Angela Macdonald, the Australian Ambassador to Thailand, and Deputy Chief of the Royal Thai Police Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn joined forces in Phuket yesterday to participate in the Countering Child Sexual Exploitation Regional Dialogue Thailand 2023.

 

The dialogue, taking place at the SAii Laguna Phuket resort in Cherng Talay, brings together law enforcement officials and NGO representatives from nine nations, including Thailand, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.

 

Big Joke, who is also the Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, emphasised that the primary focus of the dialogue is to strengthen regional cooperation and cross-border collaboration in the fight against child sexual abuse and other forms of child exploitation.

 

The collaboration involves the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and law enforcement agencies across Southeast Asia, intending to increase expertise in various fields and develop regional capacity to combat child sexual abuse effectively.

 

Helen Schneider, Commander of the Australian Federal Police and of the AFP’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and Human Exploitation, is also among those attending the event, which started yesterday and continues until Friday.

 

The Royal Thai Police and the Australian Federal Police have a long history of collaboration, as highlighted by Surachate. He pointed out their joint efforts in various areas, such as Operation Taskforce Storm and the creation of a network to prevent and suppress transnational crime, reported The Phuket News.

 

By Mitch Connor

Caption: Picture courtesy of Eakkapop Thongtub

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-10-25

 

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Australian government failing at many things. Hope some positive successful action taken here on an important matter.