2 teenagers freed from sex trafficking at a karaoke bar in Thailand

For many in Western countries, it may be hard to fathom how normalized the culture of karaoke bars with an undercurrent of sex trafficking has become in Thailand.

These karaoke bars have a few consistent features: karaoke machines set up for tourists on thick, humid Thai nights to try their voices on singing old classics. The private party rooms that are common in Asian karaoke culture. And often, drinks served by young women and girls.

But there can also be darker services offered.

Bar owners often bring in teenage girls to work in these establishments, touting them as fun work environments and easy money. But they quickly begin pressuring the girls to offer sexual services to patrons as “extras” that can be bought alongside their drinks and their songs. 

Bar owners often bring in teenage girls to work in these establishments, touting them as fun work environments and easy money. But they quickly begin pressuring the girls to offer “extras” that can be bought alongside their drinks and their songs.  (AI image representative for security purposes)

Sex tourism is a massive industry in Southeast Asia, and this type of predator knows what signs to look for when hunting for a karaoke bar to have the kind of time they’re looking for: drinking, dancing, singing, and a side of horrific exploitation of minors.

Police expected that this was exactly what was happening to a few teenage girls at a karaoke bar in a tourist area in Thailand. They asked The Exodus Road to investigate.

These are the kinds of cases that we have worked on hundreds of times since our earliest years in partnership with Thai police nearly 15 years ago. Quickly, our investigators were able to identify that teenage girls were being trafficked for sex in the karaoke bar. The bar owners were taking a cut every single time a customer bought time using the girls’ bodies.

Because of our team’s deep knowledge of these kinds of cases, The Exodus Road was able to assist police in recovering the two teenage girls being exploited in the bar and arresting the bar owner. 

Although other karaoke bars are still operating this way, each new bar shut down sends a signal to the rest: there is risk involved in exploiting girls in this way. We know where to look, and we will keep looking until all are free.