WARNING: THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ENTRY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL EYES. THIS IS HARD STUFF TO READ, BUT IT IS AN HONEST ACCOUNT OF WHAT PASTOR MATTHEW IS ENCOUNTERING. I just finished a skype call with Matthew (how odd to have a face to face conversation with someone on the other side of the world who is already on tomorrow’s time). He is doing well, and feels that the trip is effective. We had a chance to pray before hanging up. We would continue to encourage you to keep Matthew in your prayers as well. Here is an update from yesterday that we just received.

Bangkok is big … almost 8 million people … NYC big. While a few parts of it seem worn and crumbling, most of what I see is modern and cosmopolitan with a hint of the ancient. New glass high rises along side beautifully carved and colorful Buddhist temples, clean modern luxury cars battle for a place on the street with the occasional elephant, motorbikes and tuk tuks, the ornately decorated motorized tricycles that carry their passengers to the red light district just a few minutes from where we are staying.

Its funny what you don’t notice at first. It was my roommate Kristian who pointed out the first of what became a steady stream of middle aged western men leading young Thai women through the hotel lobby to the elevators. We sit in the hotel lobby and watch them pass, usually one couple at a time but sometimes small groups of men who have traveled here from across the world to buy a “companion” for a few hours, days, maybe a week. We are witnessing “sex tourism” and its disgusting.

Kathy Maskell tells us that many victims of child sex trafficking will know nothing else and move from the brothels in the country to a life of prostitution as young women in the Pat Pong district of Bangkok. Technically we are unlikely to see children being trafficked in this place, but “technically” you would then have forget for now that the definition of a child here (15 is the age of consent) is different from our own. You would also have to forget the fact that prostitution is illegal in Thailand. This the end of the story for many victims of trafficking is life in the sex clubs of Bangkok.

The red light district itself covers about 6 city blocks and is just a 15 minute walk from our upscale hotel. Picture a flea market complete with all the typical flea market commodities. There are street vendors selling knock off luxury items … Gucci bags and Rolex watches … pirated DVDs … T-shirts of every variety (sadly including many of Che) The market sits in between rows of sex clubs where the commodity is people. Outside the clubs men and women aggressively approach you (and may even poke you) with a menu for sex shows and services encouraging you into their respective club. Most of the time the clubs are open to the street. In plain view there is a large raised platform where dozens of young women dance together wearing bikinis, high heels and a number. Men shop for women, choose a number and pay to sit and have a drink or two with her and then negotiate the rest of the deal which leads to the steady stream of men and prostitutes in our hotel lobby. It is the scope of this that is amazing. The area is big and the sheer numbers of dancer/prostitutes and perverts is staggering. There is a street in the red light that caters specifically to japanese businessmen … there is a street dedicated to purchasing young boys and men (this was the worst actually … the pimps outside the club so aggressive that it creates a mildly threatening experience). The other thing that distinguishes this is that it is all out in the open. No one is even trying to hide it. The authorities seem content to over look it. The johns walk around emboldened by the anonymity of being so far from home.

I find myself (Kristian too I think) very grateful for the women that we are traveling with for it is only their presence that suggests we are not there to buy sex. Otherwise it is assumed that we are. I find myself at times ashamed to be here … not for anything Im doing or thinking … but because Im white, Im a man, and I look like every other pervert walking around.

Tomorrow we head to Cambodia to see where and how the story begins for many trafficked and sexually exploited children … and meet some people who are slowly but surely turning the tide.