PHUKET: Porn was born in Phang Nga 18 years ago. A typical Thai girl, she has a small frame, straight dark hair, smooth skin, and a pretty face. When she’s not wearing makeup you’d think she is a university or college student.

“Of course I want to study and have a better life. But I’ve come this far and nobody cares. My mom was mad at me and refused to see me again after the school told her that they had asked me to leave because of the extra job I had while studying,” she says. 

Porn is a singer and call girl at a well-known nightclub in Phuket Town. She works for the same man who was her “agent” five years ago, who would find wealthy men who wanted sex with young girls. 

Porn recalls when she was 13, and her roommate introduced her to the concept of commercial sex. She remembers being excited about the big money she could make.

“At the beginning, I didn’t really enjoy the job, but I was getting far more money than my parents could ever give me, and living a lifestyle that I could never have dreamed of in the rubber plantations where I grew up. 
“I didn’t like school either. I hated how other girls looked down on me, as if I was some kind of dirty rat in a classroom.”

If Porn had the chance, would she change to a different career? She laughs out loud. “Are you talking about a dream? No one in this world is going to employ me and pay me the money I earn now, not unless it involves sex.” 
Porn’s story is typical of many of the child prostitutes that are growing in number in Phuket, despite that fact that having sex with children carries heavy penalties under Thai law.

The penalty for statutory rape or sexual abuse of children under the age of 15 ranges from four to 20 years in jail. If the child is under the age of 13, the sentence can be life in jail.

Yet the child sex trade on the island seems to be booming, with child sex tours now promoted on the Internet. 

As demand increases, so does supply. Porn earned 1,000 baht per customer, and had no idea how much her pimp made. Nowadays, she says, “there are more high school and college kids in Phuket doing the same thing, and they make a lot more than I did [as a child prostitute].”

Few of those schoolchildren are forced to be prostitutes. Most do it willingly – after all, the demand is there, and the money is very good. 
The clients come from all walks of life and all nationalities, from the stereotypical sex tourist – middle-aged, overweight, balding – to young, good looking, well-educated professionals to government civil servants.

“When I was between 13 and 16, I came across many well-heeled Thai officials, as well as rich Asian executives, and even richer Arabs,” Porn told the Gazette.

Ajarn Thip-apa Suchantabutr, deputy director of Satree Phuket School, the island’s top government school for girls, agrees that the numbers of children involved in prostitution is increasing.

She denies the school expels such students. “We counsel the kids, and try to find out what makes them do this. Then we contact the parents if we can find them, and the Provincial Social Welfare Office.

“Most of the girls who do this are of mixed parentage and live in Patong. They grow up thinking that prostitution is normal behavior – that it’s just another profession.”

Part of the demand for sex with children, especially in Asia, is driven by two myths: that children are less likely to be infected with HIV, and that sex with a child can revive a flagging libido. Both are just that – myths.

Indeed, what is particularly sad is that children, more naïve and less assertive, are less likely to insist on the use of condoms and are thus more likely to get infected with HIV than adults are. 

But on the supply side there is nothing mythical about the benefits. Young prostitutes can earn a great deal of money in a very short time.

One government officer who spoke with the Gazette on condition of anonymity, tells the tale of a superior who came down from Bangkok for a tour of inspection.

“He wanted a young girl, so one of my colleagues managed to find a 15-year-old who was selling sex while attending her last year in high school.

“She went to his hotel room and a few hours later I was asked to drive her back home. In the car I asked how much she made because I knew that my boss had paid the pimp 5,000 baht. 

“She said ‘It’s 3,000.’ I asked her how she had become involved in the business. ‘Don’t you have parents?’ I asked. She replied, ‘Yes, but they don’t know. Even if they did know, they wouldn’t care anyway.’” 

“I was surprised by how much she made but what really shocked me was when she said that my boss was her sixth customers of the day. She said that on a good day she might have 10 customers. She made 20,000 to 30,000 baht every weekend.” 

Naturally, there are also Thai officials working on the side of the angels, as was made plain recently when the Crime Suppression Division and Tourist Police in Bangkok raided a brothel run by a 53-year-old European. 

On the outside the brothel, in a prime area of Bangkok, looked like a rich man’s home. Inside, it was divided into small rooms for sex. Police arrested more than 20 foreigners aged 45 and above, along with the owner and a variety of boys ranging in age from 10 to 25.

This club had its own website with photographs of the boys on offer on any particular night. Customers could sit by the pool as the boys paraded past them naked to allow them to choose a “companion”.

This trade is by no means limited to Bangkok. The country manager of a major tour operator in Patong, which brings around 1,000 tourists to Phuket every week during the high season, tells of a commercial proposition he recently had: 

“They – three farang and two tough-looking Thais – came to the office at the end of last high season, sometime in May. They showed me a folder – they called it ‘a catalog’ with pornographic photos of children, both boys and girls. 

“I felt really bad for Thailand. I told them that I didn’t think my clients, who have been attracted to Thailand by photos of temples, Thai culture, and beaches would want to buy such a service. 

“They offered us a great deal of commission, but I refused.
“But I can’t tell you whether other tour guides or agencies also refused,” said the manager. 

Dr Supaluck Methakul, chairperson of Child Watch Phuket, which rescues children from physical and sexual abuse, was shocked when told about the catalog.

“I’d never heard about this before. What a danger to children, and it’s even worse to learn that the business is operated by foreigners. It’s an infringement of the children’s rights, and it’s very bad for both the children and for society.

“[Such abuse] makes it very hard for children to lead better lives when they grow up. I worry that, if this could happen in Patong, then it won’t stop there. The trade could spread throughout the whole island. Everyone should work together to eliminate this.”

Anyone wishing to report cases of child sexual abuse or prostitution is urged to call Fight Against Child Exploitation (FACE) at 02-5095782 or 01-3072111 or the Crime Suppression Division on 02-5120606.

PHUKET: During the two-year ‘Amazing Thailand’ campaign of 1998 and 1999 masterminded by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phuket alone pulled in 100 billion baht from the six million tourists who traveled halfway round the world to enjoy the best that the island offers.

But the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000 was not so wonderful, especially in December and January when, those in the travel industry say, arrivals were badly hit by fear of Y2K and by the attraction of more exciting Millennium celebrations elsewhere in the world.

But was that the real reason? What reason will they give for further decline in the coming 2000/01 high season – which is what Anupharp Thirarath, director of the local TAT office, believes is going to happen?

"Some hotels are fully booked for the coming several months," K. Anupharp says. "But many still have vacant rooms for the beginning of the season."

Pamuke Achariyachai, president of the five-star Kata Group is more hopeful. He says his November reservations are as good as last year, and he believes that December onwards will be better than last year "because there is no Y2K problem this year.

"Tentative bookings until the end of the season are also in good shape. Most of our guests are from Europe, and are booked through overseas wholesalers. They are mostly middle-aged couples and middle-income travelers," K. Pamuke added.

At the lower end, in Patong, is the Deva Patong Resort, which also reports improvement this season. The resort’s managing director, Lars Ydmark, told the Gazette, "I believe we will be running very close to capacity from November and through the high season. Certainly, we will average more than 90% occupancy."

But high occupancy does not, of course, necessarily equate with high revenue.

In the early 1990s, Phuket had a high percentage of loyal, satisfied guests with high spending power.

During the recession following the Asian Crisis in 1997, Phuket’s image was hit by accusations of overpricing and overbooking at the top end. At the bottom end, price cutting combined with the much cheaper baht attracted high-volume overseas operators, particularly those specializing in budget tourists on cheap packages.

As a result, the tourist mix in Phuket today is much more down-market. Can Phuket sustain growth yet also bring back the high-yield repeat visitors?

At the lower end, growth is no problem. Mr Ydmark says that Deva Patong Resort receives strong support from Scandinavian, Austrian, German, French, Greek, Australian, and Japanese travel operators. Most of his guests travel to Phuket on charter flights.

"The general comment that I received from the wholesalers is that there is still very strong demand for Phuket." Mr Ydmark is not concerned about yield. "The main issue we have to be careful about is not becoming oversupplied," he says.

That could be a problem. According to the TAT, there are currently 23,000 rooms in Phuket. That number will rise by about 2,500, or 11%, in the coming couple of years.

At least 20 new hotels are opening in Phuket this high season, ranging from two-star resorts and guesthouses to four-star hotels. In addition, existing hotels such as the Phuket Arcadia, Kata Thani, the Patong Bayshore, the Rydges Royal Park Beach Resort (see also page 17), and the Phuket Merlin Group are also adding rooms.

This boom in building should remedy the sporadic overbooking problem of the past two years, but it will also make being in the hotel business more risky in the low season.

The worry is that expansion at the lower end will continue to deter the high-yield market, which is also the market that offers the greatest promise for year-round business.

One part of that high-yield market that offers great promise for the low season is meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) but apart from the five Laguna Hotels & Resorts (LHR) properties, the two Meridien hotels and the Phuket Arcadia, Phuket has little to offer this market.

Is Phuket down? Bob Lee, Hotels & Travel Products Purchasing Manager of Westminster Business Travel International Hong Kong, says, "Yes, but it’s not out."

Mr Lee says, "If you look at Phuket as a whole, it is not the top requested holiday destination, as it was two years ago, particularly in the up-market corporate leisure and family segment.

"Those people think it is overcrowded, and not suitable for international events. Only certain parts – LHR for example – are still at the top of people’s lists because they can deliver what the clients need.

"High-potential buyers nowadays often look at other destinations in the Asia Pacific first. Many of them still fall back on Phuket because it is safe from natural disasters and from political, religious or civil wars."

So, although some high-yield visitors still come to Phuket, the island is increasingly not their first choice.

Instead, it has become a first choice for package tour groups and budget travelers, says Mr Lee, because there are now more rooms, entertainment and excursions available for them at affordable prices.

Statistics from Thai Airways International (THAI) support Mr Lee’s comments about the trend this year.

THAI’s district sales manager for Upper Southern Thailand, Pricha Nawongs, said, "We’ve looked at the number of seats reserved on incoming international flights to Phuket for November and December this year, and loads are actually lower compared with last year.

"The key factor is a drastic drop in business and first-class reservations, a radical change from this time last year. Bookings in economy class are the opposite. For example, we have 397 bookings for one flight from Rome which has only 325 economy seats."

The TAT’s K. Anupharp says, "To sustain business, Phuket needs to add value to its products as well as to maintain and improve existing resources.

"Our strength is Phuket’s natural beauty, which we have to preserve, enhance and promote."