Gaybutton Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Not in Chains, but Slavery all the Same Imagine if you can withstand these working conditions: Work hours: from 4am till midnight. Job description: cook three meals a day for a family of five, wash the bosses' cars, clean the house, do the laundry and do whatever household chores the bosses tell you to. All this for 2,000 baht a month. No days off. No, this is not how some Thai households are mistreating desperate migrant workers. This is what happened to a 13-year-old Isan girl from Buri Ram while she was working in Bangkok. And you have not heard the worst yet. The girl's bosses allowed her to cook rice only once a week. This would be divided into small portions and kept in the fridge. She could only have one portion per meal, eaten cold. Warming the food was not allowed. On a good day, the girl could have two meals a day. Only one if the boss was cross with her. What she had with her rice were the bosses' leftovers. If there were none, then it was cold rice with chilli dip. Her employers prohibited her from going out of the house as well as from contacting her parents. When the bosses were angry with her slow work, the underage girl was hit with an iron rod, a wooden chair or a belt on her body, back and head. Her body was black and blue. Her knees were swollen. Her back suffered infected wounds. There were also several wounds on her head. If you think she was sent to the doctor's, you are a hopeless optimist. The bosses instead repeatedly hit the same wounds, reopening them. When the wounds became seriously infected and the girl, in a feverish state, was unable to work, the bosses decided to send her home. That ended her one year of misery. To cap it off, she did not receive even a single baht of her salary throughout her hellish year. Is this slavery? Ask the police and they will shake their heads. Since the child was not chained, it cannot be classified as slavery, they say. It sounds ridiculous, but the deep mental association of slavery with chaining which the police have is why the anti-slavery law, which carries severe punishment, has never been enforced. The police always say that since there are no precedents in the use of the anti-slavery law, they don't know how to use it. The offenders would therefore be charged only with inflicting injuries on others, which carries a far milder punishment. And with some money changing hands, we can imagine how the charges could easily be reduced to help the offenders. Most poor families, too, cannot afford to go through the lengthy and costly court procedures to get justice. That is also why many employers feel free to treat their workers like slaves. The Buri Ram girl slave case in 2004 might change all this. Supported by the Child Rights Protection Foundation and the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women, the girl's family is taking the employers who abused her to court under the anti-slavery law - the first case of its kind in Thai legal history. Should the girl win her case, other victims of child slavery and countless immigrant workers stand to benefit, says human rights lawyer Siriwan Vongkietpaisan. Many migrant workers are now routinely locked up and paid peanuts for their drudgery, or cheated, coerced and paid nothing at all. The authorities mostly look the other way, and we know why. The public generally doesn't care how the poor and the non-Thais are treated. Have we ever asked ourselves why? Such a soul-searching question is crucial. Rights groups are trying to use available laws to bring about justice. But it takes the same belief in human rights and dignity from legal practitioners within the judicial system - and public outrage against inhumanity - to make things happen. Are we ready for such a moral challenge? Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post. Quote
Guest A Rose By Any Other Name Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 OK. Just for argument's sake, let's assume this hyperbole is actually based in some truth. Certainly, we can all agree that this is not the "normal" or "average" arrangement in a Bangkok household. It just seems like yet another attempt at Yellow Journalism to smear the name of Falang living in Thailand. It's just like Papa Puke saying "everyone who goes to Sunee Plaze is a pedophile." The Rose TR Quote
Gaybutton Posted September 7, 2006 Author Posted September 7, 2006 OK. Just for argument's sake, let's assume this hyperbole is actually based in some truth. Certainly, we can all agree that this is not the "normal" or "average" arrangement in a Bangkok household. It just seems like yet another attempt at Yellow Journalism to smear the name of Falang living in Thailand. It's just like Papa Puke saying "everyone who goes to Sunee Plaze is a pedophile." The Rose TR I don't agree with you on this one, TR. The article doesn't specifically say, but I got the impression that the girl was employed by other Thais. However, I can certainly agree that whether Thai or not, so far it is a set of allegations, yet to be proved. I do agree, though, that it is highly doubtful that this sort of thing is a common occurrence, but I must say that this is not the first time I have read about such abuse. Although it is hardly the same thing, it was within the past year that a large number of Thai laborers went to work in another Asian country. Was it Taiwan? I don't remember. But their living conditions and treatment was also only just a step above slavery and it became so intolerable for them that they finally rioted. I just don't understand the mentality that causes some people to treat other people as if they are cattle and their lives mean nothing. We also see articles quite often about human trafficking. Here we are in 2006 and yet this sort of thing still goes on. Quote
Guest A Rose By Any Other Name Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 I don't agree with you on this one, TR. The article doesn't specifically say, but I got the impression that the girl was employed by other Thais. However, I can certainly agree that whether Thai or not, so far it is a set of allegations, yet to be proved. I do agree, though, that it is highly doubtful that this sort of thing is a common occurrence, but I must say that this is not the first time I have read about such abuse. Although it is hardly the same thing, it was within the past year that a large number of Thai laborers went to work in another Asian country. Was it Taiwan? I don't remember. But their living conditions and treatment was also only just a step above slavery and it became so intolerable for them that they finally rioted. I just don't understand the mentality that causes some people to treat other people as if they are cattle and their lives mean nothing. We also see articles quite often about human trafficking. Here we are in 2006 and yet this sort of thing still goes on. I suppose you are right on this one, GB. Upon further examination, it does appear that the author is talking about a Thai employer, thankfully, for a change. However, it still seems a bit over the top. But, things like this do indeed happen. History repeats itself with atrocities every day: the Holocaust, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, African Slavery in the US... etc, etc. Whatever the case, I hope the offenders, if found guilty, are locked up and the key thrown away! The Rose TR Quote
Guest Oogleman Posted September 7, 2006 Posted September 7, 2006 I have heard that some street children are "forced" into this type of work by the offer of free accomodation etc., then kept locked in. But as everything in Thailand - hard to prove. Quote
dapitt Posted September 8, 2006 Posted September 8, 2006 Yes GB, you are correct. This sort of thing certainly does go on. But the good news is that there is a substantial organized effort to fight it. You might be interested to check the site: http://freetheslaves.net/ I've had the opportunity to hear an address by that organization's founder. Quite impactful. The scope of the problem is rather serious. ---Not a pretty sight. Quote
Guest Hedda Posted September 8, 2006 Posted September 8, 2006 The plight of this Issan girl may not be typical of domestic service as a whole when the farm kids come to work in the city. But that doesn't mean it's not a problem, or that reporting about it is "yellow journalism." Even worse, however, is the plight of foreign laborers working in Thailand from Burma, who almost never receive wages comparable to the Thais and who are the victims of callous treatment by many Thais. Remember that story a few months ago when over 250 bodies were found in mass unmarked burial sites in the South ? Some feared they were southern Thais snuffed out by secret government patrols. The police responded by saying they were of no concern because they "were likely foreign workers who fell victim to violence." Quote
