Them dam beggar kids

[MaiLuk]

Child beggars exploited, beaten and making a small fortune - for others

By Connie Levett Herald Correspondent In Bangkok

August 13, 2005

 

 

It's a business ? a beggar woman and child on a walkway above Sukhumvit Road, central Bangkok.

Photo: Connie Levett

 

 

A new snapshot of the begging trade in Bangkok shows a business built on children trafficked from Cambodia and Burma who never profit personally from their lucrative daily takings and are sometimes beaten to make them objects of greater pity.

 

No one can say how many children are begging in the Thai capital but the three-month survey of the trade earlier this year shows children aged from three months to 10 years are working long hours in tourist destinations and busy business precincts. A handler sits close by in a small business, perhaps selling flowers, and regularly collecting the cash.

 

"It is like they are enslaved children. To be forced to work is one of the worst forms of humiliation," said Ealkak Loomchomkhae, a legal officer with the Mirror Foundation, the Thai non-government organisation that ran the study. The findings are set out in a report released with the International Labour Organisation last week, Child Beggar Business - Investigating Children in the Beggar Business.

 

The survey, during which researchers observed the beggars at four central Bangkok locations for three months, proved "this was not normal begging, it was a business", Mr Ealkak said via a translator.

 

It is a lucrative trade, with children making between 500 baht ($15.80) and 3000 baht a day for their brokers. They receive only basic food and accommodation. A shop assistant earns 6000 baht a month.

 

The survey showed old women carrying very young children or babies, one old woman with a different child each day or the same children with a different mother. Rarely did the children speak Thai: most of them came from Cambodia or Burma. The brokers got the children from poor families in the border regions by buying, renting or kidnapping them, Mr Ealkak said.

 

"They talk to the parents, offer them 3000 to 7000 baht-a-month rent for a child. They want children from three months to 10 years old because that is the age that appeals to passers-by," he said.

 

Urban myths abound in Bangkok of beggar children whose hands have been cut off to make them more lucrative. "I've heard about cutting off the hands but I've never seen it," Mr Ealkak said. "I did see pinching, hitting with wood, punching. It can be interpreted as a way to control the children; but also, when people see scars and bruises, it melts the hearts and it's evident these children make more money."

 

While the number of beggar children working in Bangkok is hard to quantify, Mr Ealkak said hundreds have been rescued and rehabilitated. Before a child is sent home, NGOs and the ministry evaluate the family. "If they believe they will sell the children again, they will not send them back."

 

He said the situation for beggar children had improved in that it was now seen as a problem. "When I started working with beggars [three years ago], nobody worked on it. Now there are more organisations paying attention." In July, the Royal Thai Police set up a division focused protecting children and women. Lieutenant-General Kumronwit Thoopkrajong, the division's commander, said through a translator that the beggar children would be treated as "victims, not as criminals".

 

"The laws about begging say if one person makes another, especially a child, beg for money, they violate the law," he said.

 

"You can go to prison for up to five years for making money off a kid as a beggar."

[MaiLuk]

>>"They talk to the parents, offer them 3000 to 7000 baht-a-month rent for a child.<<

 

 

This talk about large sums paid to the family is hard to believe.

[Khun_Kong]

MaiLuk said:

 

<snip>

 

"... To be forced to work is one of the worst forms of humiliation," said Ealkak Loomchomkhae, a legal officer with the Mirror Foundation, the Thai non-government organisation that ran the study.

 

<snip>

 

I've gotta get this guy in to talk to my boss.

 

 

 

And... What exactly is an NGO legal officer?

[Flashermac]

<< "If they believe they will sell the children again, they will not send them back." >>

 

How about bringing charges against the parents? Or at least beating blooody hell out of them? Why doesn't the worthless mama go and sell herself to a brothel or ... God forbid ... the papa get a real job, instead of sitting around thinking it is his karma to do fork all!

 

An immediate solution would be to arrest the woman found with such a child on the spot and throw her in the slammer.

[MaiLuk]

Buts its more fun to watch them for three months and report back that ALL of them are cambo or burmese. Couldn't be any thais out there.

[Guest]

and this is considered new " news"?

[OCgringo]

want to buy some flowers ????

[shotover]

The Cambodian lady with the 2 small children that I've seen sitting at the base of the Asok BTS station between Sois 19 and 21 for at least 2 years now. A very visible and high traffic spot, yet apparently the authorities do nothing, despite the recently announced crackdowns.

[rickfarang]

That Cambodian lady has beautiful eyes.Zen4Dummies once commented that she seemed to always have a 6 to 10 week old puppy for months running. We wondered where the used puppies went. I also wonder whether those are her kids. I have never given her any money and wish she'd stop exploiting the puppies and children.

 

Also, have to agree: Being forced to work is one of the worst kinds of humiliation. Apparently the person being quoted is working for the fun of it.