Essay On Child Prostitution In Thailand

Imagine yourself as you are nine years old, in the morning you chose which outfits you would like to wear to school, you decide whether a pink mini skirt or black polka dot jeans would look best. Then your mother asks what food you would like inside the expensive Hello Kitty lunch box. Instead of politely reply, you throw her a fit after noticed your favorite snacks are not inside. These are the daily decisions that a typical nine-year-old American has to make. Imagine a parallel universe, in a small village in northern part of Thailand, where many Thai domestic helpers came from. In the slum, the same little girl has to choose whether she would like work as a domestic helper or a sex worker. She has puzzled expressions on the face as she escorted out of her own home, and all the sudden she cries, screams to

Two men are dragging her away from the only home she will ever know. She is too young to realize the magnitude of changes that about to happen to her life. Her mother is selling her to the highest bidding brothel, and right then her life as a child prostitute has begun. Child prostitution is a severe problem that existed in Thailand for a very long time. A news article stated that in 2001, child prostitution in Thailand involved 800,000 children under the age of sixteen (Laccino). Why is that so? Child prostitution existed since the early 1900’s after the King of Thailand passed anti-slavery law (Montgomery 43). In this paper I will illustrated the cause of child prostitution in Thailand.

Firstly, one must take a closer look at the fundamental factor of Thai society. The first cause of child prostitution lies very deep in Thai cultural and social values. Thais were raised to be grateful and obedient to their parents unconditionally, strong filial duty. The children usually required to help the parents raise their younger siblings, run house chores