Thailand

In Thailand, a misogynistic sex-show industry coerces women to torture themselves. Now the global economic crisis is making matters worse.

BANGKOK, Thailand — Narisaraporn Asipong, a matronly social worker at the "Mercy Center" shelter met 8-year-old Niran (a pseudonym) five years ago in Klong Toey, Bangkok's largest concentration of slum communities.

"His step-father was beating him so he was scared to go home," says Asipong, who has worked with street children for the last seven years. "He came with me to Mercy Center and I enrolled him in school." A year later, Niran returned home because he missed his mother. "One day, I saw him on the streets again," she says. "He looked very skinny and unhealthy."

In this broadcast of Bread and Roses, Gabriele Ross interviews Deena Guzder on Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking, particularly in Thailand.

Thailand is often called the "Land of Smiles" and considered a tropical paradise full of friendly, spiritual locals eager to share their unique cuisine and pristine beaches. However, Thailand's elaborate culinary feats and sun-washed beachfronts are not the only reason why the country has become the playground of the rich and elite of the world. Conservative estimates suggest that 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is booming in Southeast Asia, with governments failing to do enough to protect young people, experts say.

"The recent economic downturn is set to drive more vulnerable children and young people to be exploited by the global sex trade," Carmen Madrinan, executive director of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual purposes (ECPAT), said.

Deena Guzder, for the Pulitzer Center

Thailand is often called the "Land of Smiles" and considered a tropical paradise full of friendly, spiritual locals eager to share their unique cuisine and pristine beaches. However, Thailand's elaborate culinary feats and sun-washed beachfronts are not the only reason why the country has become the playground of the rich and elite of the world. Conservative estimates suggest that 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.

While the world's attention was focused on Phillip Garrido, who is accused of abducting 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 and holding her hostage for 18 years as a sex slave, three other alleged sexual predators were quietly brought back to the United States to face prosecution for abusing countless children in Cambodia. The horrifying ordeal of Garrido's victim is now well documented; however, the stories of an estimated 1.8 million other children worldwide who are forced into the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year remain largely unheard.

Deena Guzder, for the Pulitzer Center

Watch Narisaraporn Asipong of the Mercy Centre (a shelter for slum children in Bangkok) and Sarochinee Unyawachsumrith and Kurt Heck of Goodwill Group Foundation (an organization to empower disadvantaged women) speak about efforts to curb sex tourism in Thailand:

In August 2009, ECPAT International released a global report on the trafficking of children for sexual purposes around the world. The global recession will only increase the vulnerability of children to traffickers, according to the new report. "The recent economic downturn is set to drive more vulnerable children and young people to be exploited by the global sex trade," said Ms. Carmen M. Madrinan, Executive Director of ECPAT International.

Deena Guzder, for the Pulitzer Center

Deena Guzder, for the Pulitzer Center