The Bad

So this is where I get even more excited about this blog because now I can introduce you all to the sad world of children as well as elderly beggars. I was very surprised in my researching to discover how the more research I did, the more human-trafficking came up. Almost all of the sources I found online connected both children and elderly begging to be a mafia-related industry (tikikiki.com, humantrafficking.org, humantrafficking.org, unicef.org). However, before we get into that cash crop, I also would like to mention other discrepancies that might lead children and the elderly to reside on the streets. Children end up on the street of Thailand for many reasons: including poverty, domestic violence, and economic crises to list a few. With that being said, domestic violence and abuse are the leading cause of homelessness in children (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_children_in_Thailand).

As for the elderly, it’s quite unfortunate, but Thailand does not support programs such as social security or retirement plans. Many of the elderly beggars are presumably retired from a life of working poor. Therefore, because they barely made enough money to support themselves, they were not able to save money for their old age.  Thus for many, if they don’t beg, they don’t eat and they die (Cassandra James, Voices.yahoo.com).

Alright, now we’re onto the cash crop of this project: the causes of children beggars. A recent U.S. Department study reported an estimated 20,000 children on the street of Thailand’s major urban centres (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_children_in_Thailand). In addition, the population is not just Thai. Included in the statistics are also children of Khmer, Burmese, Laos, and Vietnamese descent. So the question you should ask now is: “Why are children of different ethnicities populating the streets of Thailand? The children are typically seen to be very grimy and grubby, with appearance that represents homelessness. That is, most of their clothes are torn or dirtied, there are no clear signs that they have received hygiene care within the last couple of days, and if they seem malnourished. These children are a result of the porous borders between Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar (Our Golden Triangle adventures in a nutshell). Gangsters and other related mafia-members can easily transport children from one country to another. What we usually hear are case reports of mafia members either kidnapping children to force them to beg, or they receive children in return for economic compensation to the children’s’ parents. These children are faced with many serious risks and challenges. While mainly begging, organized gangs also force the children to sell many miscellaneous items. Working conditions are always poor (they are given a place to sleep and food to eat – but barely enough to survive). Many of the child beggars have to turn in their earnings to the mafia as well, receiving only about 20-30 baht for their day’s work. However, that is information for kidnapped children.

For those whose parents sold them off:

These children are equally unfortunate even though they are able to remain in contact with their parents. Although occurrence is more typical of families from Cambodia and Burma, Thailand also has cases in which parents barter with brokers from mafia; the parents that barter typically will sell their children into labor for the mafia-run organizations as well as begging. This trend is more apparent in poor families. However, we also see that not every poor family would sell their children. Brokers belonging to the mafia also kidnap these children (as mentioned in earlier paragraphs) as well.

According to the Mirror Foundation (As quoted in Humantrafficking.org), brokers typically offer parents 3,000 to 7,000 baht-a-month to either rent out or buy the children. Wanted children are those who can elicit the most pity: typically from infants to 10-year-olds.  These children (Like those who are kidnapped) are sent to popular tourist areas and forced to participate in labor intensive activities, ranging from begging to selling flowers, to even sexual activities (Humantrafficking.org). Another noteworthy amount of information to mention is that handlers are almost always around monitoring the children. They disguise themselves as small-business owners, for example the food vendors seen almost everywhere in Thailand.

Lastly, in relation to gangs, the elderly are victims as well. As mentioned before, Thailand does not provide social security or other money assistance programs to the elderly in Thailand. Therefore, the elderly, who are poverty-stricken in some cases, are taken advantage of by gangsters. These elderly people are also expected to participate in begging like the children do – and many times receive the same forms of treatment and compensation. Be it children or the elderly, seeing those on the streets in terrible conditions should elicit compassion among everyone – exactly what the gang organizations hope to bring about.

This is the cut-off for the summary. It was a long one, but now begins my analysis. I hope it makes sense and won’t disappoint!