Oh, give me a break! Cambodia maybe, but as I’ve consistently pointed out, supposed sexual slavery in Thailand is greatly exaggerated, usually by reporters and others who come here with their own agenda and/or know what sells to the Western public. Thailand ain’t Cambodia.
Rather than simply go through yet another rehash of what I’ve gone over repeatedly in the past, there’s not much I can add to so-called “sexual slavery” in Thailand that I didn’t say in this thread right here. Especially in my posts here, here, here, here and here.
I understand there will always be people in the West who desperately need to believe otherwise for whatever reason, and there’s not much I can do about them except keep on urging people to take what they read in the press with a hefty grain of salt. We get people with all sorts of agendas landing on our shores.
I agree with you that is greatly exaggerated, not only in Thailand but generally. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist though. Even indigenous sex worker organisations (like Empower) accept that the industry has people who were trafficked, people who are working in appalling conditions, people who want to get out but can’t. Their numbers shouldn’t be overstated, especially in policy formation, but neither should they be ignored.
Most domestic workers aren’t slaves either. That doesn’t mean life isn’t hell for the minority who are.
A couple times a year, local media in the Washington, DC area feature a story where some World Bank official from Africa or south Asia is revealed to have slaves/drudge workers in the shadow of the US capital, usually in the Maryland suburbs. I recall one such instance where the busted official* said that Americans aren’t “culturally prepared” to understand the arrangement he had with the family of the woman in question. A Virginian for most of my life, I’d say we’re more culturally prepared than average for this discussion.
Two stories a year and the occasional Law and Order storyline are about the extent of media exposure, though.
*Not totally busted; he did have diplomatic immunity.
Oh, of course it exists in the world, but that worn-out trope of “Thai sexual slavery” gets so old.
As for general worker slavery, you’ll find that much more easily here, although you might still have to search. Mainly it’s in the border regions. The Thais will rarely enslave other Thais, at least these days; it’s usually Burmese refugees and poor Cambodians. But even then the line often blurs. For instance, many Burmese refugees may work basic manual labor for starvation wages. They take it because they have little choice. They could leave anytime, but of course they might just find themselves shoved them back across the border suddenly by the local authorities who may be in the boss’ pocket.
And it seems like a couple times a year, some Lao teenager or two will escape from a wealthy high-society household in Bangkok, where the family has been making them work as maids seven days a week for no pay.
One of the more bizarre incidents occurred just last month. A 57-year-old Ukrainian engineer “escaped” from an oxygen-factory compound in Pathum Thani province, in suburban Bangkok, where he claimed to have been held captive under 24-hour guard these past 14 years, forced to keep the factory systems running for no pay. A Burmese employee – who was not himself a slave – after leaving the factory mailed a letter the Ukrainian had given him to his family back home. They’d had no clue as to whatever had become of him. Well, after investigating, the Ukrainian’s story just hasn’t added up. Seems he has actually been there 14 years, but the slavery bit started to sound far-fetched, although the employer really had confiscated his passport all those years ago and was paying him only peanuts. The police finally rejected the slavery claims outright. See here and here.
And then, the police managed to locate that Burmese worker, and his story contradicted the Ukrainian’s completely or not, that’s still not clear. The case is still going on, but I have to wonder if maybe this Ukrainian had, ya know, become tetched in the head by Chernobyl or something.