Gen. Prawit aims at suppressing human trafficking and raising Thailand to Tier 2 in TIP Report

[webfact]

 

By Namo Vananupong

    

BANGKOK (NNT) - Anti-human trafficking efforts are still being rigorously pursued by the relevant agencies in Thailand. Calls are being made for a focus on quality tourism and severe enforcement of laws against human traffickers, with an aim of enabling Thailand to be upgraded to Tier 2 in the Trafficking in Persons Report.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwon has chaired meetings of the government committee on the prevention and suppression of human trafficking and the coordination committee on human trafficking, both of which were held at Government House.

 

The meeting of the former committee acknowledged the progress made in establishing a sorting center for human trafficking victims in Don Mueang, per the recommendations in the United States’ Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The meeting also endorsed a draft report on Thailand’s human trafficking prevention and suppression operations in the year 2021.

 

Additional individuals were appointed by the meeting to take charge of proactive tourism-related measures for the protection of children from human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The objective of the appointment was to do away with Thailand’s sex tourism image and propel the Thai tourism sector toward global standards and a focus on quality.

 

In the second meeting, the coordination committee on human trafficking acknowledged the updated statistics related to human trafficking and expressed its intent to use the new figures to augment the prevention and suppression of human trafficking. It also acknowledged the use of online channels by traffickers who lured Thais into illegal labor work and prostitution in destination countries.

 

The committee will work to raise awareness among the Thai public to prevent people from falling victim to human trafficking or engaging in illegal acts.

 

The meetings acknowledged the progress made by Thailand in addressing the 15 prioritized recommendations within the TIP report, especially in lifting its standard operating procedure (SOP) on classifying victims and determining assistance for them.

 

According to Gen. Thammasak Witcharaya, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister, progress on this front was well-received and will have a clear effect on Thailand’s tier placement in the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report.

 

Gen. Prawit also urged all relevant parties to bring about concrete results in the fight against human trafficking and to enforce the law stringently, in order to allow Thailand to move up to Tier 2 in next year’s TIP report.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-12-24

 

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[petermik]

Another statement from a government official that will never materialise......

[ThailandRyan]

They have had 7 years since they took the country by force themselves.  Yet every year it is the same.  Since the first big bust which took down a Southern General and his crew, very little has been done except to stop the low level coyotes and traffickers who charge anywhere from 9k baht upwards to 16k Baht to smuggle people into the country.  To lucrative me thinks for them to snuff out the trafficking.

Edited December 24, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[thaiman]

They've been trying for years to move up in ranking and failed.  One has to wonder if the USA ever intended to move them up at all?  Or maybe the only way to move up is to weaken ties with China?  After all, isn't this just another soft coercion tactic used by the US to wield it's power over others?

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, thaiman said:

They've been trying for years to move up in ranking and failed.  One has to wonder if the USA ever intended to move them up at all?  Or maybe the only way to move up is to weaken ties with China?  After all, isn't this just another soft coercion tactic used by the US to wield it's power over others?

No coercion tactic, its about funding and money that is given to countries.  The US does not want to be complicit with Human Trafficking, and therefore has many procedures in place.

 

https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-thailand/

The United States contributed $17.7 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Thailand in 2019, making it the third-largest foreign investor after Japan ($70 billion) and Singapore ($30 billion). 

[Benmart]

How many years has this regime had to solve this problem? Add the poor air quality, astounding traffic deaths, police and general corruption and so forth. Talk talk, committees, photo ops, decrees, warning, bogus statistics. Nothing changes except the weather.

[daveAustin]

I wish these individuals (the military kind that steal countries) would be trafficked away from Thailand. All of them!

Edited December 24, 2021 by daveAustin

[khunjeff]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Calls are being made for a focus on quality tourism and severe enforcement of laws against human traffickers

No idea what the TAT's white whale of "quality tourism" has to do with any of this - just enforce the laws instead of talking about it.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The objective of the appointment was to do away with Thailand’s sex tourism image and propel the Thai tourism sector toward global standards and a focus on quality.

Thailand's "image" is irrelevant. The US will look at what they are actually doing.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The meetings acknowledged the progress made by Thailand in addressing the 15 prioritized recommendations within the TIP report, especially in lifting its standard operating procedure (SOP) on classifying victims and determining assistance for them.

All of the recent stories on human trafficking brag about how many victims were arrested, which is the exact opposite of worldwide best practices in the treatment of victims.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

According to Gen. Thammasak Witcharaya, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister, progress on this front was well-received and will have a clear effect on Thailand’s tier placement in the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report.

Never a good idea to speak about what was or was not "well received" by other people. Just do things properly and don't try to characterize how others are receiving your "progress".

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Gen. Prawit also urged all relevant parties to bring about concrete results in the fight against human trafficking and to enforce the law stringently, in order to allow Thailand to move up to Tier 2 in next year’s TIP report.

At least he's honest in saying that the reason he's doing this is to improve Thailand's ranking, not because trafficking is evil or destructive.

[jingjai9]

Seems the government may have taken its eyes off the ball. Little mention was made in this article about people trafficked into Thailand with the promise of a job who then get caught entering the country. The news stories often report that individuals paid a fee to come to Thailand to work. The articles also state that the names of the employers supplying the jobs were "withheld". The result seems to be the mules (those who transport immigrants) and immigrants themselves are the two groups facing the wrath of the law. 

 

Human trafficking involving sex and prostitution make great headlines and bring law enforcement into the spotlight favorably; however, there seems to be much less energy expended investigating and tracking down employers who seek illegal workers.

 

I would venture to guess that the number of illegal immigrants smuggled into Thailand for employment equals or possibly exceeds the number of humans trafficked for sex. They may raid a bar with 19 workers of which two or three are underage. Compare this to the large groups of immigrants captured at the border on their route to employment in Thailand.

 

 Perhaps pursuing employers in industries that often employ foreign nationals for unskilled labor might be a good place in which to concentrate the investigative resources of Thai law enforcement.

[ThaiFelix]

7 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

No coercion tactic, its about funding and money that is given to countries.  The US does not want to be complicit with Human Trafficking, and therefore has many procedures in place.

 

https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-thailand/

The United States contributed $17.7 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Thailand in 2019, making it the third-largest foreign investor after Japan ($70 billion) and Singapore ($30 billion). 

The funding is to gain influence and leverage.  If that fails then the next step is trade threats.

[bangon04]

Is it generally supposed that the trafficking of underage girls and women into the sex industry in Thailand is for the benefit of overseas tourists mainly?