Sex tourists in Thailand | DW Documentary

It’s just another normal evening in Pattaya. Or what looks normal. For almost two years, during the coronavirus pandemic, the capital of sex tourism was all but shut down. Now, the red light’s back on. Wolfgang Rill, 74, is out with Tik, 45. He met her in a bar. When you see a hooker, a prostitute in Germany, you pay twice or three times as much and get half the service, or even less. But there isn’t any prostitution here, officially. These girls here aren’t really prostitutes. They call themsel

ves “bargirls.” There are around 60,000 sex workers in Pattaya. Aom is one of them. She says that four years ago, she had a relationship with a German man and got pregnant. He left her. She works as a prostitute to earn a living for herself and her family. What I would like most is to get out of the job. But what should I do? There’s no work at all in my village. The corona lockdown just made everything even worse. I’ve got to earn money before I can leave here. We looked into the dark side of

the red-light industry. And we followed signs that not just sex tourists, but German pedophiles have returned to Pattaya since the city reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic. Wolfgang Rill and his current escort are at the beach in Pattaya. She introduces herself as Tik. He wouldn’t say he’s a sex tourist as much as a “Pattaya lover.” Wolfgang has made a name for himself as the author of books telling erotic tales of Thailand. And unlike most other German men, he has no problem speaking about it

openly - in front of our camera. Tik agreed to be filmed as well. Wolfgang’s been coming to Pattaya for decades. Why? Sometimes, even he finds it difficult to explain. What is it really, that’s so fascinating about this? I could say the girls here are more feminine, friendlier — they’re more affectionate and smile more. They simply enjoy life more than women do in Germany. But it’s clear to both sides that this is a business relationship, right? I think it’s not just a business relationship. Th

ere’s still the other side, the side with feelings. And they have to be there, too, or the whole thing wouldn’t work. Tik, do you see it the same way? Is it like a business a little bit, or how do you think about it? You can also answer in Thai language if you like. Tik prefers to remain silent. What about money? Money very important? Naja, okay. She barely speaks English. Yes, and I was just about to say that obviously communication is pretty limited. So it's difficult to speak of a relationshi

p between “equals.” Yes, her English is pretty awful. But we’re working on it. And she’s very diligent. I’m teaching her. And it’s surprising how few words or how little speech you need to have in a relationship like this. We’re actually supporting the women of Isan... Women who live in poverty and would otherwise be working in rice paddies... In northern Thailand. ...uh-huh. And don’t forget we are the people who keep the system running, who keep prostitution alive. Prostitution as a form of de

velopmental aid? Wolfgang says he doesn’t really have any ethical qualms about that. He’s fine with an older man paying for “love” and sex with a younger woman. As long as both sides profit. But he’s also got a request: Have pity on the men. A great deal has been said about the dark sides of prostitution, in Germany, too. That it’s always bad for the women. But how bad is it for an older man who’s lonely, who doesn’t have anyone, and doesn’t have sex anymore? And that in a world that's obsessed

with sex. Hardly anybody speaks about how terrible that kind of life is. So have pity on the men as well. Should we take pity on the women, too? Because the job they do is genuinely tough. It’s not just smiles and pleasantness. From what I’ve seen here in Thailand it isn’t as tough as you think. They have lots of fun. They laugh a lot and do things, take trips, sit on a motorbike and drive around or meet friends. Where’s the disaster in that? I really don’t see that here in Thailand. Aom has bee

n a sex worker for ten years. She tells us there was one time she almost managed to get out of the business. A client took her to Germany four years ago and promised her a future together. But when Aom became pregnant, he sent her back to Thailand, promising he would soon follow. As soon as she got on the plane, he changed his phone number and email address, she says. I came back to Thailand when I was five months pregnant. And he simply vanished. I don’t know why, but he refused to accept any k

ind of responsibility at all. How did you feel? Terrible. Since then, I’ve hated men from Germany. I know they’re not all like that, but... When a client comes into a bar and we start talking... Where you from? From Germany. Oh, no. Goodbye! Not that I’ve got something against every one of them, but I’ve learned my lesson. And I’ve got one request: Don’t judge us for our work. We’re not robbing anyone. We’re just doing our job. True, it’s against the law, but that’s no reason to treat us disresp

ectfully. Aom works in various bars, where she looks for new clients. The fact that sex work is illegal causes a lot of problems. Most of the women don’t have health insurance. And during the pandemic lockdown, sex workers were barred from all government aid programs. And that in a country where the sex industry is estimated to bring in billions in annual revenue and account for a considerable percentage of the gross domestic product. Aom says on some nights you can earn good money, but on most,

it’s dismal. Many demand to do it without a condom. And two or three of them will want to sleep with one woman. That’s humiliating for a Thai woman. And sometimes, clients ask for sexual practices that I reject. Not all men are like that, but many are. No current statistics are available, but older estimates indicate that every year, 400,000 German men fly halfway around the globe for cheap sex. Thailand is still the main destination. In Pattaya there’s even a “German quarter,” Naklua, where th

ere is a German-speaking lawyer and a schnitzel restaurant. The Bramburi Restaurant is run by a German owner... Thomas Seeland from Hamburg. He’s been in Thailand for 15 years and is well-connected. That’s the Crown Prince of Thailand. The Crown Prince of Thailand was one of your guests? No. I’ve been cooking for him regularly for three or four years. He lives in Germany. In Munich. And whenever he comes with his friends and employees, I’m his German cook and I travel with him. So, that’s a very

nice photograph I was permitted to take with him. That’s quite unusual. You normally aren’t allowed to take a picture with him. To us, it seems as if Thomas feels like an ambassador for Pattaya — tasked with defending the city’s image. Many think this is the world’s biggest whore house. But it’s not. There’s far more to Pattaya. The erotic scene in Pattaya no longer makes up the whole city. Instead, it’s restricted to three relatively small areas. But if I don’t go there, then I don’t see it. B

ut it certainly dominates the downtown district. No matter where you look, there are bars with girls sitting and waiting... Yes, fine, but the girls here, or in Asia generally wear fewer clothes, because of the heat. That doesn’t necessarily have to do with prostitution. Even their school uniforms include short skirts because it’s so hot, and schools don’t have air conditioning. But you can’t tell me there aren’t any prostitutes in Pattaya. Only girlfriends. There aren’t any prostitutes. The dif

ference, legally, is that a prostitute names a certain price for a service ahead of time. That only happens here on rare occasions. But it’s still paying for sex, right? Yes, certainly. But that’s fine. Everyone should get to live their life the way they choose. The best thing that’s happened in the 15 years I’ve been in Thailand is that this isn’t happening with children anymore. That’s good. Fifteen years ago, that was the biggest problem, but not anymore. Is that true? Even at first glance, w

e have our doubts. Walking Street is the main amusement thoroughfare in Pattaya. Employees from a private child protection organization are doing their rounds today. During peak tourist season, they try to speak with sex workers and tourists regularly. Hello, can you speak English? I certainly can, what can I do for you? We are from Human Help Network Foundation and recently we have been reported with crimes against children. So if you see any suspicious activities against children, if you think

that children might be forced to work during the nighttime with the unpleasant environment, you can alert the authority here. That’s very good of you. Can I have a few moments of your time? Do you speak English? So what we hear a lot is that the tourists and people say, “Child prostitution was a problem fifteen or twenty years ago in Pattaya. Now we have everything under control.” That’s a very tricky question because we have been, in our own experience from time to time, someone can always man

age to sneak in and do something bad against children. We have a lot of walk-in cases reporting the incidence or any bad activities against the children. Especially in this area, the Walking Street area is very famous for the nightlife. So it is very crowded, very unhealthy for the children. Do the tourists want to hear these stories? To be honest, not exactly. Because they are here for very specific purposes as you can imagine. But at least there’s a thin line between prostitution and child pro

stitution. The child protection workers explain that what’s called “normal” sex tourism here in these red-light-districts creates structures that pose a severe threat to children. As we were filming, this young boy walked down this street lined with bars all on his own. His family had sent him out to sell chewing gum to tourists. Now, he’s being accompanied home by the child protection group. Just imagine they are wandering around the street and someone just grabs them into a very dark corner. S

o this kind of thing we have to create awareness for. If you see any children involved in underage prostitution, please do not hesitate to call the hotline 1300. We thank you so much, we really appreciate your cooperation. Thank you so much. Many successful advances in the battle against child prostitution seem to be falling short in Pattaya. We observed children walking hand-in-hand with tourists late at night. No one stepped in or even seems to be surprised. We’re on our way to police headquar

ters in Bangkok. After several requests, the Deputy Police Chief of Thailand has agreed to give an interview. He’s coming from an important appointment with the interior minister. Before our interview, he first changed out of his formal dress uniform. Surachate Hakparn cultivates a reputation for being tough on organized crime in the red-light-districts. We filmed in Pattaya and saw many underaged girls working in the red-light zones. Child protectors tell us pedophile criminals select Thailand

as a destination again. What do you do against it? It’s true that child abuse here in Thailand, and across Southeast Asia, is very concerning. The children being abused are getting younger, and the violence towards them is getting worse. Our investigative work is difficult, especially because those who produce child pornography are using new technologies to cover their tracks. The Royal Thai Police provided us with these videos. They show a special taskforce on the job: The T-I-C-A-C unit figh

ts online child abuse, a phenomenon that increased massively during lockdown. They show children being forced in front of Internet cameras and abused. The material is later sold to customers all around the world. Several dozen children were freed from the hands of pedophile gangs last year. Family members are often accomplices to the crime. The police chief in Pattaya has some success to report: A German suspect has just been arrested on suspicion of child abuse. He’s accused of propositioning c

hild prostitutes in a bar. These bar districts are high-risk areas for children. But just today, the Interior Minister and I have decided we would order every police station in the country to strictly monitor all bars and clubs. We do not tolerate child prostitution. We just proved that in Pattaya, where we closed a bar with underaged prostitutes. The perpetrators are facing tough sentences. The deputy police chief thanks us for the interview and we inquire about the German arrested in Pattaya.

Surprisingly, he invites us to film a discussion of the case. Pattaya’s top police officer has just arrived with new details. The closed, suspected pedophile joint is called Cobra Bar and is located in the middle of Pattaya’s pleasure district. In the bar we confiscated receipts. They were on the tables in small wooden holders... each could be traced to a girl that worked there. The girls testified that they were to have the customers pay for as many drinks for them as possible. At the top of ea

ch bill, each girl noted her nickname. That’s how we know that eleven females worked in the bar. We could identify all of them. I can show you here. Are they over eighteen? No, they’re not. Only one is of age. So nearly all children. Where are they now? We’re looking for a safe place where we can house them together. The youngest girl we questioned is called An. She’s just twelve years old. She told us she came to Pattaya with her divorced mother. Her mother works collecting garbage and the girl

says she would sneak off to the bar to earn extra money for food. The investigators were unable to tell us much about the German they had in custody in Pattaya, just that it was a man from Frankfurt. He is said to have taken underage girls from the bar to his apartment multiple times. Police were investigating allegations of rape and child abuse. The photographs from the police file show that he was apparently a regular customer at the suspected pedophile bar. Social workers and therapists were

now caring for the freed underaged girls. Their days in the Cobra Bar were desolate. The images show the children were apparently forced to drink with the customers... until they passed out. Aom is determined to not let her son grow up in a red-light-district. Four-year-old Tim lives with Aom’s mother in the countryside. That’s the route many take in Pattaya. Children are raised by their grandparents in the village, while their mothers stay in the cities to earn money as prostitutes. Although i

t’s a taboo in conservative Thailand, it’s a way of life for tens of thousands of poor families. Aom is trying to stay close to her son, even though she’s far away. Their daily call is a ritual for them both. Aom tells him to keep being a good boy. Soon Mama will be home again. Tim’s father still lives in Germany. Aom tells us he continues to ignore her calls. He has yet to pay a single cent of child support. I have some documents on my pregnancy from Germany. But I didn’t know what was in them

because it’s all in German. He had all the official papers. But he didn’t pass them on to me, he only gave me copies. He said I didn’t need the originals. Back then the baby had yet to be born and I didn’t know what German law was like or what I would have needed to do. Meanwhile, Aom has taken the documents to a German-Thai law practice. They told her that her Tim’s father in Germany recognized his paternity in writing before he disappeared. Now with the lawyer’s help, Aom is trying to find the

father’s new address in order to enforce child support payment. Above all, so her son Tim can go to a better school. A few kilometers away, on the outskirts of the city, is the somewhat more distinguished Pattaya beach. Here we meet Stefan from Hessen. He calls himself a Youtuber. He regularly posts videos online in which he tells his German followers about his life routine and exploits in in Thailand. This is “Stefan and Thai women” or “In love in Thailand”. I made this three-part series and t

hought I was done with the matter. But you kept asking what happened next. And wanted to hear more stories about the broads... Of course, that’s hopefully a story that will end at some point, but for now the story continues. And today I’ll tell you what’s happened in the last two or three months. So listen up. In the meanwhile, Susi’s announced her arrival from the far north. I had a date with Mausi on Thursday evening, then I went to Clementine, who’s here in Pattaya too. She’s a good girl and

runs a laundromat. You just can’t get rid of the women. The moral of the story is, keep your nose clean, and this won’t happen to you. On your Youtube channel you say at one point: “Don’t accuse me of sex tourism. Completely different moral criteria apply here.” Is that true? Yes, here, different moral criteria apply. That’s absolutely right. I’m not a sex tourist and I never was a sex tourist. But Pattaya lives from sex tourism. It’s a give and take. The men come because they want quick, cheap

sex. And it is quick and cheap. The women come because they want to earn lots of money fast. But your “I’m-not-a-sex-tourist...” spiel isn’t very convincing. You’re still paying women according to set rules. So, there’s a category called “short time.” That means you have the woman for a short period of time for a set amount. Then there’s “long time”, where you pay the woman a higher sum for a day, or two days, or three days. And then there are partnerships that people look for... And if you hav

e a look at Tinder... But nevertheless, a financial factor or payment is always involved, no matter if it’s long time, short time or a partnership. Money exchanges hands. This is Thailand and the slogan is... No dough, no go! They don’t know the standard of living we have. Here, children are responsible for financing their parents’ old age. So the children have to transfer money to their parents, so they can eat and drink. And that’s why there are so many women working here in Pattaya. But that

means the German men here are profiting from poverty. Look at what you’ve described - they’re women from poor families who don’t have any other opportunities. That’s the main point. That’s why there are so many men here. If it weren’t for sex tourism, then many families here would be condemned to poverty. So one hand washes the other. It’s a give and take. Asian women are still aware of their role as women. The first thing a Thai woman does when she comes to my room is clean up and do the dishes

. She takes care of a man. And the “caretaking” that men bring to women is paid in cold, hard cash. So it’s a business relationship with traditional gender roles? I don’t really want to discuss this any further, because I know where you’re going with it. But it’s not like that. You’re still firmly set in your traditional western way of thinking. When you’re here, you’ve got to change that. We’re in Asia. We’re in Thailand. This whole place works differently. Think the Asian way, think the Thai w

ay. In the evening Stefan sets to producing his next video clip. He’s got some five thousand followers on Youtube. But there’s competition on the horizon that’s hot news. She calls here self the Queen of Pattaya. She’s a sex worker who gives tips about what she says are the best spots in town. And she promotes her colleagues along the way. Today she’s at a foam party. Her clips can garner up to one million clicks. We ask if she’s here to promote the place, or to promote the girls. I want as many

people as possible to come to Thailand. And to get to know my favorite places and my friends. And I want them to see what a beautiful smile Thai women have. And this is what it looks like online. Here the self-proclaimed Queen of Pattaya is promoting the hotel of her choice. It’s a place where sex workers come along with the room. Again, prostitution is officially illegal in Thailand. Yet we’re surprised at how often it’s promoted on Youtube despite the fact. We decided to take a closer look. A

nd find this exact hotel not only on major booking platforms, but also with Germany’s largest tour operator. TUI markets Selina Place on its homepage. The hotel did not reply to our request for information. Is the German travel industry earning money from sex tourism in Pattaya? And if it is, why are red-light hotels being marketed? We’ve asked TUI and are waiting for a reply. Pattaya’s slums are located right next door to the red light districts. Today, the child protection staff of Human Help

Network is back on the streets. Children from impoverished neighborhoods are the most defenseless and easiest prey for pedophile predators. The children play games that teach them how they can protect themselves from attacks in the red-light district. They also learn which body parts should not be touched at all by strangers. The organization stresses that there is a big difference between adult prostitution and child abuse. But there are links. We ask if they believe western travel companies ar

e partly to blame? Yes, definitely. Because you know, for the majority of the tourists, they are given certain instructions, that you have to go get a visa like this, but one thing that has never been in the picture of the tourist is that there are certain moral and traditional issues that you have to respect. Even though Thailand is very well known for sex tourism, but it doesn’t mean that you can behave whatever you like wherever you like to whomever you like. When you have interaction with l

ocal people, they’re not prostitutes. We have to educate the children that that is not acceptable here in the normal and functional society here. We’ve been invited to a police press conference in Pattaya. Thailand’s deputy chief of police has traveled from Bangkok to report on the latest progress in the fight against illegal sex studios and child prostitution. He tells us that large parts of the illegal sex industry in Pattaya are in hands of the Chinese mafia. We use the opportunity to learn m

ore about the man from Frankfurt in custody. You recently announced that the Cobra Bar in Pattaya was closed because underaged prostitutes worked there. You said that a German customer was arrested. Could you tell us what’s happened to the suspect? Yes, I’d be pleased to. Witnesses we questioned said he had sex with at least one underaged prostitute. He’s been charged with child abuse. The British owner of the bar is being investigated for human trafficking. The German is being held in Pattaya.

We’re waiting for the trial to start. The deputy police chief’s message was clear - there will be no leniency for pedophile sex tourists. The laws will be applied to their full extent. But what he didn’t know at the time, was that the German suspect would successfully escape from Thailand just seven days later under scandalous circumstances. We managed to get in touch with the man after he fled to Germany. It came as a surprise that he agreed to give us an interview in Frankfurt. He said he paid

considerable bribes to get from Thailand to Germany. He fled because he believed you wouldn’t get a fair trial there. But he nevertheless wanted to remain anonymous and would not show his face. Why are you giving us an interview? Because I want to show you this injustice. It starts off with the charges they leveled against me. It’s all in Thai, so there’s no way for me to know what it says. I have a document here that ensured I was allowed to leave. Several people signed it: A prosecutor and a

judge. A police officer initiated the process. Of course, I had to pay a bribe for everything. It all cost me far in excess of one million Thai Baht. Here it is. He shows us a video meant to prove that he really did pay the equivalent of 30,000 euros in bribes, as well as 20,000 euros for bail and lawyers, in order to leave Thailand. And this despite the fact that he is charged with sexually abusing children. He denies the allegations. Unfortunately, I met many people who demonstrably claimed th

e girls were underaged. If you’d like, I can show you a video. This girl was definitively 15 years old at the time. And you simply have to say in your own defense: A man just can’t see that then and there. The youngest one, for example, let me show you, was her, here... For God’s sake! Exactly. At first, if doesn’t strike you that you’re looking at children. I must say, you really can’t tell with Thai women. I swear I could show you 30-year-old Thai women without any wrinkles... But let’s be hon

est, that’s obviously child you’re showing me in the picture. Yes, it is. But by then you must have realized that you’d ended up in a pedophile bar. That’s right. I mean, I have to say that Aom didn’t lie to me. She told me right up front the girl was 15. So that would mean that the allegations against you are true. I have to admit that the accusations against me are true. I was in a bar where underaged girls were working and I probably took an underaged girl back with me. But my case is special

because the girl threw up several times and went home. I really don’t want to sugarcoat it. I took her from the bar to my place with the aim of having sex with her. That’s correct. But if the accusations are true, why do you feel you’ve been unjustly treated? I feel I was treated unfairly by the police because I don’t understand how so many underaged girls could be working at a bar. If I were a pedophile, I have to say it would’ve been easy for me. Within just a few weeks, I’d already seen coun

tless bars where pedophiles were working. And it’s easy to go to these “short time” hotels and take a woman with you. And nobody would know my name or what I had done. At the bar, they actually... I don’t really want to accuse you of anything, but you seem to know the scene really well. You know how it works. When you’ve been visiting Thailand for thirty years, traveling to Pattaya, and going out with friends to bars, then you just see it. And I have to say, it almost works like a livestock auct

ion. The women are just a commodity to be traded, and it gets bigger and bigger, and all the people there just adjust. It’s like an industry. Well, then maybe it’s not such a good idea to hang around this livestock market. Correct. In future, I’d advise anyone against going there. After the interview, we still had unanswered questions. The most urgent being: Why was this man not under investigation in Germany? Prosecutors with the appropriate authority said they hadn’t been made aware of the cas

e. That’s in spite of the fact that Bangkok has two liaison officers from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office who are usually informed about any investigation against German citizens. The court in Pattaya explained that the suspect had departed for a business trip, which he had been permitted to do. Contrary to court orders, he hadn’t returned to Thailand afterwards. The trial is now on hold until the arrest warrant can be executed. Our question as to why German authorities were not informe

d remains unanswered. That leaves the question of what Germany’s largest travel company has to say about this hotel in Pattaya. TUI replied, stating that they hadn’t known about the conditions within the hotel. They had instead relied on a database of available beds. They added that they had now ensured it was no longer possible to book a room at Selina Place on the TUI platform. We pointed out that TUI’s website was marketing many other hotels right in the middle of Pattaya’s red light district

, and that serious cases of child abuse were on the rise there. The company replied again: We’ve gone back and double-checked the hotels on offer and have blocked our database interface with hotels in the district in question with immediate effect(...) Additionally, we have advised the databases we work with not to include these hotels in their portfolios and to verify to us that they meet ECPAT-criteria. ECPAT is an internationally active children’s rights organization. In Germany, its headquar

ters are located in Freiburg. Jana Schrempp and her colleagues have been reminding travel companies of their social responsibilities for decades. Most have since signed voluntary commitments against child prostitution. She says it’s an encouraging sign that TUI, following our research, removed all the hotels in Pattaya’s red-light district from its program. She adds that it’s problematic that German travel companies are earning money from sex tourism at all. I find that a bit surprising. Quality

management is a big thing for all private enterprises. It shouldn’t be so hard to keep an eye on issues like prostitution and threats to child welfare. But what your research clearly shows is that the threat of perpetrators being discovered is far too low. They have nothing to fear, and that has to change. We won’t be able to prevent all crimes committed against children. The criminals have too many pernicious strategies for gaining access to children, to manipulate them and make them dependent

. But we have to make it harder for them. What about the role of the German police? How is it possible that no investigations have been taken up against a man who is accused of abusing children, and who fled from Thailand to Germany? It’s shocking, isn’t it? But it’s because, clearly, there was no exchange of information. If no official charges are filed in Germany, then no investigation can take place. You’ve touched on a real sore spot there. Why haven’t the Thai authorities notified the Germa

n liaison officers in Bangkok? That would be in line with German law. We have this principle of extraterritoriality, according to which German offenders who commit crimes abroad can be prosecuted in Germany. We once surveyed prosecutors and courts in Germany, and they searched - by hand — for how many cases had been processed between 2005 and 2015 using extraterritorial jurisdiction. There were only 38. They probably didn’t find all the cases, but still... We’ve got a good legal framework. That’

s not where the loophole is. What we have is an implementation loophole. After nearly a year of research, we concluded our filming in Pattaya. The sex worker Aom is still waiting for child support payments from Germany. Her lawyer is trying to find the new address for the father of her child. Her chances of getting some money for Tim look good. And the sex tourists in Pattaya? For them it’s just another normal day, or at least what’s seemingly treated as normal here.