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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Sudden spike in searches for VPNs as porn users look to get around new ID checks
Britain's new porn laws sparked a huge surge in VPN use, suggesting porn users are rushing to dodge the strict new age checks. Under rules that came into force on Friday, UK users must prove they are over 18 to access pornographic websites, with some platforms demanding ID uploads or even facial scans. Major sites including Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube, Cam4, and others have told regulator Ofcom they've rolled out these checks. Social media and messaging platforms such as Reddit, Discord, Bluesky, Grindr, and X have also introduced age verification measures. But the clampdown appears to have backfired as online searches for VPNs, which can disguise a user's location, spiked by more than 700 per cent on Friday morning, suggesting thousands are already looking for ways around the restrictions. VPNs help users appear as though they're browsing from another country, allowing them to access sites without triggering the local ID checks. Experts had previously warned that the technology could be used by users trying to bypass the system. Marcus Johnstone, a criminal defence solicitor, told The Independent that such measures won't prevent access to fringe forums or the dark web, where much online exploitation occurs. He said: 'It will also do nothing to restrict access to [fringe] forums, where much online exploitation takes place, or to the dark web, which remains easily available to those with the motivation to look.' Under the new rules any sites fail to do the checks, Ofcom can impose fines and in very serious cases apply for a court order to prevent the site or app from being available. 'We will be actively checking compliance from 25 July and, should it be necessary, we expect to launch any investigations into individual services next week,' Ofcom said. Why is the porn crackdown happening? According to Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, making life safer online 'is one of the defining challenges of our era'. 'Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling,' he said. 'But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online. 'Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.' How do the age checks work? Ofcom has listed seven methods that porn providers could use. Ultimately, which one they opt for is their decision, not Ofcom's, but their chosen method must be 'highly effective' at correctly determining if a user is under 18. Ofcom's seven suggested strategies are photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator (MNO) age checks, credit card checks, email-based age estimation, digital identity services and open banking. Open banking works by accessing the information a bank has on record regarding a user's age, while photo-ID matching involves uploading a verified photo-ID document, like a PDF of a passport of driving licence. Facial age estimate works by analysing the features of a user's face from a photo to work their age, while MNO age checks involve mobile-network operators applying age-restriction filters themselves. Because you must be 18 to get a credit card in the UK, credit card checks are also listed as 'highly effective', as are email-based age estimations, which estimate your age based on other services where you've provided your email address. 'The process can be as simple as submitting an email address and will return an accurate result in seconds,' explained Lina Ghazal, head of regulatory and public affairs at safety tech firm Verifymy. What happens if porn sites don't comply? Ofcom says that many porn sites have already put their age checks in place. It stresses that the law applies to all sites and apps that allow pornography – whether they are dedicated adult sites or social media, search or gaming services. Fines for non-comply could be up to £18 million or 10 per cent of the platform's qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. The Online Safety Act The crackdown is part of the Online Safety Act 2023 – a set of laws that protects children and adults online. Mrs Ghazal said it is a 'great step forward for child safety', adding: 'It means some of the world's biggest sites will have highly effective age assurance in place that protects children and also preserves the privacy of users.' The idea of implementing age checks on pornography websites, and fining those sites that don't comply, has existed for several years now. Back in 2016, the UK government launched a public consultation over plans to implement age checks on pornography sites. It was then included in the Digital Economy Act 2017 – but the provision was delayed and eventually abandoned in October 2019. Government said at the time age checks would be delivered through its 'proposed online harms regulatory regime' – in other words, the Online Safety Bill. One criticism of age-checking technology for porn is regarding concerns about handing sensitive identification information – namely age or date of birth – to third parties. 'Everyone realised right from the start – 2016 – that users were not going to want to share their name, let alone a copy of their passport or driving licence, with a porn site,' said Iain Corby, director of Age Verification Providers Association. New research from Ofcom reveals the extent to which children are accessing porn online, and underlines the need for new measures to protect them. It found that eight per cent of children aged 8-14 in the UK visited an online porn site or app in a month – including around 3 per cent of 8–9-year-olds – the youngest children in the study. Ofcom's research tracked the use of websites and apps by 8–14-year-olds across smartphones, tablets and computers over a month. Boys aged 13-14 (19 per cent) were mostly likely to visit a porn service, significantly more than girls the same age (11 per cent).
The Sun
24-07-2025
- The Sun
Chilling signs of ‘siblicide' as experts warn of dangerous rise… after teen smothered toddlers to ‘save them from Satan'
BRITISH schoolgirl Amber Gibson was just 16 when she was stripped naked, sexually assaulted, beaten over the head, and strangled in a horrific woodland killing. The beast behind the murder? Not a depraved stranger or a serial killer, but Amber's big brother, Connor Gibson - the boy who was supposed to love and protect her the most. 20 20 20 'The last person she saw alive was you, her brother, strangling the life out of her after having beaten her up and tried to rape her,' a judge told Gibson following the 2021 murder. Amber - who suffered another harrowing fate in death, when the stranger who found her body further violated it - is a victim of siblicide, where one sibling is killed by another. Though common among animals - particularly birds, in competition for food - this type of homicide is rare in humans, whose longest-lasting relationships are often with their siblings. When it does happen, it sends shockwaves through families - with the heartbroken mum of one killer who stabbed his four-year-old sister 17 times revealing: 'I lost both of my children.' And worryingly, experts warn that cases of sororicide (killing one's sister) and fratricide (killing one's brother) could soar amid a mental health crisis among Britain's youngsters. 'Recent siblicide cases appear to indicate that mental ill health is a major factor,' UK criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone, who specialises in sex crime, tells The Sun. A recent NHS survey reveals one in four young people in England have a common mental health condition - a 47 per cent increase on 2007 figures. Meanwhile, Marcus says sex crime cases involving siblings are rising - with the 'easy availability of extreme porn sites ' feared to be contributing to such vile attacks. 'My concern is the ever-increasing number of children and young adults who have mental health problems,' adds Marcus, of Cheshire-based PCD Solicitors. 'If we get to the stage where a psychotic disorder is combined with drug and porn addiction, and an underlying sibling rivalry or dispute, this may escalate to siblicide.' Amber Gibson's evil brother Connor jailed for life for murdering & sexually assaulting his teen sister 20 20 For most siblings their bond forms at an early age. They grow up together - navigating family dynamics, sibling rivalry and hurdles in their own lives while under the same roof. It is during this shared childhood that criminologists say the roots of siblicide can form. 'Siblings should be our first teachers in sharing, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution,' behavioural criminologist Alex Iszatt tells us. 'But for some, the home becomes a training ground for violence instead. "Who hasn't shouted, 'I hate you,' at the top of your lungs to a brother or sister? Yet that rage rarely turns deadly.' In the Gibsons' case the siblings, born into a troubled family, had gone into foster care when Amber was three. At the time, her brother, then five, had declared: 'We are safe.' But these three words would prove untrue for Amber when Gibson - by then a 19-year-old man - savagely attacked her in Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, Scotland in November 2021. The fiend battered his little sister, broke her nose, tore off her clothing and sexually assaulted her with the intention of raping her, before strangling her with his hands. Jailing Gibson for life at the High Co urt in Livingston two years later, Lord Mulholland told the merciless killer that Amber 'would have looked to you, as her big brother, for support'. 'What you did was truly evil,' Lord Mulholland added. The judge also slammed Stephen Corrigan - a stranger who inappropriately touched Amber's body, then concealed it, after discovering her - for his 'despicable conduct'. 'Any decent human being, on coming across the naked body of a young girl who was unconscious or possibly dead, would immediately call the emergency services,' he said. 'Golden child' jealousy While Gibson's motive for Amber's murder remains unclear, experts say perpetrators of siblicide might be driven by greed, trauma, psychosis, or decades of 'unresolved' rage. In some cases, 'small micro-traumas - persistent emotional or physical wounds - build up over time like a simmering pot until they erupt in pure rage,' says Alex. Other killers act on jealousy; they feel resentful of their parents' perceived favouritism of a 'golden child', or the bond shared between their sibling and other family members. 'Psychologists call this 'sibling displacement rage', where anger aimed at parents, trauma, or even personal failure is redirected onto a brother or sister,' adds Alex. 'The 'chosen one' becomes the lightning rod - not because they caused the pain, but because they represent everything the angry sibling feels deprived of. 'Over the years, this resentment festers and can turn violently lethal.' 'Cold and calculated' 20 20 20 In 2016, Kim Edwards and her boyfriend Lucas Markham, both 14, became the UK's youngest double murderers when they slaughtered Edwards's mum and 13-year-old sister. Prosecutors said 'cold and calculated' Edwards had held a grudge against her mother, Liz Edwards, 49, before the double stabbing at the family's home in Spalding, Lincolnshire. She'd also felt resentful of her mum's close bond with her younger sister, Katie. 'I was not killing my sister out of anger, and I miss her, but I was excited about killing my mother and I was looking forward to it,' Edwards later chillingly told a psychiatrist. After murdering the pair as they slept, Edwards - who also confessed to being 'jealous' of Katie - had sex with Markham, feasted on ice cream, and watched the Twilight films. Nearly 5,000 miles away, in Texas, another teen - psychopath Paris Bennett - beat and murdered his four-year-old sister in a sick bid to hurt his mum 'in the worst possible way'. 20 20 20 Bennett, then 13, crept into little Ella's bedroom after convincing their babysitter to go home. He punched and tried to strangle the defenceless youngster, before knifing her 17 times. He also sexually attacked Ella, having browsed graphic porn like 'S&M', 'bondage' and 'sadism', and even searched for snuff films in the hours leading up to her murder. 'I had always known, as a child, that the most devastating thing to my mother would be the loss of one of her children,' Bennett, now rotting in jail, later told TV host Piers Morgan. 'And I found a way to take away both her children in one fell swoop.' The siblings' mum, Charity Lee, fainted when police told her that Ella had been killed. When she came to, she asked if her son was okay - only to find out that he was the murderer. Incredibly, despite Bennett's heinous actions, Charity managed to forgive her son. 'Only once I understood what Paris is - a predator - was I able to forgive him,' the grieving mum, who founded the ELLA foundation to help others impacted by violence, mental illness and the criminal justice system, wrote in an article for Good Housekeeping. She added: 'If I was swimming in a beautiful ocean, enjoying myself, and a shark came up and bit my leg off, hopefully I would not spend the rest of my life hating that shark. 'Hopefully, I would understand that sharks are what they are. And, for better or worse, Paris is a shark.' Infamy hungry 20 20 20 While some siblings kill out of jealousy or revenge, others crave notoriety. In March this year, a sadistic teen who dreamed of becoming Britain's worst mass killer was caged for life after shooting dead his brother, sister and mother at their Luton home. Nicholas Prosper - who had plotted a school shooting to make him 'globally notorious' - slaughtered Kyle, 16, and Giselle Prosper, 13, and Juliana Falcon, 48, last September. Then aged 18, a court heard he had sought to 'emulate and outdo' Sandy Hook shooting monster Adam Lanza - with his family becoming 'collateral damage' in his failed plot. '[Prosper] showed zero empathy,' says Alex. "His sister hid under a table, begging for her life before he shot her.' She adds that Prosper - who was 'deeply fascinated' by both high-profile murderers and rapists - displayed narcissistic psychopathy, a chilling detachment from human emotion. 'Hitman inquiry' While most cases of siblicide in the news involve teenagers, an American criminologist reveals that many perpetrators are actually adults who are acting 'in the moment'. 'The perpetrators are often adults, and the act is due to a heated argument influenced by drugs or alcohol, and is done in their own home due to easy access to weapons,' says Dr Angelo Brown, an assistant professor of criminology at Arkansas State University. He adds: 'Siblicides done by youth are rarer but often are more likely to make the news.' Typically, perpetrators of siblicide are male, with killer sisters 'much less common'. But just last month a woman appeared in court accused of knifing her sister to death before she was arrested allegedly with the victim's missing diamond Rolex. Nancy Pexton, 69, is accused of murdering film director Jennifer Abbott Dauward, known as Sarah Steinberg, at her flat in Camden, North London. In 2016, a 26-year-old woman - Sabah Khan, also from Luton - knifed her own sister 68 times in a ferocious hallway attack because she wanted to steal her husband. Khan - whose internet history included "hiring a hitman for £200" - had become consumed by jealousy after starting an ill-fated affair with sister Saima's husband, Hafeez Rehman. 20 20 Desiring Hafeez for herself, she delved into gruesome methods for murdering 34-year-old Saima - including paying a 'black magic priest' in Pakistan £5,000 to 'remotely' kill her. Eventually, she settled on butchering the mother-of-four with a knife bought from Tesco, as her victim's eldest daughter called down the stairs, "Auntie, are you killing a mouse?' Khan was later locked up for life, with a minimum of 22 years, after pleading guilty to murder. According to Alex, affairs are not the only type of family 'betrayal' that can spark siblicide. 'Financial betrayal is another trigger,' she tells us. 'Siblings who grow up competing for resources — whether love, attention, or inheritance — can reach a point where murder seems like the only way out.' Siblings who grow up competing for resources — whether love, attention, or inheritance — can reach a point where murder seems like the only way out Alex Iszatt Sometimes, a supposedly 'betrayed' sibling wishes to 'completely erase' the other. 'This can develop into a psychological obsession,' explains Alex. 'There have been cases where perpetrators don't just want what their sibling has - they want to be them.' Such killers might mirror their sibling's behaviour, or copy their appearance. 'The violence is more than physical; it's psychological annihilation,' says Alex. 'By killing their sibling, the perpetrator attempts to claim their identity.' The warning signs of siblicide Siblicide involves the killing of one sibling by another. It might present as sororicide (killing one's sister) or fratricide (killing one's brother). Experts tell The Sun that 'red flags' for siblicide include obsessive grudges, violent fantasies, sudden emotional detachment, and extreme bullying beyond typical sibling rivalry. 'Spotting warning signs early can save lives,' says behavioural criminologist Alex Iszatt (pictured left). 'Therapy and intervention help, but only if they come before homicidal planning starts.' Criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone (pictured right), who specialises in sex crime, adds: 'Such killings are extremely rare in the UK but, where it does arise, they are often linked to family arguments, jealousy or financial problems spanning many years, for example, the inheritance of a property. 'Siblicide which also involves a sexual assault is often linked to severe mental illness and drug abuse.' Some experts believe that 'full siblings' are less likely to be involved in siblicide. 'Research has indicated that there are differences between full-blood siblings, half-siblings, [and] step-siblings, as full siblings seem less likely to kill each other,' says Dr Brown. 'This is explained by evolutionary theories that we are more likely to protect those with whom we share DNA.' In 2022, a teen from Indiana, US, was jailed after smothering his 23-month-old half-sister, Desiree McCartney, and 11-month-old stepbrother, Nathaniel Ritz, to death. Nickalas Kedrowitz, who was just 13 at the time of the 2017 killings, reportedly wanted to free the toddler and baby 'from Satan and hell'. He was caged for 100 years. Whatever the motives, genetics and 'betrayals' behind siblicide, there is no doubt that the violent crime destroys the lives of more than the two siblings involved. "We now have one daughter buried in Larkhall Cemetery and another child in prison,' said Amber's devastated foster parents after her brother was convicted of her murder. "We really miss Amber - life will never be the same." And Bennett's mother Charity admitted: 'While I've learned to forgive Paris, you don't ever fully heal from something like that. You learn to live with it.' 20 20 20
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I've spent my legal career defending grooming gang suspects. Now they are accused of using a different tactic to target young girls
Grooming gangs are 'absolutely' still operating in Britain but have changed their tactics to target girls online rather than in the street, a lawyer with decades of experience defending suspects has said. Marcus Johnstone is managing director at PCD Solicitors in Warrington, which specialises in representing defendants accused of sex crimes. Over two decades as a practising solicitor, he has dealt with scores of clients accused of involvement in gang-based grooming and has several active cases currently underway. Far from being prosecuted out of existence, he says this type of crime 'is not only going on - it's increasing' - and has shifted to a younger generation of offenders. Mr Johnstone said he is receiving enquiries every week from 'young Pakistani Muslim men' who had been accused of grooming young children online - although he insisted many of them could be innocent and all are entitled to legal representation. He said these suspects were a mix of recent immigrants and men who had been born in the UK but had parents or grandparents from Pakistan. 'You've got a new generation coming along. I dealt with the men who were grooming girls from taxi stands, market stalls and takeaways, but I'm now seeing younger Pakistani Muslim men who are now getting into contact with children online,' he said. 'The grooming is taking place online rather than in the street, although there is an overlap because the groomers will arrange to meet the victim in real life. 'So grooming is not only going on - it's increasing. You've got gangs who are moving more and more online in an area that's largely unregulated. 'And the fact the process takes place over the Internet makes it much harder for police to detect, which is concerning.' The solicitor spoke in the wake of a review into the grooming scandal by Baroness Casey, who condemned 'do-gooders' who ignored ethnic factors relating to gang-based grooming for fear of being branded racist. Mr Johnstone said he dealt with large numbers of white men - both British and of other nationalities - who had been accused of grooming girls online. But he said that, in his experience, they were usually accused of acting alone, compared to the group-based offending of Pakistani-origin gangs. 'From what I see in my work, it is nearly always Pakistani Muslim men who are suspected of these crimes,' he said. 'White men and men from other nationalities are more likely to be involved in online offences of child exploitation but there is a strong preponderance of Pakistani men in the organised street gang-based grooming problem, involving vulnerable white teenager victims from care homes or difficult family situations. 'They'll be connected, and you'll have girls being groomed and passed around within the group. One will pose as a boyfriend and then pass them around to be used as a sex slave. 'There was a case just earlier this month of a young man who had been looking over the Internet for girls from care homes. He found a girl who had run away from a care home who he said he was trying to help. 'He then put her up in an Airbnb and met her there to see how she was doing. He claimed that she came onto him. 'He then arranged for her to have some further ''care'' from one of his friends, and the day later the police found this girl walking the streets beaten and bruised.' Mr Johnstone backed Baroness Casey's demand to make it mandatory for police to collect data on the ethnicity and nationality data of all suspects in child sexual abuse cases - a recommendation Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has now accepted. 'We absolutely need robust national data if we are to confirm this trend and learn important lessons as a society,' he said. 'It will help us ensure that the perpetrators do not avoid justice for fears of political incorrectness, aggravating racial tensions, or flaws in the criminal justice system response. Obvious patterns will no longer be able to be ignored. 'This is a situation we've seen over recent years and it's still going on. The worry is grooming is becoming much more sophisticated as it moves online.' Mr Johnstone said some of the cases he had dealt involved historic allegations of offending, while others were more recent. Mr Johnstone is managing director at PCD Solicitors in Warrington, which specialises in defending suspects accused of sex crimes He said one factor behind the increase in allegations was growing public awareness of the issue of grooming and intensified police action in response to political and media pressure. The solicitor warned there was a risk of men being wrongly accused or charged. 'I deal with people all the time who are accused by police but never charged and their life is destroyed,' he said. 'There's also a risk of racial profiling and stereotyping.' After the publication of Baroness Casey's review, Ms Cooper said she would be accepting her recommendations in full – including ordering a public inquiry which Labour had resisted. The national inquiry will be time-limited and is likely to investigate offending in only a handful of local areas, despite warnings that similar activity may have taken place in 50 towns and cities across the country. But it will have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.
The Irish Sun
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Inside world's seediest sex market dubbed ‘porno Disneyland' where Brit ‘sexpats' buy hook-ups for ‘price of McDonald's'
GRINNING from ear to ear, an overweight, bare-chested British pensioner shuffles along the streets of an exotic beach resort, clutching the hand of the Thai girl he's paid to be his lover. Nearby, randy holidaymakers visit so-called 'b***job bars', Advertisement 11 The explosion of sex tourism has seen online 'travel agents' give Brits advice on touring sex hotspots Credit: GETTY 11 Pattaya earned the nickname of 'the sex capital of the world' despite the fact that prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand Credit: Getty This is Pattaya - home to the world's seediest open sex market, where 'red light vacationers' indulge in prostitutes and 'happy ending' massages at bargain prices. The city, once a quiet fishing village in eastern Thailand, is now a neon-lit magnet for Westerners drawn to its sex shows, go-go bars, brothels, and 'barely legal'-looking girls. It has also become a hotbed of 'sex-pats' - older men who have moved overseas from Britain and elsewhere, on the hunt for girls often 40 years younger than themselves. Advertisement These 'sex-pats' are seen tottering through Pattaya's vibrant entertainment district, where bar names include Horny, Lips Lounge, Sexy in the City, Seduction, and Kittens. The sight is a far cry from other parts of Thailand, which is known for its stunning white sand beaches, picturesque islands, diverse cuisine, and beautiful Buddhist temples. 'The sex-pats own this area of town,' says British primary school teacher Sherri, who used to live and work in Pattaya but struggled to turn a blind eye to its 'in-your-face' 'They drive around on bikes like they're in a Harley Davidson promo… it's as if they live in a bubble erased of humanity and have happily invested in a porn version of Disneyland.' Sherri, 38, tells The Sun it isn't unusual to see 'old, white Western men' drinking in bars from 10am, eyeing up scantily-clad female workers and ladyboys ('Kathoeys' to locals). Advertisement 'It's also a very familiar sight to see older men walking down the street with a local woman or man who's half their age, as a legitimate partner or fleeting pay-per-hour worker,' she says. Yet, while these pensioners may be smirking with pride, experts warn that the 'girlfriends' on their sunburned, wrinkled arms may be victims of abduction and trafficking gangs. Shocking moment Brit tourists in Thai 'Sin City' fight locals in road rage brawl Some, they say, are sickeningly just children - with creeps obsessed with 'barely legal' pornography increasingly seeking out Thai girls and women because they often look young for their age. 'Not only is there an open sex market in Pattaya, it is flourishing,' top UK criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone, who specialises in sex crime, tells The Sun. 'Many British men travel to Pattaya because they have unlimited access to very young Thai girls.' Advertisement He adds: 'Gangs are becoming ever more powerful. The internet has spawned a new interest in 'More and more girls are needed to service the sex tourists. This has resulted in many children being abducted from poorer areas of the country and trafficked to Pattaya.' Sex capital of world Marcus, of Cheshire-based And Pattaya - which has earned the nickname of 'the sex capital of the world', despite the fact that 'There's an ever-increasing number of sites and videos explaining where to go in Thailand to gain access to prostitutes,' says Marcus. Advertisement 'There are also men who make money out of arranging 'holidays' to Thailand – so the visitors can easily gain access to the young girls.' 11 Two shameless Westerners sparked a police investigation by romping in the ocean at the city's Jomtien Beach Credit: Facebook 11 In Pattaya's vibrant entertainment district, bar names include Horny and Lips Lounge Credit: Supplied 11 Amid the neon lights and blaring music, workers try to entice tourists inside Credit: GETTY 'To gain unrestricted access to Thai prostitutes, the men need to arrange apartments, rather than hotels, where prostitutes can come and go without concern.' Advertisement At these apartments, he says, 'nothing' is monitored. 'This, of course, allows easy access for the abuse of children,' Marcus tells us. 'The gangs can make more money from prostituting children.' Pattaya's now-notorious sex trade began in the 1960s, when it became an R&R (rest and relaxation) spot for American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Some servicemen are said to have dubbed the breaks 'I&I' instead - standing for "intoxication and intercourse". Advertisement Inside the life of a sex worker DR EMMA CUNNINGHAM, senior lecturer in criminology, with research interests in violence against women and girls, says: "Some sex workers insist this is just a job, and they are making lots of money from it. But there appear to be many more with awful experiences of violence and PTSD who become trapped in this work. Some women may be topping up low-paid employment. Some charities – Beyond Streets and Women's Aid – have said the cost-of-living crisis has pushed more women into the informal economy of sex and escort work. From films like Pretty Woman there is a romanticised notion of escorting, and it is not a crime to buy or sell sex between two consenting adults in the UK. Many sex workers end up with Many are trafficked and exploited and take drugs to forget the trauma they have experienced. Many female sex workers have experienced severe repeated violence. How can a woman who is selling sex to a man who is physically much stronger than her withdraw her consent if he hurts her? He is potentially capable of killing her. According to research, women selling sex are 18 times more likely to be murdered than those who do not." Today, the sun-soaked destination attracts more than 24million visitors each year - with families enjoying its water parks, zoos, aquariums, beaches, and famous botanical garden. But at night, some of its streets are the opposite of family-friendly - with the likes of Walking Street and Soi 6 packed with swarms of skimpily-dressed girls. Amid the neon lights and blaring music, these workers can be seen approaching tourists, hollering 'handsome man' and 'sexy man' to catch their attention before offering them sex. Some workers, it is said, charge less for sex than the cost of a McDonald's family meal deal. Many British men travel to Pattaya because they have unlimited access to very young Thai girls Marcus Johnstone Top UK criminal defence lawyer One Reddit user claims revellers in some streets of Pattaya can purchase a 'short-time' fling for just 500 Thai Baht (THB) - under £12. Others say the price is more like 1,000 THB (£23). Advertisement 'If they were really hot, I'd just do 2,000 [THB],' recalls one tourist, who visited Pattaya six years ago, when he was 28. He adds that workers aged over 30 'were down for 1,000'. Prices are reported to have soared in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which stripped many workers of their income, with venues forced to close and foreign men unable to travel. Yet this week, a Facebook post advertising a bar on Soi LK Metro (an area less well-known among tourists) flogs beers in the company of 'sexy policewomen' for only 60 THB (£1.30). 11 Some workers charge less for sex than the cost of a McDonald's family meal deal Credit: Getty 11 Many British men travel to Pattaya for unlimited access to very young Thai girls, said UK criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone Credit: Getty Advertisement 11 Thai tourism chiefs have previously vowed to clean up 'Sin City' Credit: AFP or licensors Another post from a different bar promotes a 'sexy stocking party' with 'cute ladies', while messages on the Telegram app show lingerie-clad Pattaya bar girls striking explicit poses. Thai tourism chiefs have previously vowed to clean up their 'Sin City' - yet men continue to flock to Pattaya's 'b*** job bars', where women are lined up and chosen 'like cattle'. Customers can choose whether to have the sex act performed on them in a private upstairs room or - for those less shy - in the middle of the open bar area in front of others. While it is impossible to put an exact figure on the number of sex workers in Pattaya, it was reported in 2017 that almost 20 per cent of the population were employed in the sex trade. Advertisement Some of the workers are freelancers, who promote themselves - with pictures and details of their height and weight - on online dating sites, as well as in freelancer-friendly bars. Unlike with bar girls, the customers of freelancers don't have to pay for so-called 'lady drinks' or fork out on a bar fine (a sum of money paid to take a bar girl out of the venue). Sherri, who runs the blog She had hoped she could 'turn a blind eye' to its seediness. 'Seedy s***hole' But she admits: 'The sex-trade in Pattaya is so in your face that it's hard to overlook.' Advertisement Sherri, who relocated to the city around a decade ago, says her first impression was that 'it was a seedy s***hole'. And, after a year of living there, she admits she still didn't love it. In fact, Sherri found herself 'counting down the days' until her work contract expired. The teacher, originally from London and now living in Saigon, Vietnam, tells us: 'Walking Street is where the main action happens. [It] is filled to the brim with go-go bars doing regular ping-pong shows, strip clubs, 'massage parlours' and short stay 'rooms for rent'.' She adds: 'While you often can't see what's going on inside through the blacked-out windows, everyone knows the craic.' While prostitution is technically illegal in the country, experts warn the law is complex - and that sex tourists can feel a false sense of safety because sex work is widely tolerated. Advertisement The sex trade in Pattaya is so in-your-face that it's hard to overlook Sherri Travel Mermaid 'This discrepancy creates a false sense of legality and security, particularly among British tourists, who may not realise the serious legal and reputational risks involved,' says Adam Jones, a tourism legal expert at He adds: 'For Brits considering soliciting sex services in Thailand, it's important to recognise that engaging in illegal activity abroad can still carry serious consequences. 'If arrested, individuals may face fines, deportation, or even imprisonment. 'More significantly, being accused of a sex-related offence – such as assaulting a sex worker – can lead to severe legal implications both in Thailand and back home in the UK.' Sadly, assaults are far from uncommon, with studies showing that 15 per cent of the country's female sex workers experienced physical or sexual violence in one week alone. Horrifyingly, this percentage soared to 25 per cent for those aged under 18, according to research by Dr Michele R Decker, a US expert in gender-based violence. And, with some attacks undoubtedly going unreported, the real number of victims could be much higher. Advertisement In 2020, a former British Army soldier was Just last month, a Chinese tourist was reported to have confessed to killing a younger Thai transgender woman in Pattaya after she refused to sleep with him. Fu Tongyung, 42, is said to have told police he wanted to 'play' with the 25-year-old's corpse, and later apologised for the crime. 11 Chinese tourist Fu Tongyung confessed to killing a young Thai transgender woman after she refused to sleep with him Credit: Chaiyot Pupattanapong The resort is also plagued by drunken violence, street crime and petty theft. In one incident in February a Western tourist in his 50s was found 'murdered' Advertisement Though sex tourism generates a hefty income for Thailand - more than £4.7billion annually - sex workers can be jailed for up to 20 years for earning an income as a prostitute. There are also 'laws against engaging in prostitution, soliciting, operating premises for prostitution (brothels), or being a pimp,' explains Marcus. 'To get around this problem, the 'brothels' operate as bars, massage parlours, karaoke clubs, and so on, where money is exchanged not for sex but for a drink or an entrance fee,' he continues. 'The bar owner (pimp) then allows the sex tourist access to the girls, who he will pay separately for sex.' These vulnerable girls, Marcus says, have 'little hope of escaping'. Advertisement Due to the nature of their work, they have no employment nor legal rights. 'They cannot report anything to the police for fear of being imprisoned or deported themselves,' says Marcus. 'They are themselves acting illegally and the police may be corrupted.' 11 It was reported in 2017 that almost 20 per cent of the population was employed in the sex trade Credit: Travel Mermaid Despite the country-wide tolerance for sex work, Thai police dramatically rounded up more than 50 alleged sex workers along Pattaya Beach earlier this month. Advertisement Officers stormed the popular area on May 21 in a coordinated operation aimed at banishing the city's reputation-damaging sex trade, It came six years after two shameless Westerners sparked another police investigation, further along the coastline, by romping in the ocean at the city's Jomtien Beach. It's yet to be seen whether the latest operation will make a dent in Pattaya's open sex market, which will undoubtedly get a boost from more sexed-up tourists this summer. Even Brits who have never set foot in Thailand are contributing to its sex trade - by sending messages, and money, to Thai girls and making sickening pornographic requests. 'Many men want access to 'barely legal' material,' Marcus says. Advertisement 'Thai girls often look much younger than they are. ' Horrifying cases Describing one case that was brought to him, Marcus tells us: 'A man was sending money to a Thai woman who he met online. He believed this was his girlfriend and that they may eventually meet and be together. He invited her to the UK. 'She needed financial help for her poor family so he started sending money to her. They exchanged photographs of one another, including some sexual images. 'He was arrested by the police. 'The 18-year-old girl he had been communicating with was, in fact, 14.' Advertisement And some cases are even more horrifying. 'I am aware of cases involving men based in the UK who pay Thai prostitutes to abuse their own children for money,' says Marcus. Yet again, ruthless gangs are involved. '[The abuse] is recorded and sent via encrypted sites,' Marcus adds. 'Crypto currency is used to pay the gangs controlling the prostitutes.' Advertisement Whether Pattaya's prostitutes are operating online or offline, in the resort's streets and brothels, it is clear many of them are desperate. Some have relocated from poorer parts of the country - such as Isan, Thailand's northeastern region - to make money. But it comes at a heartbreaking cost. 'All I want to do is get out of this job,' admitted one Pattaya sex worker, who told documentary makers she fell pregnant by a German client who then dumped her. 'But what can I do? There's no work in my village.' 11 Pattaya used to be a quiet fishing village Credit: Alamy Advertisement
