To Better Know a Country: Human Trafficking in Thailand

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-10-28 07:00:00 UTC
Topics:

Every year, the U.S. State Department releases a Trafficking in Persons report which rates countries on their efforts to combat human trafficking.  Each week, I'll be providing a brief glance at human trafficking in one of those countries, based off the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, with my own (often snarky) analysis added.  This is just a snapshot of what's going on in the country.  For more information, you can check out the full text of the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report here.

This Week's Country..... Thailand

Basic Stats

  • Ranking: Tier 2

  • Status: Source, transit, and destination country for trafficking victims

  • Political Stability: Solid as a rock, just as long as no one tries to end the rampant corruption that holds the system together

  • Cash Flow: Best in the region, though tourism and sex tourism are a big part of that

  • Do I Think They Care?: It's hard to turn down the huge influx of Western money that lax prostitution and child protection laws entice, even when it's the right thing to do.

Who Are the Victims and What Are They Doing?

  • Women:commercial sex, forced labor, domestic servitude

  • Girls: commercial sex, forced labor, domestic servitude, begging, sex tourism

  • Med: forced labor

  • Boys: commercial sex, forced labor in fishing and agriculture, domestic servitude, begging, sex tourism

Where Are They Coming From and Where Are They Going?

  • Victims are trafficked from Thailand to Taiwan and Bahrain.

  • Victims from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, China, Vietnam, Russia, and Uzbekistan to Thailand.

  • Thai victims are trafficked internally, especially from rural to urban areas.

What's Gotta Happen

  • Investigate labor trafficking as well as sex trafficking.

  • Prevent adult victims from being confined to shelters against their will.

  • Educate workers, especially migrant workers, on their rights.

What Can I Do

  • You can support Baan Kredrakarn, and organization which provides shelter for women and children who have been victims of human trafficking in Thailand.

In summary, the commercial sex industry, both the voluntary and involuntary sectors, is a huge part of Thailand's growing economy. While the government has taken some important steps and passed some strong legislation to prevent human trafficking, they are fighting an uphill economic battle. Thailand has become a stereotype for human trafficking, but in this case the stereotype is grounded in reality. The Thai government, Thai people, and the rest of the world need to stand together to say and support Thailand's economic growth through other means.

Photo credit: flydime

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
PREVIOUS STORY:
101 Things to Be for Halloween Other Than a Pimp
NEXT STORY:
Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, how are you going to take action?

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.