European colonisation of Southeast Asia tightening Turkish control and eventual shut down of the Eastern Mediterranean gateways into Asia first prompted Portuguese, and later Spanish and Dutch sea voyagers to ship around Africa in search of new trading routes and business opportunities. Niccolò de' Conti arrived in Southeast Asia as the earliest documented European in the early 15th century. By 1498 Vasco da Gama, who had sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, established the first direct sea route from Europe to India. Central among the various plannings was to establish direct and permanent trade of the highly priced spices, that were native to Southeast
Prostitution in South Africa provinces. Thai and Chinese nationals control the sex trafficking of Asian women. Russian and Bulgarian organised crime control trafficking in Cape Town. Women from Thailand, China, Brazil, Eastern Europe, Asia, and neighbouring African countries are trafficked into South Africa and forced to work as prostitutes. Women from South Africa are trafficked to Europe. South Africa is listed as a Tier 2 Watch List country by the US Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Prostitution in South Africa Prostitution in South Africa is illegal for both buying and selling sex, as well as related activities such