What are the Western NGOs really up to?

In the midst of a storm of stories on people-trafficking, The Nation published a report that should not be ignored. Western non-governmental organisations trotted off to the US State Department to speak against Thailand by backing America’s decision to keep the country on Tier 3 of the Trafficking in Persons Report. Shame on them.  

Americans who travel abroad are often surprised to learn about the concept of NGOs. I was among them. There are virtually no NGOs in the US, or at least none known to represent other countries and claiming to be “helping” America. Yet many NGOs in Thailand are US-funded. This is especially true of the “rescue industry”, which has an oppressive record of rescuing sex workers who have no interest in being rescued. After the TIP programme, these NGOs are the most aggressive way America exports both its sex culture and its criminal-justice culture.   

Thailand should ask “why NGOs?” and ensure more oversight of these groups. Cambodia did just that recently. Many NGOs espouse Christian values or are even fronts for churches, and use their freedom in Thailand to proselytise in a majority-Buddhist country. Every country should ask if it wants the unrestricted help of international non-government organisations.      

John Kane