Bangkok - May 9, 2003

Fortunately for the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand did not receive any particular attention, or we might have heard unrepeatable gems from a man quick on the defensive. But with some 30,000-60,000 people under 18 unofficially estimated to be in the sex trade, Thailand is a nation of concern. To press the point, the United States has threatened to downgrade Thailand's human rights ranking for not doing enough to reverse the situation.

On remedies, the conference heard a UN specialist call for territorial and extra-territorial jurisdiction to prosecute and punish perpetrators. Carol Bellamy, executive director of Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, hailed the fact that nine countries in the region had signed or ratified the optional protocol on the sale and trafficking of children.

Fortunately for the victims, governments and private organisations in the developed world are well known to be generous with donations for activities targeting people trafficking. While this is a great help, it is hard to resist the temptation to see it as sweet meats to keep potential immigrants or the sources of criminal behaviour from their door.

As globalisation shrinks the world and knocks down the defences against transnational crime, governments everywhere, especially those squeezed by economic and social pressures, are tightening the screws along their frontiers. As the traffic in drugs, arms and other contraband continues, merchants in human beings grow increasingly devious in their means.

Time and again, human cargoes are seen to be far more vulnerable than inanimate objects. In Thailand, there was the dumping at the Cambodian border of people who had been carried from the Burmese border. In Dover, in southern England, a truckload of Chinese men were found to have suffocated under a consignment of tomatoes.

But still people pay vast sums to find a new home in America, Europe or Asia, only to find themselves exploited in sweatshops, brothels or in everlasting debt. Many are victims of poverty. Others are looking to make their earnings stretch further. Those lured into prostitution largely come from hapless beginnings. Many are also propelled by the challenge and need to provide for extended families. As long as success stories persist, procurers here in Thailand will feed the lust of a market pinched more or less by the economic slump.

To protect the youngest and sweetest members of society, the government must eradicate poverty, and inform the most vulnerable of the dangers. These efforts will require far more time than the usual three months this government devotes to problem-fighting. It also will require considerable resources, as one way of keeping our youth out of harm's way is to keep them in school. This will not only require more classrooms and teachers but a system for helping parents who work the land deal with the odd jobs they usually pass on to their children.

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