The number of Burmese women and girls recruited to work in Thai brothels has soared in recent years as an indirect consequence of political repression in Burma (Myanmar) by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and of improved economic relations between Burma and Thailand.22 Most donor countries responded to the 1988 crackdown on the pro-democracy movement by the Burmese military, and subsequent human rights abuses in Burma, with economic sanctions and withdrawal of foreign aid. SLORC, desperate for foreign exchange, turned to Thailand, offering a range of economic concessions. Such economic links led to official openings along the Thai-Burmese border, allowing both Thai and Burmese citizens to cross the common border more easily.23 This opening of trade and border crossings has facilitated the rise in trafficking of Burmese men, women and children, with the same routes as are used to transport drugs and goods being used to transport people.
A border boom brought about by the increased trade with Burma, together with the profitable tourist industry in Thailand, has increased the demand for women in the sex industry, especially for young girls.24 According to one source, tourism generates some US$3 billion annually, and sex is one of its "most valuable subsectors,"25 employing anywhere from 800,000 to two million persons throughout the country.26 However, the tourist trade is less a factor in the sex industry than local demand. It is estimated that 75 percent of Thai men have had sex with a prostitute.27 Therefore, despite the expenses incurred in employing a network of agents to recruit new workers, paying protection money to police, and giving minimum allowances to the women and girls, the brothel owners can make substantial profits. Agents, local police and others involved in the business also benefit.
If the Burmese women and girls are deported to Burma, they face not only the possibility of forced conscription as porters for the SLORC military but also arrest on charges of leaving the country illegally and engaging in prostitution. To avoid deportation, many look for any way to stay in Thailand—which makes them particularly vulnerable to continued exploitation. Burmese trafficking victims' legal situation is made even more precarious by the fact that Thai deportation decisions often ignore the likelihood of persecution by the SLORC authorities upon return to Burma.
22 Burma was officially renamed Myanmar on June 8, 1990 by SLORC. While the new name has been adopted by the United Nations, many Burmese understand the use of "Myanmar" as de facto recognition of SLORC's authority and prefer to use "Burma." For a more in-depth discussion of the political situation in Burma, see Asia Watch and Women's Rights Project, A Modern Form of Slavery, pp. 10-20; and Human Rights Watch/Asia, "Burma: Entrenchment or Reform?—Human Rights Developments and the Need for Continued Pressure," A Human Rights Watch Short Report, vol. 7, no. 10 (July 1995).
23 "New Border Checkpoints Open," Bangkok Post, October 7, 1992.
24 Both Thailand and Burma began promoting tourism to the Golden Triangle area, and the Thai press reported plans for the construction of a major new road through China, Burma and Thailand. The new road would link Mae Sai on the Thai side withKeng Tung in Burma—an area from which many of the women and girls we interviewed for A Modern Form of Slavery originally came. "Thailand-Burma-China Road Link Nearer Reality," Horizons (Bangkok), June 1993. The Golden Triange refers to the area where the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos meet, and is well known for opium and heroin production.
25 Steven Schlosstein, Asia's New Little Dragon (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1991), pp. 196-197.
26 "Prostitution: Looking Beyond the Numbers," The Nation (Bangkok), July 11, 1993.
27 Hnin Hnin Pyne, "AIDS and Prostitution in Thailand: Case Study of Burmese Prostitution in Ranong," unpublished thesis, May 1992, p. 19.
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