Link, fourth story from the top.
To be fair, officials are saying there might have been a chance he perished in the tsunami.
But if this is true…
God, I feel physically ill.
There was a report on the BBC World Service radio today about the problems in Sumatra, where syndicated gangs have been thought to be posing as NGOs in affected areas of Aceh to spirit children away. A planeload of 300 kids is rumoured to have landed in Madan (a known centre for the trade in the province neighbouring Aceh) amid the chaos.
The Indonesian government have responded by placing a ban of kids up to the age of 16 from travelling by air.
Jesus, that’s disturbing.
The lives of most children in countries like Indonesia and Thailand were pretty damned poor before the Tsunamis. Child labor is common (with US support) in Indonesia, while Thailand has a thriving sexual tourism industry that largely involves children.
God, that’s fuckin’ sick!
Yes, with an estimated 35,000 orphans in Aceh it’s very disturbing.
On a positive note, thank God for the US fleet off the coast using helicopters to reach towns and villages where 80% of the inhabitants have died. It may not change perceptions of the “Great Satan” in the long term, but there will be at least a few people who understand the humanity which impels 99.9% of American people.
Agreed, Cricetus, the west is at fault as much as the locals. Cannot claim any high ground here.
Sexual tourism is not fueled only by “the west”. Also, US laws make it a crime for Americans to engage in sex tourism with minors (by US standards) in foreign countries. US citizens cannot be prosecuted for consentual and non-commercial sex with minors in nations where said contact is legal, but if they pay for it, they can be prosecuted when they return to US soil. This does not happen often, but it does happen. The US does not turn a blind eye.
Before I get dogpiled… roger thornhill, I know you weren’t implying that “sexual tourism is… fueled only by ‘the west’”, as I say below. So my apologies in advance for suggesting that you had. But I do maintain that the US gov’t at least is not just whistling in the dark, although in practical terms it’s a very hard menace to control.
I mean “above”… :smack:
Bedtime for Bonzo!
I didn’t know of these laws. However difficult they are to enforce, it’s still good that they are on the statutes. No offence taken, by the way.
There have been several cases recently here in the USA of people getting caught, prosecuted and convicted for travelling overseas to have sex with underage prostitutes.
More power to the people who pursued justice across boundaries.
Just as the numbers pushing 150,000 are infathomable, so are the figures of 300 children on a single plane, and 350,000 orphans at risk.
I’m not a holocaust denier, just having trouble reconciling the magnitude of the scale.
There are quite a few kids who are coming home from Thailand now, without tehir parents. I sincerely hope they have other relatives, because foster homes doesn’t seem like a good sollution.
Also, since newspapers started publishing pics of people who’re missing, there’s been an increase in B&E in their homes.
Originally posted by Cricetus “while Thailand has a thriving sexual tourism industry that largely involves children.”
Not true, I have travelled across Thailand twice, and I have never seen any evidence of the prostituting of children. Yes, in the tourist ghettos of Thailand you will see plenty of adult prostitutes, but I never saw, and was never offered underage prostitutes. Maybe child prostitution is available if you go actively looking for it. But, to say that prostitution in Thailand “largely involves children” is a very inaccurate statement.
Dunno about that. I’ve travelled a bit in Thailand, and been offered “thirteen year old girls” by touts/pimps in tourist areas {OK, Patpong} - I don’t know that what was offered was what was on sale, so to speak, since “Fuck off” seems to be universally understood, but the fact that they’d openly make the offer to a farang in a popular, albeit seedy, tourist area is disturbing enough: I’m not disagreeing with your post per se, just that I don’t think child prostitution in Thailand is that deeply buried.
Also, does anyone have a cite for this plane full of 300 children ?? I am seriously doubting that that story is true.
I used to walk by Patpong market twice a week. While I seldom actually walked through Patpong, I was never offered an such thing. If one walks through Patpong market you are offered all manners of counterfeit items to buy. There are also touts trying to get you to go into bars for “live sex shows”, although I’ve heard these are mostly tourist trap ripoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised if any “thirteen year old girls” is the same thing. The sex trade in Thailand is mainly fueled by poor/bored/no prospects young women from Isaarn, the Northeast area of Thailand (and the poorest region). Most of the ones I met that interacted with foreigners appeared to be in it for their own interests and generally were above 18. I was propositioned by a seventeen year old once, who worked in a bar* across from my regular pool bar. When I asked her age and she said seventeen, I proceeded to lecture her on the life she was getting herself into. I asked why she wanted to do this sort of stuff (she was obviously new there), and she replied that she was just wanted to make money. Sigh. Since my hotel was further up the soi, whenever I’d walk back I’d make a point of asking her when she was going home.
Net, not saying it doesn’t exist in Thailand somewhere – I imagine it does – just that the sex industry does not mostly involve children, unless you have a very broad definition of children (say, 30 and under). Thais do generally look a lot younger than westerners, and many of the “customers” are over 40 or so, which exacerabates how this looks. Also, the west does not fuel this industry, it’s much more prevalent with locals. Most estimates I’ve seen are that only 5-15% of Thai sex trade is with foreigners. Not sure what ages are involved in the local sex trade.
*In this case the bar and the street kind of blended together. She hailed me as I walked up the street.