One Street In Bangkok and the World's Your Oyster

Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok doesn't hold any official world records in the Guinness book, but here are a few it would surely be awarded: most illegal bars in one place, densest population of women trafficked into prostitution, and world's largest open-air flesh market. By day this part of Bangkok is a shopping and entertainment district. But by night, it helps earn Bangkok's reputation of being a major global hub of human trafficking.

Thailand has become a stereotype of modern-day slavery. The image of the young Thai girl, sold into a brothel by her family or tricked into accepting a job in America, is an image people even nominally familiar with the issue recognize. And while the victims of human trafficking are much more heterogeneous, this stereotype is rooted in truth. Thailand in general, and Bangkok specifically, continues to have a thriving trafficking industry, especially in areas like Sukhumvit Road. So what makes this particular street in Thailand the place to be for sex with a trafficked girl or woman?

First, Sukhumvit Road draws large crowds of tourists and looking for commercial sex, because of the area's reputation. When the number of local and foreign women interested in traveling to Thailand to voluntarily engage in prostitution is lower than the number of men looking, human traffickers make up the difference. Traffickers also provide a variety of women to meet the tastes of the many customers, which means supplying a variety of ages, ethnicities, and even genders. Another reason Sukhumvit Road is a popular area for human trafficking is the lax attitude towards the other crimes taking place there -- drug sales, corrupt business deals, swindling of Western tourists, etc. Modern-day slavery is part of a broader corrupt, criminal landscape in Bangkok. And if you have money, then the world is your oyster.

Thailand's reputation for hospitality to sex tourism draws more human traffickers looking to get rich and more sex tourists looking to get laid. And their reports help develop and cement Thailand's reputation. At this point, which came first is not nearly as important as how to end the cycle. Do you focus on ending demand for sex tourism or preventing traffickers from bringing the supply? While both are important, ending demand on Sukhumvit Road and in other parts of the city is the key to making this Thai stereotype an outdated one.

For those of you who may be less nerdy about Broadway musicals and 80s pop culture than me, the title of this post refers to One Night In Bangkok, a tune made famous by one-hit-wonders Murry Head from the obscure musical Chess. The song describes the tension between a chess tournament taking place in Bangkok and the various distractions of the city, most of which are women being sold for sex. The hero struggles to focus on the reason he's in Bangkok and not get lost in places like Sukhumvit Road. Bangkok earned its reputation for exploitation and human trafficking by its attitudes about women and money as described in this song -- that if you have enough money, you can buy any woman. But as the both Murry Head and those researching the human trafficking on Sukhumvit Road have discovered, "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble. Not much between despair and ecstasy."

Photo credit: gurms