency should be imposed. Suggested
strategies include the immediate closure of all brothels in the region because the main
route of transmission of AIDS is prostitution. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids
problem," The Nation, 20 May 1997)
According to a survey, the percent of army conscripts visiting brothels declined from
58 percent in 1991 to 23 percent in 1995. The group increased their condom use from 60
percent to 90 percent during that time. At the national level, the number of 21-year-old
male conscripts with HIV was down from 3.7 per cent in 1993 to 2.5 per cent in 1995.
(Werasit Sittitrai, UN AIDS Policy, Strategy and Research Coordinator, "HIV spread
declines as prevention advice heeded," The Nation, 23 May 1997)
Official Corruption and Collaboration
It is widely accepted that illegal businesses exist under the patronage of the police
in Thailand. There is also evidence that some police and military figures actively
participate in illegal businesses. Some of the protection rackets that prey on gambling
and prostitution businesses are said to be based in the army. Political figures are also
involved. In the last parliament, 20 to 30 MPs were said to be involved in illegal
businesses. (Chulalongkorn University, "There’s money everywhere for Thai
police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)
In the past, the Thai government covered up the reality of AIDS fearing tourism would
be hindered. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids problem," The Nation, 20 May
1997)
NGO Action
There are 24 shelters and 4 rehabilitation centres for prostituted women in Thailand.
("Police asked to focus raids on prostitution," The Nation, 11 April
1997)
Prostitution Tourism
The Visit Thailand Year 1987 led to more children being trafficked into tourist sites
for prostitution. (Montri Sintawichai, General Secretary, Child Protection Foundation,
"More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade,"
Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)
The Amazing Thailand tourist campaign for 1998-1999 is predicted to bring more children
into the sex trade. (Montri Sintawichai, General Secretary, Child Protection Foundation,
"More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade,"
Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)
Sex
tourism is likely to decrease because the Asian economic crisis has been felt in
neighboring countries that supply sex tourists. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge
hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)
Case
An Australian, Bradley Pendragon, was charged with beating and raping two Thai girls,
aged eight and 11 in a Bangkok hotel room in October 1993. Pornographic photographs made
of the assaults show the youngest girl crying as she was orally raped. Pendragon was
arrested after a series of pictures was sent to a Bangkok child protection agency by a
photo-processing laboratory in Chiang Mai. Captain Soontorn told the Bangkok Southern
Criminal Court that he rescued the girls, who had been sold into prostitution by their
family, after they had been working in Bangkok's Patpong bar district for about four
months in November 1993. The Thai pimps were allegedly paid between $250 and $500 by
foreign clients, but the mother and grandmother received only $20 or $40 a time. Pedragon
is already serving a sentence for the rape of a nine-year-old mentally handicapped girl in
the northern city of Chiang Mai - the first conviction of an Australian for sexual assault
of a minor in Thailand. (Mark Baker, "Australian beat girls, 8 and 11, for sex, court
told," Sydney Morning Herald, 26 February 1998)
Official Response and Action
Pattaya, a sex tourist destination, has 3,000 persons engaged in
prostitution. City leaders are trying to clean up the image of Pattaya and market the
resort to family vacationers. Pattaya attracted nearly 2 million visitors between January
and June 1998, a 4% increase over 1997. "The sex image is something that dates back
20, 30 years," said Sethaphan Buddhani, the local director of tourism. "Of
course, sex is still here, but in our marketing I don't emphasize it or deny it. If you're
not here for service girls, then how about trying one of our 15 golf courses?" He
adds, "The next market we're going after is the handicapped. We'll be the only city
in the region with access ramps and handicapped facilities in restaurants, bars,
everywhere. Japan alone has 12 million handicapped. That's a huge potential market. If
they want sex tours, we'll arrange special guides." (David Lamb, "Thai Reinvent
Gomorrah for Family Crowd," Los Angeles Times, 15 August 1998)
In Pattaya, more than 50 suspected child prostitution tourists have been arrested in
the past two years, yet only one case has gone to trial. (Mark Baker, "Sin city
can’t shake vice’s grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)
Laws governing the conviction of paedophiles have been tightened in more than 20
countries from August 1996 to August 1997, resulting in a decline in child sex tourism to
Thailand. (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism, BBC, 8 Nov 1997)
Official Corruption and Collaboration
Thailand is among the world’s biggest sex-tour operators, along with the
Philippines, Sri Lanka and Taiwan in organizing sex tours for foreign tourists. Sex tour
operators prey on children. Thailand’s officials ignore the reality of prostitution.
(Vicha Mahakhun, Deputy Chief Justice of the Central Juvenile and Family Court,
"Judge blames officials for rise in child abuse," Piyanart Srivalo, The
Nation, 26 July 1997)
Organized and Institutionalized Sexual Exploitation and
Violence
In northern Thailand villages girls as young as five are fitted with copper collars
weighing ten pounds. The number of collars are increased, stretching the neck, until the
girl becomes 25. When the women speak they are barely audible. Women are vulnerable to men
who will kill them if they take off the collars. (Halima Embarek Warzazi, expert from
Morocco, "Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
MinoritiesAddresses Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting Health of Women and
Girls," DPI-Releases, 13 August 1997)
Women from Burma’s Karenni tribe kidnapped by a Thai businessman are being
exhibited as a tourist attraction at a human zoo in Northern Thailand. From the age of
five, the women wrap heavy copper coils around their necks to elongate them. Their necks
eventually become so long and weak that they cannot support their heads without the coils.
In some tribes the coils are removed to punish women who have committed adultery.
("‘Amazing Thailand’ offers human zoo," BBC World, 16 January
1998)
Factbook Table of Contents
CATW
Homepage
Coalition Against Trafficking in
Women
Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation
Donna M. Hughes, Laura Joy Sporcic, Nadine Z. Mendelsohn and Vanessa Chirgwin
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