The Dark Side of your Tropical Getaway: a look into the sexual exploitation crisis in Thailand

The sexual trafficking and exploitation of women and girls is a terrible epidemic that exists throughout the world. One region in particular, Thailand, has one of the highest human sex trafficking rates globally. Tourism is a major economic contributor to Thailand. It is estimated that the tourism revenue directly contributed to the Thai GDP (Growth Domestic Product) by about “12 trillion baht (equivalent to about 350 billion US dollars), ranging from one trillion baht (2013) to 2.53 trillion baht (2016), the equivalent of 9% to 17.7 % of GDP”. Unfortunately, a major portion of the tourism industry is sex tourism. In fact, the country has a strong reputation as a primary destination for sex tourism. Pattaya, a city in Thailand, often refers to itself as the “sex capital of the world”. The prostitution industry itself brings in billions of dollars each year to the Thai economy.

Young women working on the streets of Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, which has been described as “400 meters of bars and prostitues”

As a result of its critical foothold in the economy of Thailand, a majority of government officials, police, and politicians turn a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of women throughout the nation, even though it is still nationally recognized as an illegal activity. This in turn makes it much more difficult to address the problem. This dynamic demonstrates the sociological perspective of Conflict Theory, which holds that social patterns exist and are maintained because they benefit those in power. The Thailand government sees prostitution as a source of revenue, and therefore are tolerant of the overtly dehumanizing and primitive system that plagues Thai society.

In Thai culture, there is a strong expectation that older children, and particularly adolescent girls, must help support their household’s financial needs. This societal norm is a key factor enabling the widespread exploitation of children and adolescents. In Thailand’s National Report done by UNICEF: - On Follow-up to the World Summit for Children, it was reported that “20-25% of people who participate in commercial sex in Thailand are under the age of 18”. Other studies have even gathered data showing that upwards of 40% of prostitutes in Thailand may be children. While many are either kidnapped and sold into prostitution, a large amount of these children either volunteer themselves or are sold by their own parents into trafficking. It is important to note that even those who appear to voluntarily enter the sexual tourism industry  “choose” to volunteer themselves often unaware of the world they are entering. As noted by author Angela Saurine after her trip to Thailand, “all too often poorly educated girls from poor villages are enticed away to jobs in other parts of the country… eventually finding out they have been tricked, and end up being forced to work as prostitutes to pay off large debts to their traffickers.”.

Recently I had the opportunity to go to Thailand with a group of my peers and talk with different organizations and Thai individuals about the issue of sexual trafficking in the region. During a home stay we did in a very impoverished and isolated rural village in northern Chiang Rai, I spoke to the women in whose hut I was staying. I learned that the eldest daughter had left the village to go find employment in order to send money back to her parents. When I asked her mother where the daughter was working, her reply was simply “in Bangkok.” When I tried to press her for more details regarding the work she was doing in Bangkok, however, she shied away, and immediately changed the subject.

An image of the hut I was staying in during my time in northern Chiang Rai, Thailand

As this case illustrates, this often inescapable situation the women find themselves in is largely due to the lack of economic and educational opportunities available to them in their rural and impoverished communities. Lack of education is a key contributing factor, as it limits the occupational options for these disadvantaged girls. There are many organizations that work to end the cycle of poverty and provide more education opportunities, so that both the girls and their parents do not view prostitution as an unfortunate but necessary means of gaining money. One such organization is Sema for Life Project, described in the UNICEF national report, which uses education as a “preventive strategy to counter the problem of commercial sexual exploitation”. These resources take shape as either boarding or day schools, and are almost always free of charge. Uniquely, these schools offer enrollment to children with no civil registration papers, and continue to do so throughout all levels of education, primary through university. By focusing on providing critical educational opportunities to this group, a group who comprise the vast majority of those ending up involved in prostitution and commercial sex, it is hoped that the critical source of inexpensive human capital fueling the sex industry in Thailand will be eliminated, thereby crippling the industry.

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Sources:

"World Summit for Children Follow Up." Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 4, no. 4 (1990): 270. doi:10.1177/101053959000400416.

"The Evil Behind the Smiles." NY TIMES. 31 Dec The New York Times. 29 Mar

"Tourism in Thailand." Wikipedia. April 09, 2019. Accessed April 10, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand.

Saurine, Angela. "'The Holiday That Opened My Eyes to Thailand's Seedy Underbelly.'" Mamamia. March 03, 2017. Accessed April 10, 2019. https://www.mamamia.com.au/sex-tourism-in-thailand/.

 "World Summit for Children Follow Up." Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 4, no. 4 (1990): 270.