I had chills running down my body walking in the red light district in Pattaya, called the Walking Street. The number one sex tourism city in the world. Thailand recorded an all-time high in tourist arrival numbers s at the beginning of this year. Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Thailand has been rated by the US State Department on Tier 3 for human trafficking, the rating for countries with the worst human-trafficking records.
Where women would sell themselves for less than $6.
Children of poor families are often the victims of human trafficking. Many are forced into prostitution by their parents and many are lured and captured by the traffickers. The economy of Thailand is one of the driving forces for trafficking because many families are poor farmers. Children often try a variety of other jobs such as scavenging, working in sweatshops, or begging. These jobs, however, do not pay well enough to deter children from going into the sex industry for a better paying job. Prositution may present a way for a girl to earn enough money to maintain and enhance her family’s property and status in her home village.
As I looked one girl in the eye I saw sadness and pain but she hid it behind her glassy eyes. I felt like I was at the circus. Beautiful young women standing out on at every bar for display. Dancing behind cages to get your attention. Wore color, exotic, shiny costumes to make sure you noticed them and every inch of their body. The women in this profession are not respected on Walking Street; they are treated worse than animals.
But they’re not the only ones broken. The old, white men lingering around Thailand, searching to fulfill their emptiness, are too broken and in pain. At first I was so angry and furious…but I took a step back. They are also in need. Thailand has one of the highest tourism suicide numbers…most of their tourists are made up of old, white men.
I’m still processing A LOT of it. I’ve seen so many documentaries about sex trafficking in Thailand and their red light district. But I am telling you, it’s so so different experiencing it in person. You just want to slap yourself out of reality because you start feeling pain deep down.
However the story doesn’t end there. By looking into their eyes, making them feel actually seen and loved puts a genuine smile on their face. Yes, language barriers are hard. We are currently downloading google translate on our phones. But how do I tell them they’re loved, worth being loved and cared for and to fill emptiness they’re carrying?
You show them
Eric, on my team bought them dresses across the street. He showed that there are men that have respect for women. He portrayed what true love is. That every woman deserves her body to be honored. Every woman needs to know that they have a high value. She is worth more than $6.
More than 90% of Thailand’s population is Buddhist. Buddhist beliefs, contribute to community acceptance of prostitution and sex trafficking. Thai Buddhists hold that “each person’s soul inhabits many physical bodies over time, with the quality of each life influenced by the soul’s store of merit”. Merit can be earned by providing aid to one’s parents, which can be through earnings from sex work, despite the nature of the work itself. The merit gained would, in essence, bless the girls and young women in their next life, negating the effects of having been a sex worker. In Thailand, close to 40,000 children under the age of 16 are believed to be in the sex trade, working in clubs, bars, and brothels.
So many women on the street don’t feel what they’re doing is wrong. It comes down to their belief in karma, getting what you deserve. But I don’t care about your upbringing, emptiness is emptiness. As much as you want to deny it, I saw it. YOU CAN’T HIDE OR FAKE IT.
Jesus got what you deserved.
Every woman craves and wants to be loved. Genuinely cared for by a man. One man. I don’t know, but maybe some of the women are filling that void from all these men. Lost all hope that they can be loved, respected, and cared for and instead think of how to provide for their families.
If your heart breaks as mine did, you can help. There are endless non-profit organizations that help rescue young children from the sex industry. They can earn more money to provide for their families.
Keep Thailand in your prayers.
