A
boycott, organized by an
eponymous non-profit organization, aimed at eliminating the child
sex industry first in
Thailand and then worldwide. They were based in
Brooklyn, and allied with
End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (
ECPAT). Thailand had been singled out as D!B!T!'s primary target because of the country's first rank in sheer numbers of child
sex slaves.
D!B!T! urged everyone to refuse to buy any goods produced in Thailand. They hoped boycott would have both the high profile and the economic impact necessary to force the Thai government to "get serious" about destroying the child sex industry within its borders.
Don't! Buy! Thai! ceased operations in the summer of 2000, citing "significant" changes of both laws and enforcement patterns within Thailand, the general collapse of the Thai economy, and diffusion of the child sex industry throughout Southeast Asia.
Thailand has an extremely large and profitable sex industry, both child and adult. An estimate in 1993 placed the earnings of the Thai sex industry at $1.5 billion anually. Businessmen and sexual tourists from all over the world flock to Thailand specifically for sexual vacations. Much of this sexual tourism is, unfortunately, undertaken by pedophiles seeking sex with children.
EPCAT estimated, in the early 1990s, that there were 200,000 child sex "workers" in Thailand.
Andrew Vachss, author and lawyer (who takes cases only related to the sexual abuse of children), had written a mission statement for Don't! Buy! Thai!. It is reproduced below.
Stop Child Sex Tourism
by Andrew Vachss
Language—the most powerful weapon we humans have ever created. Sometimes, that weapon is used against innocent children. Take the term “Child Prostitution.” Journalists use it so often it has become part of our common language. But “prostitution” is the exchange of sex for money. Often called a “victimless crime”—in itself, a moronic statement—the public perceives the word “prostitute” as pejorative. Indeed, we call a person who “sells out” his/her moral convictions in exchange for personal gain a “prostitute”. The essence of “prostitution” implies consent. So when pedophiles talk about “child prostitution," they (deliberately) further the lie that little children are “seductive," that they “volunteer” to have sex with freaks...in exchange for cash that they never see. A despicable myth, lovingly nourished by the flesh-peddlers.
Pedophiles want to sneak sexual exploitation into the “prostitution” continuum. If we allow the term “child prostitution” to gain a sufficient foothold in our language, we surrender ground to the enemy. There is no such thing as “child prostitution." That term contradicts itself, “proving” a lie. This is child sexual exploitation, nothing else and nothing less. We need to change the language. We don’t change language with more language—we change it with behavior. And, sometimes, the highest form of behavior is what we don’t do...what we refuse to do.
Perhaps you’ve heard—although if you relied on the American media, probably not—about the “war” against “kiddie sex tourism” in Southeast Asia, with Thailand being the main offender. Well, this hasn’t been anything close to a war—in a war, people shoot back. With your help, we propose to change all that.
Not only is the foul “business” of kiddie sex tourism rampant throughout Southeast Asia, the “host countries" themselves have, by their conduct, proclaimed themselves proudly corrupt and profoundly evil. Thailand has been a safe harbor for predatory pedophiles from all over the world. But what Thailand has not been, up to now, is accountable. And that’s where you come in....
What we need are warriors committed to force Thailand to change its ways. And our weapon of choice is BOYCOTT. We want Americans to boycott anything made or manufactured in Thailand. Thailand sells its children like products. It traffics in the flesh of its own babies. For money. And the only thing that will stop it is the loss of money.
Many products sold in America—from “figurines” fashioned from comics superheroes or cartoon characters, to video games, to sneakers, to dresses of Thai silk—are made in a country which is for many of its children, HELL ON EARTH.
We want you to support the boycott personally and urge others to do the same. We want you to write about it, talk about it, sing about, upload it, paint it, sculpt it, soapbox it, editorialize it—whatever you can do to help bring the baby-peddlers down. The “Made in Thailand” label is a symbol of foul dishonor. It should be rejected by all consumers, not just those with children of their own. And the next time you hear someone use the term “child prostitution,” tell them the TRUTH!
We want you to tell your friends to tell their friends. We want to have the world’s first “chain letter” that breaks chains! None of us will buy anything that says “Made in Thailand” on it.
We can’t change a country’s morals, but we can sure as hell change its behavior. So Don't! Buy! Thai!—and tell them (all!) why.
—Andrew Vachss
Information taken from the Don't! Buy! Thai! website (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8931/b2.html), and the article "Child Sex Tourism" by David Hechler.