Around 80,000 women and children have been sold into Thailand's sex idustry since 1990, with most coming from Burma, China's Yunan province and Laos. Trafficked children were also found on construction sites and in sweatshops. In 1996, almost 200,000 foreign children, mostly boys from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, were thought to be working in Thailand. (Mahidol University's Institute of Population and Social Research, "Trafficking of children on the rise," Bangkok Post, 22 July 1998)

Pattaya has a multi-billion dollar multinational sex industry with links to drug trafficking, money laundering and an expanding regional cross-border traffic in women. (Mark Baker, "Sin city can¹t shake vice¹s grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)

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 Novermber 1997)

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)

Women from Thailand are trafficked particularly to the Netherlands and Germany of the European Union, Japan, Austrlia, India, Malaysia and nations of the Middle East. ("Trafficking of Women to the European Union: Characterisitics, Trends and Policy Issues," European Conference on Trafficking in Women, (June 1996), IOM, 7 May 1996) and (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

The internal traffic 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 Pacific, 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)

One million women from Burma, southern China, Laos, and Vietnam have been trafficked into Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific "Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific" (17)

In 1996, foreign women made up the majority of prostitutes in 40 sex establishments in 18 border provinces that are brothels masquerading as karaoke bars, restaurants and traditional massage parlours. In some venues, there are no Thai women at all. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)

Large numbers of women and children from neighbouring countries are lured into prostitution and trafficked through the four Thai borders: Chiang Rai, Ranong and Mae Hong Son at the Burmese border, Trat and Sa Kaew at the Cambodia border, Mukdahan and Nong Khai at the Lao border and Yala and Narathiwat at the Malaysian border. (Wanlop Phloytaptim, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1 May 1997)

In mid-1997 an increasing number of young girls, more than 60% of which are under 18 years old, were entering Thailand through Mae Sai checkpoint into massage parlors, brothels etc. (World Vision¹s Bansit Thathorn, the coordinator of the NGO Burmese women, Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)

50% of the prostituted women in Chiang Rai are Burmese. Thousands of indigenous Burmese women from Shan State in the north and from Keng Tung in Eastern Burma have been sold into brothels in Bangkok and throughout Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Women from Burma's Shan state and China's southern province of Yunnan constitute 16% of the 77,000 women in the sex industry in Thailand. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)

10,000 foreign women are trafficked for sexual exploitation each year from nearby countries to replace Thai women who have moved on other roles in the sex industry. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)

Fewer girls from Northern Thailand have entered the sex industry in the past few years. As their numbers decline they are replaced by women and girls from Burma and southern China. (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)

There are 500 Chinese and 200 European women in prostitution in Bangkok, many of whom entered Thailand illegally, often through Burma and Laos. Earlier reports, however, suggest there were thousands of foreign women in the sex industry. (Police Colonel Sanit Meephan, deputy chief of Tourism Police Bureau, "Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)

Russian females, supplied by prostitution rings in Pattaya and Bangkok, have become a common sight since 1994. Although no one knows their exact number, some estimate there are at least 20 in Pattaya and hundreds flying in and out upon orders given mostly by wealthy Thai men. ("Pattaya: Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April 1998)

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 can¹t shake vice¹s grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)

Chinese women paid Bt40,000 to Bt50,000 for expenses and received Bt1,500 to Bt2,000 for servicing men. Procurers take at least half of what the women make. Those women from Europe paid Bt60,000 to Bt70,000 for expenses and stayed at apartments in Pratunam or Soi Nana. As Westerners, the women received a comparatively more, Bt4,000 to Bt5,000 for servicing men in area venues in Thong Lor, Sukhumvit and Sam Yan. ("Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)

In 1991, Thai women were being sold to Japan for US$2,4000-18,000 each. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Many Thai girls, some in their early teens, have been reported at various times working in brothels in Sydney, Australia. An investigation is underway into a gang trafficking Southeast Asian girls to North America and Australia. ("Survival the name of the game," Bangkok Post, 3 July 1998)

Girls, age 13-15, from Ban Vanaluang, were sold to pimps for 5,00 - 10,000 baht by their parents, who may be drug addicted. The girls are deceived about their destination, which is often Chiang Mai. (Anjira Assavanonda, "Drugs and prostitution flourish in quiet village," Bangkok Post, 3 January 1998) Trafficking women and children from the Mekong countries - China, Burma, Laos and Cambodia has been increasing. The largest groups of newly trafficked women into the sex industry are from Burma¹s Shan state, and minority women from the Northwest border areas. (1996 study conducted at 40 commerical venues in Bangkok, Kulachada Chaipipat, "New law targets human trafficking," The Nation, 30 Novermber 1997)

Experts fear a resurgence of commercial sexual exploitation, child prostitution and human trafficking across the region, because Thailand's economic meltdown has doubled unemployment to more than two million people; pay cuts have reduced living standards for millions more and the government has cut social security funding. Experts warn conditions are ripe for sex traffickers "job brokers" who sell women and girls to brothels in Thailand and overseas. ("Survival the name of the game," Bangkok Post, 3 July 1998)

Child trafficking will increase in Thailand due to the Asian economic crisis. There is a child labor shortage resulting in a need for labor from neighboring poorer countries as well as an increase in domestic child labor. Middle class Thai children are increasingly becoming involved in prostitution, drugs, and begging. ("Children hard-hit by Asian crisis," United Press International, 22 September 1998)

The Asian economic crisis is leading to an increase in street children in Thailand. Before the crisis the majority (80%) of street children where from poor families; in 1998, 10-15% of the children are from middle class families. The children are involved in prostitution, drugs, and begging. Some have lived in the streets so long and have suffered abuse, that they begin abusing younger street children and trafficking in children for prostitution. Official estimates there are 15,000 street children. ("Expert says Thailand turns into hub of child trafficking," Bangkok Post, 22 September 1998)

Thousands of girls from China's southern are trafficked into Thailand's sex industry; some go on to Malaysia or Singapore. The economic crisis has no impact on this segment of the sex industry. More affluent Chinese businessmen from mainland China or Taiwan who do business in Thailand purchase sex from these Chinese girls. (Supalak Ganjanakhundee, "Migrant workers booming as Asian economy declines," Kyodo News, 23 September 1998)

Thailand is becoming a center for human trafficking, taking in people from neighboring countries and sending its own citizens to developed nations such as Japan. (Supalak Ganjanakhundee, "Migrant workers booming as Asian economy declines," Kyodo News, 23 September 1998)

Methods and Techniques of Traffickers

Victims of trafficking from other nations are easily deceived or lured because they face poverty, unemployment, broken families and unstable governments in their own countries. (Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1 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 kidnaped the chosen girl. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

The networks in Thailand involved in the trafficking of women have liaisons in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. (Chulalongkorn University, "There¹s money everywhere for Thai police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)

Thailand is a staging point for the international trade in prostitutes and illegal workers, with facilities for the production of false travel documents and processing of foreign nationals to third countries. (Chulalongkorn University, "There¹s money everywhere for Thai police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)

Russion women, looking for a better life and to escape the Russian economic crisis, are being trafficked to Pattaya. Most of the women became involved with job placement agencies offering high-paying work as dancers, waitresses, domestic servants or sale representatives. Trafficking networks in Russia charge the women anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 (60,000 to 120,000 baht) and once in Thailand, the women are kept in constant fear. They have their passports taken away upon arrival. The women are forced to work long hours for little pay and threatened with death or the death of their families if they don¹t cooperate. ("Pattaya: Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April 1998)

Most European women in prostitution in Thailand are from Russia, the Czech Republic and Romania. The women enter via procurers in Thailand and their native nations. Procurers take women to Yaowaraj, Surawongse, Urupong and Kingphet to be prostituted in apartments. ("Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)

Brothel owners in Thailand prefer foreign women because they are easier to control and more ''loyal". ''They will not cheat us like Thai women do, or escape from us. They are also abundant in number. Certainly, the clients prefer them to Thai women, they say the foreign women are less likely to be infected with HIV." (Kritaya Archavanitkul, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries Into the Sex Trade in Thailand, "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade," Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Mukdawan Sakboon, The Nation, 28 May 1997)

The AIDS pandemic is how the sex industry is excusing recruiting more young girls from remote areas in Thailand, Shan State in Burma, Southern China, Kampuchea and Laos, under the false pretense that younger girls will not be infected with the disease. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Cases-

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 trafficked 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)

Thai police are looking for an ethnic Chinese man and his accomplices who lured local women to South Africa and forced them into sex slavery. A police spokesman told Reuters at least seven Thai women had complained they had been offered jobs in South Africa as dancers or hostesses in night clubs but when they arrived found they were required to serve as unpaid prostituted women. The women said they were tricked into paying the gang a "commission" for their tickets, work permits and employment before they left Thailand. In South Africa they were forced to work day and night, they said. "Some of them have already returned home and some are in the process of repatriation," said the police spokesman. He said the operation appeared to be part of a well-organized business sending Thai women and girls to Africa but did not say how the women had managed to escape. ("Thai women lured to South Africa as sex slaves," Reuters, 24 August 1998)

The story of two Thai women:

Two Thai women forced trafficked to Saudi Arabia have come forward leading to the surrender of their trafficker, another Thai woman named Suna Thianmanee. Both women had contacted Suna in hopes of finding high paying work in Saudi Arabia, but instead were forced into prostitution. The women were forced to travel, in a tiny compartment below the truck's undercarriage or empty oil tank of the vehicle tanker in the scorching sun, from one construction site to another and to offer their sexual services.

Upon arriving in the Saudi capital, they were forced to share a five-metre-by-four-metre room with seven other girls, one of whom was Suna's sister. They were told that they would be engaged in prostitution, not restaurant helpers as promised, if they wanted to live. One of the women said that all nine girls, including herself and Suna's sister, had been wrongfully lured into the sex trade. Each girl had to service four to ten customers a day. Suna would earn about 200 to 800 riyals (Baht 2,000-Baht 8000) per visit while the girls would get free room and boarding and earn occasional tips. In five months, Suna was able to expand her brothel by renting a two-story, three-bedroom house. Most customers were Thai and Filipino workers and some Saudi citizens. (Preecha Sa-Ardsorn, "Saudi woman procurer surrenders before police," The Nation, 19 July 1998)

A Taiwanese man, Chen Chin En, 48, was arrested and charged with the procurement of Thai women for prostitution in Taiwan. A Thai man complained to police in July 1998, that his wife had been told by Chen she would work as a housewife in Taiwan, promising her a salary of Baht 15,000 per month. His wife had to register for a marriage certificate with another Taiwanese man in Thailand to apply for a visa. When she arrived in Taiwan she was taken to a brothel in Kaosung and forced into prostitution. Police said more than 500 Thai women had been lured into prostitution in Taiwan under the same method used by the gang. ("Taiwanese Œprocurer¹ held," The Nation, 29 July 1998)

Policy and Law-

Children are increasingly trafficked across Southeast Asia for prostitution, with Thailand being the main destination. Government policy to repatriate some 300,000 illegal workers was criticized because the measure would push illegal migrants, especially children, "further underground". (International Labour Organization, "Trafficking of children on the rise," Bangkok Post, 22 July 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 Novermber 1997)

Prostituted women who are illegal immigrants when found by police are deported and blacklisted. (Police Colonel Sanit Meephan, deputy chief of the Tourism Police Bureau, "Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)

Most of the police operations, which work closely with the Immigration police and Crime Suppression Division to suppress foreign prostitution rings, were against procurers and sex establishment operators rather than the women. ("Thailand popular haunt for foreign prostitues," The Nation, 15 January 1997)

Official Response and Action

Local law enforcement officials have ignored the expansion of Russian traffickers¹ involvement in prostitution in Pattaya, because it causes "no trouble." ("Pattaya: Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April 1998)

A crack-down on a prostitution ring in Saudi Arabia, into which Thai women are trafficked, in being coordinated by Bangkok Member of Parliament and women's and children's rights advocate Paveena Hongsakul. (Preecha Sa-Ardsorn, "Saudi woman procurer surrenders before police," The Nation, 19 July 1998)

Thailand¹s President Wan Muhammad Noor Matha said that Bangkok should make it clear to Saudi officials that the Thai government wants justice in a case in which nine Thai women were forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia. Wan Noor said he was confident the Saudi authorities would co-operate with their Thai counterparts. ("Wan Noor urges Riyadh to punish wrongdoers," The Nation, 18 July 1998)

Thai women were being lured into prostitution in Ivory Coast, Japan and Australia and Member of Parliament Paveena Hongsakul in August 1998, sought help from the Foreign Ministry. Paveena Hongsakul and relatives of the women met Deputy Permanent Secretary Sakthip Krairiksh who assured them that embassies would do their best to trace and help those coerced into prostitution. ("Help for women sought," The Nation, 7 August 1998)

The Thai Embassy in Japan helps hundreds of trafficked Thai women return to Thailand every year. Many of them were abducted or tricked into prostitution in Japan. (Supalak Ganjanakhundee, "Migrant workers booming as Asian economy declines," Kyodo News, 23 September 1998)

Reduced punishments for prostituted women and harsher penalties for pimps and brothel owners has not curbed the problem of trafficking into Thailand. Officers in charge of enforcing the law, particularly immigration police do not take the matter seriously, or fail to take immediate action against violators. (Senator Keerana Sumawon, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1 May 1997)

Official Corruption and Collaboration

Marut, a well-known pimp in Pattaya, was introduced to Russian traffickers by a local expatriate restaurateur. The Russians needed a local link to clients, especially wealthy Thai men. Over 60% of Marut's clients are government officials, including policemen. Some do not pay for what Marut describes as "special service," because they are powerful men. The price for "special service" is 3,000 to 6,000 baht depending on the status of the client. ("Pattaya: Murder, prostitution and tourists," Bangkok Post, 22 April 1998)

Some trafficked women, who were detained at immigration offices, were escorted out of the office at night with permission from officers or ordered to have sex with officers. In one cases four Laotian girls were gang-raped by inmates at a Rayong police station where the women were detained on charges of illegal entry and gambling (Surita Sandosham, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, "Flesh trade shrugs off new risks," The Nation, 1 May 1997)

Source: Coalition (www.catwinternational.org)