Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. Southeast Asia consists of two geographic regions:

• Maritime Southeast Asia, comprising Christmas Island, Philippines, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore.
• Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as Indochina, comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, West Malaysia, and Vietnam;

Due to persistently poor socioeconomic conditions, corruption, and weak law enforcement, Southeast Asia, more than any other region, has long been the destination of child sex tourists. All of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members are state parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and most are also state parties to the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography (OPSC). Some obstacles cited by local police in Southeast Asia in prosecuting child sex offenders include difficulty in monitoring the arrival and departure of suspects, a lack of investigation capacity, problems obtaining evidence, a lack of resources, bribery and corruption, a lack of political will, slow and often unsuccessful prosecutions, and limited understanding of laws.