Mobile app aims to bolster human trafficking reporting in Thailand

[webfact]

Mobile app aims to bolster human trafficking reporting in Thailand

By Nanchanok Wongsamuth

 

The hands of a Rohingya victim of trafficking are seen as he listens to questions during an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation at a temporary shelter in Hat Yai, Songkla, Thailand, September 22, 2015. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A mobile app launched in Thailand to boost the reporting of human trafficking risks could be hampered by a lack of trust in government officials, anti-slavery experts said on Wednesday.

 

The application was developed by Mahanakorn University of Technology in Bangkok and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the main government agency responsible for protecting and supporting victims of human trafficking.

 

"We hope that the application can be another tool that trafficking victims and witnesses will use to notify authorities of incidents or request for assistance," said Porametee Vimolsiri, the ministry's permanent secretary.

 

Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.

 

The U.S. State Department last year in its annual flagship report ranking nations on their anti-trafficking efforts criticised Thailand for not doing enough to tackle the problem.

 

Porametee said the app, which has been available to download since June last year but officially launched on Wednesday, was developed in response to a different report on trafficking produced by the United States in 2018.

 

That report recommended Thailand increase the number of channels for victims to report risks or incidents of human trafficking.

 

"Most users use the application to read information regarding victim rights, which is available in seven languages and has been read 1,201 times," said Ratchapon Maneelek, a director at Thailand's anti-trafficking department, which falls under the social ministry.

 

About 87% of the 1,807 trafficking victims rescued in Thailand last year were migrants - mostly from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos - according to government figures.

 

The ministry has plans to develop Burmese, Khmer and Lao versions of the app.

 

Aside from the rights information contained on the app, it currently only uses the Thai-language and has been downloaded by just 260 users over the last six months, said Ratchapon.

 

This lack of languages and trust in the government are the main reasons why the app has not been used more widely, said Patchareeboon Sakulpitakphon, a Thai-based expert in human trafficking.

 

"Most victims of human trafficking are afraid of government officials, and if this app is operated by the government, then they are likely to be too afraid to use it," she said.

 

When trafficking victims need help, they usually seek out someone they trust, other workers, or non-governmental organizations, said Patchareeboon, adding that the government should link up with an independent group to operate the app.

 

A 2019 study by the United Nations found that migrants are predominately using their mobile phones for social networking and often find rights-related information or support services from their peers.

 

"Harnessing social networking to promote those apps appears to be the best way to ensure that they are widely used," said Rebecca Napier-Moore, a programme technical officer at the ILO.

 

(Reporting by Nanchanok Wongsamuth @nanchanokw; Editing by Michael Taylor. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-16

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[Samui Bodoh]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.

It is very hard to argue with this blanket statement; even in a media environment with strict controls like Thailand, the news does seep out often and regularly. And, when the stories do come to light, they are truly shocking to the conscience.

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

This lack of languages and trust in the government are the main reasons why the app has not been used more widely, said Patchareeboon Sakulpitakphon, a Thai-based expert in human trafficking.

 

"Most victims of human trafficking are afraid of government officials, and if this app is operated by the government, then they are likely to be too afraid to use it," she said.

The problem of lack of relevant languages in the app is self-explanatory. One has to wonder if the App is truly designed to help victims or was it created to provide a 'talking point' when officials are asked about their efforts to combat this scourge.

 

The lack of trust in Thai officials is, in my view, an extremely valid concern. Thailand's state apparatus has a huge 'footprint' in the country and it is difficult to imagine any smuggling ring of size that operated without local state knowledge of its existence. One example; I have read over the years about people (mostly Muslims) trying to get to Malaysia and/or Indonesia and they are moved through the southern border area. Given the heavy military presence at the southern border due to the on-going insurgency, it is difficult to imagine numbers of migrants passing through there without the knowledge of local military officials. Another example would be women trafficked for sex in Thailand. As prostitution is illegal in Thailand (yes, I know...), pretty much every brothel of a kind is either run by police or known to the police, and there are brothels of a kind in almost every small town right up to the capital of Bangkok; I could not even begin to give numbers, but the number of brothels of one sort or another in Thailand is likely in the several thousands. I can't imagine a trafficked woman trusting the police to help, so an app directing them to local authorities and/or the police wouldn't be much help.

 

A final note.

 

Many people, myself included, often consider the Americans and their government as entities that shove their noses into other people's business far too much. That said, kudos to them for their actions on this issue. If the TIP report and their demands for action didn't exist, one has to wonder just how much worse the situation would be in both Thailand and around the world. 

 

You don't hear it often, but well done, Americans.

 

[Oziex1]

Might be handy for the cop who fled to Australia, what ever happened to him? 

[sead]

So many apps for reporting so many different things. How about 1 government app where you can do visa, report stay, bad taxi, police etc etc...

[DLock]

7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

It is very hard to argue with this blanket statement; even in a media environment with strict controls like Thailand, the news does seep out often and regularly. And, when the stories do come to light, they are truly shocking to the conscience.

 

The problem of lack of relevant languages in the app is self-explanatory. One has to wonder if the App is truly designed to help victims or was it created to provide a 'talking point' when officials are asked about their efforts to combat this scourge.

 

The lack of trust in Thai officials is, in my view, an extremely valid concern. Thailand's state apparatus has a huge 'footprint' in the country and it is difficult to imagine any smuggling ring of size that operated without local state knowledge of its existence. One example; I have read over the years about people (mostly Muslims) trying to get to Malaysia and/or Indonesia and they are moved through the southern border area. Given the heavy military presence at the southern border due to the on-going insurgency, it is difficult to imagine numbers of migrants passing through there without the knowledge of local military officials. Another example would be women trafficked for sex in Thailand. As prostitution is illegal in Thailand (yes, I know...), pretty much every brothel of a kind is either run by police or known to the police, and there are brothels of a kind in almost every small town right up to the capital of Bangkok; I could not even begin to give numbers, but the number of brothels of one sort or another in Thailand is likely in the several thousands. I can't imagine a trafficked woman trusting the police to help, so an app directing them to local authorities and/or the police wouldn't be much help.

 

A final note.

 

Many people, myself included, often consider the Americans and their government as entities that shove their noses into other people's business far too much. That said, kudos to them for their actions on this issue. If the TIP report and their demands for action didn't exist, one has to wonder just how much worse the situation would be in both Thailand and around the world. 

 

You don't hear it often, but well done, Americans.

 

 

Excellent post.

 

I dowloaded the app, and firstly it's all in Thai and I can find where to change the language to the promised 6 other languages...so that an initial problem. There are also some issues with the menu's and scrolling. 

 

If the app does what it promises and there is someone at the other end with enough clout to make things happen, then that's great...but it feels like a knee jerk, poorly thought out reaction to the US..."look we made an app".