Statement of the Problem

Child prostitution is serious social problem in Thailand. The issue has recently provoked national consensus, receiving much attention from the government and resulting in a policy declaring that Thailand will no longer allow children to be prostituted by others or to become commercial sex worker through there own choice. Child prostitution in all aspects disregards and abuses children's right, also destroying the country's reputation and contributing significantly to AIDS epidemic.

Children turn to prostitution for many reasons, one reason is strongest motivation probably being proverty. Income from agricultural production as well as from the rural pool' s non-agricultural employment is frequently insufficient. Other resins include the lack of education, parents' attitudes towards prostitution, and broad networks of supposedly legitimate "employers" seeking to entrap children with the promise of financial again. Apparently, a number of government officials take part in the latter enterprises. Research conducted by the Faculty of Social Sciences at Chiang Mai University has isolated the three main factors causing child prostitution the pressure from social and economic conditions the family's desire to increase its living standards; and the type of materialism that demands luxury and all modem conveniences without a proportionate concern for the source of income to support such a way of life.

The purpose of this project is to assist the Royal Thai Government in cooperating with the Thai private sector, and NGO's to find practical solutions to the problem of child prostitution in Northern Thailand.

The objective of this project is to reduce the chances of young rural girls entering the commercial sex industry, by enabling them to select better and more secure employment. This can be accomplished by:

1) providing the girls with an opportunity to continue their education past Grade 6;

2) providing the girls with information about the risks involved in working in the commercial sex industry. Risks include being infected by HIV / AIDS;

3) providing the girls who finish their education through Grade 9 with career training opportunities which reflect actual market needs.

4) providing research recommendations to tackle problems of AIDS, child prostitution and child labor abuse.

5) providing academic and information services to help solve the problem of AIDS, child prostitution and child labor abuse.