In 2005, the governments of Thailand and Cambodia agreed to protect Cambodian women and children who are victims of trafficking, and are begging for money in Thailand.
However, there are many children in Laos who go to Thailand to work in order to supplement their families’ income. Some of these children leave as early as the end of primary school. Some even drop out of primary school to work. Many of these children, once out of school, are likely to be forced to work by traders, because they do not understand the Thai language.
Taeng Angthong was in the fourth grade of primary school. She lived in the village of Laokha in Khammuane Province in southern Laos. One day, she told her friend about her anxiety and her sadness.
“My sister is not happy that I attend school,” she said. Taeng was supposed to get a Darunee Scholarship until she completed the last grade of primary school. However, since talking to her friend, she has disappeared from her classroom.
Taeng’s sister moved out from her parent’s house and has been living in the neighborhood since their father’s death. She is married with three children and is handling her and her mother’s family household accounts. She asked Taeng to go to Thailand to help pay off their debt.
In Laokha, it is not unusual for children to go to work in Thailand to support their family after they graduate from primary school, or even before. Unfortunately, this trend has been increasing.
Taeng did not want to go to Thailand. She wanted to continue her studies. However, she was obligated to help her family.
Not long after Taeng left home, she sent back 4000 baht (about US$120), more than her family’s annual income. No one in her family understands how a 13-year-old girl, who does not have any skill and cannot even understand the Thai language, can make that much money.
There are so many children in the same situation as Taeng, who are taken and forced to work in Thailand, even at resorts, to pay off their family’s debts.
