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Bangkok THAILAND Overview |
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Director Janet Balasiri |
Bangkok, or Krung Thep, the capital of Thailand and home to about ten million people, means "City of Angels"; but it is more commonly known as the "sin capital of Asia" due to the infamous sex trade.
In the summer of 1997, economic crisis hit Thailand. The economy had been expanding and the city booming. Yet rapid industrialization and corruption took its toll in this nation. The rapid depletion of natural resources has worsened the cycle of droughts and floods. A critical problem that faces Bangkok today is the urban environment's deterioration--resulting from water quality, air quality, urban land use, solid waste, traffic congestion, and slums.
As people have left the villages for the city, hoping to make a better life for themselves and their families, Bangkok's infrastructure has struggled to accommodate the influx. Slum dwellings have multiplied alongside the high-rise buildings. The recent economic crisis has plunged many others into poverty and widened the gap between rich and poor. Currently, there are about 2000 slum communities in the city which, because of the high prices of urban land. are located in areas likely to flood. Most often, the settlements are illegally located on government land. Furthermore, the residents usually have housing made of ‘temporary' structures with inadequate infrastructure and cramped living space.
A result of corrupt officials and police are crime syndicates, prostitution rings and drug networks flourishing. The police and officials skim some of the profits and the people increasingly compromise values in pursuit of wealth and material possessions for themselves and their families. According to Operation World, most of the country's estimated 100,000 male and 700,000 female prostitutes operate in Bangkok. Over two million people derive their income from the sex industry.
Less Thai children are sold into prostitution as Thai parents' awareness increases; yet, those involved in the trade have begun to kidnap girls and boys of minority groups as young as eight to ten years old in order to keep up with the demand for child prostitutes. Most of the 35,000 street children of the city end up in child prostitution as well. Despite international efforts to end this sexual oppression and to stop the spread of AIDS, men from some of the wealthier countries around the world, including Japan, the USA, Germany, and Australia still go to Bangkok on publicized "sex tours". The youth is attractive to both Thai and foreign customers.
Thailand's official religion is Buddhism which claims the allegiance of most Thai people. Their cultural identity seems almost inseparably intertwined with Buddhist traditions. The people practice folk Buddhism which includes and elaborate system of spirit worship. Every street corner and plot of land has an altar where people bring offerings and show their respect. Christians make up less than 1% of the population. Information courtesy of Servant Partners and Mega-Cities Project.
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