After arriving in Bangkok, Thailand about a week ago, we traveled to the island of Phuket where my team is doing ministry this month. Phuket is a beautiful island off the coast of southern Thailand, and it is a popular vacation spot for many travelers. Unfortunately, it is also a popular spot for one of the hardest realities of our day- sex trafficking and tourism.
I have been interested in human trafficking for a few years now. I have read several books about, studied it in sociology classes at school, and even written papers about it. But being here and seeing it in person is a whole other ball game. The statistics are shocking:
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27 million people are trafficked each year.
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80% of the prostitutes in Thailand are women, 50% of those women are under 18.
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60% of men that fly into BKK International Airport are here for some form of sex tourism.
Those who come to Phuket for sex tourism go to the district of Patong. More specifically, they go to Bangla Road, where there are over 200 bars packed so closely together that you can hardly tell when you have left one bar and moved on to the next. Each bar has 5 or 6 girls who work there, which means that they help the bar sell drinks. However, a man can also pay the bar to take home one of the girls for the evening.
Walking down Bangla Road at night has been one of the most heartbreaking things I have done on this trip. At first, I was so overwhelmed by it all I could barely focus on what was really going on. There is loud music, people handing out flyers inviting you to their exotic night clubs, and white men everywhere. Girls are sitting at the bars, standing in the streets, dancing on poles.
It is easy to be overwhelmed by the initial experience of it all. But once I opened my eyes to what was really going on, I could see it on everyone’s face. Men and women. Hopelessness. As I looked into the girls eyes, I could see it. They hate it. They don’t want to be there. They have run out of options. The majority of these girls come from the poorer regions of northern Thailand. They come to the south hoping to raise money for their families, but quickly find that working at the bars is all they are qualified to do. While there are girls in Phuket who have been trafficked and are unable to leave, the majority of girls in the open bars have freedom to leave if they choose. They are just waiting for a better option.
And luckily, we are able to offer them a better option. During our time in Phuket, we are working with an amazing ministry called SHE (self-help and empowerment). SHE is an organization started by British couple, Mark and Sharon Biddle, who came to Thailand to offer the girls in the bars a choice for a better life. A girl from the bars can come to SHE, live in the home, and earn a salary for 3 months making jewelry and baking. During that time, they can take English lessons and receive counseling to help them heal from their past. After 3 months, SHE helps train the girls in job skills so they can get a job in one of the local hotels. They then help the girls get a job and transition them back into the world.
At night we go to the bars, and talk to the girls. They are so friendly to us, and we have a great time getting to know them and playing games. We then ask them if they like what they do. 9 out of 10 times they say no. They hate it. We then tell them about SHE and invite them to come visit the center and have lunch. We have already had a couple of girls come, which was really amazing. As we showed them the center, I could see the hope coming back into their eyes. They now know they have a choice.
Please join us in praying for the girls here. Pray that we will have courage and boldness, and that we will be able to build good relationships. Pray for open hearts, and that many of the girls at the bars would find freedom!
