Child labor in Poipet (Photo: Vannara, Koh Santepheap newspaper)
Bangkok PostIt's 6am and the Thai-Cambodian border gate is already crowded with people. Scores of migrant workers, including children as young as 10, have thronged the gate, waiting for it to be unlocked and pushed open by border guards. The crowd is destined for Talat Rong Kluea, the bustling border market known for its second-hand goods in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province.
Children at work is a familiar sight in this market. Youngsters can be seen all over the place, offering push-cart services, getting paid for holding umbrellas for travellers, or removing the wings of insects, like grasshoppers, before they are fried as snacks, which can earn them as much as 60 baht a day.
Most of the children are either school dropouts, or have never attended one.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), one-fifth, or 2,000 of the 10,000 labouring at the Cambodian border market, are children aged between 12-18.
The number is a conservative estimate as many youngsters accompanying their parents also do other kinds of jobs. Children crossing illegally through the nearby barb wire fence into the territory to work is also a daily occurrence.
A growing demand for labour in the area recently prompted the Thai and Cambodian governments to strike a new deal, allowing Cambodian children no less than 12 years of age to work in the market.
However, the deal is worrying child rights advocates.
''We cannot keep children from helping their families,'' said Sirirath Chunnasart, a child protection officer attached to the Unicef's Thailand office.
''But we are also worried they would become targets of child exploitation. Some have been physically abused while many have fallen victim to human trafficking or prostitution gangs,'' she said.
According to Ms Sirirath, the situation in this part of the border is different from the situation at the Burma and Lao borders, where child smuggling is more rampant.
''It is clear that Cambodian children are drawn to jobs. They forsake education just to tap a lucrative income,'' she said.
Unicef has classified the market as a child labour risk area.
Since 2003, the agency has set aside an annual budget of three million baht for the World Vision Foundation to run the ''Drop In Centre Project'' - a health centre for Cambodian child workers in the area.
Open daily from 8am to 5pm, the centre provides free medical check-ups, basic medical treatment and medicines to these children. The centre also offers child development courses such as free Thai and Khmer language classes and recreational activities such as painting, singing, toys and a library.
Chittra Plongthong, 29, a staff of the World Vision Foundation, said nearly 100 children turn up at the centre every day. Many bear scars and bruises on their bodies, she said.
''These kids are hit or abused physically by their employers. We once found a child who was hit by a pipe and another who was punished with electric shocks. Many had their heads shaved,'' she said.
The centre has become a popular place for Cambodian child labourers. Among them is Loy, an 18-year-old worker who has worked at the market for five years. He usually drops by to meet friends and staff at the centre.
He said he lost his father to a landmine and needed to work to support his family.
He works at a construction site and earns a daily wage of around 200-300 baht - a relatively handsome amount as the monthly salary of a teacher in Cambodia is only around 3,000 baht.
''I have never been to school. But the money I make enables my younger brothers and sisters to get schooling,'' he said, adding it is a tradition that older children work to support their younger family members.
Loy has been a regular at the centre for three years. One of the reasons is that the centre helps him to stay clear of drugs. Loy was once addicted to amphetamines _ the drug that enabled him to work long hours. He still occasionally sniffs glue, but is trying to kick the habit.
The centre staff is also tasked with monitoring child trafficking. Men pretending to represent job placement agencies have approached children or their parents, promising them jobs in Bangkok or Pattaya. These agents usually look for good looking boys and girls.
Apart from the health centre, the foundation also runs another project, called the Border Victim Support Team (BVST), a mobile unit providing help to child workers. BVST also works with other Cambodia-based non-governmental organisations such as Don Bosco, Krousar Thmey, Goutte d'Eau and Cambodian Hope Organisation to convince parents of the importance of education in the hope they will send their children back to school, or at least reduce work hours in order that these children can attend classes regularly.
It's not an easy task, though.
Kimthean Shan, 29, a member of the staff of the World Vision Foundation's Cambodia office, said only a small number of children, 58 cases, have returned to school as most parents are still struggling with poverty.
''I want my kids to go to school but there are just too many dependants in our family, too many mouths to feed,'' said Nga Ork, 37, a mother of eight.
She can only afford to let two of her children attend school.
''At first, the older ones attended school but then had to drop out for work,'' said the woman, a Sisophon native, who cannot work because of poor health. Her husband left her many years ago.
Having settled in Poipet five years ago, the family crosses the border for odd jobs at the market. They live in a shabby hut made of black cardboard. Since they have no tapwater, they need to buy water for washing, cooking and drinking every day.
''Here we have to work to get money just to survive. I dare not think of the future,'' said Mrs Nga Ork.
