Thailand - Child Rights Coalition Asia
Thailand has achieved considerable social development and economic success over the past decade as a result of its vibrant tourism industry, increase in exports and robust agricultural sector. However many rural, remote communities and ethnic minority communities continue to live in poverty, especially those in the border regions.
While it soars as an affluent economic hub in Southeast Asia, Thailand drags with it a history of a well-established sex industry and political relations with its immediate neighbors which have had inadvertent effects on several children. Thailand’s progressive economy has in many ways made the country a North within the South. Whether its economic directions, including those relating to basic self-sufficiency are sustainable, what is clear is Thailand’s increasing attraction to many around the region, particularly within the Mekong, who are in search for a relatively more stable future. And however susceptible to political changes the country has been in the last several years, there is no question over who can be citizens of Thailand and who cannot, almost always regardless of the circumstance and consequences, even for children.
According to recent reforms proposed under the 2011 Thailand Reform Plan, 1.7 million children were identified as “not in formal education”. Approximately 30 percent of pre-school aged children are not accessing early learning opportunities (MICS). Children who are losing out on a strong foundation to life-long learning are those from overlapping marginalized groups in Thai society, which include those from poor households and remote communities, from ethnic minorities, and with disabilities. Children from non-Thai speaking households have a lower rate of school attendance and are less likely to transition well into Thai society than other groups of children in Thailand.
The pervasive presence of sex work has long been recognized by the government, partly due to its role in boosting tourism. As a result, the government has instituted measures aimed at allowing individuals in this line of trade to work more freely and safely. Although there have been positive developments in minimizing risks of sexually transmitted and other diseases, many children are still born with HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the industry has attracted prostitution, sexual exploitation, trafficking and other similar illegal activities which target the more vulnerable children from ethnic minorities and neighboring countries in the Mekong region and beyond.
Many have hailed Thailand as a model state on HIV/AIDS prevention. The government’s services dedicated to anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs have significantly expanded in just a few decades. In 2008, these services covered around 80 percent of those in need of ARV or, more specifically, 180,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. This includes 90 percent of pregnant HIV positive women, who, when left to their own, could easily have passed on the virus to their children. It is no wonder that Thailand has already met its Millennium Development Goals target in combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Even with Thailand’s huge advancements in combating HIV/AIDS, there are still many children born with and facing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Those who eventually inherit the virus are challenged physically and emotionally, especially in instances when their parents are absent. In 2005, there were also some 380,000 children who had been orphaned by AIDS. Inheriting the virus has also excluded and stigmatized HIV positive children. Although non-discrimination is a policy, there are some teachers who separate children living with AIDS from those who are free of the disease.
While the government has been aggressive in containing the virus and other sexually transmitted diseases among adults, there appears to be a need in extending similar services to children. The Committee on the Rights of the Child also notes that adolescents have a relatively low level of awareness on HIV/AIDS, making them more disposed to contracting the HIV/AIDS infection. It is also a concern that certain free trade agreements may keep much needed antiretroviral drugs out of the poor’s reach.
The Committee also recommends that children have meaningful participation in the programs on HIV/AIDS. One way to achieve this is to mainstream information on HIV/AIDS and sex issues in schools even before the tertiary level. Another is to ensure that essential medicines are accessible to the poor and effective counseling services are available, especially for children who no longer have parents.
Thailand’s sex industry and economic affluence have also made the country a hub for migration from other Southeast Asian countries, particularly from the Mekong. In the latest available statistics of Thailand’s Tourism Authority, 14.6 million documented tourists entered the country in 2007. Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration estimates that between 1995 and 2005, at least 100,000 people crossed the Thai borders to flee conflicts. As of 2005, there were nine border camps for Burmese refugees alone.
In the absence of solid data, the Immigration Bureau estimates that there are around 300 victims of trafficking every year, but there are indications that the figure is much higher. Since trafficking and its outcomes are rather sensitive issues and for some, pose threats to their safety and security, reports of trafficking incidents are limited.
Thailand is considered a source, transit and destination country for children trafficked for commercial, sexual and labor exploitation. Thai children are trafficked to Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and even West Asian countries. Among the Thais, especially girls who have been victims of trafficking, most come from indigenous groups commonly called hill tribes, stateless and refugee children, and children of migrant workers. Meanwhile, children from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Yunnan province in China are trafficked to Thailand. As a transit country, victims of trafficking pass through Thailand en route to destination countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
There are many reasons behind the increasing number of children on the move, including those who have been trafficked. Paramount among these is poverty. The situation tends to be worse for children from indigenous societies and refugee camps. NGO reports have also pointed other factors such as lack of birth registration, discrimination endured by some ethnic groups within Thailand, and social norms on gender and masculinity that tolerates sexual abuse against children. Sexual exploitation has also been a result of forced marriages involving trafficked women and girls from other parts of the Mekong.
In 2008, Thailand approved the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act which says that the typical elements of deception, coercion and fraud need not be present in trafficking that involves children. The Act includes stronger penalties compared to earlier laws on trafficking. Within the country, there has also been a series of multi-sector collaborations among government agencies, the private sector and civil society organizations to address trafficking.
Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) in 2004 together with Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam. COMMIT is a high-level policy dialogue process based on international human rights instruments, including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. However, the deeply rooted practice of corruption in supposedly front-line services, including the police and immigration authorities, continue to contribute to the exploitation of trafficked individuals.
In her mission to Thailand in August 2011, the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Joy Ezeilo, observes, “[c]orruption especially among low-cadre law enforcement officers at provincial and local levels is deeply rooted. Corruption, coupled with the infamous brokerage system, has diluted the efficacy of Government policies and programmes to combat human trafficking.”
Although shelters and camps have been established around the country, much remains to be desired in the rehabilitation and re-integration processes for victims. In some cases, the prolonged stay of victims in temporary spaces has led to additional abuses, especially for those who had sought employment outside the camps at their own risk. It has also been observed that some shelters have limited capacity in psycho-social services for trafficked children, especially those who have endured sexual exploitation.
Thailand’s reservations on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) somehow explain the country’s continuing limited policies and infrastructure for victims, including children on the move, even as the rate of immigration from other part of the Mekong have been increased over the years. Thailand has yet to honor Article 22 which requires appropriate measures for children who are seeking refugee status. The latter would have been quite relevant for the reintegration of refugees who used to be child soldiers.
Non-transborder issues are equally daunting. Firstly, corporal punishment remains a prevalent practice, despite its prohibition. Secondly, the number of juvenile offenders is still high at nearly 5,000 every year, partly owing to the low minimum age of criminal responsibility at seven years. Children who have been in conflict with the law are intermixed with adults in some prisons. Thirdly, there is a high number of mothers in Thai prisons, some of which are due for execution while others languish in cells with their children (up to two years of age). Once the age threshold is reached, there is no guarantee that foster families are available to care for these children.
Discrimination is likewise a lived reality for Thai children who are girls, poor, sick or from ethnic and religious minorities. The conflicts in the South, where predominantly Malay Muslims have been concentrated, have not only resulted in the displacement of communities and disruption of services, such as education, but also in the violent deaths of Buddhist and Muslim children. A series of violence targeting government teachers occurred in 2011. According to the Human Rights Watch, since 2004, the Pattani insurgents have been implicated in 108 deaths and 103 injuries of government teachers. In their shadow report to the CRC, the National Council for Child and Youth Development (NCYD), the Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights (CPCR) and other child and youth development NGOs and youth groups urged more in-depth studies on the socio-economic and psycho-social impacts of violence on children in Southern Thailand.
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Alternative Report on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child from 2000 to 2004, prepared by the National Council for Child and Youth Development (NCYD) and the Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights (CPCR)
CRC Combined 3rd and 4th Periodic State Report, 2011 (CRC/C/THA/3-4)
Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, 3rd and 4th Periodic Report, 2012 (CRC/C/THA/CO/3-4)
“Thailand must do more to combat human trafficking effectively and protect the rights of migrant workers who are increasingly vulnerable to forced and exploitative labor”, Statement of UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, during mission to Thailand in August 2011.
“Thailand: Insurgents target teachers in the South”, Human Rights Watch, September 2010.