We were recently taping for a Christian TV show and went to Bangkok to film in the red light district to show where child beggars and child prostitutes end up after they are trafficked from our border. During one of our nights on one of the most notorious prostitution streets, we ran into an 8-year-old begging boy named Som. He had the sweetest voice and looked terrified to be in such a dirty dark place. We talked with him and found out that his father put him there to beg because of their desperate situation.
Som’s mother is a prostitute and she gave birth to triplets 8 years ago. The first one, Som, survived, but the other two were attached at the head. One died and the other suffered brain damage. Their mother left her family to go to work in Bangkok. When she didn’t return, the father chased after her begging her to not forget her family. Soon after, the mother left the father and stopped sending them money. She said she didn’t care about them anymore and she would rather them starve to death than give up her life of money and prostitution. The father had quit his job to care for his special needs son, and Som had to beg on the street to support the family.
We visited their home in the slum and pleaded with the father to take him off the street and out of that dangerous situation. Because of our intervention, we were able to put Som in school, and are currently finding a program or daycare for special needs children around their slum in order to enable the dad to go to work for the family. We have connected them with some local friends from a church in Bangkok that will visit and monitor them weekly.
That fateful night, a little boy’s life was rescued and changed forever! Because of our faithful supporters, we can be at the right place at the right time to intervene and rescue these little ones! Because of people like you, Som is no longer a statistic; now he is sitting at a school desk instead of a street corner!
