Underage prostitution in Thailand: the consequence of a mass sex tourism

Temps de lecture : 8 minutes

Underage prostitution in Thailand: the consequence of a mass sex tourism

03.10.2020

Written by Lola Favre 

Translated by Kaouther Bouhi

Thailand is a dream destination for many travel enthusiasts. If for years this country has been attracting tourists from all over the world, it is not only for its beautiful scenery, but also for its offer of prostitutes that people that we will name sex tourists are seeking. What are the realities behind this phenomenon? We will seek to discover how mass tourism has led to an industry of sexual exploitation in which thousands of children are involved, with a specific look at the situation in Thailand, one of the major hubs of this traffic.

Sex tourism and sexual exploitation of children: a global phenomenon

Let us start with a few definitions. Child sex tourism refers to a trip made by a person, or a group of people, to have sexual relations with minors. As for the business of sexual exploitation of children, this term encompasses all the phenomenon of lucrative exploitation of children for sexual purposes such as underage prostitution, child sexual abuse, child trafficking for sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation in the context of tourism, etc.

Sex tourism and the business of sexual exploitation of children are global phenomena. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 20% of the 600 million annual international travels are linked to sex tourism. 3% of them are motivated by the quest of minors, which is equivalent to 3 million of people travelling for this sole purpose^[1]SIGAUD Dominique, La malédiction d’être fille, Paris, Albin Michel, p. 201. According to UNICEF, one million children enter, each year, the sex industry^[2]POULIN Richard, “La mondialisation du marché du sexe”, 2002, Actuel Marx, no. 31, pp. 109-122.. Furthermore, between two and three million minors are victims of sexual exploitation for tourism purposes each year in the world^[3]MICHEL Franck, “Faits, effets et méfaits du tourisme sexuel dans le monde”, 2013, Revue internationale et stratégique, n°90, pages 145 à 152.. Lastly, according to figures from 2014, one third of human trafficking victims in the world are involved in sexual exploitation, the majority being girls from Thailand and Laos^[4]UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, novembre 2015, available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SITAN_THAILAND_ENG_FINAL.pdf.

A phenomenon resulting from globalization and the democratization of mass tourism

Globalization has been a contributing factor to the development of sex trade, since it allowed its industrialization, its normalization, and its mass diffusion worldwide. Additionally, under the impact of a liberal economy encouraged by the Thai Government, women and children became “new raw materials”^[5]Ibid., merchandises having the advantage of being simultaneously goods (bodies) and services (sexual services). This is because of this commercialization of bodies that we can talk about a modern form of slavery in which women and children face a systemic exploitation. The business of sexual exploitation spreads on three levels: local, regional, and global.

Forced to repays debts, some States, particularly in Asia or in Latin America, were encouraged by international organizations, such as the IMF or the World Bank, to develop their tourism and entertainment supply. If the goal was not to push States to develop their prostitution supply, it led to the informal launch of the sex industry. The States did not hinder it much, as long as it brought economic benefits. In this regard, we can talk about a real development strategy^[6]POULIN Richard, “La mondialisation du marché du sexe” Actuel Marx, 2002, no 31, pp. 109-122.

The democratization of tourism and its opening up to the masses have largely boosted this industry that generates billion of dollars, and today the tourism industry is taking advantage of it. Hotel chains, airlines, or the States are making profits on the sex tourists’ expenditures. In 1998, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that prostitution represented between 2 and 14% of Thailand’s GDP^[7]POULIN Richard, “La marchandisation prostitutionnelle mondiale, violence, marché et crime organisé”, 2004, Les temps modernes, no. 626, pp 191-214. The development of sex tourism is so high that today tour operators are offering it^[8]MICHEL Franck, “Le tourisme sexuel en Thaïlande : une prostitution entre misère et mondialisation”, 2003, Teoros, no. 22, pp. 22-28..

Thailand, a top destination for sex tourism

Thailand has long been a very popular tourist destination for travelers from all over the world. Indeed, Bangkok was the most visited city in 2013^[9]UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, November 2015, available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SITAN_THAILAND_ENG_FINAL.pdf. Yet, as tourism increases, the risk of sexual exploitation of children does too. As proof, Thailand is said to be the country with the most child sexual abuse committed by tourists^[10]MICHEL Franck, “Faits, effets et méfaits du tourisme sexuel dans le monde”, 2013, Revue internationale et stratégique, no. 90, pp. 145-152..

Although prostitution is illegal in Thailand, in practice, sexual services are openly offered, including services with children. Consequently, the country is also a prime destination for sex tourists, especially the cities of Pattaya, Phuket, and Bangkok.

Most sex tourists are men, only one in ten sexual tourists is a woman^[11]UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, November 2015, available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SITAN_THAILAND_ENG_FINAL.pdf.

There are two types of profiles of sex tourists for children. The firsts would be the tourists that we can categorize as opportunists. They are travelers that did not came with the firm intention to have paid sexual relations with children, and who have, for that matter, no particular interest in them but seize the opportunity to take advantage of a vulnerable child. In contrast, for the second ones, they are people who have a demonstrated preference for children and travel with the intention to commit pedophile acts.

According to the special rapporteur of the Protocol on the selling of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography), Australians would form the most important group of sex tourists, representing 31% of their entirety in 2012^[12]Ibid.. The NGO FACE (Fight Against Child Exploitation) has also found, in 2009, that most sex tourists come from Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom^[13]Ibid..

If Thailand is so attractive for sex tourists, it is because it is easy and inexpensive to access sexual services, whether it is with children or adults.

Consequently, child prostitution is widespread in Thailand

They are various figures on the numbers of children concerned by child prostitution and sexual exploitation; however, they all reveal that it is a massive phenomenon. According to figures from 2001, 25 000 to 30 000 girls below 15 years old and 30 to 50 000 boys or young men meet the needs of pedophile and/or homosexual customers in Thailand^[14]MICHEL Franck, “Le tourisme sexuel en Thaïlande : une prostitution entre misère et mondialisation”, 2003, Teoros, no. 22, pp. 22-28. In 2007, it was reported that 60 000 of young peo
ple below the age of 18 are involved in the prostitution system, which is equivalent to 40% of all the individuals that prostitute themselves in the country^[15]ECPAT International, Status of action against commercial sexual exploitation of children, Thaïland, 2011, available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/a4a_v2_eap_thailand_1.pdf. In some regions, such as Pattaya, Phuket, or even the North of Thailand, children, and particularly those who come from ethnic minorities, are vulnerable. Street children are the main targets managers and producers of child pornography. In Pattaya in 2015, 90% of 200 street children were victims of sexual exploitation^[16]UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, November 2015, available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SITAN_THAILAND_ENG_FINAL.pdf. It involved for the most part boys from the age of 12 to 17 years old^[17]UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, November 2015, available at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SITAN_THAILAND_ENG_FINAL.pdf.

Prostitution in Thailand encompasses both girls and boys, even if the figures regarding boys are less abundant. Poverty seems to remain the main factor that causes prostitution. Child prostitution brings more than that of the adults, this is why some families prostitute their children to meet their needs. Yet, it would also seem that some children or teenagers are prostituting themselves of their own free will to buy themselves consumption goods that they would not be able to afford otherwise, or to pay their tuition fees for University.  

A major hub of traffic and sexual exploitation of children

With a market that spreads on local, regional and international levels, sexual exploitation allows Thailand to be both a traffic source, since Thai children are sent to Japan, Malaysia or Hong Kong, a transit country with nearly a quarter of a million of women and children from South-East Asia that are being bought^[18]POULIN Richard, “La mondialisation du marché du sexe”, 2002, Actuel Marx, no 31, pp. 109-122.

and a destination for sexual abuse towards children.

According to UNICEF, the traffic of Thai children for purposes of prostitution within the country has decreased, on behalf of the traffic of foreign children, coming from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The opening of borders has made it possible to young people, particularly girls, of foreign background to come to the land of the eternal smile in hopes of making money. Traffickers promise them a job in catering for example, but, in reality, they are propelled directly in the sex industry. Immigrants and undocumented migrants, they then become sexual slaves.

Conclusion: the fight against child prostitution in sex tourism

Signatory States of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Thailand is a part, agreed to take measures to prevent “children from being encouraged or forced to engage in an illegal sexual activity; children from being exploited within the frame of prostitution or other illegal sexual practices ; children from being exploited in order to produce shows or any other materiel with pornographical nature^[19]United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF, 1989, available at: https://www.unicef.fr/sites/default/files/convention-des-droits-de-lenfant.pdf”. Regarding Thailand, the government seems to be taking measures to respect its commitments. Indeed, many of the domestic legal acts that are supposed to protect children from prostitution, just like the law on the prevention and repression of prostitution (1996), of the Penal Code, the Child Protection Act (2003), the Child and Youth Development Act (2007), and the Anti-Human Trafficking Act (2015).

If it has been recognized that Thailand has created tools to act in favor of child protection, a report from UNICEF has also revealed that the latter lack sufficient detail, regarding the procedures, which will need to be subjected to decrees or directives. The report also shows a lack of practical and theoretical knowledge from policymakers on the issues encountered by the children and a lack of interministerial cooperation, which undermines the soundness of the policies. Finally, the financial means granted are insufficient. In 2012, the Ministry responsible for these issues obtained only 0.4% of the total national budget^[20]UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, November 2015, available at: … Continue reading. The measures remain not very effective because they are being ignored both by the traffickers of the sex industry, and the tourists and the government itself that looks the other way^[21]LAU Carmen, “Child prostitution in Thailand”, 2008, Journal of Child Health Care, vol. 12, pp 144-155.

It is a phenomenon with easy and strong economic profitability that is difficult to stop. International organizations such as ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes), the International Labour Organization or UNICEF share the common mission to fight child sex tourism by fighting for the application of international laws but still face many obstacles.

These past years, it appears that the prime destinations of sex tourism are now in countries where the legislative system is less restrictive and little controlled, such as Cambodia or Laos. A phenomenon that reminds us that vigilance and the fight against this practice must not stop.

Bibliography:

Books:

• SIGAUD Dominique, La malédiction d’être fille, Paris, Albin Michel, 2019

Articles :

• LAU Carmen, “Child prostitution in Thailand”, 2008, Journal of Child Health Care. Vol. 12, pp. 144-155.
• MICHEL Franck, “Faits, effets et méfaits du tourisme sexuel dans le monde”, 2013, Revue internationale et stratégique, no. 90, pp. 145- 152
• MICHEL Franck, “Le tourisme sexuel en Thaïlande : une prostitution entre misère et mondialisation”, 2003, Teoros, no. 22, pp. 22-28.
• POULIN Richard, “La mondialisation du marché du sexe”, 2002, Actuel Marx, no. 31, pp. 109-122.

Reports :

• ECPAT International, Status of action against commercial sexual exploitation of children, Thaïland, 2011, URL : https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/a4a_v2_eap_thailand_1.pdf
• UNICEF, Situational analysis of the commercial sexual exploitation of children Thailand, November 2015, URL : https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SITAN_THAILAND_ENG_FINAL.pdf

  
  

Instrument of international law:

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF, 1989, URL: https://www.unicef.fr/sites/default/files/convention-des-droits-de-lenfant.pdf

To cite this article: Lola FAVRE, “Underage prostitution in Thailand: the consequence of a mass sex tourism”, 03.10.2020, Gender in Geopolitics Institute.