| The United Nations is working to combat human | | | | those trained as tour guides and for local |
| trafficking among Thailand's poor hill tribes - with an | | | | craftspeople who sell their wares. |
| anti-poverty program to make communities less | | | | "They can take the tourist on the tour by |
| vulnerable to traffickers. The program has set-up | | | | themselves and we have many volunteer and they |
| home-stays in traditional villages to attract tourist | | | | can manage the tour by themselves," he says. |
| spending. | | | | In Baan Jalae village, 45-year-old Natee Lafu, of the |
| The Lahu hill tribe village of Baan Jalae, 30 kilometers | | | | Lahu tribe, says the home stay program has |
| north of Thailand's Chiang Rai township, is opening its | | | | definitely benefited her family. Mrs. Natee says life is |
| doors and homes to tourists interested in | | | | better than before the program began. Now her |
| experiencing the traditions and culture of the region. | | | | family earns money. Most importantly, she says, her |
| Visitors stay with local families and spend money - | | | | family is kept together and safe. |
| helping villagers combat poverty, which makes them | | | | Mrs. Natee says not everyone has been so lucky. |
| vulnerable to false promises of human traffickers. | | | | Many women and girls were lured away by promises |
| The U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights says that | | | | of jobs in the city. Some disappeared. |
| as many as 12,000 women and children in these | | | | In 2004, the Thai government made combating |
| villages are likely targets. | | | | human trafficking a policy priority - pledging to |
| The U.N.'s International Labor Organization (ILO) is | | | | overhaul laws and to create a special police task |
| sponsoring the tourism initiative in three northern Thai | | | | force to crackdown on corrupt politicians and border |
| provinces: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phayao. | | | | police. |
| The program attracts tourists who are interested in | | | | In another northern Thai village of Baan Ajar, the sun |
| living with the Lahu, Akha and Karen tribes. | | | | is setting and the Akha hill tribe people are lighting |
| In the afternoon light, in Baan Jalae, Lahu men and | | | | fires along the dirt road to keep warm ahead of the |
| women in traditional dress perform a simple dance to | | | | approaching night. |
| welcome visitors. | | | | Beyond the afternoon shadows, the trafficking gangs |
| Hill Tribe Tours is operating the program with funding | | | | still lie in wait hoping to lure victims away from their |
| from the ILO Somsak Malee, with the tour company, | | | | homes with promises of wealth and good jobs. But |
| says not only does the home-stay project provide | | | | for the moment the tourists are coming, keeping |
| incomes for families hosting tourists, but also for | | | | poverty at bay, amid hopes for a better future. |