FEATURE-Look, don't touch: Thai bars raided for trafficking child 'entertainers'

Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Thomson Reuters Foundation

 

One of the karaoke bars raided by police in the Thai province of Chiang Mai on September 5, 2019. Photo courtesy of Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children (TICAC) task force.

 

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Sept 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A hug, a hand on her knee, a kiss on the cheek: teenage waitress Pim would not allow the customers to go any further at a karaoke bar in northern Thailand where she was found in a police raid.

 

The 16-year-old was one of four teenage bar staff who were uncovered earlier this month in an anti-trafficking operation in Chiang Mai, a tourist hotspot with a well-established sex trade.

 

The four girls, all under the age of 18, told social workers after the raid on two bars that they were not forced to have sex with customers nor ordered to wear miniskirts and low-cut tops.

 

“Some customers touched my breasts, but I pushed their hands away,” said Pim, who could earn up to 700 baht ($23) each night - more than double the daily minimum wage in Thailand - working for the owner of the bar who she always referred to as “mother”.

 

While Thailand has ramped up efforts to tackle child sex trafficking in recent years, the crime is evolving and taking new forms such as the rising use of girls as “entertainers” to lure men into bars, according to police chiefs and campaigners.

 

The majority of patrons, child waitresses and bar owners do not see this work as abusive or unlawful, but officials say it is a type of human trafficking that has largely gone under the radar - and proved difficult to investigate and prosecute.

 

“Most of the offenders are karaoke bar owners who have an understanding that it is ok for children to do this type of work when in fact it’s considered sex trafficking,” police lieutenant colonel Likhit Thanomchua told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

 

“Most of the time, the first thing (the bar owners) say when they’re interviewed is, ‘I didn’t use these children for prostitution’,” added Thanomchua, who is a member of the Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children (TICAC) taskforce.

 

In most cases, police find suspected victims online as bars showcase their young waitresses on social media, he added.

 

The owners of the two karaoke bars raided this month have been charged with human trafficking and employing workers under the age of 18 without obtaining permission from the government.

 

But securing justice in such cases is difficult as the police often do not see the abuse as a crime or are reluctant to launch investigations, said Wirawan Mosby, director of the HUG Project, a charity that helps trafficked children in Chiang Mai.

 

“Police know that the children won’t cooperate and there’s a high chance that prosecutors won’t file charges since it is more difficult to find evidence than (in) cases of prostitution.”

 

“(Many) children call the bar owners ‘mother’. There’s a sense of family, and ... obligation involved,” Mosby added.

 

QUESTION OF TRUST

Thailand is a major source, transit and destination country for children who are sex trafficked throughout southeast Asia.

 

Tens of thousands of people are thought to work in the sex trade that is illegal yet widely tolerated - most do so freely, others against their will - and activists say many are children.

 

Sexual exploitation is the main form of modern-day slavery in Thailand - making up more than half of the 191 human trafficking cases recorded by the government so far this year.

 

While most instances involve children sold for sex or used to produce pornography, cops and campaigners are also grappling with new forms of abuse that they class as human trafficking.

 

Thailand’s anti-trafficking taskforce has been involved in a dozen child “entertainer” cases - most involving karaoke bars - after making the first arrest in 2017 over three children working in a bar in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima region.

 

Its most high profile operation to-date involved two karaoke bar owners in Chiang Mai - a husband and wife - who were jailed in March for almost 23 years for human trafficking and other offences, and ordered to pay 500,000 baht to five child victims.

 

Ratchapon Maneelek, a director at the government’s anti-trafficking division, said it was tough to crack the crime as it was hard to identify compared to cases of child prostitution.

 

“What’s challenging is how to gain trust from the child victims ... because they don’t want anyone to know that they are doing this type of work or that they’ve been touched,” he said.

 

DRINKS, MONEY, OPPORTUNITY

The child sex trade in Thailand has evolved in recent years as men no longer meet children at brothels but first engage with them at karaoke bars, pubs or online, said Ketsanee Chantrakul, a program manager at anti-trafficking charity ECPAT Foundation.

 

“Due to the strict prostitution laws, (businesses) have shifted their business model, arguing that the children are earning extra money as ‘entertainers’,” said Chatrakul.

 

For many Thai girls such as Pim - who grew up in a farming village about 70 km from the city of Chiang Mai - the allure of opportunity and a steady income is often too hard to turn down.

 

“Life is tough at home. I didn’t want to stay there,” said Pim, who left home about a year ago and headed to the city with 1,000 baht provided by her mother. “My friend said I would get good money (at the karaoke bar), and my parents didn’t oppose.”

 

“At least I didn’t get bored there,” she added. “I got to drink and talk to people.”

 

Pim - who said the bar owner did not ask her to fill in an application form or check her identity card before hiring her - is now in a shelter and expected to give evidence in court soon.

 

While her life is in limbo, other girls who have been found toiling in bars in recent years are hopeful about their futures - such as 18-year-old Nat, who now works as a nursing assistant.

 

“Nat was at the shelter for only a month, but ... she said she realised that she could do more than the type of work she used to do,” said a social worker who worked with the teenager after she was rescued last year. “She came to value herself.”

 

(Reporting by Nanchanok Wongsamuth @nanchanokw; Editing by Kieran Guilbert. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-25

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Why are they harassing waitresses and preventing from earning some money?

 

Some NGOs are seriously out of control, and authorities seem to be falling for it because they want to suck up to the USA and their neo-colonialist attitudes forcing 'trafficking' on the rest of the world.

"The owners of the two karaoke bars raided this month have been charged with human trafficking and employing workers under the age of 18 without obtaining permission from the government."  (emphasis added)

 

Not enough brown envelopes.

13 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

Why are they harassing waitresses and preventing from earning some money?

 

 

I think that it was because they were 16 years old 

NGO's can be seen in groups of 2 or 3 with very young children travelling through the tourist areas or settling in tourist restaurants and bars.

Is this not child abuse or human trafficking and if so how is it that they are allowed to get away with it?

 

so you can look at the young and touch a little but that's it.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The majority of patrons, child waitresses and bar owners do not see this work as abusive or unlawful

If you need to be 20 to enter a bar serving alcohol, you should be 20 to work there as well.

41 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I think that it was because they were 16 years old 

But it's legal if they work their a*** off at an illegal construction site with collapsing scaffolds for less than half of the money

12 hours ago, Deli said:

But it's legal if they work their a*** off at an illegal construction site with collapsing scaffolds for less than half of the money

No, thats illegal as well

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The four girls, all under the age of 18, told social workers after the raid on two bars that they were not forced to have sex with customers

 

That's kind of an odd statement to make by the reporter... and leave with no further comment.

 

So the under 18 girls said they were not forced... But it doesn't address the question of whether they voluntarily had sex with customers because they knew it was going to add to their paychecks.

 

Call me more than a little dubious that the Thai guys who frequent these places and put their money down are going to settle for holding hands and a peck on the cheek.

 

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So the under 18 girls said they were not forced... But it doesn't address the question of whether they voluntarily had sex with customers because they knew it was going to add to their paychecks.

Of course they had sex with the customers, else they wouldn't have been employed.

It's like smoking a joint but claiming you never inhaled when caught.

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

I think that it was because they were 16 years old 

 

People are allowed to work when they're 16 years old.  (Almost anywhere in the world including Thailand)

 

46 minutes ago, YTP said:

If you need to be 20 to enter a bar serving alcohol, you should be 20 to work there as well.

 

Okay, but the Thai government disagrees. You can serve food and drinks just fine as a waitress.  Don't tell me you don't see this all around you every day?

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The owners of the two karaoke bars raided this month have been charged with human trafficking and employing workers under the age of 18 without obtaining permission from the government.

 

But securing justice in such cases is difficult

 

1 hour ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

Okay, but the Thai government disagrees. You can serve food and drinks just fine as a waitress.  Don't tell me you don't see this all around you every day?

I don't think the government agrees.  Also, I used the word "should".  What is seen (and ignored) everyday is another matter.

13 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

People are allowed to work when they're 16 years old.  (Almost anywhere in the world including Thailand)

 

 

 

Not in the sex industry though .

Child prostitution is illegal in Thailand

1 hour ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

Okay, but the Thai government disagrees. You can serve food and drinks just fine as a waitress.  Don't tell me you don't see this all around you every day?

There's quite a lot of expats that don't seem to see, hear or understand anything that happens around them in Thailand.

7 hours ago, webfact said:

could earn up to 700 baht

you'd  get 600  by me for doing "chap" on the walls  luv!

12 hours ago, Chazar said:

you'd  get 600  by me for doing "chap" on the walls  luv!

Not too sure what that means, but it sounds rather inappropriate to be talking to A 16 year old like that whose just been caught working underage in a bar

2 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Not too sure what that means, but it sounds rather inappropriate to be talking to A 16 year old like that whose just been caught working underage in a bar

With you there sane man . Is chap an abreviation for something I wonder.

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The four girls, all under the age of 18, told social workers after the raid on two bars that they were not forced to have sex with customers

That's kind of an odd statement to make by the reporter... and leave with no further comment.

Yes, the reporter made no further comment apart from the 26 paragraphs of comment that followed that statement!

1 hour ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

People are allowed to work when they're 16 years old.  (Almost anywhere in the world including Thailand)

 

 

Okay, but the Thai government disagrees. You can serve food and drinks just fine as a waitress.  Don't tell me you don't see this all around you every day?

Not in bars at 16, they're not!

Let's blur the lines between sex trafficking or minors shall we .... but but but !!! we don;t ask them to "wear revealing clothing, not having sex with the kids, but leering at them, flirting with them, touching them, kissing them." 

Disgusting people employing children in bars, disgusting people who cannot control themselves and see children as and behave sexually towards children.

26 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Child prostitution is illegal in Thailand

So is adult prostitution, but it seems to be very difficult to locate the prostitutes, even by Pattaya's finest on Walking Street.

12 hours ago, Vacuum said:

So is adult prostitution, but it seems to be very difficult to locate the prostitutes, even by Pattaya's finest on Walking Street.

Difference being that a blind eye is turned to adult prostitution , and the laws are enforced when kids are involved 

2 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

Let's blur the lines between sex trafficking or minors shall we .... but but but !!! we don;t ask them to "wear revealing clothing, not having sex with the kids, but leering at them, flirting with them, touching them, kissing them." 

Disgusting people employing children in bars, disgusting people who cannot control themselves and see children as and behave sexually towards children.

The customers in the bars probably believe the girls are of legal age.

Something to do with the Thai law stating people under 18 years old not being allowed to work in entertainment venues that serve alcohol.

17 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Not too sure what that means, but it sounds rather inappropriate to be talking to A 16 year old like that whose just been caught working underage in a bar

Let me help you, CHAP is the Thai name for rendering with plaster/cement mortar on to walls ie construction , Im commenting on the 700  baht a night when   many women can and do do "chap" round by me for 600 a  day.

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

I think that it was because they were 16 years old 

They are waitresses. What's the problem with 16 year old waitresses?

I see often street food vendors with (their) children working there. Maybe they help preparing the food, maybe they wash the plates, maybe the poor drinks for the customers. Should that all be illegal?

 

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand. And if any of the staff would go with a customer then that is obviously illegal.

 

It seems for some people there is no such thing as teenage workers who are not prostitutes. Maybe their fantasy is the main problem here.

4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

They are waitresses. What's the problem with 16 year old waitresses?

I see often street food vendors with (their) children working there.

It breaks the conditions of their entertainment licence.

Street vendors don't need that licence, so their kids can help.

8 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

Let's blur the lines between sex trafficking or minors shall we .... but but but !!! we don;t ask them to "wear revealing clothing, not having sex with the kids, but leering at them, flirting with them, touching them, kissing them." 

Disgusting people employing children in bars, disgusting people who cannot control themselves and see children as and behave sexually towards children.

That reminds me of children's day parties up country. Some time ago I was with my gf in her village at such a party. Little girls with fishnet stockings, mini skirts and lots of make-up dancing on stage. And everybody, including their parents, were looking.

Is that a problem? I guess it's in the eye of the beholder. I guess many of the parents and other visitors will see their children dressing up and having a good time. But if a pedophile looks at it he will have different thoughts. Should everything be illegal which could be problematic thinking about child molesters. How about kids at a swimming pool? Most of us will just see kids and don't think about anything else.

Just now, BritManToo said:

It breaks the conditions of their entertainment licence.

Street vendors don't need that licence, so their kids can help.

Are you sure they have such a license? 

12 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

They are waitresses. What's the problem with 16 year old waitresses?

I see often street food vendors with (their) children working there. Maybe they help preparing the food, maybe they wash the plates, maybe the poor drinks for the customers. Should that all be illegal?

 

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand. And if any of the staff would go with a customer then that is obviously illegal.

 

It seems for some people there is no such thing as teenage workers who are not prostitutes. Maybe their fantasy is the main problem here.

It is quite probable that they were not just working as waitress's

As you previously posted that you meet your partner in a bar when she was working in a bar when she was 16 , you would be quite aware that some 16 year olds working in bars arent just serving drinks