BANGKOK, 11 November 2013: Travellers to Southeast Asia want the tourism industry to take more action to protect children from exploitation, according to a new report issued by Project Childhood Prevention Pillar – an Australian aid initiative implemented by World Vision – in partnership with the University of Western Sydney.

Last year, more than 36 million tourists travelled to Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam and many encountered children in vulnerable situations.

The key findings of the groundbreaking report “The Child Safe Traveller”, polled almost 270 travellers from 44 different countries. It found 95% of travellers surveyed encountered local children and many interactions with children left tourists feeling sad, guilty, concerned and disappointed.

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http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/11/tourism-children-at-risk/

"It found 95% of travellers surveyed encountered local children and many interactions with children left tourists feeling sad, guilty, concerned and disappointed."

Its exactly those feelings the parents of those children want to exploit, they use the children to play on the sympathies of tourists simply to extract money. Typical example are the flower sellers working the streets into the night around areas of bangkok, or the mothers sat blocking the stairs to the MRT with young children on their lap.

Edited November 12, 201312 yr by CharlieH

Must be time for World Vision to replace their fleet of Land Cruisers. They are particularily known for parading highly overstated and unsubstantiated media bites such as this, feeding off of years of similar hysterical NGO propaganda that have only gained credibility through repitition.

When I lived in Udon Thani, I had a Thai neighbor who worked as a canvasser for World Vision. Six days a week, ten hours a day; all training and supervisory sessions on her day off...B4000/Mo., yet when the WV sen yai's came to town, they would always stay at the Grand Chaeronsri Hotel in Udon...only the best for them.

Edited November 13, 201312 yr by dddave