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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?
What happened
In two separate cases, young Burmese children were rescued from trafficking situations. Pim, the girl, is eight years old. Her Burmese mother forced her to go to the border bridge every day to beg for money. The mom is addicted to opium which grows widely in the Golden Triangle region. The mother tells Pim not to come home unless she comes back with 300 baht (roughly $10). With local events in Myanmar already depressing the low tourist season, finding donors is tough business. The abolitionist Kru Nam hears through the street grapevine that the mother is looking to sell Pim to the highest bidder. The boy, Kho, is 11. Two years ago he was trafficked into Thailand for child labor. He escaped and found refuge at Buddies along the Roadside. His Burmese family made contact and demanded that Kho come back home, and Kru Nam happily complied with their request to reunite Kho with his family. Two months passed, and Kru Nam ran into Kho in the streets of Mae Sai. He begged Kru Nam to return to Buddies. His family is forcing him to sell drugs - primarily ice and amphetamines - on each side of the border. When kids are caught selling drugs, the police treat them lightly. Adults, on the other hand, will be sentenced to long prison terms. So many adults use kids as their drug peddlers.
Response and intervention
The local police rarely respond to instances of child forced labor or selling of children. Historically, f they do act, it is to criminalize the child (for selling drugs, for instance). Kru Nam finds Pim's mother and makes her an offer for 500 baht [roughly $17] if she allows Pim to come live with me at Buddies along the Roadside. The mother agrees. Kho she finds on the bridge that connects Myanmar and Thailand. She agrees to let him come back to live at Buddies. They receive shelter in a dorm with other children in similar situations, attend school daily, and receive rudimentary medical attention. Buddies along the Roadside David Batstone witnessed the "rescue" on a visit with Thai abolitionist Kru Nam.