[1] One recent U.S. State Department study reported an estimated 20,000 children on the streets of Thailand's major urban centres.
Organized gangs often exploit street children to work as beggars or to sell flowers and miscellaneous items.
Working conditions for these children are usually poor, leaving them exposed to the elements for long periods of time and to further exploitation.
They are more likely than other children to contract HIV/AIDS and to engage in lifelong criminal or self-destructive behaviors, for example, abusing drugs and sniffing glues.
[10] They also face a serious long-term threat to their rights and their future – the likelihood of ever having an opportunity to fulfill their potential – since living on the streets virtually ensures that they have to stop school.