Parents should hug and show love to their teenage children when they are desperate and cannot solve their problems, is the advice from Associate Professor Dr. Suriyadeo Tripathi, director of the Moral Centre (Public Organisation) Thailand.

The paediatrician offered his views in response to a report about an 11-year-old girl who was lured into allowing herself to be photographed naked in exchange for the services of an astrologer.

Dr. Suriyadeo said that parents should listen attentively to the problems of their child, while showing care and understanding, before starting to teach him or her.

He warned parents not to reprimand their child if they do something that they feel was wrong and should make use of use available tools to limit and monitor what their children can access online.

He suggested that parents add the Google Family application to their smart phones which, he said, offers online advice on how to educate their children when they surf the internet and enables the parents to find out how much time their child spends online and what apps or sites they use often.

The case of the 11-year-old is being investigated by the police after the parents filed a complaint with Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the national deputy police chief.

The Paveena Hongsakul Foundation, which helps those who are victims of rape, torture, physical harm, human trafficking and online grooming, received many complaints last year, including 272 involving investment scams, 191 cases of being lured into prostitution, 147 cases of employment fraud, 122 cases concerning nude photos and 50 cases of “mule” bank accounts.