The land of smiles. That’s what they call Thailand. But all I keep thinking is what’s behind the smiling? Smiles can spread a lot of joy & hide a lot of pain. And with the reputation Thailand carries, I can’t help but wonder which is which.
Chiang Mai is Thailand’s most well known city, after Bangkok. It’s home to 1 million Thais and countless tourists looking to have a good time. There are currently 5,000 men, women, and children prostitutes working throughout the city in bars, massage parlors, and other service businesses, as well as thousands more trafficked for labor and other things.
The children get trafficked from the nearby slums through deceit, ignorance, and poverty. Sex traders come in and make a good deal with the parents, the parents need the money and don’t understand what they’re taking their kids to do. And although a lot of the men and women forced into prostitution are enslaved into it, there are a few that are there by “choice.” This is where their Buddhist culture begins to tie into the lifestyle. The choice they make is the kind of choice we make/made when as a poor college student the only thing you had left in your cabinet was a cup of ramen, and you had no money in your wallet or on your debit card or credit card to your name, so you “chose” to eat the ramen for dinner. See where I’m going here? Because buddhism believes in karma and reincarnation, if you’re born poor its because you didn’t earn enough merits in your last life and you now deserve a life of poverty or prostitution, and if you don’t do it you’ll only continue to gain demerits for your next life. So you have to. You have to make the choice to be a prostitute.
I’ve spent the last 3 days in a culture and ministry orientation with Lighthouse In Action (where 3 of our other teams will work this month). Although my team will spend the rest of the month traveling the country looking for new ministry contacts, we thought it’d be wise to spend these first few days investing in learning the culture. Lighthouse is in the heart of the red district here and has 3 main outreaches: 1) Love Acts-this is the bar ministry that desires to build genuine relationships with the prostitutes and lady boys to eventually provide a way out 2) Zion Cafe-the way out. Emmi, Lighthouse In Action founder, gives them a safe place to spend time and a job when the time comes. And 3) XLife-the slum outreach that goes in to educate the communities on what’s really going on as well as playing, spending time, and bringing snacks to the kids.
There’s so much more I want to tell you about Thailand. But for now, I hope Emmi’s story can tell you what millions more wish they could. Please watch it here:
