Sex trade lures girls in early teens

News > Crimes

Sex trade lures girls in early teens

Underage prostitution on rise in Isan

Published: 12/12/2011 at 07:56 AM
Newspaper section: News

A recent upsurge in the number of underage girl prostitutes in some northeastern provinces is causing concern, a children's rights advocate group says.

Many girls in their senior years at primary school (Pratom 5-6) and early years in secondary school (Mattayom 1-3) in the Northeast are engaged in the sex trade, not all of them voluntarily, says the Child Protection Foundation.

The numbers were especially high in Maha Sarakham, Udon Thani and Khon Kaen provinces, said Montri Sinthawichai, secretary-general of the foundation.

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About the author

: Writer: Wassayos Ngamkham; Position: Reporter

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hillfarang
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Discussion 30 : 19/12/2011 at 05:00 PM30
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Discussion 4 :
"If the parents of children know of them being involved in the sex trade but do not act to stop it, one can view this as criminal activity but at the minimum it means they are unfit parents and the children should be taken away from them without delay."

And put WHERE with WHOM???

Thai Social Services?!?

P-L-E-A-S-E!!!
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maeab
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Discussion 29 : 19/12/2011 at 12:43 PM29
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Mostly thais are these young girls customers not farangs get your facts straight!
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wyattearp
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Discussion 28 : 18/12/2011 at 11:44 PM28
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Legalise prostitution and regulate it. This way society should be able to prevent minors entering into the industry.
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blessthai
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Discussion 27 : 18/12/2011 at 03:41 PM27
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I am farang. Before i comment i want you to know that i am farang. I am ashamed. I truly am. I know many many farang take advantage of poor people (children) simply because they have Baht! When i come to Thailand i always see the same type of farang at the airport. Guys who care only about them self and only come to Thailand for one reason. Yes i feel uncomfortable when i see those types in the plane. i travel alone to. I am 49 and when i tell people where i go they always look at me in a disturbing way. i know what they think and that disturbs me. When i come to Thailand i come home. My wife and daughter live in Chiang Mai and i love and respect them very much. We have a litlle girl 8 years old now. She is a happy girl who smiles a lot. When iread the article this morning i think of my girl and realise how lucky she truly is. I can not believe that a 12 year young child can understand what it means to sell your body. I can not believe. What i can believe is that the type of guys i see in the plane understand very well what they do. It makes me sick to even think of that. But what to do? In the comments i read only about bad parents and mai pen rai mentality. That is looking at the problem from the wrong angle. To protect our children, girls and women whe must punnish those who abuse them. I understand that some girls/women choose to sell there body for money. In Europe the same happens. But in Europe girls do not sell there body because they are hungry. That is the real problem. Poverty, people being so poor they have nothing else to sell but there body. How to solve this problem is so very difficult and it will take a long long time. For now i call on politics to make law tp better protect our youth. Let us not forget that the young people represent our future. Protect our future and punish those dirty fat farangs who only come to beautiful Thailand to destroy our young people. 12 years and prostituting there body. oohhh my heart breaks.
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gwats
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Discussion 26 : 18/12/2011 at 05:29 AM26
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I've been hearing this about the Sex trade in Thailand for over 30 years now, and some public official is 'shocked' to hear about this NOW?
Please, don't insult my intelligence. Sounds like posturing for the media.
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rickbkk
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Discussion 25 : 17/12/2011 at 11:32 AM25
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"Police may face difficulties making arrests because prostitution in many cases is a matter of mutual consent. "

Thai law: Prostitution is illegal.......sex with an under-aged person (18 yrs and under) is illegal.
Where is the difficulty????

I've said it before....Thais even have a nice word for prostitute (why use a bad word right): 'service girl'. Anybody living in Thailand (even without indulging in it) knows that this is as part of Thai culture as there are temples. But these are very young girls.
Come on Thai people: you probably copied the law from another country, out of ease, but you also have to follow it....na.
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nns
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Discussion 24 : 12/12/2011 at 11:11 PM24
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I am glad to be able to contribute to this thread. As someone pointed out the problem is symptomatic of a cause. The cause in my opinion is a deep rooted cultural attitude which is -seeking the easy way out, 'Mug Ngai' as we call it. People will seek for any advantage, legal or illegal, if they can get away with it. Corruption in Thailand is a way of life which starts very early on in life. Bribing the school to get kids in, the police and other governmental officials for favors, is something we do without batting an eye. And here we are, especially among the 'elites' crying foul over corruption in the government and high places. To me it's just an extension of the Thai way . The man in Dubai is but one of them. In short, the real problem lies much deeper, and to try to right the ship by focusing on the one or two or three pillars will not do it. And I'm not a farang.
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med142
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Discussion 23 : 12/12/2011 at 08:47 PM23
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I guess we are all farangs who are making comments here?
Can we here from some Thai people please also?
what do they think?
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med142
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Discussion 22 : 12/12/2011 at 08:45 PM22
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D17. Englishbob. At least you tried and did the decent thing.This is an area whereby the family should have no say in it at all,for a family to sanction such an act is dispicable.The family then should be as guilty as the offender and pay the consequences. Is there a law against such acts?
I have worked with children and i had a police check to be able to do so.
There should be specialised units to deal with such things.
Having an education does not stop such things happenning, even having money does not either.
The mai pen rai attitude of thai people just because they have no money and parents give up on their kids is immoral.They are just as guilty
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fungus
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Discussion 21 : 12/12/2011 at 08:44 PM21
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This is just one of the many issues facing the rural poor. The "populist" policies of village micro funds, OTOP, 30 baht health care, college scholarships, etc were put in place to address these matters and to allow the rural poor an opportunity to better their lives.

The opponents of these policies have the gall to call them "vote buying". What they are actually called is government service ie: what people are supposed to expect from their government in return for taxes paid. The government that listens to the people's needs and addresses them wins their votes, that's how it works.
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