THAILAND - Thai social workers bracing for rise in child sex tourists

eTN Asia Pacific, 14-12-2006

Ten to fifteen year olds earn as much as US$300 per night trawling the streets as child sex workers.

On the eve of the UN Convention on The Rights of The Child to be held in Geneva on December 25, Thailand's social workers are bracing for the influx of child sex workers who will flood the streets of Bangkok and neon-lights of Pattaya during the coming year-end holiday season, according to latest news reports.

Social workers, unable to turn the tide, have been lamenting the sharp increase in the number of
sex tourists and child prostitution in Pattaya in recent years.

Under the pretext of selling flowers and sweets to western tourists, some children as young as seven end up selling their bodies, said Sudjai Nakphain, who works on a social project for children in Pattaya.

"While some kind adults will offer them money, others are just waiting for the invitation to exploit the children, who more often than not have been sexually abused by their families.

"To entice their customers, the children will use sexual tactics, including holding a customer's arms or legs," added Nakphain.

Social workers claim there are now over 20,000 bars in Pattaya, compared to 500 a decade ago. "They are mostly sidewalk bars with a few stools and scantily-clad, overly made-up girls, many as young as 14."

Supagon Noja from the Pattaya-based Child Protection and Development Center told Reuters, Pattaya has attracted children from all over the country, both voluntarily and those lured by child traffickers.

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