Thai child sex tour trial begins

File photo / NZ Herald

A man accused of organising a child sex tour to Thailand has gone on trial at the High Court at Auckland.

The south Auckland real estate agent, whose identity is suppressed, is the first person to face such charges in New Zealand.

The Crown alleges the accused set up a trip to Thailand for a client, who was actually an undercover cop posing as a gay man.

After contacting the officer, who cann;t be identified, through his website, he allegedly told the officer he could assist him in finding Thai "boys" as young as 13 to have sex with.

The man booked flights and made hotel reservations for the trip before he was arrested.

He has pleaded not guilty to two charges relating to organising and promoting sex with underage people.

But his lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith told the court the man admitted running the website, but for legal and legitimate travel.

He said his client also admitted being attracted to teenage boys, but knew how much care he needed to take "not to cross the line".

The judge-only trial is expected to run for at least four days. The rest of the day's proceedings will include the court hearing hours of covertly-taped conversations between the accused and the undercover officer.