Fancy Words Can't Hide Ugly Reality Of Child Labour In Thailand

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Fancy words can't hide ugly reality of child labour

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- PM Yingluck's speech to UN emphasised maximising human potential, but under her watch the worst forms of child labour have flourished in Thailand

The US Labour Department late last week released three new reports on child labour as mandated by the Trade and Development Act of 2000.

The aim of this landmark Act is to gauge the situation, and document efforts by US trading partners and beneficiaries to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Of the three recently released reports, perhaps the most shocking for Thais is the annual "Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour".

The report delivers country-specific suggestions for actions that would help combat the problems. But, judging from the content of this latest report, Thailand has not lived up to its commitments.

The report claims that Thailand is using forced labour in the fishing sector. Moreover, Thailand is also listed as continuing to use child and forced labour in both the garment and the shrimp industries, as well as child labour in sugarcane production and pornography.

The report was released about the same time as Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other world leaders had gathered in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

"During this period of economic uncertainties, we must not consider economic growth alone. It is important to put people at the front and centre of the development agenda," said Yingluck in her address to the Assembly's General Debate.

"This is what every government should do: put people at the heart of the country's economic development strategy," she said. "Because we believe that the greatest asset of any country is its people, and how much a country can excel depends on how much its people can fully realise their potential."

These were strong statements indeed. But we can surely be excused for questioning her sincerity and commitment to the issue given the fact that, according to the US report, Thailand appears to be moving backwards. Besides garment, shrimp, sugarcane and pornography, the report also added the fishing sector as one of the Thai industries that continues to use child and forced labour.

When the issue of child labour comes up in discussions with Thai government officials and in other public spheres, the tendency is to dismiss these claims. Officials tend to hide behind a romantic notion that the children in question are helping their family to put food on the table, but say nothing about the fact that their entire future is being denied because of these very activities.

Too often we see children playing at construction sites just metres away from where their parents are working. By using such adults as cheap labour we intend to maximise profits.

But we don't seem to want to know the additional cost that comes with such services. Ever wondered if the children of these construction workers, many of whom are from neighbouring countries like Myanmar and Cambodia, go to school?

Yingluck said that inclusive regional development was the way forward, adding that Thailand and its neighbours in the region have a shared destiny. But it is at the local level - the people-to-people level - where it counts the most, and not in the talk of a fancy-worded speech delivered in front of an international audience.

For its people-centred talk to have any meaning, the government must live up to its stated aim and show the public that this administration, or any other administration for that matter, lives up to its promises. Democracy is not a free ride. As citizens, all of us have a role to play, and one of our responsibilities is to hold our elected representatives accountable for their promises.

-- The Nation 2012-10-03

[noitom]

Why doesn't the newspaper really attack this? Go out catch them - go undercover if you have to get the story. Take pictures, get them on the run. Break them. These things change when the news voice stays on top of it. Take pictures. Run exposes and continuous stories on it - smoke them out the abusers. Call attention to them - write about and photograph it! Do something to change instead of writing this meaningless tripe in this type of whining editorial. Instead of whining about Yingluck's sincerity the newspaper should examine its own sincerity and professional journalism standards.

[hanuman2543]

Is the last sentence a joke ?

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[asiawatcher]

I thought the previous statement to the last was such a crop of crap - looks like she took the lessons from Greenspand, the only man I have ever heard talk for three hours and say nothing!

"Yingluck said that inclusive regional development was the way forward, (expanding child labour markets?) adding that Thailand and its neighbours in the region have a shared destiny (child labour?). But it is at the local level - the people-to-people level - where it counts the most, and not in the talk of a fancy-worded speech delivered in front of an international audience."

Take your own advice Yingluck - not in fancy worded speeches which you undoubtedly wrote and delivered with full understanding of the content!!!

[jaltsc]

Why doesn't the newspaper really attack this? Go out catch them - go undercover if you have to get the story. Take pictures, get them on the run. Break them. These things change when the news voice stays on top of it. Take pictures. Run exposes and continuous stories on it - smoke them out the abusers. Call attention to them - write about and photograph it! Do something to change instead of writing this meaningless tripe in this type of whining editorial. Instead of whining about Yingluck's sincerity the newspaper should examine its own sincerity and professional journalism standards.

What...and have someone lose face? Making general statements and criticizing the government seems to be the media's modus operandi. This way the newspaper has done it job by stating there might be a problem without offending anyone, including the guilty parties to this crime. There is no reason to go undercover since this crime is being committed in broad daylight. The headline should read: "Child labor flourishes in Thailand, and anyone who can do anything about it doesn't care".

[Katipo]

I know this sounds a little bit harsh, but these uneducated labourers etc are exactly the type of people that have grown up to be Thaksin/Pheua Thai supporters. Educate them, give them a real future, and they might just vote Democrat.

[TomAikins]

Is the last sentence a joke ?

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It must be. How could you put the words "professional," journalism," and "standards" in the same sentence when talking about any newspaper in Thailand?

[Thai at Heart]

They can't even implement, that every company pays the minimum wage.

[DocN]

I know this sounds a little bit harsh, but these uneducated labourers etc are exactly the type of people that have grown up to be Thaksin/Pheua Thai supporters. Educate them, give them a real future, and they might just vote Democrat.

?????? And???

[jonb1942]

Does any body have any idea how long this has been going on here,my wife when she was seven years old(she is now 69) was working a loom making cloth for close,so this is nothing new to this country.

[jshorts]

Why doesn't the newspaper really attack this? Go out catch them - go undercover if you have to get the story. Take pictures, get them on the run. Break them. These things change when the news voice stays on top of it. Take pictures. Run exposes and continuous stories on it - smoke them out the abusers. Call attention to them - write about and photograph it! Do something to change instead of writing this meaningless tripe in this type of whining editorial. Instead of whining about Yingluck's sincerity the newspaper should examine its own sincerity and professional journalism standards.

Great idea!

Rather than posting here, why don't you give your suggestion to the newspaper?

[andyl66]

to stop child labour everything needs to improve. Parents wages need to be doubled and a welfare system introduced. Kids work because they have to. They leave school at 11 and have to earn a living. If kids can't work in Thailand then there will just be an exodus of kids go to Laos or Myanmar.

Life is hard for most people here, there are no gvt handouts. Prior to your western gvts creating welfare systems you all had your fair share of kids working too.

For this to stop a gvt has to be voted in that forces everyone to pay tax. Strict business taxes would have to be introduced. That is not going to happen here for a long time.

All solutions to child labor I've read come from a western perspective, Thai gvts don't have the hundreds of billions in tax income to play around with. If business was taxed properly those businesses would simply move to vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia etc, and Thailand would be finished. This is a cruel world we live in, instead of moaning about it why don't you demand that companies like Tesco, Toyota, Nikon, Philips, Isuzu, Subaru etc all pay Thai people proper wages? Instead of the 10 to 25k that you can barely live on?

[belg]

the greatest assest indeed is cheap uneducated labour which you can promise things to get elected, works like a charm, every time

[Keesters]

And what do people think these children should be doing if not working to earn some pocket money? Hanging around in the toilets of a Pattaya department store! Stealing! Pick pocketing! Then spending the cash in video arcades or online games.

As long as it is not forced labor, the hours are within reason, and the work not overly strenuous I see nothing wrong with a child working. I worked from the age of 13 washing cars & boats on Saturdays and school holidays. Friends delivered newspapers or groceries. Earning our own money gave us a lot of self esteem plus we all turned out OK. None of us felt abused or taken advantage of.

[Time Traveller]

Is the last sentence a joke ?

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The first sentence must be a joke also. Child labor has flourished under the watch of every single Thai leader - not only Yingluck.

[Camelot]

Yes, but PM Yingluck drew attention to it in a UN speech. Her predecessors didn't.

[Baerboxer]

Yes, but PM Yingluck drew attention to it in a UN speech. Her predecessors didn't.

No - the US Labour Department report drew attention to it.

[Orac]

It does seem a bit unfair to pin the latest reports findings on the current government as it appears to cover 2011.

[chrisinth]

And what do people think these children should be doing if not working to earn some pocket money? Hanging around in the toilets of a Pattaya department store! Stealing! Pick pocketing! Then spending the cash in video arcades or online games.

As long as it is not forced labor, the hours are within reason, and the work not overly strenuous I see nothing wrong with a child working. I worked from the age of 13 washing cars & boats on Saturdays and school holidays. Friends delivered newspapers or groceries. Earning our own money gave us a lot of self esteem plus we all turned out OK. None of us felt abused or taken advantage of.

I would assume you also had an education, or means to an education? The examples you give of labour are part time jobs for pocket money, not based on 16 hour days (in some cases).

But, with the above being said, if the family cannot afford to send the children to school (and this is not as uncommon as it may sound), what will become of the child later in life? This is not a dig at the educational system here as such, but what chance does a kid have in a society that needs to see the degree first before they can be assessed or used to their full potental in later life?

Keesters, I don't think you are entirely wrong in what you say above.

[kerrysum]

to stop child labour everything needs to improve. Parents wages need to be doubled and a welfare system introduced. Kids work because they have to. They leave school at 11 and have to earn a living. If kids can't work in Thailand then there will just be an exodus of kids go to Laos or Myanmar.

Life is hard for most people here, there are no gvt handouts. Prior to your western gvts creating welfare systems you all had your fair share of kids working too.

For this to stop a gvt has to be voted in that forces everyone to pay tax. Strict business taxes would have to be introduced. That is not going to happen here for a long time.

All solutions to child labor I've read come from a western perspective, Thai gvts don't have the hundreds of billions in tax income to play around with. If business was taxed properly those businesses would simply move to vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia etc, and Thailand would be finished. This is a cruel world we live in, instead of moaning about it why don't you demand that companies like Tesco, Toyota, Nikon, Philips, Isuzu, Subaru etc all pay Thai people proper wages? Instead of the 10 to 25k that you can barely live on?

Good point and well taken,,,,,,,

So I guess the rich still make the rules..... We can have many nations that talk about child labor, but they sure like the lower prices........ It is all a fantasy, they will all talk about changing things, this has never happened in Thailand, and many other Nations........

The only problem I have is other Nations form commissions at our dole, and do nothing to improve these conditions.......

Kerry

[cup-O-coffee]

What is. What should be. That's the problem. The US describes what should be without understanding what is and why. Addressing this issue as children being forced to labor, under the context of US living standards, will get us nowhere. You cannot compare apples to oranges and try to genetically manufacture oranges and call them apples. This is the way it is, and there is no should be.

The US forgets that they had a Great Depression and the situation (on the surface) was the same then as it is here now. It is simply that poverty has been around in Thailand much longer than the 6 or 7 years that the Great Depression was and it is now an ingrained and accepted fact. It almost seems to be genetic. It should not excuse child labor in the Great Depression, and it should not excuse child labor in the Really Great "Depression" in Thailand, but nevertheless, it is what it is. It is what people do when times are tough, whether it be 6 years of tough times and being forgotten by your government or 600 years of tough times and being forgotten by your government.

Principle does not put meat on the plate. There are a lot of ideas and opinions about what should be, and asshol_e governments like the US seem to get their kicks by picking out the obvious weaknesses of underdeveloped Thai thinking. Perhaps the US government should consider that their version of abnormal is another person's version of normal, and any solution will only cause confusion.

The factors that go into the thinking which creates child labor are extremely different than those in the US. You cannot erase this thinking and indoctrination or religious, social and peer group think in 1 or 100 years. So go ahead and try to make it into your "should be" little world, and you will find that these people will create the same situation in less than one generation, with or without any government involvement.

The Thais are too ingrained, no matter how we interpret that, and they do not care, because they do not know to care, and they could care less what you know or care about, and they would see any gift of aid or assistance as an opportunity to fleece you and take advantage of your gift, and then waste it, and that is the way it is.

Edited October 3, 2012 by cup-O-coffee

[Johnnie99]

Why doesn't the newspaper really attack this? Go out catch them - go undercover if you have to get the story. Take pictures, get them on the run. Break them. These things change when the news voice stays on top of it. Take pictures. Run exposes and continuous stories on it - smoke them out the abusers. Call attention to them - write about and photograph it! Do something to change instead of writing this meaningless tripe in this type of whining editorial. Instead of whining about Yingluck's sincerity the newspaper should examine its own sincerity and professional journalism standards.

Do something? Really? Let's think - is the lure of a payoff for non-exposure greater than Thai editorial integrity? Answers on a postcard ...

[omnilangur]

Having children develop a strong work ethic is not a big problem if they are helping their impoverished families. But porn and sexual slavery is disgusting and parents their teach their daughters to sell themselves to farangs in pattaya should also be imprisoned.!

[Travelman868]

I used to buy products for my company that were made in Thailand. The US company then found that China could make the same product for 2 cents an hour less so they moved.

This is the normal practice for American companies. Then the US go on about child labour !!!!!

I grew up in the 1950's and did part time jobs from the age of 11. It was normal in those days.

[jshorts]

to stop child labour everything needs to improve. Parents wages need to be doubled and a welfare system introduced. Kids work because they have to. They leave school at 11 and have to earn a living. If kids can't work in Thailand then there will just be an exodus of kids go to Laos or Myanmar.

Life is hard for most people here, there are no gvt handouts. Prior to your western gvts creating welfare systems you all had your fair share of kids working too.

For this to stop a gvt has to be voted in that forces everyone to pay tax. Strict business taxes would have to be introduced. That is not going to happen here for a long time.

All solutions to child labor I've read come from a western perspective, Thai gvts don't have the hundreds of billions in tax income to play around with. If business was taxed properly those businesses would simply move to vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia etc, and Thailand would be finished. This is a cruel world we live in, instead of moaning about it why don't you demand that companies like Tesco, Toyota, Nikon, Philips, Isuzu, Subaru etc all pay Thai people proper wages? Instead of the 10 to 25k that you can barely live on?

I'm not sure what your point is. Are you agreeing that child labor is something that should be tolerated?

[jshorts]

Does any body have any idea how long this has been going on here,my wife when she was seven years old(she is now 69) was working a loom making cloth for close,so this is nothing new to this country.

What is your point?

[jshorts]

And what do people think these children should be doing if not working to earn some pocket money? Hanging around in the toilets of a Pattaya department store! Stealing! Pick pocketing! Then spending the cash in video arcades or online games.

As long as it is not forced labor, the hours are within reason, and the work not overly strenuous I see nothing wrong with a child working. I worked from the age of 13 washing cars & boats on Saturdays and school holidays. Friends delivered newspapers or groceries. Earning our own money gave us a lot of self esteem plus we all turned out OK. None of us felt abused or taken advantage of.

You were, indeed, a hard-working child during your school holidays.

However, these children do not go to school, and this is (more than) full-time work.

Do you think this gives Thai children a sense of self esteem?

[jshorts]

It does seem a bit unfair to pin the latest reports findings on the current government as it appears to cover 2011.

And, what has the current government done to change the situation?

[jshorts]

What is. What should be. That's the problem. The US describes what should be without understanding what is and why. Addressing this issue as children being forced to labor, under the context of US living standards, will get us nowhere. You cannot compare apples to oranges and try to genetically manufacture oranges and call them apples. This is the way it is, and there is no should be.

The US forgets that they had a Great Depression and the situation (on the surface) was the same then as it is here now. It is simply that poverty has been around in Thailand much longer than the 6 or 7 years that the Great Depression was and it is now an ingrained and accepted fact. It almost seems to be genetic. It should not excuse child labor in the Great Depression, and it should not excuse child labor in the Really Great "Depression" in Thailand, but nevertheless, it is what it is. It is what people do when times are tough, whether it be 6 years of tough times and being forgotten by your government or 600 years of tough times and being forgotten by your government.

Principle does not put meat on the plate. There are a lot of ideas and opinions about what should be, and asshol_e governments like the US seem to get their kicks by picking out the obvious weaknesses of underdeveloped Thai thinking. Perhaps the US government should consider that their version of abnormal is another person's version of normal, and any solution will only cause confusion.

The factors that go into the thinking which creates child labor are extremely different than those in the US. You cannot erase this thinking and indoctrination or religious, social and peer group think in 1 or 100 years. So go ahead and try to make it into your "should be" little world, and you will find that these people will create the same situation in less than one generation, with or without any government involvement.

The Thais are too ingrained, no matter how we interpret that, and they do not care, because they do not know to care, and they could care less what you know or care about, and they would see any gift of aid or assistance as an opportunity to fleece you and take advantage of your gift, and then waste it, and that is the way it is.

And, what do you see as the solution to the problem?

[jshorts]

Having children develop a strong work ethic is not a big problem if they are helping their impoverished families. But porn and sexual slavery is disgusting and parents their teach their daughters to sell themselves to farangs in pattaya should also be imprisoned.!

Are you saying that you approve of an 11 year old working to support his impoverished family?