Aussies Help Thai Police Battle Sexual Exploitation

[Bolsta]

At least someone is doing something about it. Grey Man started with one guy who saw a problem and wanted to do something about it, all on his own time with his own money. He actauly started by breaking girls out of brothels by himself with no police back up of any kind. They have little funding and have few men in the field. I actually think they are brave men who are doing a good thing to help these kids. Before you go bagging these guys, first ask yourselves what you have you done to help any of these kids?

[KhunAussie52]

Girls of this age were quite commonly found working in the Thai-on-Thai sex industry 20 years ago, but are very far and few between today. This is not a huge problem anymore. Someone is just looking for publicity.

Current United Nation figures put the number of under aged girls trafficked into sex slavery at 1.2 million this year alone.

Get your head out of the sand mate!!!

[KhunAussie52]

"Author Jane Date/Time 17 Jun 2009 11:04:51pm Subject Thank you Grey Men I am sure many of us are grateful that there are men of great compassion and courage such as the Grey Men army who may have to risk their safety to help save young children from a horrifying existence.

They are heroes and angels at the same time.

Thank you Australian Story for this wonderful story."

Just one of many messages of support for the Greymen.

[KhunAussie52]

By Conor Duffy for AM

Posted Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:24pm AEDT

Updated Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:15am AEDT

The girls have been placed in the care of a British aid agency. [File photo] (REUTERS: Parth Sanyal )

• Related Story: Australia urged to help stop child trafficking
• Related Story: Children rescued in trafficking crackdown
• Related Story: 1.2m children trafficked each year: report
• Related Story: Trafficking fears as Haiti children go missing
• Related Link: The Grey Man website
• Related Link: Australian Story: Shades of grey

A secretive Australia-based charity dedicated to hunting down sex traffickers has had a breakthrough in Cambodia.

The Grey Man organisation says it has rescued a 10-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl being held in an illegal brothel.

The discovery prompted Cambodian police to arrest two men and it is hoped the intelligence gained will help bust a major international sex trading syndicate.

The Grey Man organisation is a Brisbane-based charity made up mainly of former SAS soldiers and policemen. Its volunteers are used to dangerous assignments, but their work tracking down South East Asian paedophile rings and freeing young girls can get equally hazardous.

For six months The Grey Man has been trying to establish a presence in Cambodia, a notorious haven for sex offenders.

The group's president, a former SAS soldier who uses the pseudonym John Curtis, says one of his members stumbled on an illegal brothel while on a fact-finding mission in Cambodia.

"While he was there he's decided to do a bit of snooping around himself, spoken to a taxi driver, and that led to him being offered these girls for sex.

"He involved IJM (International Justice Mission) and the Cambodian police and we rescued the two Vietnamese girls."

The Grey Man is now helping to find a new home for the girls, who Mr Curtis says are in a terrible condition.

"What we find usually with rescued girls is that they have a lot of nutritional deficiencies for a start, because their diet is not very good, they're not treated very well, they just barely scrape by because they're not given much money or food.

"And over time of course they can develop sexually-transmitted diseases and they often end up in the end with AIDS and once they're too sick to work they'll usually be kicked out on the street and then they scrape by until they die."

Mr Curtis is hopeful that the arrest of the sex traffickers will provide information that may crack the syndicate.

"We're following up on a whole number of leads that came from the operation, and we're trying to track down other people who were involved in the trafficking of the girls and I think we've got a good chance of going somewhere with that.

"We did a similar thing on the Thai-Laos border last year and we ended up wrecking a trafficking ring that was trafficking about 120 girls a year across the border from Laos."

Mr Curtis says the volunteers' work has led to some unpleasant confrontations.

"Yes, there are Australians, we've met up with a number of them who are doing this type of thing and have tried to get evidence on them, but they're also Germans and Swiss and French and Americans and Canadians, it just goes on and on and on.

"They seem to be taking advantage of the lax laws and security or the lack of chance of being caught in South East Asia."

UNICEF estimates that as many as 1.2 million children may be trafficked for sex each year.

[KhunAussie52]

By the way, I'm not saying they don't have great intentions. My point is 1) three of them is a joke. 2) As soon as they get in their van to head to the airport, it's business as usual.

They need to go save children where they can actually make a difference. Thailand is not one of those places.

Child protection advocates and Brisbane’s legal fraternity will gather in the Supreme Court for a fundraising event in support of The Grey Man, a registered charity that rescues children sold into slavery or prostitution.

The event will be opened by Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, Cameron Dick. It will raise funds to help The Grey Man continue its work rescuing exploited children across South East Asia.

The Grey Man is a registered charity that organises and operates covert missions in Thailand and other South East Asian nations to rescue children who have been sold into child prostitution and forced work, and ensures their ongoing safety and well-being.

The Grey Man Australia Director, Russell Hawksford will deliver a presentation on recent rescues and the important contribution that the group makes.

All money raised will go directly towards fighting child trafficking.

“UNICEF estimates around 1.2 million children are sold into slavery, which includes labor and sex work, each year. These statistics are unacceptable. Every child has the right to live a happy and fulfilling life,” Mr Hawksford said.

“The Grey Man is currently focusing operations on Thailand, where the local children are particularly vulnerable.

“Sadly, human trafficking is third only to drugs and weapons in terms of criminal income worldwide and in many countries children as young as five have been trafficked.”

The Grey Man conducts covert operations to rescue children from the traffickers and brothels.

Mr Hawksford said, “Our prevention work takes the form of education and infrastructure. Currently we have eight projects we are funding which are supported and endorsed by Rotary's aid arm, Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).

[needforspeed]

http://thegreyman.org/blog/

Read this before you pass any further judgment on there work.It saddens me no end, to hear comments like this from expatriates living in Thailand.There investigations into underage sex rings in Cambodia,Burma,Laos and Thailand,are ongoing.they have my total support!!!

Read it for what? They came in to do a sting and saved THREE 15 year old prostitutes? They could "save" 100 15 year olds on Soi 6 alone. If they came to Pattaya and three is all they can find, then they wasted their trip. Also, considering those same girls will be right back in that same bar or the one next door within 2 or 3 days, they did just waste their time. hel_l, I could save three of them on my lunch break tomorrow if I was given the authority to do so.

My point is, these stings are just like the Thai police doing a bust, taking pics, and then releasing them back into the wild.

NOTHING will change until THAILAND gets serious about it. Period!

Fully agree,

This guy's making lots of publicity and having a Hero's welcome back in AUS, what about this children???

When this Aussies having there cold beer at The Rocks this children get some serious beatings from there parents and Employer as there isn't any money coming for them and local police, and next day it is business as usual for this children,"Enjoy your beer mate"

Don't get me wrong they most likely have very good intentions but you need to have the full package, after rescue (what is the most easy part off all) you need to take this children out of this sick environment, give them free education and financial assistant, people around them who give them attention, love and hope.

All this need to be inplaced before you rescue this children.

I prefer the GREY MAN going after police as well who allowed this and getting there revenue from this sick trade.

[KhunAussie52]

http://thegreyman.org/blog/

Read this before you pass any further judgment on there work.It saddens me no end, to hear comments like this from expatriates living in Thailand.There investigations into underage sex rings in Cambodia,Burma,Laos and Thailand,are ongoing.they have my total support!!!

Read it for what? They came in to do a sting and saved THREE 15 year old prostitutes? They could "save" 100 15 year olds on Soi 6 alone. If they came to Pattaya and three is all they can find, then they wasted their trip. Also, considering those same girls will be right back in that same bar or the one next door within 2 or 3 days, they did just waste their time. hel_l, I could save three of them on my lunch break tomorrow if I was given the authority to do so.

My point is, these stings are just like the Thai police doing a bust, taking pics, and then releasing them back into the wild.

NOTHING will change until THAILAND gets serious about it. Period!

With all this information on the child sex trade.Why don't you report what you know to the "Greyman"......I am sure they would act on your information.

Edited November 19, 2010 by KhunAussie52

[KhunAussie52]

http://thegreyman.org/blog/

Read this before you pass any further judgment on there work.It saddens me no end, to hear comments like this from expatriates living in Thailand.There investigations into underage sex rings in Cambodia,Burma,Laos and Thailand,are ongoing.they have my total support!!!

Read it for what? They came in to do a sting and saved THREE 15 year old prostitutes? They could "save" 100 15 year olds on Soi 6 alone. If they came to Pattaya and three is all they can find, then they wasted their trip. Also, considering those same girls will be right back in that same bar or the one next door within 2 or 3 days, they did just waste their time. hel_l, I could save three of them on my lunch break tomorrow if I was given the authority to do so.

My point is, these stings are just like the Thai police doing a bust, taking pics, and then releasing them back into the wild.

NOTHING will change until THAILAND gets serious about it. Period!

Fully agree,

This guy's making lots of publicity and having a Hero's welcome back in AUS, what about this children???

When this Aussies having there cold beer at The Rocks this children get some serious beatings from there parents and Employer as there isn't any money coming for them and local police, and next day it is business as usual for this children,"Enjoy your beer mate"

Don't get me wrong they most likely have very good intentions but you need to have the full package, after rescue (what is the most easy part off all) you need to take this children out of this sick environment, give them free education and financial assistant, people around them who give them attention, love and hope.

All this need to be inplaced before you rescue this children.

I prefer the GREY MAN going after police as well who allowed this and getting there revenue from this sick trade.

"This guy's making lots of publicity and having a Hero's welcome back in AUS, what about this children???"

Where is your proof.If you took the time to read there blog.You might truly understand there work.

They are not into grandstanding. Also they have a great deal of support back in Australia....!!!

[KhunAussie52]

http://thegreyman.org/blog/

Read this before you pass any further judgment on there work.It saddens me no end, to hear comments like this from expatriates living in Thailand.There investigations into underage sex rings in Cambodia,Burma,Laos and Thailand,are ongoing.they have my total support!!!

Read it for what? They came in to do a sting and saved THREE 15 year old prostitutes? They could "save" 100 15 year olds on Soi 6 alone. If they came to Pattaya and three is all they can find, then they wasted their trip. Also, considering those same girls will be right back in that same bar or the one next door within 2 or 3 days, they did just waste their time. hel_l, I could save three of them on my lunch break tomorrow if I was given the authority to do so.

My point is, these stings are just like the Thai police doing a bust, taking pics, and then releasing them back into the wild.

NOTHING will change until THAILAND gets serious about it. Period!

Just maybe,you don't want to see any change in relation to the sex trade.Your comments are so negative.These men need our support.Not a tirade of abuse and half facts

[needforspeed]

http://thegreyman.org/blog/

Read this before you pass any further judgment on there work.It saddens me no end, to hear comments like this from expatriates living in Thailand.There investigations into underage sex rings in Cambodia,Burma,Laos and Thailand,are ongoing.they have my total support!!!

Read it for what? They came in to do a sting and saved THREE 15 year old prostitutes? They could "save" 100 15 year olds on Soi 6 alone. If they came to Pattaya and three is all they can find, then they wasted their trip. Also, considering those same girls will be right back in that same bar or the one next door within 2 or 3 days, they did just waste their time. hel_l, I could save three of them on my lunch break tomorrow if I was given the authority to do so.

My point is, these stings are just like the Thai police doing a bust, taking pics, and then releasing them back into the wild.

NOTHING will change until THAILAND gets serious about it. Period!

Fully agree,

This guy's making lots of publicity and having a Hero's welcome back in AUS, what about this children???

When this Aussies having there cold beer at The Rocks this children get some serious beatings from there parents and Employer as there isn't any money coming for them and local police, and next day it is business as usual for this children,"Enjoy your beer mate"

Don't get me wrong they most likely have very good intentions but you need to have the full package, after rescue (what is the most easy part off all) you need to take this children out of this sick environment, give them free education and financial assistant, people around them who give them attention, love and hope.

All this need to be inplaced before you rescue this children.

I prefer the GREY MAN going after police as well who allowed this and getting there revenue from this sick trade.

"This guy's making lots of publicity and having a Hero's welcome back in AUS, what about this children???"

Where is your proof.If you took the time to read there blog.You might truly understand there work.

They are not into grandstanding. Also they have a great deal of support back in Australia....!!!

You said it yourself "they have a great deal of support back in Australia', i am happy they do something but it is just a very short term solution.

I rather see them getting involved with embassy, other countries and Thai politics to get people behind bars who are organizing this trade, empoyers, parents, goverment officials and Police.

Getting the laws tided up and having a law in placed who takes care of victims on a long term.

To take children away and have nothing in placed for a very long period and they will be back soon or replaced the next day.

NFS

[craigt3365]

Good on these guys for doing something. More than can be said for most of us!

But the mail culprits of sex with children are Asians. Not foreigners (except here in Pattaya). Foreigners are more visible...but are just the tip of the iceberg.

Until the problem of police corruption is solved, this heinous act will continue...too much money involved and too many uneducated people.

[Ulysses G.]

Current United Nation figures put the number of under aged girls trafficked into sex slavery at 1.2 million this year alone.

Get your head out of the sand mate!!!

That would be world-wide - not in Thailand. I have seen very few girls under the age of 17 or 18 in Pattaya in the last few years - although there are sure to be a few.

I do not frequent soi 6, but those that do always insist that most of the workers are middle-aged mothers making ends meet and lots of lady-boys.

I am all for stopping the exploitation of underage sex-workers, but many of these organizations seem to exagerate the problem in Thailand for their own purposes and that is not helping anything.

Edited November 19, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[needforspeed]

Current United Nation figures put the number of under aged girls trafficked into sex slavery at 1.2 million this year alone.

Get your head out of the sand mate!!!

That would be world-wide - not in Thailand. I have seen very few girls under the age of 17 or 18 in Pattaya in the last few years - although there are sure to be a few.

I do not frequent soi 6, but those that do always insist that most of the workers are middle-aged mothers making ends meet and lots of lady-boys.

I am all for stopping the exploitation of underage sex-workers, but many of these organizations seem to exagerate the problem in Thailand for their own purposes and that is not helping anything.

I agree most of this trade you don't find in Tourist area in Pattaya and Bangkok, but it is there and a lot in the provinces and outside this tourist area's.

One other worrying part is that many Thai people not even think that it is wrong and don't take this all to serious.

[KhunAussie52]

Current United Nation figures put the number of under aged girls trafficked into sex slavery at 1.2 million this year alone.

Get your head out of the sand mate!!!

That would be world-wide - not in Thailand. I have seen very few girls under the age of 17 or 18 in Pattaya in the last few years - although there are sure to be a few.

I do not frequent soi 6, but those that do always insist that most of the workers are middle-aged mothers making ends meet and lots of lady-boys.

I am all for stopping the exploitation of underage sex-workers, but many of these organizations seem to exagerate the problem in Thailand for their own purposes and that is not helping anything.

Then read this...!!

Estimates of the number of prostitutes vary widely and are subject to controversy. A 1974 study put the number of prostitutes at 500,000 to 700,000. A 2004 estimate by Dr. Nitet Tinnakul from Chulalongkorn University gives a total of 2.8 million sex workers, including 2 million women, 20,000 adult males and 800,000 minors under the age of 18.^[5] One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$ 4.3 billion per year or about three percent of the Thai economy.^[6] It has been suggested for example that there may be as many as 10,000 prostitutes on Koh Samui alone, an island resort destination not usually associated with prostitution, and that at least 10% of tourist dollars may be spent on the sex trade.^[7] According to a 2001 report by the World Health Organisation: "The most reliable suggestion is that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 sex workers."^[8] A recent government survey found that there were 76,000 to 77,000 adult prostitutes in registered entertainment establishments; however, NGOs believed there were between 200,000 and 300,000 prostitutes.^[3]

Although centers such as Bangkok (Patpong, Nana Plaza, and Soi Cowboy), Pattaya, and Phuket (Patong) are often identified as primary tourist "prostitution" areas, with Hat Yai and other Malaysian border cities catering to Malaysians, prostitution takes place in nearly every major city and province in the country.

Chiang Mai and Koh Samui (Chaweng and Lamai) are also major centers. In Bangkok, the so-called Ratchadaphisek entertainment district, running along Ratchadaphisek Road near the Huai Khwang intersection, features several large entertainment venues which include sexual massage. Even karaoke style bars in small provincial towns have their own versions, with women, in addition to singing traditional Thai music, sometimes engaging in prostitution.^{[citation needed]}

Chuwit Kamolvisit is the owner of several massage parlors in Bangkok and considered by many "a godfather of prostitution" in Thailand. In 2005 he was elected for a four-year term to the Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the Constitutional Court removed him from office. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok but was not elected. He revealed in 2003 that some of his best clients were senior politicians and police officers, whom he also claimed to have paid, over a decade, more than £1.5m in bribes so that his business, the real business of selling sex, could thrive.^[18]

[Ulysses G.]

1974? I am not talking about the past. My point is that this trade has mostly been cleaned up in 2010 and pretending that hasn't is not very responsible.

If Greyman wants to help the girls who are still in this terrible situation, that is wonderful, but exaggerating its prevalence should be avoided.

[Buchholz]

1974? I am not talking about the past. My point is that this trade has mostly been cleaned up in 2010 and pretending that hasn't is not very responsible.

If Greyman wants to help the girls who are still in this terrible situation, that is wonderful, but exaggerating its prevalence should be avoided.

Not wishing to dispute your own anecdotal evidence regarding child prostitution, but there doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown in the number of cases appearing in the Pattaya News Clipping Forum and the main Thailand News Clipping Forum.

[a51mas]

They saved three 15 year olds?

I can point to 20 bars in Pattaya alone with minors working it. This is a huge problem and a single sting here or there on a select bar is a waste of time. If they are going to drop the hammer, DROP IT!

Of course that would mean "face" would be lost because the locals only karaoke bars are FILLED with underage sex workers in Pattaya. Thus, that sting will never, ever happen. Oh... silly me, I forgot, the locals can have sex with 15 year olds. Carry on then, business as usual. 15 year olds are only "exploited" when foreigners screw them.

The sad fact is, Thailand is never going to even come close to cleaning up child prostitution. It is ingrained into their culture to have sex with young girls. In Udon Thani they fill an entire PARK with school kids after class so older Thai men can solicit their services. No one gives a crap.

If you have evidence on those 20 bars go to the authorities, criticized other people who try to help and blah blah blah in the forum to make yourself look important doesn't help the situation.

[Ulysses G.]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of those articles concerning individual child molesters who try to lure youngsters into entering the trade, rather than places of business that specialize in this abhorrent practice?

[craigt3365]

1974? I am not talking about the past. My point is that this trade has mostly been cleaned up in 2010 and pretending that hasn't is not very responsible.

If Greyman wants to help the girls who are still in this terrible situation, that is wonderful, but exaggerating its prevalence should be avoided.

Not wishing to dispute your own anecdotal evidence regarding child prostitution, but there doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown in the number of cases appearing in the Pattaya News Clipping Forum and the main Thailand News Clipping Forum.

For sure...I've read reports of madam's being caught with minors in several of the southern provinces. They are catering to the visiting Malays.

I was on a border run several years ago. I was single, checking out the border town, and was approached by a scooter taxi driver. Very friendly guy. He asked what I was doing and I told him I wanted to find a bar to have a drink. Somehow, he thought I meant girls. We joked around, he was asking what kind of girl I liked, with my horrible Thai I said "lek". I'm skinny and small and like girls who are skinny and small. We kept talking, but I didn't understand him very well. I said "beer"! He said "OK". So I hopped on his scooter and off we went. Down into some local neighborhood.

I'm a bit scared, not knowing what I got myself into. But, I do some crazy travels, and this was just another adventure. We ended up at a very small market where I was able to buy a beer. He motioned for me to follow him. I did...down some winding paths, and now being followed by a bunch of kids. It was kinda fun. We get to a house and go inside. I sit and have my beer, joke with the kids...all good stuff. Then walks in this very young girl. Maybe 14 or 15. Everybody clears out and the taxi guy points to the bedroom and says "ha roy baht". OMG. I got sick to my stomach...told him I was mai sabai, and asked to go back to my hotel. I gave the girl 100B...but unreal. I am guessing she was a Burmese gal.

Wild story, but 100% true.

Again, god bless these guys for their efforts, but foreigners are just the tip of the iceberg....it's the locals they need to deal with and educate.

P.S. In my wife's village, I've known 2 young girls for years. Twins and super cute. Haven't seen them in about 3 years, but did recently. Guess they moved to Phuket when they were 16. Now 17, one is married to a German guy, the other is engaged to another European. I'm sure they were in the biz there when they were 16. Sad to see them develop into this...

[nerdboy]

Imagine you are the young girl with no worldly or grownup knowledge or understanding, held in these places and environments, made to have sex again and again with total strangers, would you say no to being rescued, would you want the rescuers to stop just cause its just a "Piss in the Ocean", would you say no to being taken to a new life where you can be a girl of your rightful age again, would you say stop if it was your daughter being rescued - I think not

One rescued is better than none, and thats what you are doing mate - nothing - and that fantastic organisation is rescuing a hole lot more than one.

My view is that although the effort is wellintentioned the publicity probably does more harm than good, in that many willthink that the effort makes a difference in reality they are just peeing in theocean and the saved girls won the lottery

[KhunAussie52]

Gateways to exploitation

Globe and Mail Update

Thailand

Estimates of the number of child prostitutes living in Thailand range from 12,000 to the hundreds of thousands, according to the U.S.-based research institute the Protection Project. Their involvement in the sex trade is associated with poverty, lack of education and social conditions, including pressure to contribute to family income. Thailand is a significant source, destination and transit country in the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. Thailand developed a national plan to fight child prostitution in 1996 that became the responsibility of the National Youth Bureau.

Some other reports-

http://www.zeenews.com/news362080.html

http://www.asia4u.info/news/536.html

http://www.denverpost.com/jonbenet/ci_4244063

[KhunAussie52]

1974? I am not talking about the past. My point is that this trade has mostly been cleaned up in 2010 and pretending that hasn't is not very responsible.

If Greyman wants to help the girls who are still in this terrible situation, that is wonderful, but exaggerating its prevalence should be avoided.

Not wishing to dispute your own anecdotal evidence regarding child prostitution, but there doesn't seem to be much of a slowdown in the number of cases appearing in the Pattaya News Clipping Forum and the main Thailand News Clipping Forum.

Current reliable estimates,of child sex workers in Thailand.

14000-40000

Other sources state the numbers are higher,possibly up to 200000.

It looks like the Thai phrase "Mai pen rai" is alive and well in this forum.

[KhunAussie52]

Child Prostitution in Thailand

by Sirirat Pusurinkham Child prostitution is a serious social problem in Thailand. Prostitution is a form of enslavement that currently involves perhaps 800,000 children under the age of sixteen, bought and sold for a profit that exceeds that of the drug trade or weapons sales or lotteries or sports gambling.

The Thai culture has a long history of prostitution but the problem has never been as grave as it is at present. Prostitution has been a way of life in Thailand from time immemorial, and has not been considered an evil by Thai society. The blame can be found in the habits of Thai men, the government’s focus on foreign tourism, and in the inactivity and lack of concern of Christian churches and Buddhist temples. The latter take the position of "Hear no evil; See no evil; Speak no evil," and do little or nothing to counter the evil of prostitution.

[Nawtier]

He said four Cambodian girls aged between 14 and 15 were rescued from padlocked rooms with bars on the windows.

prostitution takes place in nearly every major city and province in the country

This age of 15yo can be argued and totally depends on the independant countries own laws and we all know many 15yo girls are having sex and younger...on their own without any push and shove.

However, the most vile act is forcing them and caging them up as what was probably happening in this case with the comment of them being locked up.

It is not the under age sex thing when talking 15yo girls, it is how it is done....willingly or forcefully.

Many 15/16yo girls go to willingly work in gogo bars and such.

I somehow think that all the resources spent on rescuing these 3 15yo girls could be spent much better on doing the same in the places where much younger kids, both boys and girls are forced into this...the under 10yo kids. This is something any adult that has a decent bone in his body could not argue against.....15yo, dependant on the independant circumstances are borderline in my opinion.

[Nawtier]

'prostitution takes place in nearly every major city and province in the country'.....forgot this...prostitution happens in every city in every country around the world...not just Thailand and it is not a bad thing when acted upon responsibly and legally.

[geriatrickid]

I note the snide and cynical remarks about the Australian initiative timed to coincide with a fund raiser. On the contrary, the Australian publicity was timed to coincide with International Children's Day and an international effort that is being launched around the world. Today, I received a public news release of what is happening elsewhere; (I've snipped 1/2 of this, but google it for the full release. I've bolded the section of interest for visitors to Thailand.)

Marketwire - Nov. 18, 2010 - The first-ever nationwide Canadian campaign to combat the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism was officially launched today at Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport to mark International Children's Rights Day. This country-wide effort is the first time that stakeholders from the private sector (Air Canada, Aéroports de Montréal), government agencies (Canada Border Services Agency, Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal and Sûreté du Québec) and non-governmental organizations (International Bureau for Children's Rights, Plan Canada and OneChild, with support from UNICEF Canada) are co-operating on such an initiative.

The campaign's purpose is to raise travellers' awareness before they depart on trips. The main tourist populations targeted are those travelling to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean—which are the principal destinations for "sex tourism" by Canadians (among offenders, they are now more popular than Southeast Asian nations for reasons of cost and proximity).

"The Government of Canada is strongly committed to the fight against the sexual exploitation of children," said Daniel Petit (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles), on behalf of the Honourable Vic Toews, the Minister of Public Safety. "We continue working to strengthen law enforcement's capacity to combat child sexual exploitation, and increase public awareness on child sexual exploitation."

The International Bureau for Children's Rights (IBCR) is pleased to have succeeded in bringing together a broad-based coalition to promote legislation granting extraterritorial jurisdiction over child sex tourism offences: "We know that the general public in Canada cares about children's rights. With this campaign, we are urging them to be vigilant, and to report suspicious situations, even during their travels to sun destinations," explained Nadja Pollaert, the organization's General Director.

Aéroports de Montréal is a proud partner in the campaign: "We believe it is important to remind Canadians that they are not immune from the laws of their own country when they travel abroad. This is why we are supporting this initiative of the IBCR," said Christiane Beaulieu, ADM's Vice-President of Public Affairs and Communications.

The growing number of prosecutions of so-called sex tourists is a phenomenon little known to Canadians. Under extraterritorial legislation enacted in 1997, Canadians who sexually abuse children while outside the country can be prosecuted in Canada. A study conducted by law professor Benjamin Perrin from the University of British Columbia has found that at least 146 Canadians faced charges in foreign countries for sexually abusing children between 1993 and 2007. One of the most recent examples is Kenneth Klassen, who this past July was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexual touching of prepubescent girls in Columbia and Cambodia.

More than two million children around the world are victims of sexual exploitation every year, often as part of "sex tourism," i.e., the sexual abuse of minors by travellers, usually in developing countries. There is no unique profile of offenders, as they might be persons who travel frequently abroad for business, leisure or even humanitarian work. They are most often "situational" criminals, leading seemingly ordinary lives, but attracted by the appearance of impunity when they commit such offences in other countries. Their crimes nevertheless have severe repercussions on their victims: long-term psychological and physical trauma, possible contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, drug and alcohol abuse, exclusion from school, and stigmatization within the family unit, all of which feeds a vicious cycle of dependency.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Launch-First-Nationwide-Campaign-Against-Sexual-Exploitation-Children-Travel-Tourism-1356116.htm

Edited November 19, 2010 by geriatrickid

[needforspeed]

Imagine you are the young girl with no worldly or grownup knowledge or understanding, held in these places and environments, made to have sex again and again with total strangers, would you say no to being rescued, would you want the rescuers to stop just cause its just a "Piss in the Ocean", would you say no to being taken to a new life where you can be a girl of your rightful age again, would you say stop if it was your daughter being rescued - I think not

One rescued is better than none, and thats what you are doing mate - nothing - and that fantastic organisation is rescuing a hole lot more than one.

My view is that although the effort is wellintentioned the publicity probably does more harm than good, in that many willthink that the effort makes a difference in reality they are just peeing in theocean and the saved girls won the lottery

From our point of vieuw you are 100% wright, we think that this girls won the lottery, sad but true it isnt like that:

This girl or been sold by there parents and when going back home they been send back the next day (unhappy employer), and/or this girls or employee support there family.

This all fall appart the moment you take them away from this terrible situation and how sad this all may be they will go back there, they don't know better and without bringing money home this so called winning lottery isn't the happy number at all.

As i told in my previous mail, there need to be a long term follow up atfer this girls been taken away from this situation first they need to been taken away from this environment if nothing or not enough happening this girls be in no time back where they came from.

Offcourse i have to notice that there will be girls abducted from there family's that a different situation and a very small precentage.

[cup-O-coffee]

Child Prostitution in Thailand

by Sirirat Pusurinkham Child prostitution is a serious social problem in Thailand. Prostitution is a form of enslavement that currently involves perhaps 800,000 children under the age of sixteen, bought and sold for a profit that exceeds that of the drug trade or weapons sales or lotteries or sports gambling.

The Thai culture has a long history of prostitution but the problem has never been as grave as it is at present. Prostitution has been a way of life in Thailand from time immemorial, and has not been considered an evil by Thai society. The blame can be found in the habits of Thai men, the government's focus on foreign tourism, and in the inactivity and lack of concern of Christian churches and Buddhist temples. The latter take the position of "Hear no evil; See no evil; Speak no evil," and do little or nothing to counter the evil of prostitution.

Maybe these excuses are simply because most of these child sex slaves are not Thai. They are what Thais consider to be lower than dogs - creatures whose human value does not even rate a thought or consideration for change. Most of these children are Laotian, Myanmar, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Philippine, Indonesian, etc. children.

The article above makes me wonder if the Thai who wrote it is complaining or bragging.

[craigt3365]

This age of 15yo can be argued and totally depends on the independant countries own laws and we all know many 15yo girls are having sex and younger...on their own without any push and shove.

However, the most vile act is forcing them and caging them up as what was probably happening in this case with the comment of them being locked up.

It is not the under age sex thing when talking 15yo girls, it is how it is done....willingly or forcefully.

Many 15/16yo girls go to willingly work in gogo bars and such.

I somehow think that all the resources spent on rescuing these 3 15yo girls could be spent much better on doing the same in the places where much younger kids, both boys and girls are forced into this...the under 10yo kids. This is something any adult that has a decent bone in his body could not argue against.....15yo, dependant on the independant circumstances are borderline in my opinion.

Just because teens are having sex on their own, doesn't mean it's a good thing. It has to do with mental capabilities as well...which no 15 year old has. So I disagree...15-16 yo's should be off limits for sure. I also doubt any mentally adjusted 15 year old girl would volunteer to work in a brothel. No way...if they are mentally immature, they need to be protected.

[Suradit]

I can point to 20 bars in Pattaya alone with minors working it.

Been conducting your own investigation or is this typical farang armchair hyperbole?