CASE STUDY: SEX TOURISM AND CHILD PROSTITUTION IN THE U.S. VS. THAILAND

I. Identification

1) ISSUE

Tourists from the United States and other parts of the world travel to Thailand to engage in sexual acts and to solicit sex from minors and prostitutes. This type of tourism has created a huge market in Thailand. One of the biggest problems that exists, however, is that the United States has many more policies in effect protecting minors and enforcing punishment on people who are involved in these activities than Thailand does.
Thailand only has one major law that helps protect its minors and women from these tourists, unlike the United States which has almost ten laws and acts that target these issues. A list showing the United States’ laws vs. Thailand’s can be found in table 1A. It is ironic that a country like Thailand whose problem is so much worse than the U.S., only has one major law and a handful of organizations that help fight these evil crimes.
It is possible that since the U.S. is a developed country and Thailand is still a developing country, the need for survival is so much greater in Thailand and therefore government may tend to ignore issues such as sex tourism. This is due to the fact that sex tourism provides for such a large percentage of the economy. This problem contributes to limiting the number of laws passed to deter sexual tourists from coming. The U.S. can afford to dissuade sexual tourists due to the fact that their economy is not thriving off of sexual tourism involving adults or minors.

1A)

AMERICAN V.S. THAI POLICIES

• In early 1994, the U.S. Violent Crime Control Act of 1994 was passed, “establishing it a crime to travel with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a juvenile. The loophole of the law is that the crime focuses on the intent and not the victimization of engaging in sexual acts with a minor” (Meier, 2000).

• “In Thailand, a recently passed Prostitution Prevention & Suppression Bill mandates two to six years in a jail for customers who are convicted of buying sex from children under the age of 15” (Gutner and Corben, 1996).

• “Megan’s law is the common term for community notification laws. In each state, laws require sex offenders to register with police or some other government agency when they leave prison. Community notification laws govern how that registration information is released to reporters and the public” (Johnson, 1999). This law has been passed in all fifty states and is available for members of any community to research in order for them to be aware of their neighbors and surroundings.

• In 1999, a major act was passed addressing international trafficking of girls and women, known as the International Trafficking of Women and Children Victim Protection Act of 1999. Some of the goals include: improving protection for the victims of trafficking in the United States providing them legal assistance, shelter services and health services. Allowing victims to remain in the U.S. for up to three months or as long as necessary in order to seek asylum. Establishing an inter-agency task force to monitor and combat trafficking that will report on the status of international trafficking to Congress annually” (Meier, 2000).

• “On April 30th, 2003, U.S. President George Bush signed the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Act of 2003, better known as the PROTECT Act” (Wright, 2003). “The new law provides that any person who enters the US, as well as any US national permanent resident who travels abroad, for purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children can be prosecuted in the US for such acts, and fined and imprisoned for up to 30 years” (Murphy, 2004).

American & Thai groups and organizations:

Thailand also has groups based directly in the country who fight the problem and help support victims and the battle against sexual tourists and its offenders. For example, The Center for the Protection of Children's Rights; Advocates for Abused Children mainly focus putting a halt on trafficking.
(http://www.arches.uga.edu/~haneydaw/twwh/traf.html)

There is a group called the ASTA (The American Society of Travel Agents), which is currently leading the industry in an ongoing battle against child sex tourism with its adoption of the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.

Task Force to End Child Exploitation in Thailand is a group made up of 24 private and government groups who fight against the sex trade between Bangkok and Europe, by doing their best to find the connection between the two sites.

ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), a group which is heavily involved in stopping sex offenders all over the world has a phenomenal record of victories when it comes to catching these criminals.

EPCAT, (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking) is one of the most significant groups that exist. EPCAT is “an international network of organizations fighting to eliminate child prostitution and pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes” (Jeffreys, 2002).

“The Task Force to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism is a global action platform of tourism-related key-players from the government and the tourism industry sectors, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and media associations whose aim is to prevent, uncover, isolate and eradicate the sexual exploitation of children in tourism” (http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/index.htm). This group was created by the WTO and is run by Dr. Dawid D Villiers., the Deputy Secretary-General of the WTO who is the Chairman and WTO Representative of the committee.

FACE (Fight Against Child Exploitation), a group local in Thailand, similar to ICE is doing its part to help put away these men who prey heavily on Thailand’s children. Note* There has never been a documented case of a woman committing these crimes.

2) DESCRIPTION

The topic of sex tourism and child prostitution is a worldwide tourism policy crisis. There are millions of children across the world selling themselves and being sold by their families for petty amounts of money in order to survive. People from all nations travel to poverty stricken developing countries, such as to Thailand, Brazil, others in Latin America and various parts of the world to participate in this pernicious form of tourism.
The following are facts representing the severity of the worldwide crises of prostitution:
• A recent study in India estimated 9 million prostitutes work there; about 30 % are children. A further 10 percent reported that they had started their careers in prostitution before the age of 18
• It is estimated that 30 % of commercial sex workers in Cambodia are younger than 18 years old. At least half are forced into the trade, either tricked with promises of high paying jobs or sold.
• In Jamaica, a third of the women interviewed in a recent study of adult female prostitutes said they had been abused through prostitution before their 18th birthday.
• In Latin America, increasing numbers of street children trade sex for money to buy food or drugs. An estimated 25,000 minors are involved in prostitution in the Dominican Republic” (Coday, 2000).

Some relevant statistics show that, The World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children estimates there are at least 80,000 child prostitutes in Thailand (Dealey, 2001). Bearing in mind that this research is pre-2000, chances are that these figures have doubled. Merson’s article states that there are thought to be almost 500,000 prostitutes in Brazil, and 70% child prostitution out of 5,000 cases that were reported each year. In addition, “The State Department estimates that 50,000 women and girls are brought to the United States each year to labor in sleazy discos, clubs, cafes and brothels. “Unlike drugs… human beings can be sold over and over again”” (Gribbon, 1999). These are just a few of the facts that underscore the importance of this research.
It is important for public officials to end and try to control this crisis for many reasons. Some of the side affects from sex tourism include, rape, tearing of flesh, unwanted pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, confinement, violence and physical abuse. A large number of these offenders believe that the younger their victims, the less likely their chances of contracting HIV/AIDS. They are very wrong, according to statistics shown by (Gutner and Corben, 1996), who state that, “One study estimates that 50% of the child prostitutes in Thailand are HIV positive.” This shows how it is very probable that the spread of HIV/AIDS can come from underage prostitutes as opposed to being spread solely by adults.
From what research has proven, the policies regarding sexual crimes are most effective in the United States as opposed to anywhere else in the world. The U.S., compared with many other countries that have high levels of prostitution and child prostitution, seems to have the greatest number of policies dealing with the issues of sex with minors and sex offenders.
The problem is getting worse and is not being dealt with as it should be in countries such as Thailand.

3) RELATED CASE STUDIES:

1) Myanmar Sex Trade – http://www.american.edu/TED/myansex.htm
Description: A case study focusing on the sex trade in Myanmar, Thailand. Discussing the issues of sex trade and the importance of dealing with the problem in great detail.
2) Thailand and Aids- http://www.american.edu/TED/thaiaids.htm
Description: A case study focusing on the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the country of Thailand and their need for help and intervention. The case study covers the issue in great detail and depth.
3) Nepal Sex Trade- http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/nepalsex.htm
Description: A case study done regarding the Nepal sex trade, very detailed and relative to the sex trade in other parts of the world including Asia.
4) Tourism in Thailand- http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/ted/THAITOUR.HTM
Description: Detailed case study on tourism in Thailand, with relating facts regarding to sex tourism and the rampant growth of AIDS in the country.
5) http://www.vachss.com/help_text/sex_tourism.html
Description: Useful website linked to many incredible articles regarding the subject of sex tourism and child prostitution.

4) AUTHOR AND DATE

Alexander J. Cutler, Wednesday, 5/3/2005
Department of Tourism, George Washington University (MTA)

II. Policy Impacts

5) SOCIAL IMPACTS

Social impacts that American and Thai policies have are critical in the way they are carried out. The only way in which the policies will mean anything and be useful is if they have an effect deterring sex tourists from committing these crimes in the future also if they are taken seriously by the public and by law enforcement agencies. There is a stupendous amount of social impact that policies have, it is just whether or not they are acted out or not which makes the difference.

Socially Thailand’s, Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Bill is impacting on a grand scale because it affects all those involved in the sex trade. It gives victims a great sense of relief and security and those who sympathize with the victims such as family members and others affected in the community a better sense of comfort. It gives those who are in charge of the illegal operations a sense of fear and those who are participants in the sex trade as customers an enormous sense of discomfort and warning. This statement goes hand in hand with the policies (listed in table 1A) in America as well.

6) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

When policies such the ones in the United States and Thailand scare regular and future sex tourists from traveling to other countries then recourses, especially human resources are actually saved. When the tourist rates decline, less resources are used up, i.e., water, gas, oil etc. So the policies do actually have a positive effect on the countries resources, mostly in Thailand, not in the United States, because many of these tourists do not travel to the United States to stake out their prey.

A major environmental impact from much of these pernicious forms of tourism is HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. By policies taking effect and being enforced, these travelers will be afraid to pursue their activities and, therefore, lives will be saved. The spread of this terrible virus will decrease.

7) ECONOMIC IMPACTS

If countries like Thailand are thriving off of tourism and a tremendous portion of the GDP and countries’ revenues are based off of sex tourism, when laws and policies like these are placed into effect it can dramatically affect such figures. Policies and laws that are passed to stop sex tourism and put a damper on the sex trade, especially with minors, greatly reduce the number of tourists that Thailand would regularly see. The policies scare away these tourists which is great socially, but unfortunately very dramatic economically. Many Thai businesses thrive and survive off of this type of illicit tourism and regardless of the source, the money is still circulated through the Thai economy. The more cases that are revealed through these policies, the less tourists are willing to risk their careers, lives and identities on the line by coming to the once safe sex land. The less tourist activity that exists for whatever reason, the less taxes, the less hotel activity, the less airline industry activity and the less foreign money is spent on food etc. This assumption is under the idea that policies are actually being enforced and that laws are actually being carried out. If for some reason they are not and tourists find out that the enforcement is lax, the economy will again begin to rebuild itself slowly off of the same product and market. On the other hand, this does indirectly force the government and country to redirect their focuses on generating income legally.

There is a drastic difference between what tourism represents for the U.S. and what tourism represents for Thailand which is due to the economic status and standing of each country. Thailand is a developing country that is heavily dependant on tourism and on sex tourism, where as the United States thrives off of tourism, but is not dependent on it, especially because poverty is not such an issue, therefore people are not forced into selling themselves to survive.

8) Action taken on behalf of American and Thai policies that have caused impacts socially, economically, politically and environmentally:

Marvin Hersh, a fifty-eight year old Florida college professor was the first person to fall victim of the 1994 sex tourism law passed by the American senate which prohibits Americans from traveling abroad to have sex with minors. “It is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine” (Roche, 1999).

“Michael Clark Lewis, indicted in Seattle on charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in June 2003 in Cambodia with two boys, ages ten and thirteen” (Murphy, 2004).

ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), a group which is heavily involved in stopping sex offenders all over the world has a phenomenal record of victories when it comes to catching these criminals. “These cases are part of Operation Predator, an ongoing ICE enforcement initiative to identify, investigate and arrest child sex predators. The initiative resulted in 4,400 arrests nationwide. ICE is also aggressively targeting foreign nationals engaged in such an activity and seeking their deportation. More than 2,100 child predators have been deported” (http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20041126.20.html).

FACE (Fight Against Child Exploitation), a group local in Thailand, similar to ICE is doing its part to help put away these men who prey heavily on Thailand’s children. “A Frenchman who had sex with an 11 year-old girl while on holiday in Thailand was convicted in Paris court Oct.21 of rape and sentenced to seven years” (Coday, 2000).

9) SUGGESTED INTERVENTIONS

III. Legal Clusters

10) Discourse and Status/Policy Issue

A problem Thailand faces regarding the enforcement of their sex laws is the fact that in order for the law to be enforced on a local level, authorities need to be involved 100%, for example, “Anti-sex tourism efforts have been hindered by not just economic desperation but also a lack of cooperation from law enforcement agencies” (Coday, 2000). Additionally, in Thailand, a recently passed Prostitution Prevention & Suppression Bill mandates two to six years in a jail for customers who are convicted of buying sex from children under the age of 15 (Gutner and Corben, 1996); however, the problem again exists that the only way in which this bill along with any others are to prove effective, is if actual police and local level authorities are to act on predators. “But the problem is lax enforcement, and as long as there is demand, there will be supply” (Gutner and Corben, 1996).

Another problem that is highly correlated with the lax enforcement is that, “some law enforcement officers have close personal relationships with procurers or owners of entertainment places who facilitate child sexual abuse” (Clift and Carter, 2000, p.57).

“Anti-sex tourism efforts have been hindered by not just economic desperation but also a lack of cooperation from law enforcement agencies” (Coday, 2000).

As stated earlier in the case study, in addition to low levels of enforcement, a major problem that Thailand faces is its lack of laws attending to the issue of prostitution and sex tourism involving minors.

11. FORUM AND SCOPE/EXISTING POLICY FRAMEWORK
International: TASK FORCE TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN TOURISM, had its sixteenth meeting on March 12, 2005 in Berlin. Some of the members, groups and people who attended and participated were Marriot, Accor, ECPAT and others.
National: N/A
Regional: The World Tourism Organization with Interpol met in the regional consultation for the Americas for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism in San Jose, Costa Rica May 7-8, 2003.
The WTO with Interpol met for the Regional Consultation for Asia and the Pacific on the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism in Bali, Indonesia on June 26-27, 2003.
Local: N/A

12) DECISION BREADTH/ STAKEHOLDERS/ POLICY ACTORS

United States: Courts, government officials, local law enforcement, children and tourists.

Thailand: Local anti-sex tourism groups, government officials, local law enforcement, courts, children and tourists.

13) LEGAL STANDING/LEGAL REGULATORY FRAMEWORK/SUGGESTED POLICY INTERVENTION

IV. Trade Clusters

14) TYPE OF MEASURE

Import and Export: Sex Trade

Thailand should share a database with the U.S. to keep track of people who meet a certain criteria and demographic who travel in and out of the country repeatedly. This can and should be done now and in the near future using the biometric passport system which will be in effect within two years. If this type of action and strategy was used and taken, it would diminish the number of travelers who come to Thailand to engage in such devious activities and help law enforcement narrow their searches when hunting down their targets.

15) RELATION OF TRADE TO ENVIRONMENTAL/TOURISM IMPACT

a. Directly related to product: Buying, selling & destroying of innocence

b. Indirectly related to product: HIV/AIDS

c. Not related to product: Political: Reflection and Reputation of country and law enforcement

d. Related to process: Booking tours, connecting with vendors.

16) TRADE PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION/ TRADE AND SERVICES

Women and children being bought, sold and rented by tourists and by locals for sexual purposes.

17) ECONOMIC DATA AND IMPORTANT DEMOGRAPHICS

The following data is only current up to January 1, 2004
(http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html)

Population: 62,354,402 people
Birth Rate: 16.39 births per 1k people
Population Density: 120.00 people per sq km
Death Rate: 7.55 deaths per 1k people
Population Growth: 0.88 % per year
Fertility Rate: 1.86 babies born per woman

Population Male: 48.50 %
Population Female: 50.50 %
AIDS/HIV Rate: 1.5% (2003 est.)
People Living with AIDS/HIV: 570,000 (2003 est.)
People who Died of AIDS: 58,000 (2003 est.)

Labor Force: 34.9 million (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 10.4% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2.2% (2003 est.)
Public Debt: 46.6% of GDP (2003)
Expenditures: 1,775,000,000
Expenditures as a Percentage of GDP: 1.40
GDP: purchasing power parity - $477.5 billion (2003 est.)
GDP PER CAPITA: $7,400 (2003 est.)
Real Growth Rate: 6.7% (2003 est.)
Inflation rate: 1.8% (2003 est.)

Airports: 109 (2003 est.)
Internet Users: 6,031,300 (2003)
Oil Consumption: 785,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Natural Gas Consumption: 23.93 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Thailand Labor Force by Occupations: agriculture: 9.8%, industry: 44%, services: 46.3% (2003 est.)
Bordering Countries of Thailand: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km
Ports and Harbors: Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Pattani, Phuket, Sattahip, Si Racha, Songkhla
Thailand Natural Resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land
Environmental Issues in Thailand: air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting
Refugees: refugees (country of origin): 118,407 (Burma) (2004)
* Note: some numbers and percentages regarding AIDS death and current count have decreased in the past 5 years.

*Tourist Arrivals in Thailand in 2002 = 10,873,000 tourists. With an increase of nearly double from 1990 which had 5,299,000 tourists. (http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/trends/inbound/arrivals/ITAAsia02.pdf)

The United States had over 41,892,000 tourist arrivals in 2002. (http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/trends/inbound/arrivals/ITAAmericas02.pdf)

GEOGRAPHIC CLUSTERS

Geographic Domain: North America and Asia

Geographical Site: North America and Southeast Asia

Geographical Impact: USA and Thailand

18) IMPACT OF TRADE RESTRICTION

Problems that exist with upholding the Prostitution Prevention & Suppression Bill in Thailand.

• “Anti-sex tourism efforts have been hindered by not just economic desperation but also a lack of cooperation from law enforcement agencies” (Coday, 2000).

• Another problem that is highly correlated with the lax enforcement is that, “some law enforcement officers have close personal relationships with procurers or owners of entertainment places who facilitate child sexual abuse” (Clift and Carter, 2000, p.57).

LEGAL STANDING

Prostitution in the United States is illegal, laws and policies against prostitution are highly enforced.

Prostitution in Thailand is illegal, but laws against it are almost completely un-enforced. Police and law officials turn a blind eye to the issue

19) INDUSTRY SECTOR

Prostitution and Sex Tourism

20) EXPORTERS & IMPORTERS

Importers: The people who bring in the children to the country.

Exporters: U.S. tourists spending money in Thailand.

V. Macro/Environment Clusters/Tourism Policy Clusters

21) ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM TYPE/ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

Health Related:
HIV/AIDS is a huge variable in the environmental impact of sex tourism. In addition to the destruction of children’s well-being, a decomposition of future generations is occurring each time a child is molested or engaged in a sexual act with a tourist.
.

22) RESOURCE IMPACT & EFFECT

If policies take effect, sex tourism levels could decline, slowing the use of resources such as oil from planes due to decreased flights, gas from busses, cabs and cars from less transport, water and electricity for a/c and heat in hotels all related to tourist consumption from less visits.

Regarding the resources for sex tourists, such as children, women and others, if policies prove effective then the demand will decline, therefore causing the need for the supply to decrease in effect derailing prostitutes to find other means of survival. This will spark the necessity of things such as youth centers and organizations to take care of the children who will begin to lose their homes, shelter and sources of survival. Safety nets will need to emerge in order to salvage the jobless children. In turn, this could also spark education shelters and other sorts of healing organizations which could promote job creation and reduce the reliance on sex tourism.

23) URGENCY AND LIFETIME/URGENCY & POLICY REVIEW

It is essential to constantly keep up on current policies and develop new strategies, enforce laws and maintain alliances with as many organizations as possible across the world.

Policies can always be adjusted and should always be reviewed case by case in order to cover every aspect of the committed and potentially committed crimes

24) SUBSTITUTES/ ALTERNATIVE POLICIES

VI. Other Factors

25) CULTURE

The culture in Thailand is lax towards prostitution from the official’s position. Thais are understanding to their countries economic disparity and situation which is the cause of many of these women and children having no other choice, but to solicit trade in sex tourism. In addition to cultural perception of prostitution and child prostitution, women are viewed as second class citizens for the most part. This is common in Asia and even more so in developing Asian countries. This does not help the issue of lack of law enforcement when taking into consideration that most of the officials are men.

American culture for the most part looks down upon child prostitution and prostitution. The reality of the international sex tourism industry is, that “25% of the world’s sex industry is made up of Americans” (Farrell, 2004). Considering this statistic, most of the United States acts as if they hate to see such horrid crimes exist, but the truth is that a large percentage of them are contributors.

26) TRANS-BOUNDARY ISSUES

The fact that Thailand is bordered by Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, the trafficking of women and children into and out of the country is made extremely simple. Regardless of the economic burden that Thailand faces, some of its neighboring countries are even poorer making the labor cheaper to import, i.e., with a negative impact on women and children.

In addition to the interchanging of people and cross cultures, the disease element will spread at a more rapid rate due to the influx of foreign people from even less-developed countries with poorer qualities of healthcare services.

The United States is bordered by Mexico and Canada. Through Canada, children and women are brought in from Asia, and through Mexico it is possible for women and children from Latin America to be smuggled in. However, it is much harder for immigrants and sex trade victims to penetrate the borders of the U.S. than it is in Thailand. Aside from the difficulty, there still remains to be thousands of women and children each year, who are brought in illegally via land or water. Immigration and custom services fight and are fighting this dilemma every day.

27) RIGHTS

Women and children of Thailand do have rights, however being able to practice them is almost unobtainable and not a reality for most. Most of the victims do not even know who to contact nor do they have the opportunity or resources to do so.

Women and children of the United States are fortunate in that they do have a more realistic chance of exercising their rights to justice and freedom. The reality of the situation is that, most will not do so, due to the fact that they are frightened and threatened, uneducated and may well be illegal immigrants from other countries and are in fear of being deported.

An organization created by the WTO under the protect children segment called Interpol has created lists of etiquette for travelers to abide by. The group has essentially created certain rights for minors in all countries whose members are a part of Interpol. “As the number of tourists traveling from the economically developed western world to the poorer states of South East Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in search of children to sexually abuse have increased, the international response was the coming into force the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989” (http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/reunions/final-report-americas.pdf, p.57).

28) RELEVANT LITERATURE

Anonymous. (2003). New York toughens sex offense penalties. Crime Control Digest. Washington. 37(30), 3.

Clift, Stephen, and Carter, Simon. (2000). Tourism and Sex: Culture, Commerce and Coercion.

Coday, Dennis. (2000). Trial draws attention to child sex tourism. National Catholic Reporter. Kansas City. 37(3), 10.

Dealey, Sam. (2001). Tourist very good for me. No Sailor. The American Spectator. Bloomington. 34(5), 19-21.

Gribbon, August. (1999). Congress targets traffic of sex slaves into U.S. Insight on the News Washington. Washington. 15(28), 38-39.

Gutner, Toddi. Corben, Ron. (1996). Asian Sex Tours Are an American Business, Too. Business Week. New York. (3480), 46.

Jeffreys, Sheila. (2002). Child Sex Tourism and the Role of Extraterritorial Legislation. Contemporary Sociology. Washington. 31(6), 687-688.

Johnson, Michelle. (1999). Megan’s Law spreads. The Quill. Chicago. 87(6), 41-43.

Meier, Eileen. (2000). Legislative efforts to combat sexual trafficking and slavery of women and children. Pediatric Nursing. Pitman. 26(2), 216.

Merson, Michael H. (1998). Thailand’s miracle: Women working on their backs.
The Lancet London. 352(9123), 246-247.

Murphy, Sean D. (2004). Enactment of Protect Act Against Sex Tourism. The American Journal of International Law. Washington. 98(1), 182.

Roche, Timothy. (1999). Tourists who prey on kids. Time New York. New York. 153(6), 58.

Wright, Richard. (2003). SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION: PUBLIC ATTENTION,POLITICAL EMPHASIS, AND FEAR. Criminology & Public Policy. Columbus. 3(1), 97-104.

http://www.phrasebase.com/countries/Thailand.html

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html

http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20041126.20.html

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~haneydaw/twwh/traf.html

http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/index.htm

http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/reunions/final-report-americas.pdf

http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/trends/inbound/arrivals/ITAAsia02.pdf

http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/trends/inbound/arrivals/ITAAmericas02.pdf

VII. Conclusion

29) POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Out of so many policies that exist in America and in Thailand, only one has not proven effective based on statistics of arrests and cases. This is the Prostitution Prevention & Suppression Bill, which understandably is not as effective as anticipated due to lax law enforcement, enormous poverty and economic disparity in the country.

30) RECOMMENDATIONS

• WTO should collaborate with some of the more local groups in Thailand since it is such a powerful tool in the world of connecting important forces. The WTO has great information, but should actually go the extra step and meet with some of the individuals leading the private and lower level groups who deal with more of the reality than the officials on top who might not convey all the facts.
• By doing this research, it is likely that more information will be found about how well policies are actually being carried out, and future recommendations may be useful from this research to specific agencies and groups in order to add more funding and effort on particular areas of weakness.
• Possibly allowing Thailand to work more closely with American officials in order to study and adopt some of America’s policies such as Megan’s law to their own system.
• Increasing pressure on local officials such as policemen in Thailand to actually help carry out some of the policies that exist and enforce more of the rules.
• Increase number of sting operations and target major leaders in the underground market of sex trade in Thailand.
• Thailand should increase the age on its Suppression law to 18 as opposed to 15.