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Child porn goes beyond Bangkok's sleazy street vendors: "
If you really want to help, donate to ECPAT international, a global network working for the elimination of child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes.
NOTE: This post will be updated as and when new information and comments are made available to me. I'll keep people informed through Twitter.
First of all, this issue is nothing new. There have been numerous stories in the past about the exploitation of children and human trafficking in Southeast Asia. There have also been numerous, high-level stories about people in Thailand being arrested for distributing child porn, such as the case of Briton Paul Cornelius Jones, who was arrested three years ago on charges of distributing pornographic photographs of children under age 15, which, incidentally, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. (BBC)
While the issue may be nothing new, it was given a new lease of life by an article in the Bangkok Post (Child porn on streets stirs outrage, Sukhumvit Vendors Openly Sell VCDs, October 10, 2010). The article in question asserted that “[c]hild pornography is being openly sold on the footpaths of the city's busiest road [Sukhumvit], outraging both tourists and residents who said it would not be tolerated in any other country.”
This story, however, was poorly executed. There were quotes, but not a single named source.
"This is totally outrageous and should not be tolerated by the authorities," said one ambassador who lives in the area. "You would have to look hard for any country in the world where this would be allowed, let alone on the main tourist street of the capital."
An ambassador? That means nothing to me. It could have been anyone. I'm not saying the quotes are phony, but they weaken the story, not only because they're anonymous, but because they imply that people are outraged primarily because child porn is being sold on the streets — their streets.
If it weren't there in plain sight, the unnamed ambassadors and diplomats in the story would not be saying anything, but the exploitation of children would continue regardless. If it's on the doorsteps of the elites and the well-to-dos, then all of a sudden it becomes an issue because it ruins someone's morning or a person's walk home from work.
The story was also weak because it quoted a “senior police officer” talking not about offences related to child porn, but to the distribution of regular porn.
"To distribute or exhibit obscene materials is a criminal offense under Section 287 of the penal code of Thailand with the punishment not exceeding three years' imprisonment or fine not exceeding 6,000baht, or both.”
This quote does nothing for the story. Bangkok Post then followed up with a ludicrous story (Police move in to clean up porno stalls in tourist areas, October 6, 2010), essentially a police press release, patting the paper on the back for instigating “police sting operations” to catch vendors selling the offending DVDs and VCDs, although the headline does not even mention children.
These sting operations are a show of face by the police. No doubt vendors will be arrested and paraded before the media for a photo op, but nothing will change. I saw this kind of thing all too often in Phuket. The police publicly crack down on something for a few days, get their names in the papers and then let the situation return to how it was before. This is no different, and I cannot stress enough here: The vendors are not the real problem.
Here's an instant classic from the Bangkok Post article:
The children used in the videos are Thai, Cambodian and other nationals who have been either hired or lured into the porn business, said Pol Col Suwitphon Imchairat, a deputy commander of the Anti-Human Trafficking Division.
What a revelation that is. I have never seen child porn being sold on Sukhumvit, but various sources have confirmed that the offending material is there and it is being distributed. The most reliable of these sources is journalist and blogger Richard Barrow, who on October 6 posted on his Twitter account, “I'm shocked, they really are selling kiddie porn openly on [the] sidewalk of Sukhumwit. Jacket cover says '10 years & up'.”
Up until that point, the general consensus coming from discussions was that this is something that cannot be eradicated because of the involvement at a higher level than the vendors of people with considerable power and money.
Other Twitter users then seemed to realise in unison that perhaps they could do something if they got together and joined forces, so to speak. The trouble with this kind of mob mentality is that it can be counter productive because a lot of the time, people don't fully understand what they are talking about and fail to get beneath the surface of this issue. Before you know it, you have all sorts of wild words being spouted left, right and centre.
With this in mind, I contacted a number of organizations to get their feedback on the issue in question. This was something I felt the Bangkok Post journalists should have done. In fact, it was lazy of them not to even fire off a few emails so they could better inform their readers about the issue of child exploitation. Raising awareness is part of the solution and the Bangkok Post has so far fallen short in this respect.
World Vision is a large, global, Christian NGO that works with children, families and communities.
“World Vision is aware and condemns the fact that children are involved in production of pornography in the region and that it is distributed through a range of outlets. I personally was not aware that child pornography was being sold in the location identified in the story but was aware of the general sale of pornography at that location,” Laurence Gray, World Vision's regional advocacy director for Asia-Pacific, told me via email.
Plan International is another organization that supports children around the world.
Chariya Phongvivat, Plan Thailand's child rights advisor, told me over email that Plan is aware of the issues related to child porn but that she personally has never seen the displays on Sukhumvit, although she and colleagues from other organizations have seen child porn DVDs around Sanam Luang.
“There have been arrests before. The police traced back to the sources, which are usually in Pattaya and Chiang Mai. They distribute the porn mainly through websites with paid members. The children are usually trafficked, homeless or marginalised, such as those living along the borders,” she added.
“Arrests must not end at a raid on those stalls, but must trace back to the source, to see who made it and where the children are from.”
But arrests are not the end of the story. Working with children, families and communities at risk to protect them from child trafficking, sexual exploitation and other forms of exploitation and abuse is vital.
Sunny Tong, Save the Children's marketing and PR manager in Hong Kong, told me, "Child pornography is a crime. In the case quoted in your email, we advise any visitor to Thailand who sees evidence of a crime against children – including child pornography on sale – should contact the police and contact their embassy. People can also help by getting involved in campaigns against child pornography and trafficking like ECPAT."
I did also contact ECPAT, a global network working for the protection of children, and received a response from ECPAT's public education and communications officer saying, “We are indeed acutely aware of the situation and related article.”
ECPAT promised to follow up with comments on the issues and their input will be added to this post in due time. Similarly if the other organizations I reached out to get back to me then I will include their comments. My main aim here, however, has been to get this post published before people start acting or speaking on impulse.
In the mean time, what are Plan, World Vision and Save the Children doing about this issue? Keep in mind that these are large INGOs, and so their responses are a little generic at times, but still, at least they have responded.
“For long term, Plan Thailand is working with Child Protection Partnership under the support of IICRD [International Institute for Child Rights and Development] to develop child protection in ICT curricula for schools and for communities, and also working with the policy-working group to provide recommendations on ICT policy, particularly on child protection,” added K. Chariya.
"We work directly with children, families and communities at risk, right now in Chiang Rai, expanding to Chiang Mai, to raise their awareness on how to protect children from sexual exploitation, as well as help create livelihoods for the parents,” she said.
“We work with the children themselves in a preventative approach to involve them in peer education activities to affirm positive views of children and highlight risks to physical safety and dignity. Children have supported each other in reporting on situations where pornography is being shown to children or where children have been approached for sexual acts,” said Gray from World Vision.
“World Vision works on medium to long term solutions in partnership with the UN, human rights groups and governments to implement international and regional commitments to protect children and address human trafficking,” he added.
Tong from Save the Children said, "Save the Children works with local NGOs and government partners around Thailand, and across Asia and the world, to prevent exploitation of children through our child protection and empowerment activities. In Thailand, Save the Children works especially with migrant children who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation."
One of the problems is that this issue is not sufficiently in the public eye, so there's not enough public sanction. Richard Barrow went so far as to say that “[t]he fact that child porn is openly sold on the streets means that Thai society accepts it”.
Social media is a curious thing. Discussions on Twitter have blossomed into what appears to be a full-blown movement, with promises of investigations, mass mobilizations, protests and petitions. People are quick to jump on issues like this so it's important to spread good, reliable information and highlight what the real issues at play are. It's also important that this not just be a flash in the pan.
The number of instant experts with things like this is always a little disturbing. I don't claim to be an expert here. I'm a journalist and I've written stories on similar issues in the past. As a journalist, though, when I want to know about something, I ask experts in the field, such as ECPAT, Plan and World Vision.
If you want to really stop children being exploited and ending up in DVDs and VCDs for sale on Sukhumvit Road, you have to understand that this is a global issue and it's one that won't stop even if all the street vendors are locked up.
If you'll recall, the US State Department in June issued its annual Trafficking in Persons report, and Thailand slipped down onto a Watch List along with Vietnam and Laos. This was basically a warning shot fired by the US to tell these countries that they need to bolster efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers in persons. (IRIN)
“What can people do is they see this on the street? They can notice and let others know. The Bangkok Post article correctly states that the display and sale of child pornography is illegal under local law and agreements the government has made in endorsing the Convention on the Rights of the Child and related protocols,” added Gray.
“They can also engage with groups working for an alternative future for child and their communities. Avenues are available for donation of time, resources or support needed to bring change.”
Useful numbers for reporting cases:
Saidek 1387 (Child hotline): 1387
Phachabodi Hotline Centre (Ministry of Social Development and Human Security): 1300, email: call1300@hotmail.com, website
The Thai Tourist Police: 1155
The police: 02-678-6800
Complaints can also be registered with ECPAT.
Useful websites for finding out more or for lending support:
World Vision Thailand
World Vision Asia-Pacific, human trafficking
Plan Thailand
Heart of the Street
ECPAT, ways to help
UNICEF Thailand
Save the Children
Rain Tree Foundation
International Organization for Migration
Trafficking in Persons Report 2010
Centre for Protection of Children's Rights Foundation
Useful info for journalists:
IFJ Child Rights Handbook (PDF)
UNICEF Guidelines for Media Professionals (PDF)
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