Child sex boom in Thailand fueled by poverty

Narisaraporn Asipong, a matronly social worker at the “Mercy Center” shelter met 8-year-old Niran (a pseudonym) five years ago in Klong Toey, Bangkok’s largest concentration of slum communities.

“His step-father was beating him so he was scared to go home,” says Asipong, who has worked with street children for the last seven years. “He came with me to Mercy Center and I enrolled him in school.” A year later, Niran returned home because he missed his mother. “One day, I saw him on the streets again,” she says. “He looked very skinny and unhealthy.”

Asipong was not surprised when she heard that Niran was living with an older man who offered him food, money and video games in exchange for sexual favors. “There are groups of people who take advantage of children and sexually exploit them,” says Asipong. “The children get tricked easily because of promises of quick money.”

source: http://www.minnpost.com/globalpost/2009/10/29/12961/child_sex_boom_in_thailand_fueled_by_poverty