Desperate to escape political and economic suffering, many Burmese migrate to Thailand only to discover things can get worse. Millions become victims of exploitation and human trafficking.
Thousands of Burmese cross the border into Thailand each year to escape corruption in their home country. They work 12-hour days and make just two dollars a day, but to them, it's worth it.
Labor recruiters or "brokers" help Burmese migrants cross the border into Thailand. Once here, migrants work long hours under harsh conditions to repay the brokers.
Thailand's Pheu Thai party wins a clear majority in Parliament. Supporters, the Red Shirts, express hope that elections will restore democracy, but worry about the future and political infighting.
As Thailand's parliamentary elections approach, courting voters has become a creative visual endeavor. But despite a myriad of choices, only two parties will have a real impact on the elections.
In Thailand, a misogynistic sex-show industry coerces women to torture themselves. Now the global economic crisis is making matters worse.
BANGKOK, Thailand — Narisaraporn Asipong, a matronly social worker at the "Mercy Center" shelter met 8-year-old Niran (a pseudonym) five years ago in Klong Toey, Bangkok's largest concentration of slum communities.
"His step-father was beating him so he was scared to go home," says Asipong, who has worked with street children for the last seven years. "He came with me to Mercy Center and I enrolled him in school." A year later, Niran returned home because he missed his mother. "One day, I saw him on the streets again," she says. "He looked very skinny and unhealthy."
In this broadcast of Bread and Roses, Gabriele Ross interviews Deena Guzder on Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking, particularly in Thailand.
Thailand is often called the "Land of Smiles" and considered a tropical paradise full of friendly, spiritual locals eager to share their unique cuisine and pristine beaches. However, Thailand's elaborate culinary feats and sun-washed beachfronts are not the only reason why the country has become the playground of the rich and elite of the world. Conservative estimates suggest that 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children is booming in Southeast Asia, with governments failing to do enough to protect young people, experts say.
"The recent economic downturn is set to drive more vulnerable children and young people to be exploited by the global sex trade," Carmen Madrinan, executive director of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual purposes (ECPAT), said.
Deena Guzder, for the Pulitzer Center
Thailand is often called the "Land of Smiles" and considered a tropical paradise full of friendly, spiritual locals eager to share their unique cuisine and pristine beaches. However, Thailand's elaborate culinary feats and sun-washed beachfronts are not the only reason why the country has become the playground of the rich and elite of the world. Conservative estimates suggest that 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.
While the world's attention was focused on Phillip Garrido, who is accused of abducting 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 and holding her hostage for 18 years as a sex slave, three other alleged sexual predators were quietly brought back to the United States to face prosecution for abusing countless children in Cambodia. The horrifying ordeal of Garrido's victim is now well documented; however, the stories of an estimated 1.8 million other children worldwide who are forced into the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year remain largely unheard.
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