Sex Trafficking in Thai Media: A Content Analysis of Issue Framing

Abstract

Understanding how news media frame sex trafficking in Thailand, a country with high levels of trafficking and an understudied media landscape, has strong implications for how the public and policy makers understand and respond to the issue. This quantitative content analysis examined 15 years of trafficking coverage in five English-language Thai newspapers and found a focus on female victims, official sources and crime frames, with a lack of discussion of risk factors, solutions and high-profile criminals. In doing so, this study illuminates a problematic and tightly controlled Thai media landscape.