we are in the red light district of
Paya for 2 years now we've been
investigating International sex tourism
here an estimated 60,000 women men and
transgender people earn a living in the
city with sex
work but the neon lights cast a dark
shadow in many of these bars miners are
being sexually exploited
[Music]
in September 2022 while we were In Paya
filming a documentary a sex tourist from
Germany was arrested on a charge of
child sexual
abuse he's alleged to have picked up
underage girls in a beer bar and taken
them to his
apartment the man managed to flee to
Germany to our surprise he later agreed
to talk to us on camera in Frankfurt and
partially admitted to the allegation
I was in a bar where underage girls were
working and I probably took a girl home
who was
underage in that interview he claimed
that he bought his way out of Thailand
with
bribes In Paya we came across a web of
corruption crime and
[Music]
hypocrisy we released our documentary
about sex tourism in Thailand in
February
2023 it sparked a frenzy of debate in
the time media even the Prime Minister
made a
statement this must have
consequences I've instructed the
Judiciary and the police to investigate
the case
thoroughly we continued our
investigation for another year digging
deeper into this world our research
raised many questions above all is land
really doing all it can to fight child
[Music]
prostitution we began our Research In
Paya in
2022 the city draws several 100,000 sex
tourists from all over the world every
year with its Yogo bars massage parlor
and sex for sale 24/7 the resort is also
popular with many German men men like
Vang in Germany if you go to a
prostitute you pay twice or three times
as much and get half the
service or even
less but officially there's no
prostitution
here the girls here aren't really
prostitutes they call themselves bar
girls
this is Walking Street in the heart of
Paya employees from a private Child
Protection Organization are doing their
rounds during Peak tourist season they
try to talk to sex workers and
tourists can you speak English certainly
can what can you do for okay uh we are
from Human Health Network Foundation and
recently we have been reported with the
uh crime against the children so if you
see any suspicious activities against
the children if you think the children
might be forced to work during the night
time with the unpleasant environment you
can alert the authority here good of
you can I have a few moment of your time
you speak
English what we hear a lot is that the
tourists and people say child
prostitution that was a problem 15 or 20
years ago in payan now we have
everything under
control uh that that's a very tricky
question because uh we have been in our
own experience we see that from time to
time someone can always manage to sneak
in and do something bad against the
children we have a lot of walk-in cases
reporting the incident or any any bad
activities against the children and
especially in this area The Walking
Street area is very famous for the night
life so it is very very crowded very
unhealthy for their
children Child Protection organizations
argue that what's called normal sex
tourism here in these red light
districts creates structures that pose a
severe threat to
children while we were filming this
little boy appeared on the street lined
with bars all on his
own his family had sent him out to sell
chewing gum to
tourists the child protection workers
take him home
home how are you how are you everything
good good are you from Germany what's
your
name nice to meet
you most of the German men who come to
Paya are ready to ignore the problems
here you look cute thank you you want
come dring
inside
maybe why maybe
the girls are part of the experience
it's just entertainment they're fun
they're
chill it's not just about sex it's about
being paid attention being
noticed the girls are like friends
they're just so
friendly I don't think Paya will ever
stop what you get here you can't get
anywhere else in the world or if you see
any children in
n from the Child Protection Organization
continues to draw the tourists attention
to the bitter reality urging them to
call a hotline if they see anything
suspicious one case that would accompany
us for months had recently been in the
news just a short time ago a German
tourist was arrested and accused of
sexual child abuse the victims worked in
a beer bar not far away just some 100
met from here what did you think when
when you heard this story uh it it
deeply saddens me when I heard that the
this the news I think uh because of
covid many people are struggling to to
survive financially on the daily basis
and once the country just reopen
everyone wants to jump into any anything
that they can get their hands on and
also Thai government for that specific
girl I I feel very sorry for her and it
is best for the community and for the
government to prevent this kind of
things from happening from the very
beginning instead of just trying to
catch the criminal we should have a uh
very strong punishment or we uh the law
enforcement officer should should be
very serious about the crime against the
children and the underrage
[Music]
prostitution we are on our way to the
Cobra bar where it happened right in the
middle of paya's Entertainment District
it appears to confirm what the child
protection worker told us that child
prostitution hides in the shadows of
what's called normal sex
tourism the red light district is a
place where it goes
[Music]
unnoticed the bar has since been closed
by the police the English owner and his
Thai wife are said to have put underage
girls to work as prostitutes
in addition to the German man an
American man has also been arrested in
connection with the
case the official notice that the bar
has been shut down is posted for
everyone to
see but hardly anyone we speak to in the
neighborhood is willing to talk about
what was apparently going on
there there are dozens of establishments
right next to the Cobra bar the people
who work here insist that all the women
who work there are over the legal age of
consent we are searching in the cpra on
the other side of the road do you know
why they are
closed no I don't know I just know that
the authorities ordered the immediate
closure I don't know any
details it's about child prostitution
they had underaged girls working
there really yes that's why they Clos
that's why I asked you what you think
about
it well that's not okay that's not how
you treat children it's
unacceptable legally anyone who works in
the bar has to be over
20 and in my opinion even 20 is too
young for a place like
pay this footage from the Cobra bar is
posted on YouTube for all to see
men bragging about sexual exploits with
miners some of these girls have their
dates of birth tattooed on their bodies
and Roman
numerals apparently a clear signal to
pedophile customers looking for sex with
miners
[Music]
it should of course be spelled out that
most sex tourists who come to Thailand
are not looking for sex with children
for many men prostitution is a
transactional business between
consenting
adults wolf gangil wants us to see it
from his perspective His companion
doesn't say
anything a great deal has been said
about the dark sides of prostitution
even in Germany it's always bad for the
women but how bad is it for an older man
who's lonely who doesn't have anyone who
doesn't have sex
anymore and that in a world that is
obsessed with
sex hardly anyone speaks about how
terrible that kind of life is so have
pity on the men as
well shouldn't we take pity on the women
too theob they do is tough it's not just
fun in
games here in Thailand well from what I
see here in Thailand it's not as tough
as you
think they have a lot of
fun they laugh a lot they go out on
trips ride around on motorcycles and
meet
friends where's the tragedy in
that I really don't see that here in
Thailand
September
2022 we're in Bangkok on our way to
Police Headquarters to meet the deputy
National police
chief after several requests Surah hakan
has agreed to give us an
interview at this point we have no idea
that he will play a key role in our
investigation he's come from a meeting
with the interior
Minister he will change into his
everyday uniform to talk to us
Sur hakan has a reputation for being
tough on organized crime in red light
districts we want to know what
specifically he's doing to combat child
prostitution bar districts a high risk
areas for
children just now the interior Minister
and I agreed to order every single
police station in the country to conduct
strict controls of all bars and
clubs we do not tolerate child
prostitution we've just proved this In
Paya where we shut down a beer bar where
underage prostitutes were
working the perpetrators can expect
serious
penalties
okay as the deputy police chief is
Thanking us for the interview we asked
him about the German man who was
arrested in Paya
unexpectedly he invites us to film a
meeting about the case thank
you paya's chief of police has just
arrived he has new
details we confiscated some receipts
from the bar that were on the tables in
wooden cups
according to the women and girls they're
supposed to get the customers to buy
them as many drinks as
possible then they write their nicknames
at the top of the
bills that's how we know that there were
11 female employees working in the
bar we were able to identify all of
them I can show
you are they all over
18 no they're not only one of them
is the youngest girl we spoke to told us
she was
12 at this point September
2022 all the police could tell us about
the German man was that he's from
Frankfurt and under investigation for
rape and child sexual
abuse photos from the police files
indicate that he was a regular at the
Cobra bar
the footage shows that the underage
girls who work there got drunk with the
customers often to the point of passing
out evidence suggests they were ordered
to do
[Music]
so the girls who were freed from the bar
are now being looked after by social
workers and
therapists we're not allowed to film the
facility where they're
living run by the human help Network
Foundation Thailand the home on the
outskirts of Paya helps boys and girls
who've been sexually abused find their
way back to a normal
[Music]
life the director of the home tells us
that many of these children had already
experienced abuse at home before they
were forced into prostitution
you told me that the children who come
to your place are severely traumatized
uh what can you do to help them in your
Center we are not a center we are a home
for them all the children call the
teachers daddy or Mommy here some of the
cases we know that uh the children uh
take like at least 6 months to 12 months
before they truly believe that we are
here for them then they start explaining
uh their deep emotion or things like
that but this thing takes a lot of
patience and
time helping victims is important he
says but it's just as important to
prevent this form of abuse from
happening in the first
[Music]
place today a team from the foundation
is working in one of paya's poorest
districts children from impoverished
neighborhoods are often vulnerable and
easy prey for pedophiles
today the children are learning through
play how to protect themselves from
assault and which parts of their bodies
they shouldn't let strangers
touch when you say that the red light
district creates a crown for the sexual
exploitation of children do you also see
Western travel companies as being partly
responsible yes definitely because you
know for majority of the tourists there
given certain instructions that you have
to go uh get the visa like this but one
thing that has never been in the picture
of the tourist is that there are certain
moral and traditional issues that you
have to respect when you act when you
have interaction with local people they
are not prostitutes we have to educate
the children that that is not acceptable
here in the normal and functional
Society here
[Applause]
[Music]
the sex industry is ubiquitous In Paya
the self-proclaimed queen of Paya is a
sex worker who gives tips on where the
hottest parties in town can be
[Music]
found I want as many people as possible
to come to
Thailand and to get to know my favorite
place places and
girlfriends and I want them to see what
a beautiful smile Tha women
[Applause]
have to
[Music]
Tha on her YouTube channel the queen of
Paya presents her favorite Hotel
complete with sex workers posing for her
in the rooms
wow beautiful girl can given that
prostitution is officially banned in
Thailand we're surprised to see how
openly it's advertised on
YouTube
um we dig deeper in December 2022 we
find this very Hotel Selena place on the
major booking platforms including tuis
Germany's largest tourism company
is the German travel industry making
money from sex tourism In
Paya Tui sends us a response more on
that
later Selena Place itself doesn't
respond to our
inquiry we've been invited to a police
press conference In
Paya Deputy National Police Chief Sate
hakan has traveled from Bangkok to
report on the latest progress in the
fight against illegal brothel and child
prostitution we take the opportunity to
ask
questions we were recently told that the
kobra bar In Paya was closed because
miners were working
there and that a German customer was
arrested can you tell us what happened
to the
suspect yes I
can witness interviews have revealed
that he had sex with at least one
underage prostitute he's been charged
with child
abuse the British owner of the bar is
being investigated for human trafficking
the German man is now in
custody we're waiting for the case to go
to
trial at this point the message from the
deputy police chief is clear pedophile
sex tourists can expect no leniency
but just 7 Days Later the German suspect
manages to leave Thailand a shocking
development a few months later we get in
touch with him to our surprise he agrees
to give us an interview in
[Music]
Frankfurt he says that he bribed his way
out of Thailand because he didn't
believe he would get a fair trial there
he wants to remain
anonymous why are you talking to
us because I want to show this
Injustice it starts with the charge it's
all in Thai of course so I have no way
of knowing what it says I have the
document that ensured I could leave the
country several people signed it
a public prosecutor and a
judge a police officer initiated the
process of course I bribed them it cost
me well over 1 million
tart he shows us a cell phone video that
he says proves he paid bribes to get out
of
Thailand together with bail and illegal
fees it cost him almost €50,000 he tells
us in December
2022 as for the child sex abuse
investigation he says it was all a
misunderstanding I've met a lot of
people where it's clear it was simply
claimed that the girls were underage if
you like I can show you a
video this woman was definitely 15 years
old at the
time and I have to say in my own defense
a man can't see that then and
there the youngest one for example let
me show you this was her for God's sake
exactly it doesn't strike you that
you're looking at a child you really
can't tell with Tha women I swear I
could show you a 30-year-old Tha woman
without
wrinkles but let's be honest that's
obviously a child you're showing me in
the
picture yes it
is but by then you must have realized
that you'd ended up in a pedophile
bar right I mean I have to say that Al
didn't lie to me she told me up front
she was 15 so that would ultimately mean
that the accusations against you are
true I have to admit that the
accusations against me are true I was in
a bar where underage girls were working
and the girl I took home was probably
underage my case is unusual because she
threw up several times and left to go
home but I really don't want to
sugarcoat it I took her out of the bar
with the aim of having sex with her at
home that's correct
but if the accusations are true why do
you feel you've been unjustly
treated I feel I was treated unfairly by
the police because I can't understand
how so many underage women could be
working at a bar it's like a cattle
market the women are just a commodity to
be traded and it's just getting bigger
and bigger and all the people just
adjust it's almost an
industry then maybe it's not a good idea
to hang around that cattle market
that's true in future I'd advise anyone
against going
there the suspect was only taken into
custody in Frankfurt 6 months after this
interview he is still being investigated
in Germany for aggravated sexual abuse
of a child it was only through our
research that the public prosecutor's
office found out about the
case the authorities in Thailand had
apparently tried to sweep it under the
carpet even when the alleged sex
offender was allowed to leave the
country for Germany the German
authorities were not
[Music]
informed we tried to find out from the
authorities in Bangkok why exactly was
the suspect allowed to leave the
country were given a bizarre answer the
alleged sex offender was released
because he said he had to return to
Germany for a business meeting then
failed to return to Thailand as ordered
[Music]
for the Thai public that's not a
satisfactory
[Music]
answer after deela broadcast the
documentary about sex tourism In Paya
the case of the alleged sex offender who
fled Thailand caused a major stir in the
local
media the German man fled from the law
basically just
disappeared people who have seen the
documentary want to
know can anyone with enough money
escaped Tai Justice without any
consequences oh even the Prime Minister
made a
statement while on an official trip
outside Bangkok Tai TV reporters refer
to our film and asked shavis if
criminals can leave the country with
official papers what does it say about
police
corruption we have to talk about this
openly I've instructed the Judiciary and
the police to investigate the case
thoroughly this is our duty such
incidents damaged
terrorism many foreign diplomats are now
keeping a close eye on what we're
doing and we're doing what we can to
clear up this
case thank you very much
the prime minister's statement alarmed
many listeners allegations of corruption
among the
[Music]
police at a hastily convened press
conference the deputy National Police
Chief declared that officers In Paya had
violated regulations by allowing the
suspect to leave the country on
bail I'm personally responsible for this
case but I was not aware that the
suspect was able to leave the country
because my colleagues in pya didn't
inform
me I only found out from the German
documentary the deputy police chief then
took questions from the Thai press was
there any evidence as to who took the
bribe he was
[Applause]
asked yesterday I watched the
documentary
again some sources point to officials
who don't work with the
police but the German film seems to be
implicating corrupt police
officers did any of you happen to
transcribe and translate the documentary
that would be
helpful no
one the deputy National Police Chief
announced that he'd be launching an
investigation into two high-ranking
police officers from
Paya and that he would soon be flying to
Germany to question the suspect in
person he wanted to find out who had
accepted a
bribe we were were curious to see what
would happen
next we are on our way to the parliament
in
Bangkok our film triggered a wider
debate in the country on issues that
have long been taboo police corruption
prostitution and child sex
abuse Thailand's political system has
been in a state of upheaval for some
time and remains so after the general
election in 2023
[Music]
we have an appointment with the main
opposition party the move forward
party Progressive and Center left it
wants to challenge Thailand's
conservative forces and power
Elites we have an appointment with one
of its best known
MPS there were many reactions to our
film in Thailand you called for
political consequences what exactly do
you
mean the main problem is that sex is
still illegal in
Thailand that's why bars pay a lot of
bribes everyone knows that prostitution
is widespread but no one talks about it
openly so I'm very grateful for your
report on German
television it's begun a conversation
about whether we want to continue living
in a hypocritical Society or finally
face up to reality
we ask him what he thinks of the
government and police pledges to clarify
what exactly happened to the suspected
sex offender from
Germany I can promise you that we'll be
following the case
closely we will see if police chief
hakan and prime minister Sharin keep
their
promises and if they don't then we'll
submit a motion of no confidence in
Parliament
time to tell the Thai people the
truth his party has drafted a bill to
legalize adult sex work partly on the
grounds that child prostitution can only
be successfully combed once criminal
structures in red light districts have
been
tackled one unanswered question how did
Germany's largest travel company react
to the findings of our
research in early
2023 Tui said it hadn't known about the
conditions in the Selena Place Hotel and
the growing problem of child
prostitution In
Paya it would be removing hotels in the
red light district from their
listings the Tui press office wrote to
us we have also advised the databases we
work with not to include these hotels in
their
portfolios and to verify to us that they
meet the eat
criteria these are the criteria that
call for the end of the commercial
sexual exploitation of
children the Thai hotels Association
also reacted to tui's retreat it
criticized our findings on sex tourism
and called them a serious blow to the
tourism industry we would have liked to
talk to the head of the association but
she declined our interview request
we look her up on the
internet in a recent interview Marisa
sukos nbak discussed her vision for the
future what trends do you see in the
hospitality industry for 2024 our
significant trend is
sustainability many more um Travelers
are interested in sustainability want to
travel responsibly uh more and more
agents and tour operators are looking to
book green hotels as
well sustainability and
responsibility the head of the
association has a family business that
owns one fourstar and two five-star
hotels in
Paya all three can be found with just a
few clicks on sex tourism
websites they're rated guest friendly a
common euphemism that means it's
possible to take sex workers to your
[Music]
room the online reviews leave us in no
doubt I've rigorously tested the hotel's
China policy with some walking Street BS
and can certify it to be guest
friendly we wrote To The Head of the
hotel association again asking for a
statement we also asked her what the are
doing to prevent guests from taking
underage girls to their rooms we didn't
get a
[Music]
response it's not easy to talk to
authorities in Thailand about the sex
industry the fact that minors are
sexually exploited is a taboo
subject Lisa Hamilton chairperson of The
Nightlife business Association In Paya
was willing to talk to
us she claims to represent 1,000
nightclubs and beer bars she was Keen to
prove to us that her Association is
serious about clamping down on child
prostitution I want you to she says
she's launched an awareness campaign in
the bars of
Paya she takes us to a friend's
bar have you heard about the German
broadcaster that everyone is talking
about
I'm trying to show them that not all of
Paya is
Criminal you need to make sure no one
underage is working
here you need to be strict we don't want
any
problems There Are No Children Here good
and we try to tell them how to run the
business how to make isfe
and they try
to awake for like okay like the for
underage kid uh to become to to come and
and use like a PP
or or the Night Life Zone something you
know they don't they don't seea too much
before they don't know how bad they can
to get now I tell them okay if you have
young children your place your business
will close for 5 years you know and then
you will you will be in
jail Lisa promotes what she calls her
five times no policy in the bar
District No weapons no violence no drugs
no human trafficking and above all no
child
prostitution how successful the campaign
will be remains to be
[Music]
seen meanwhile in Frankfurt there's
progress in the case of the suspected
sex offender the deputy National chief
of police has arrived supposedly to
question the suspect in custody
but it turns out that Surat hakan failed
to submit an official request for Mutual
assistance in
advance yet at the Consulate General he
describes the visit as a success and
presents a letter in which the suspect
withdraws his accusation of
bribery the deputy National chief of
police apparently sent him several
letters in his cell and made it clear
that if he didn't he would never be
allowed to enter Thailand again he would
be arrested immediately and charged with
bribery
we meet Sate hakan later in the
evening he tells us his version of
events after the case became high
profile in Thailand I watched your
film I then checked the suspect's bank
transactions to see if he paid money to
the
police all we found were trans to a
lawyer but no evidence of bribes paid to
police officers In
Paya obviously bribes aren't paid via
bank transfer there's a cell phone video
that shows a bag of cash the suspect
told us this was the bribe money being
handed
over I just don't believe the
video the suspect admitted that he took
m to his apartment three
times but he says in his statement that
he did not pay bribes to the
police the public prosecution or the
court
nothing he even thanked the Tai police
and praised our honest
work but you yourself reported that your
Paya colleague made mistakes and also
said at the press conference in Bangkok
that officials were being investigated
why are you investigating if everything
was done
correctly that's to do with the police
chief of Paya and one of his
investigating officers they're not
corrupt but they are at fault because
they did accept the bail
payment and they failed to properly
inform the authorities about the release
of the suspect that's the only reason
I'm investigating
ah
okay many questions remain
unanswered after 2 years of research we
have found a number of witnesses who can
confirm the bribe took place and we have
strong evidence of a corrupt Network In
Paya Sur hakan took note of all of this
but his mission is accomplished the
honor of his police force is restored
thanks to the testimony of of an alleged
sex
offender in a qu just a few weeks after
our interview the time media reported
that the deputy police chief's home had
been raided by an anti-corruption unit
questioned the legality along with
several other police officers hawar was
allegedly involved in an illegal online
gambling operation believed to have
laundered some €8 million
gambling the first suspects were
arrested team to pursue criminal charges
the eight police officers implicated may
be temporarily relieved from their
duties the Prime Minister suspended
Surah hak that these events a warrant
for his arrest was issued and an
investigation on charges of money
laundering was launched butur fair
treatment for all parties involved
in Frankfurt the German suspect remains
under
investigation it is still unclear
whether there is evidence that his
alleged victim was younger than 14 years
old in which case the public prosecution
would bring charges of aggravated sexual
abuse of a
minor if convicted he could face up to
15 years in
prison the investigation files and
witness statements from Thailand are
crucial but what happened to the girl
involved in the case we meet up again
with n from the Child Protection
Organization I have been informed by the
reliable source that the girl and
including the girl the victim they are
at this very moment still under the
custody of
banan so uh they're in the good hands
right now that that was I believe but
unfortunately the shelter can are able
to provide services and Rehabilitation
up to only 18 years of age
and for majority of the occasions we
know that once they are released from
the custody of the shelters many of them
go straight back to the prostitution
again we
cannot solve the problem as a whole and
this will keep continuing when it comes
on the spotlight you will see this full
task force of officers barging in all
the areas and within the next few months
it will go back to it
was a sobering assessment but one that's
borne out by what we discover In
Paya the Cobra bar where miners were
forced into prostitution is still
closed but the so-called mamasan the
barid who controls the business with the
sex workers has simply moved 200 M down
the road along with some of the staff
and customers
[Music]
in the red light's Dark Shadow
exploitation is
rampant Thailand has yet to prove that
it's serious in its Fight Against Child
prostitution
[Music]