"Look At Us"

In Thailand, there are no easy words to explain the beggar situation, and to explain the realities of this issue, the words get even harder to say. A lot of blogs out there say that there really aren't that many beggars in Bangkok which is an interesting lie. Because the reality is, there are thousands of beggars in Thailand and everywhere you go, if you have eyes to see, you will see. But the problem with this situation is just that... the fact that people whether they be tourist or local or law enforcement, what have you, have trained themselves to look the other way... these people place themselves in highly trafficked areas, with bowls in front of them and hands placed in prayer, and are used to the fact that they are basically invisible, insignificant and worthless... thus the reality of a worthless life becomes all there is.
The stories that you hear, if you seek out stories of truth, will wreck you and place your heart in such a sea of hopelessness over how tragic this devastation is. Many of these beggars are from Burma or Laos, and controlled by gangs who at the end of the day steal all their income. In highly touristy areas, you may see countless women with their babies begging for anything you have to give. Many of them are holding children who are not their own, who have been rented out for the day for about 100 baht, the equivalent of about three US dollars for the day. These babies are kept in the most extreme and unhealthy conditions, so that someone might USE them before they even know how to speak, when they should be at the breast of their mother, making money for other people.
Some children are brought from rural areas by their families, who watch on as their children beg without food or water for the day in extreme temperatures all day long. There was a story of one little boy doing this in the streets who was killed by an oncoming car. The family was watching on, but the heartbreaking part of it, is that for many families in Thailand that do not have Christ, you have to wonder... what was the greater loss for them? The son... or the income?

Many of these children, some younger than five, are orphans controlled again by an international Mafia or gangs... some are street children, some are rented out by their families, some are there entirely on their own, having crossed a border on their own, to get to the city to make funds for their family. This is a form of trafficking, because it is the exploitation of children forced to labor... it is just another kind of trafficking, that more than likely will eventually shift into another kind of trafficking this site works to explain.
There are men and women who sit on the street without limbs, literally, without any arms or legs... would it shock you more to hear that some are proffessionals? And that their limbs are hidden behind them all day everyday in the most unnatural sort of bending? Or that gangs have been known to cut off the limbs of humans knowing that cripples make more money, and then put them out on the street as a commodity. We have been cripples with managers... we have seen a man burnt all over his body, discolored, without eyes, beginning in one of the more well known large markets. He could not speak, he could not move... but he had a manager behind him for whatever donation came in. I was terrified to look at him... never having seen a person exist at that level of life, and yet he was managed.... he was someones income. This man, who barely had a life left to live...

While searching out pictures for this blog of things we have seen, I had a quote in my mind from a most beloved movie, The Lord of the Rings. In The Two Towers, Aragorn, Theoden, Legolas and the people of Rohan, are battling what seems an impossible battle against the Uruk-Hai and the forces of evil. The odds are completely against them... they have boys fighting a man's war... weaponless with a breaking defense structure, many of them, including their king, begin to fall to doubt. Theoden, the king of Rohan says, "So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?"
This is the line in my mind that kept whispering as I consider these facts, these realities, these lives of many innocent and so many corrupt. Yet following Theoden plee of helplessness in the film righteous words are spoken,

Aragorn:

"Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them."
Theoden:
"For death and glory."
Aragorn:
"For Rohan. For your people."

Aragorn does not see what is lost, but what could be possible when people truly give their lives for the greater good. He also, denies Theoden's response in that riding out would be for death and glory... instead, he confirms that the testimoney and action would be for what they fought for all along, which was the hope of their people.

Jesus asks us to ride out and meet them when all hope seems lost, remembering that we have no control over the sin of the world... but we have the opportunity to be a light in dark places. When we take these chances, we give Jesus the lead, and He becomes what He is, which is the breaker of strongholds and the redeemer of shattered souls... Jesus cast light into darkness... He is the light the darkness fears. We saw this in Thailand, with the men I watched my husband get on the ground with who walked on their hands or on a small piece of wood they had fashioned with wheels to move around. I saw Jesus when he touched them and smiled at them and loved them and helped them... I saw Jesus working when their hearts were moved to smile and allowed themselves to be cared for in a different way, simply by being seen as alive, worthy, wonderful... creations of God. And I saw Jesus one day, when we were walking home from the market. There was a man begging on a bridge... thin, scarred, keeping his head down and hands open to occassionally put his head up and look at those who just continually passed him by as if he weren't there. Jonathan and I had been collecting money for Jesus to use, and carried it in a bag in our backpack, and that day, the moment had come to give it away.

Jonathan asked me if I wanted to give it to him and with all my heart I did. I stopped thinking about if it would offend him, or if he would reject me, or any of the things Satan would try to put in my head to stop what Jesus wanted acoomplished done. So I moved in Christ and I felt Him there with me. I went up to the man and got down on the ground with him and looked in his eyes, and in Thai I told him, "God loves you".
There is nothing I can do to explain what happened... the man did not get up and walk and he did little other than look back into my eyes... but what happened was, I knew it wasn't me he saw. Jesus came... and He was my hands and He was my eyes and He was my voice... and I walked away with a feeling unlike anything I have known in my life. I have worked in ministry, I have worked with people on the streets and loved them there. I have done what I have done in the hopes to have Jesus be seen... but this moment was unlike anything before it, because it was a different reality of loving and becoming the least of these... washing the feet of the beggar, having my Savior do so. I touched his hands that were covered in scrapes and scars... and my Saviors love I pray was felt.
As I said, there are no words for this holy of holy moment, because when it comes to Jesus, there are no words good enough. But as I left that man, I felt my Saviors presence with me, I felt what it MEANT to love how He loved... and again, my life shifted. Living, truly living is what was felt in that moment. Being able to be Jesus to people... being able to give Him a chance to shine. I fail miserably at explaining this moment with this precious man who very much resembles the picture to the right, in his posture... his unworthy stature.... but it was JEsus gift to me, to my heart, to my life, to my understanding and awe of him, to love that man... to get on the ground with that man...

"Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the Temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the Temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he asked for alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God." (Acts 3:1-8 RSV)

Brethren, We Beseech You

And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation; but as it is written,

"They who had no news of Him shall see,
And they who have not heard shall understand."
For this reason, I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you,
whenever I go to Spain-
for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while- but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.
Therefor, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.
I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness and blessing of Christ."
Romans 15: 20-29

Paul's words are used by Jesus to minister to our hearts, when our longing resembles his own. Paul was eager to return to a people he loved, that he knew he was called to. His heart yearned for them and longed to be near them... Paul so deeply loved the people God put on his heart to reach for Christ, and it was his lifes purpose to preach to them our risen Savior.

We are so touched by Paul's expression of these things, knowing the exact same core indwelling longing to be sent and then to be brought back to them. I believe it is part of God's plan to place us and then for a time remove us from the place of our calling. I believe it grows in us only a deeper connection and urgency, when we have been and seen and then have also been pulled away. It is our daily prayer that God's will be done in our lives, but it is also our daily longing, to return to the people to which we have been called to give our lives to seeing brought near our precious Jesus.

So it is with that desire and division between us and Thailand, that we have shed tears and felt broken in the distance. We fully understand and embrace the reality of God having set His perfect time for everything, and we rest in that. But our hearts ache for this land and people that we are in love with, and with the call Jesus has placed on our lives. We labor daily to be lights where ever we are, and see Jesus glorified in our lives whether it be in America for this time, or in Thailand... but we also wrestle with the knowing of how available the gospel is here in this land, and how in other nations, there is no one standing to share with them the saving redemption of our Lord.

If you follow this blog, we ask you humbly to consider partnering with us in a way that would help us return to this land and this mission you support by being here. We NEED monthly supporters, people who could even commit ten dollars a month to us. If the 100 of you who we see daily read our updates could find a way to do that, we could return by our target date of November!!! Then again, if you felt moved to give more, it would bless us greatly and we would love to know who you are so that we might thank you personally! We will be brought by God's hands alone paving the way, but part of that clearing is done by his moving your hearts to be a part of this journey and work for Jesus.

So we beseech you brethren.... to labor with us and joyfully sacrifice for the Kingdom, to be a part of this pursuit to see wickedness stomped out, and Jesus light brought to these dark places.
We thank you all for your support and time in being here... all giving information is below... we would be so blessed by your movement in this.

In His Sons Holy and Sacred Name, Juliet and Jonathan Stuck

All giving information is available on the "Give" page, with links to our organization. All donations made are tax deductible and will be directly deposited into our personal International Teams account. Those donations are what make up our living expenses budget in Thailand, plus build up on one time expenses that allow us to get our visas, flights and first time set up costs. Thank you so much for your support.
The Stucks

Clarification

Jonathan and I have had something on our heart for sometime, that through a lot of prayer, processing and quiet time, it became something with the desire to be mentioned. God has given us a powerful call, one that humbles us daily... we are inadequate, weak, selfish people that God sees the gold in, that, which is our Savior who gives us whatever greatness and good that we possess. He has redeemed us from the pit and made us new, and we serve a God who is a Father passionately in love with His children. We know He understands our weakness, but does not measure us by it. He sees in the greatness we all can be and all that we can accomplish, if we give our trust to He who gives us life and pursue after the hope that our lives if anything, honor, glorify and establish Him in places where His name was not known.

God has shown us the issue of Human Trafficking.... but to take it out of its title... He has shown us the enslavement of children, women and men. People who in their greatest venerability are exposed and become helpless slaves to the command of great wickedness and evil. He has shown us the reality of shattered people who were never given a voice, but He has also shown us the hope that lies within them... the very hope and light that has kept them surviving. He has also shown us the deep affliction man would face to become the oppressor, and how they too need saving by a tender Savior. He has shown us this reality, and shown us our responsibility to it.... mostly, He has shown us the avenue that through this deep darkness, He can powerfully be the light within it.

The struggle we have been facing, is the fact that we feel that Human Trafficking has become a bit of a "hot topic" right now. One that can tend to get thrown around as the words, "human trafficking" instead of the actual realities of it. Jonathan has been exposed to people around him who joke about this reality and even about selling babies on the black market. The stories of it have brought great pain in imagining how deeply as His people it digs into our hearts... but how much more would it break the heart of our Lord? This indifference... this lack of heart. People have heard the WORDS, "Human trafficking" so frequently lately, that they stop considering what it actually is. So this is a problem. The other difficulty for us is feeling like people have tended to turn our life call into fighting the issue of human trafficking alone.

We have nothing but honor over the fact that Jesus has called us to take part in His holy work regarding this, but the clarification lies here.

We are not missionaries going to tackle and issue...
We are bond servants of Jesus Christ.
We are moving out into the part of the world He has called us to be.
We are pursuing the people He has laid on our heart.
We are moving forward to see His hands and heart revealed to them.
We are not people who are thinking we can change the world.
We are hoping we can serve Jesus by loving people one at a time.

We are not fighting the issue of Human Trafficking as our sole role.
We are going to see Jesus magnified and preached...
We are not fighting an issue.
We are praying to through an issue our hearts have been broken by,
see Jesus's light shine onto it.
And see people changed and transformed through His holy power...
ALONE.

We claim no greatness.
We do not call this OUR ministry.
We are not going to fight the issue of this devastation.
We are pursuing this call to fight the war against the enemy.
ENTIRELY.

So to clarify again... please see that this is something that God has called us to be a part of... and we by no means mean to make it seem less important than it is, because we are in fact going to give our life to this because of how important it is. But the point we need to make abundantly clear, is that we do not want to be identified with the issue..... we want to be identified with Jesus Christ alone. And the fact that he has called us all to tend to the orphan and the widow in their distress... to be a light in dark places, to make disciples of all nations and to become the least of these.

A HUGE part of the path we are following, is working to see those oppressed through this vicious cycle of trafficking freed and redeemed. To love on them so deeply that one day they can begin to see their worth in Jesus Christ. But even with dealing with this issue, we do not just speak about trafficking in Thailand... we want to vocalize the travesty of this force against people worldwide. We never want to appear as though Thailand is the only place dealing with this reality... and we would ask all of you who support us in this endeavor to also remember that truth. We need to pray for Jesus's children everywhere, in the many ways they are all oppressed.

We have been called to Thailand and will give our heart to the people of Thailand, but we know that God sees the whole world in its suffering and want to grow to be more like Him by daily doing the same.

We have been called to be a part of the issue of human trafficking, but we were not called to just fight the issue itself. We do pray that this horror of trafficking will be stopped one day, but Jesus has to be the center of everything we do and our hearts need to daily remain humble in the truth that anything accomplished for the Kingdom, is Jesus THROUGH US.

So please remember us daily in your prayers and pray for our strength as His children, His followers and His servants... and with us pray in remembrance of the evil penetrating the world that CREATES the issue of human trafficking, war, genocides, slavery and every bit of oppression in existence. Let us not work to stop issues, but labor to see light cast into darkness, everywhere through everything, through Jesus Christ.

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel."

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true."
-John 5

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and everything else you can think of...

One of the things that we learned very quickly while we were in Bangkok, is that there are so many different ways to get from here to there. It was all up to you how adventurous you wanted to be. One of our first bus rides, it took us 45 minutes to go about a mile and a half in the blazing heat with no air conditioning. My first motorcycle ride I was sure that my knees were going to bump into something. Then later, that fear was confirmed when my driver tried to make it between two stationary buses and I was left standing in the middle of the busy street. From riding the sky train and hearing that it was bombed that same night, to getting out of a taxi and having a motorcycle driver ram into the door, transportation in Thailand is a daily adventure (obviously these events are easy to laugh about now, but a little bit more strenuous at the time). :)

We wanted to write a post talking about the many different types of transportation in Thailand and give you a glimpse into daily life. Each day we would take at least three different types of public transportation. With a pregnant wife and a little girl, this was an art that took a little getting used to and a good amount of time to master (if that). Another thing that is interesting about getting around in Thailand is all the different types of people you see. Each way of getting around is also used to transport not only people seeking cheep sex, but also those being exploited. A couple years ago the police arrested a driver of an enclosed truck only to find the back full of Burmese refugees who had all died due to poor ventilation. Certain types of transportation tend to be used more frequently for the seekers; sky train, tuk tuks, etc.

Thought:

Like most things in Thailand there is that thrill of the unknown and new adventure. Also, like most things in Thailand, it has a direct tie to a problem that permeates all parts of the culture and daily life.

Walking was a HUGE part of our life in Thailand. It is the cheapest way to go, and in all reality, so many people in the city live in such small circles that a few minutes of walking can get you to food, school, shops and more. On the right of this picture is a song tao. This was probably our most used form of transportation.

We would ride in these open air truck thingies that have set routs through most of the neighborhoods. We always ran into the same people, and it was a fun way to get to know the people who lived in our neighborhood.

One day we decided to go for a ride on a canal boat. I think we were imagining something a little more like a peaceful ride in Venice. We were looking forward to a lazy ride looking at the city and enjoying the beautiful water of the canals. What we got was VERY different. We were crammed into a boat jam packed full of people and sitting right in front of a motor that I am sure they had connected to a speaker to make it even louder. With the fumes rising up all around us, we were still happy that we were going to be able to get a different view of the city. Then they pulled up a tarp that covered the sides of the boat to keep the "lovely canal water" from splashing onto us. It was an experience, but a very different one than we had imagined. :)

So needless to say transportation in Thailand was an adventure and an exercise... but just another thing that we now miss, and look forward to experiencing again soon.

Menus...

“Pet Maak maak!!!”

This was a phrase very commonly used by my darling husband and I during our eight months in Bangkok, Thailand. Very very spicy!!! When you first walk down the long and narrow outdoor markets, you are overwhelmed by the powerful aromas, color and variety in every single dish you see. The sellers are busy, working harder than most people you will ever see, in heat so intense that you walk out your door and the exertion of that very small act has you sweating like you were in a sauna. One would think with the incredible number of dishes that you would have plenty of variety in the dinner of your choosing... but “pet maak maak!” is the reality of living in a country where “spice” to them has a different definition than to ours as Americans. There are no menus, and nothing is in English, and very rarely do the people speak it, so you take your chance on whatever dish has less peppers... and bring a hot dog home just in case.

There are however in Thailand, menus for people and enough English spoken concerning that menu to ensnare somewhere between 60 to 80% of foreign tourists and 70% of Thai men. When my husband took the train to go get our internet connected in another part of the city, he was approached very forcefully by a man who put a “menu” in his face filled with Polaroids of girls whom he advertised as, “Very young! Very cheap!” As shocking as this might seem, that man would not have that angle or choosing of words, were those very things not in huge demand every single day. Very young... very cheap...

In Thailand, there are more brothels than schools, around 60,000 to be more precise. And it is estimated that up to 400,000 children under the age of 16 work in bars, brothels, and night clubs. Trafficking is a $16 billion dollar annual business, which makes up 50%-60% of the governments annual budget. This industry is more profitable than the drug trade. Yet the issue lies in the grey area of corrupt desire and lack of desire to learn the reality that would compel even a cold heart toward action for the voiceless. Because if you were to ask if children were prostituted in Thailand, you would receive an automatic no. But, if they thought you might be interested in those children for your own sexual agenda, they would be made available to you.

If you were to open your eyes to see, the evidence is everywhere. So which way will we look? Will our hearts hunger to learn what we can to help, or turn away from a problem that feels too large and too dark? My question is, did the children and women who are prostituted have a choice? The majority of them did not, as their worth lied in being a commodity as opposed to a human being. So if they did not have a choice, why should you? If there were options for them, what could you do?

Intro to Human Trafficking; Article for Fayetteville Newspaper, by Juliet Stuck

Thailand Trafficking Facts

Many of these statistics are ten to twelve years old, and though they show the reality of the trafficking situation in Thailand, we are eager to find more up to date ones. At this point, though, this has been one of our best resources for these statistics.

•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)

•The internal trafficking 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 Pacifc, 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

•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 November 1997)

•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? shake vice? grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17 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 kidnapped the chosen girl. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

•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 traffcked 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)

•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 November 1997)

•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 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)

•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)

•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 60,000 brothels and other sexual service centers in Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific,
Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

•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)

•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)

•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? Rights, Chris Gelken, "Row
Over Call to Boycott ?aedophile Playground" Gemini News, 28 February 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? Affairs, Chris Gelken, "Row Over Call to Boycott ?aedophile Playground" Gemini News, 28 February 1997)

•There are more brothels than schools in Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

•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 neighbors 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. Motorized 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)

Wikepedia Facts:

Child prostitution: The exact number of child-prostitutes in Thailand is not known, but Thailand Health System Research Institute reports that children in prostitution make up 40% of prostitutes in Thailand. The reasons why and how children are commercially sexually exploited include:

•Poverty: a high proportion of the population lives in poverty.
•Ethnic hill tribe children: these children live in the border region of northern Thailand. They suffer from disproportionate levels of poverty in relation to the general population and most of them lack citizenship cards. This means that they do not have access to health care or primary school, which limits their further education or employment opportunities.
•Trafficked children: Many children are trafficked into or within the country through criminal
networks, acquaintances, former trafficking victims and border police and immigration officials who transport them to brothels across Thailand.
•Sense of duty: According to traditional customs the first duty of a girl is to support her family in any way she can. Due to this sense of duty and to pay off family debts, many girls have been forced into prostitution and some have even married their abusers.
•Wealthy tourists: Child sex tourism is a serious problem, numerous tourists from the Western
World travel to Thailand to have sex with children.
•Foreign child sex offenders: Some foreign sex offenders residing in Thailand have taken up
professions with access to children or are involved in trafficking children and organizing sex tours for others.
•Children are exploited in sex establishments and are also approached directly in the street by
tourists seeking sexual contact.
•Thailand is listed by the UNODC as both a top destination for victims of human trafficking and a major source of trafficked persons.]
•A proportion of prostitutes over the age of 18, including foreign nationals from Asia and Europe, are in a state of forced sexual servitude and slavery.
•There are reports of bribe taking by some low- or mid-level police officers facilitating the most
severe forms of trafficking in persons.
•Ethnic minorities such as northern hill tribe peoples, many of whom do not have legal status in the country, are at a disproportionately high risk for trafficking internally and abroad. Within the country women are trafficked from the impoverished northeast and the north to Bangkok for sexual exploitation.
•It is common that Thai women are lured to Japan and sold to Yakuza-controlled brothels where they are forced to work off their price. The reason why it is so easy to lure these women from neighboring countries is because Thailand has 56 unofficial crossover points and 300 checkpoints where people can simply cross over the borders without the need for any paperwork. This makes it easier for exploiters to get by without a hitch.[1] Most legal entry points into Thailand demand some i.d.--either a passport or an identity card, but the problem of people who cross borders to work every day (like the USA/Mexican border) makes lax the rules due to familiarity of officers and frequent travelers.

Thailand

What is the human trafficking situation in Thailand?

Thailand is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. It is a destination-side hub of exploitation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, for both sex and labour exploitation. Both internal and cross-border trafficking occur in and from Thailand, for sex and labour exploitation. Male and female migrants from neighbouring countries are trafficked into Thailand; Thais are trafficked to wealthier countries in Northeast Asia, the Middle East, and
Europe; and there is rural-urban risky migration and trafficking as well.

According to the record of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) in 2007, the Ministry provided 363 foreign trafficked victims with shelter and assistance. However, since victims are often unwilling to disclose their identities or file official complaints against traffickers for various reasons, the scale of the problem is likely to be greater than this.

Who is being trafficked in Thailand, and what are some of the vulnerability factors?

The majority of people trafficked to Thailand come from Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Southern China and are subjected to forced or bonded labour and commercial sexual exploitation. The nature of labour migration to Thailand creates vulnerabilities for those migrant workers without documentation and often without Thai language skills, and who may not understand their rights under Thai law. Ethnic minorities within Thailand who are denied citizenship are at a high risk of being trafficked due to their
‘statelessness’.

Ethnic Thais are trafficked from the relatively poor areas of Chiang Rai, Phayao and Nong Khai to urban and tourist areas; or internationally. Thai women, urban and rural, are sent to work in sex and domestic industries in almost all regions of the world, particularly Malaysia, Japan, Bahrain, Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa and Germany15. This international trafficking is sometimes under the guise of a seemingly legal labor contract that is not honoured.

Motivations: Often-cited vulnerability factors are poverty, lack of education, awareness and employment, or dysfunctional families. But sometimes, it is a lack of relevant educational
opportunities, and not a lack of education – or, being relatively well-educated but with no appropriate job opportunities around – that are the key vulnerability factors.

Main sectors of work for trafficked persons in Thailand are sexual exploitation, begging, domestic work, factory work, agriculture and fishing industries

Who are the perpetrators of human trafficking in Thailand?

Profile: As the nature of trafficking varies, so too does the profile of traffickers, both Thai and non-Thai nationals, male and female. They range from those in organised networks able to produce or buy fake documents, avoid immigration requirements, and conduct trafficking operations spanning thousands of kilometres, to individuals seizing an opportunity to profit from cheating or coercing someone into a situation of exploitation. Perpetrators of human trafficking include anyone complicit in any stage of the deception, movement or exploitation of a person. Traffickers use sophisticated means of transporting Thai nationals on fraudulent travel documents and use various land, sea and air routes.

Trafficking networks in and from Thailand can be well-structured and work across the borders through the use of brokers. However, the majority of trafficking cases are facilitated by individual and local level networks of friends, family members and former victims, and often begin with voluntary migration.

SIREN human trafficking data sheet
STRATEGIC INFORMATION RESPONSE NETWORK
United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP)