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 200,000 to 300,000 prostituted persons in Thailand. Prostituted persons are mainly adult women, but there are also male, transvestite and child prostitutes, both girls and boys. (International Labor Organization. Dario Agnote, "Sex trade key part of S.E. Asian economies, study says," Kyodo News, 18 August 1998)

A 1993 estimate showed 30,000 to 35,000 children, who were forced into prostitution due to poverty. (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)

There are 300,000 people in prostitution and many more in related sex industry ventures. (Chulalongkorn University, "There¹s money everywhere for Thai police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)

The 'green rice season', when farmers are short of money, is the prime season for girl hunting in the rural and hill tribes. Prostitution agents recruit girls into prostitution or buy them from their parents. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Origin of Thai prostituted persons in Thailand from survey conducted nationwide in January 1998. 54.01% of prostituted persons came from the North, 28.90% from the Northeast, and 9.67% from the Central Region. (Thai Public Health Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998) Between 12,000 and 18,000 children including 5,510 foreigners mainly from Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China¹s Yunnan province were involved in the sex industry in Thailand in July 1998. About 90,000 women, girls and boys were prostituted in Thailand, with large numbers of street children from Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya being lured into the sex trade. (Mahidol University¹s Institute for Population and Social Research study, "Study probes Thai child prostitution," UPI, 28 July 1998)Of 16,423 foreign persons engaged in prostitution in Thailand, 30% are younger than 18. (Mahidol University's Institute of Population and Social Research, "Trafficking of children on the rise," Bangkok Post, 22 July 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)Earnings from prostitution average $800 a month in Thailand and are higher than in other unskilled jobs. (International Labor Organization, Elif Kaban, "UN labour body urges recognition of sex industry," Reuters, 18 August 1998)There are between 200,000-300,000 persons in the sex industry in Thailand, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year. "You are talking about billions of baht of seedy, dark money being involved. It's not just the person in the brothel, or the brothel owner, but the whole chain in the economy... It's a massive phenomenon," said Vitit Muntarbhorn, a former UN special rapporteur on human trafficking. ("Survival the name of the game," Bangkok Post, 3 July 1998)In 1994, there were 200,000 prostitutes in Thailand. (paper presented to a regional conference on the prevention of human trafficking, quoting independent research reports compiled in 1994 by the Thai Red Cross Society and Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research, Kulachada Chaipipat, "New law targets human trafficking," The Nation, 30 Novermber 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 1-2 million people in the sex industry in Thailand. (NGOs, "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)Number of persons engaged in prostitution per type of sex industry establishment: 11,665 persons in restaurants; 9,397 in traditional massage parlors; 7,338 in karaoke bars; 5,964 in massage parlors; 5,743 in cafes; 5,229 in beer bars; 5,155 in brothels; 3,340 in go-go bars; 2,555 in cocktail lounges; and 1,936 in gay bars. Survey conducted nationwide in January 1998.

(Thai Public Health Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)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)The number of prostitutes is falling while the number of venues for prostitution is rising. In 1996 venues increased 5% from 7,759 to 8,200.

The number of prostitutes decreased from 86,494 in 1990 to 64,886 in 1997. (Dr Vichai Chokevivat, Health Ministry, Annual sex industry census, "Sex industry census shows more venues," The Nation, 29 July 1997)Women are prostituted in bars, brothels, massage parlors, hair salons, restaurants and golf clubs. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)2,237 of the 64,886 prostitutes in Thailand are male. (Dr Vichai Chokevivat, Health Ministry, Annual sex industry census, "Sex industry census shows more venues," The Nation, 29 July 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)Officials estimate that there are between 12,000 and 18,000 children under the age of 18 engaged in prostitution in Thailand, 5,510 of them foreign nationals. Out of 17,978 of these children, 16,651 are girls and 1,327 boys, and of foreign children, 5,419 are girls and 91 boys.

The Mahidol University' Institute for Population and Social Research and several other governmental, non-governmental and international agencies, also estimate that there are 90,000 persons engaged in prostitution, contrasting with the Public Health Ministry's latest survey, which comes up with a figure of 63,941. (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 Children¹s Rights, Chris Gelken, "Row Over Call to Boycott ŒPaedophile Playground¹," Gemini News, 28 February 1997)400,000 children under the age of 16 are exploited in brothels, clubs or bars in Thailand. (Campaigners, Robin Cook, "Clampdown on child sex tourism," BBC News, UK, 4 April 1998)There are 200,000 children in prostitution. (Chris Beddoe, representative of the international End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), Chris Gelken, "Row Over Call to Boycott ŒPaedophile Playground¹," Gemini News, 28 February 1997)250,000 children are bought and sold for sex in Thailand alone. (UNICEF, "UK police join fight against Thai child sex tourism," BBC, 9 December 1997)The government accepts that there are 200,000 "sex workers," 25% are probably below 18. (Dr. Saisuree Chutikul of the National Committee for Women¹s Affairs, Chris Gelken, "Row Over Call to Boycott ŒPaedophile Playground¹," Gemini News, 28 February 1997)There were 14,250 homeless children in 1997, up from 13,227 in 1996. Most are between eight and 14 years of age, 90% are boys.

More than 5,000 are in Bangkok, in places such as Hua Lampong train station, parks or "red light" districts. They survive by begging, washing cars, collecting plastic bottles or by prostitution. (The National Committee on Social Welfare, "Street teachers help overcome false starts," Ratchada Chitrada, News-Scan International Ltd, 2 October 1997)In every brothel raided over the past two years (1996-1997) children were found. (Wanchai Boonphacra, Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights, "More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)

Men who use women in prostitution are the largest cause of the spread of AIDS in Thailand. Young boys often have their first sexual experiences in brothels. Grown-up men regularly buy prostitutes. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids problem," The Nation, 20 May 1997)There are more brothels than schools in Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific) Children work in fisheries, construction, industrial and factory work, the service sector, and agriculture, in 14 border provinces and the Bangkok area. Prostitution was the highest paid with children earning about 6,281 baht a month. The money was spent on clothes and cosmetics and sent home to families for house construction and electrical applicances. (Prof Kusol Sunthorntada, Researcher, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, ("More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)

Northern girls in Thailand are prized for their pale complexions so tok khiao or ''fishing for the green" is particularly prevalent in that part of the country (khiao is the colour of tender young rice shoots). Girls are recruited for the sex industry in the following way: an agent for a brothel or ''massage parlour" (often a former prostitute herself) visits a poor village to scout out likely recruits. Her prey are girls reaching the end of their compulsory term of primary education ­ usually students in Prathom 5 or 6 Having identified a potential candidate, the agent then visits the girl's parents and offers a down-payment in cash for their daughter. When the girl finishes primary school, usually around the age of 11 or 12, the agent returns to make the final payment and receive delivery of the ''goods". ("Fishing for the Green," The Nation, 30 April 1997)

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 neighbours 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. Motorised 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)

The network between brothels keeps women from escaping bondage. The owner sells prostituted girl or women to another brothel just before she repays her "debt." She then must pay a new "debt," starting at the next brothel. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Child prostitutes are badly treated by the brothel owners and the men who buy them. Brothel owners make them work without a day off, steal their wages and warn them not to leave their work places telling them they will be arrested as illegal immigrants. Some are beaten for refusing to work and men who buy them may become violent if the girls refuse to perform various sex acts. (Prof Kusol Sunthorntada, Researcher, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, ("More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997) In Thailand, Patpong, Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Pattaya are main areas of the child sex industry. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING-

The rate of HIV infection is 50% or higher among female prostitutes in Northern Thailand. (New England Journal of Medicine, Sarah McNuaght, "Prohibition," The Boston Phoenix, 23-30 October 1997)

In 1990 there were fewer than 200 reported AIDS carriers, and only a handful of AIDS patients. By 1997, the number of reported carriers is believed to have far exceeded one million, with more than 30,000 deaths recorded in official papers. The AIDS epidemic has threatened to overwhelm at least six upper Northern provinces - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lamphun, Lampang, Phayao and Mae Hong Son. Hospitals in these provinces are usually packed with AIDS cases, who outnumber other patients. At a certain hospital ward in Chiang Rai, AIDS patients occupy 15 out of the ward's 22 beds. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids problem," The Nation, 20 May 1997)

Of 103 prostitutes tested for AIDS this year, 37.8% were HIV positive, most of them from Burma's Shan state. (Dr Sura Kunkongkaphan, Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)

NGOs say most prostitutes come from provinces in the north; a large number after travelling to cities like Bangkok to work return to their villages once they become infected with HIV/AIDS. They in turn, infect others. AIDS is mostly transmitted through heterosexual contact. Men often get the disease from a prostitute then infect their wives who then infect their unborn children. Northern Thailand accounts for about half of the country¹s 800,000 cases of HIV. (Sutin Wannabovorn, "Thai Prime Minister vows end prostitution, AIDS victims react," Reuters, 29 July 1997)

Thailand has the fourth largest number of AIDS cases in the world with nearly 60,000. This is only the number of officially reported cases and health workers say the actual number is sveral times higher. (Sutin Wannabovorn, "Thai Prime Minister vows end prostitution, AIDS victims react," Reuters, 29 July 1997)

More than 70% of Thailand¹s returning migrants are HIV positive. The men buy women in prostitution when they are abroad. Of 500 returning migrants in Khon Kaen, more than 400 are HIV positive. Migration is a key factor in the spread of AIDS. (NGOs working on HIV/AIDS issues in Issan, recent informal sample by a doctor, IOM, Leyla Alnayak, "Returning migrants to Thailand show high AIDS incidence," Earth Times, 11 April 1998)

CASES-

18 women were rescued by police in a raid of the Baan Nok Pirab (Pigeons' House) brothel in Ban Pong district in Ratchaburi province. One woman had been a slave there for 12 years. Sod Seusa-nga, 42, the manager of the brothel, was arrested on charges of prostitution and illegal detention. ("Police rescue 18 women to end prostitution ring," The Nation, 31 July 1997)

Two Pattaya policemen have been arrested for running an operation that sold under-age boys to prostitution tourists and planted drugs on other boys in order to blackmail them. Another officer has been charged with running a brothel and kidnapping a 15-year-old girl for prostitution. (Mark Baker, "Sin city can¹t shake vice¹s grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)

A 25-year-old woman, named Ploywilai, was enslaved in a brothel for 12 years. After she was rescued in a raid, she told police she ran away from home at the age of 13 to stay with her boyfriend in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province. After her boyfriend was arrested for using marijuana, a man lured her into prostitution in a brothel in Mahachai. After staying there for about two months, she was sold to the brothel in Ratchaburi. ''I was at Baan Nok Pirab for 12 years and they never let me go out. I wanted to go home but escape seemed impossible," she said. Ploywilai said she wrote to her mother to seek police help and asked a brothel visitor to be her messenger. ("Police rescue 18 women to end prostitution ring," The Nation, 31 July 1997)

POLICY AND LAW-

In August 1997, The House of Representatives passed the first reading of a government bill to outlaw the laundering of money obtained from prostitution and the drug trade. It will permit authorities to freeze assets suspected of having been obtained from the drug trade or prostitution. The owners would be required to prove that they had earned the assets legally. (Jintana Panya-Arvudh, "House votes on new money laundering bill," The Nation, 7 August 1997)

According to an anti-prostitution law, it is criminal to procure anyone under 18, the punishment of which is four to twenty years in jail and an 80,000 to 100,000 baht fine. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997) The Thai Foreign Ministry will be urged to advise foreign visitor before they arrive in Thailand of the anti-prostitution law, which punishes persons involved in the prostitution of children below 18 years of age, including customers. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Child Prostitute Problem Worrying," Bangkok Post, 28 July 1998)

Since enforcement of the anti-prostitution law in December 1996, police pursue cases of child prostitution less frequently, partly because the cases are complicated. According to Professor Kritaya Archavanitkul of Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research, "The police at local level do not cooperate much because the Interior Ministry has announced that police authorities will be penalized if child prostitutes are found in areas under their responsibility." (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Child Prostitute Problem Worrying," Bangkok Post, 28 July 1998)

Enforcement of the Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act of 1997 caused movement of many prostituted persons from brothels to restaurants and beer bars. This puts them out of the reach of health workers, which hampers efforts to control sexually transmitted diseases by driving prostituted persons from the mainstream red-light premises. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)

Budget cuts have forced the Communicable Diseases Control Department to cut its free condom distribution program from 45 million pieces in 1997 to 12 million in 1998. In fiscal 1999, the ministry has requested funds to buy 25 million condoms. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)

The Asian economic crisis is affecting the sex industry. Before the economic crisis, each prostituted woman had at least four customers per day but now it is about three every two days. This has potentially lead to a decrease in the in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases because of a decline in the frequency of intercourse with prostituted persons. (Thai Public Health Ministry. Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998) Many Russian crime syndicates have set up operations in prostitution, narcotics, and contract killings hidden behind legitimate businesses like bars and restaurants in Pattaya. (Superintendent of Pattaya police station Police Coronel Pinit Satyacharoen, Preecha Sa-Ardsorn, "Police worry Russian mafia getting stronger," The Nation, 9 April 1998)

OFFICIAL RESPONSES AND ACTIONS-

Two economic advisers to Thailand¹s Interior Minister recommended that prostitution be legalized, so the 200,000 women in prostitution could generate Bt60 billion per year for the Thai government. (Pasuk Pongpaijit and Sangsit Piryarangsan of the Economics department of Chulalongkorn University, Parith Iampongpaiboon, "Plan for illegal work proposed," The Nation, 1 July 1997)

21 men have been arrested under the Anti-prostitution Act aimed at curbing child prostitution from December, 1996, when it took effect to April 1997. (Wanlop Ploythaptim the director of Occupational Assistance Division, "Police asked to focus raids on prostitution," The Nation, 11 April 1997)

Thailand is now one of the world's AIDS capitals. The crisis is most severe in the North, where it is recommended that a state of AIDS emergency should be imposed. Suggested strategies include the immediate closure of all brothels in the region because the main route of transmission of AIDS is prostitution. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids problem," The Nation, 20 May 1997)According to a survey, the percent of army conscripts visiting brothels declined from 58 percent in 1991 to 23 percent in 1995. The group increased their condom use from 60 percent to 90 percent during that time. At the national level, the number of 21-year-old male conscripts with HIV was down from 3.7 per cent in 1993 to 2.5 per cent in 1995. (Werasit Sittitrai, UN AIDS Policy, Strategy and Research Coordinator, "HIV spread declines as prevention advice heeded," The Nation, 23 May 1997)

OFFICIAL CORRUPTION AND COLLABORATION-

It is widely accepted that illegal businesses exist under the patronage of the police in Thailand. There is also evidence that some police and military figures actively participate in illegal businesses. Some of the protection rackets that prey on gambling and prostitution businesses are said to be based in the army. Political figures are also involved. In the last parliament, 20 to 30 MPs were said to be involved in illegal businesses. (Chulalongkorn University, "There¹s money everywhere for Thai police," The Nation, 25 February 1997)

In the past, the Thai government covered up the reality of AIDS fearing tourism would be hindered. ("Opening our eyes to the Aids problem," The Nation, 20 May 1997)

NGO Action There are 24 shelters and 4 rehabilitation centres for prostituted women in Thailand. ("Police asked to focus raids on prostitution," The Nation, 11 April 1997)

Prostitution Tourism The Visit Thailand Year 1987 led to more children being trafficked into tourist sites for prostitution. (Montri Sintawichai, General Secretary, Child Protection Foundation, "More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)

The Amazing Thailand tourist campaign for 1998-1999 is predicted to bring more children into the sex trade. (Montri Sintawichai, General Secretary, Child Protection Foundation, "More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997) Sex tourism is likely to decrease because the Asian economic crisis has been felt in neighboring countries that supply sex tourists. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Vice purge hinders campaign as prostitutes go underground," Bangkok Post, 17 June 1998)CaseAn Australian, Bradley Pendragon, was charged with beating and raping two Thai girls, aged eight and 11 in a Bangkok hotel room in October 1993. Pornographic photographs made of the assaults show the youngest girl crying as she was orally raped. Pendragon was arrested after a series of pictures was sent to a Bangkok child protection agency by a photo-processing laboratory in Chiang Mai. Captain Soontorn told the Bangkok Southern Criminal Court that he rescued the girls, who had been sold into prostitution by their family, after they had been working in Bangkok's Patpong bar district for about four months in November 1993. The Thai pimps were allegedly paid between $250 and $500 by foreign clients, but the mother and grandmother received only $20 or $40 a time. Pedragon is already serving a sentence for the rape of a nine-year-old mentally handicapped girl in the northern city of Chiang Mai - the first conviction of an Australian for sexual assault of a minor in Thailand. (Mark Baker, "Australian beat girls, 8 and 11, for sex, court told," Sydney Morning Herald, 26 February 1998)

OFFICIAL RESPONSE AND ACTIONS-

Pattaya, a sex tourist destination, has 3,000 persons engaged in prostitution. City leaders are trying to clean up the image of Pattaya and market the resort to family vacationers. Pattaya attracted nearly 2 million visitors between January and June 1998, a 4% increase over 1997. "The sex image is something that dates back 20, 30 years," said Sethaphan Buddhani, the local director of tourism. "Of course, sex is still here, but in our marketing I don't emphasize it or deny it. If you're not here for service girls, then how about trying one of our 15 golf courses?" He adds, "The next market we're going after is the handicapped. We'll be the only city in the region with access ramps and handicapped facilities in restaurants, bars, everywhere. Japan alone has 12 million handicapped. That's a huge potential market. If they want sex tours, we'll arrange special guides." (David Lamb, "Thai Reinvent Gomorrah for Family Crowd," Los Angeles Times, 15 August 1998)

In Pattaya, more than 50 suspected child prostitution tourists have been arrested in the past two years, yet only one case has gone to trial. (Mark Baker, "Sin city can¹t shake vice¹s grip," Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 1997)

Laws governing the conviction of paedophiles have been tightened in more than 20 countries from August 1996 to August 1997, resulting in a decline in child sex tourism to Thailand. (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism, BBC, 8 Nov 1997)

OFFICIAL CORRUPTION AND COLLABORATION-

Thailand is among the world¹s biggest sex-tour operators, along with the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Taiwan in organizing sex tours for foreign tourists. Sex tour operators prey on children. Thailand¹s officials ignore the reality of prostitution. (Vicha Mahakhun, Deputy Chief Justice of the Central Juvenile and Family Court, "Judge blames officials for rise in child abuse," Piyanart Srivalo, The Nation, 26 July 1997)

ORGANIZED AND INSTITUTIONALIZED SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND VIOLENCE

In northern Thailand villages girls as young as five are fitted with copper collars weighing ten pounds. The number of collars are increased, stretching the neck, until the girl becomes 25. When the women speak they are barely audible. Women are vulnerable to men who will kill them if they take off the collars. (Halima Embarek Warzazi, expert from Morocco, "Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of MinoritiesAddresses Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting Health of Women and Girls," DPI-Releases, 13 August 1997)

Women from Burma¹s Karenni tribe kidnapped by a Thai businessman are being exhibited as a tourist attraction at a human zoo in Northern Thailand. From the age of five, the women wrap heavy copper coils around their necks to elongate them. Their necks eventually become so long and weak that they cannot support their heads without the coils. In some tribes the coils are removed to punish women who have committed adultery. ("ŒAmazing Thailand¹ offers human zoo," BBC World, 16 January 1998)

Source: Coalition (www.catwinternational.org)