Imaging Our Mekong - Trafficking

Tracing Human Trafficking

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:29:04 -0500

Chonlatis Kaewprasertsom and Chatra Siamthong, Producers, Saradee Company, Thailand

Owing to their geographical locations, Laos and Thailand enjoy close ties. They have similar languages and traditions, and the importation of Thai products to Laos has always been brisk. But unscrupulous people are now taking advantage of the convenient and easy routes between the two countries, and more and more Lao people are becoming victims of human trafficking in Thailand. View Film

VIETNAM: Guidelines Seek to Assist Trafficked Women and Children

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:27:39 -0500

HANOI - Trafficked women and children would receive more help to return to Vietnam and integrate back into society with the release of ministry guidelines on effective use of the law, a press conference was told here on June 27.

LAOS: More Illegal Migrants Volunteer to Return Home

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:28:47 -0500

VIENTIANE - A group of 837 illegal Lao migrants arrived in Vientiane on June 22 after spending years suffering in Thai detention camps.

Burmese Workers’ Death Shocking, But Far from New

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:29:30 -0500

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Apr 12 (IPS) - The death by suffocation of 54 Burmese migrant workers who were being transported in an enclosed container truck in southern Thailand was a shocking tragedy, but one that did not surprise labour rights activists.

Drugs: From Golden Past to Crystalline Future

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:55:05 -0500

By Rosalia Sciortino*

BANGKOK, Sep 20 - Recently, Philipp Borgs, a student of mine at the South-east Asia Studies Masters’ Programme of Chulalongkorn University, submitted a term paper on drug smuggling in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).

Hmong Refugees Starve to Resist Deportation

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:00:25 -0600

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Aug 19 (IPS Asia-pacific) - By going on a hunger strike, some 150 ethnic Hmong refugees in Thailand have turned the heat on the Thai government to respect their rights and treat them with compassion.

Smuggling Continues, Despite Cambodian Ban

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:53:56 -0500

Duong Sokha

POIPET, Cambodia – At 7.30 a.m., some 50 porters were already lined up in front of the border post here, fidgeting with their carts as they waited to be allowed to cross over to Thailand.

When the Poipet international gate finally opened, the bustling trade on both sides of the border between Cambodia and Thailand began for the day.

On the Trail of Khmer Antiquities

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:17:27 -0500

Photo Essay by Khem Sovannara

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — The huge statues at the entrance of the Bayon temple in the Angkor complex here exude an air of strength, in contrast to other statues in the other temples and sites that have arms hacked off, or heads missing.

Bayon was the last state temple to be built in the 13^th century at Angkor Thom, on the banks of the Siem Reap river here in north-west Cambodia. The Bayon is home to 200 huge faces carved on more than 40 towers, among other images.

Drug Trade Finds A Way

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:48:43 -0500

By Anucha Charoenpo

NONG KHAI, Thailand - For the most part, Ban Khok Suak in Tambon Phraphutthabaht in Sri Chiang Mai district is a typical farming village in the Thai north-east.

Most of its inhabitants grow cabbages, tomatoes and chili. But one thing sets it apart from the typical north-eastern farming village: it lies along the Mekong River. This is mostly a good thing since it allows villagers to fish and use the mighty river for transportation.

LAOS-THAILAND: Open Borders Ease Smuggling

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 03:43:55 -0600

By Luang Phinith, KPL News*

VIENTIANE - Laos and Thailand share both land and river borders. But they also share similar cultures, in terms of language and consumption habits.

Furthermore, transportation between the two countries is very convenient, so people from both are to cross easily between both countries, and it is not surprising that some inappropriate measures have been adopted in the past to deal with trading between the two countries. All of these factors have combined to accelerate goods smuggling between the two countries, particularly between Vientiane Capital in the Lao PDR and Thailand's province of Nongkhai.

Khmer Child Beggars in Vietnam

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:15:06 -0600

You Porny, Sao Seyha and Lach Sophy, Youth Today Television Program and Sao Sopheak, Apsara Television

The booming economy of Vietnam is evident in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Khmers who live in the nearby province of Svay Rieng, Cambodia have taken notice.

Since 1996, more and more Cambodians from the the Kompong Roug and Chan Trea district of Svay Rieng have been steadily trying their luck in Vietnam as beggars. Sadly, most of them are children.

Laos Tries to Get at Roots of Addiction

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:19:25 -0500

By Anucha Charoenpo

LUANG PRABANG, Lao PDR - Douy, a 40-year-old Lao Therng woman, first began using opium more than 15 years ago to ease severe pains in her womb. There were no other medicines available to her at that time, she says.

Boundary or No Boundary

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:21:10 -0500

Li Xin, Yunnan Television and Lu Bin, Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge

The border trade between Vietnam and China is booming, especially in the areas of Hekou and Lau Cai.
Hekou used to be the distribution center of a prohibited wildlife trade, a thriving business at the end of the 1980s up to the early 1990s. the illegal trade was stopped after China became a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

When this film was shot, there was hardly a trace of the illegal wildlife trade in public. But the trafficking of wild animals continues at the border areas.

'Migrating Forced Me into Prostitution'

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:23:26 -0500

Khleu Sansana, Cambodia Television Network Moul Sophom, Aspara Television Chhor Veasna, Royal Cambodian Army Television (TV5)

Is it simply a law of supply and demand? To those who earn money from the sex trade in Thailand, it’s as simple as that. Braving obstacles from within Cambodia and over the Thai border to get the issue on tape was a daunting task for the producers of this documentary.

Joint Prevention of the Human Trafficking Menace

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:27:31 -0500

Aye Naing and San Win, Myanmar Radio and Television

The menace that is the trafficking of young women as sex workers sits heavily across the Mekong Region. From the rural Tachileik village in Myanmar, to the bright lights of Thailand cities, thousands of stories of young girls who were sold, raped and abused abound there… all in an attempt to earn and provide for their families.