ABSTRACT
Building on the discussion on sex trafficking as a human rights abuse and the competing ideologies surrounding the issue, this chapter dives deeper into what sex trafficking is and provides an explanatory account of the different functions, actors, techniques used by traffickers, and government and NGO responses to sex trafficking in Thailand compared to the US. It reveals discrepancies between the two countries, and within each country, regarding what sex trafficking is, who should be considered trafficked and the best ways to combat the issue. The chapter shows how competing notions of choice result in unclear definitions about who is a consenting prostitute and who is a victim of sex trafficking. It is believed that the disparity in economic development between Thailand and neighboring countries in the Mekong sub-region has been the impetus for a great deal of cross-border migration into Thailand that has driven individuals to seek work in Thailand who have ended up forced into sex trafficking.
