'Serious abuses' on Thai fishing boats: ILO

BANGKOK, September 2, 2013 (AFP) - The International Labour Organisation on Monday warned of "serious abuses" in the Thai fishing industry -- a major global source of fish -- such as forced labour and violence.

About 17 percent of the mainly undocumented Myanmar and Cambodian fishermen surveyed by the ILO were forced to work under threat of financial penalty, violence or denunciation to the authorities, the UN agency said.

Thailand -- the world's third largest fish exporter by value, with sales worth around $7 billion a year -- is under international pressure to respond to reports of fishermen forced to work as virtual slaves under brutal conditions.

"This study does find serious abuses within the sector. The vast majority of workers were in irregular status and thus more vulnerable to exploitation," said ILO senior programme officer Max Tunon.

While 10 percent of respondents reported being severely beaten on board, more than a quarter said they worked or were on call between 17 and 24 hours a day.

The average wage was 6,483 baht ($200) a month among the sample of 596 people, while only one of the migrant fishermen had a work permit. The survey found seven children under 15 years old, and 26 teenagers aged 15-17.

Conditions for fishermen on long-haul vessels were worse than for those who regularly returned to shore, the survey found, with a quarter reporting having been deceived or coerced into working at sea.

Tunon said the study focused on those in short-haul boats, with those trapped at sea "in the worst conditions" not necessarily included.

"It would be expected that if we interviewed just people at sea for a long period of time the picture would look worse," he said.

The report said the fishing industry as a whole -- which includes lucrative fish and shrimp farming and packaging sectors -- accounts for around 1.2 percent of Thailand's economy.

But declining fish stocks have pushed boats farther out to sea in search of catch, increasing their fuel costs.

"With pressures on seafood suppliers to reduce costs by every means available, a race to the bottom on labour costs has been created for the Thai seafood industry," the report said.

"When coupled with the increased vulnerability of undocumented migrant workers to forced labour, an enabling environment for such abuses to become systematic now exists."


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-09-02

This has been going on for many, many years and the ILO is just figuring it out? Better late than never I suppose.

This has been going on for many, many years and the ILO is just figuring it out? Better late than never I suppose.

Suppose there all types of abuses, especially against the youngsters. Must be a nightmare for some.

Look at the money paid, sometimes I think if things are that bad they ought to push the owners overboard.

worst still, lives are worthless for those mafia

Tunon said the study focused on those in short-haul boats, with those trapped at sea "in the worst conditions" not necessarily included.
"It would be expected that if we interviewed just people at sea for a long period of time the picture would look worse," he said.

In other words, we really did do a half ass job on this report. But of course,possibly risking your life to report these abuses is extremely dangerous and the individual, group, or organization should be likened to hero's for doing so. Someday it will happen, with proper documentation and irrefutable evidence, hopefully sooner than later.

This has been going on for many, many years and the ILO is just figuring it out? Better late than never I suppose.

Suppose there all types of abuses, especially against the youngsters. Must be a nightmare for some.

Look at the money paid, sometimes I think if things are that bad they ought to push the owners overboard.

The owners aren't even out on the boats in most cases. I've read about crew being beaten and thrown overboard though.

There sure is a lot of pond scum in this country

I find these statistics sketchy. Every boat I've ever seen docked had very young kids working on them. At Koh Samui I saw six boats with about 75 people on each boat mostly kids. They looked miserable and skinny. Sucks they were born into that mess.

Here's one for the Labour Minister, Khun Chalerm.

He's been very quiet recently so I'm sure he'll be glad to get something to sink his teeth into and relieve the monotony of his new job.

Sux to hear of abuse like this on such a large scale for so long.

What gets me is that so much opportunity for cash from crime without having to dabble in borderline slavery anyway.

The hardship that goes on while the gov't play monopoly is really quite callous.

I'm no historian, but I take an interest in what's going on in my own back yard.

Has the union movement been actively stomped on here, or is it just a case of nobody having read a history book ?

All for putting things into perspective but, there doesn't seem to be anything done about stuff like this,

IT would be nice if some/any/one of these international bodies with some teeth followed up the studies like this and actually did something to help.

I was at the FCCT for the report launch. One issue that must be emphasized is that the report was based on interviews with workers who could leave their ship to do the interview. The other interesting aspect of the report was that only ONE of the 596 workers who were interviewed had a work permit! For those people who have asked about the scope of undocumented migrant workers in Thailand, this is most revealing. Several of the persons from the media and one NGO worker were critical of the report because it failed to fully detail the broker system in Myanmar and Thailand which causes these workers to basically become bonded laborers. Migrant labor is a cheap pool of workers who are subject to immense exploitation. Because the Thai laws and regulations for migrant workers is constantly changing, there is no incentive for migrant workers to become documented. And Thailand still fails to provide workers compensation for migrant workers!! Another aspect of the work on fishing boats that was missing in the report was the rampant use of drugs. Ship owners often supply the drugs to the workers so they can work the long hours on the boat. Despite the report's shortcomings, it will give a reader a good overview for a terrible industry.

Edited September 2, 201312 yr by pookiki

Sux to hear of abuse like this on such a large scale for so long.

What gets me is that so much opportunity for cash from crime without having to dabble in borderline slavery anyway.

The hardship that goes on while the gov't play monopoly is really quite callous.

I'm no historian, but I take an interest in what's going on in my own back yard.

Has the union movement been actively stomped on here, or is it just a case of nobody having read a history book ?

All for putting things into perspective but, there doesn't seem to be anything done about stuff like this,

IT would be nice if some/any/one of these international bodies with some teeth followed up the studies like this and actually did something to help.

I agree that there needs to be more intervention to help these workers. But one must remember that the ILO is a 'tripartite' organization [government/employers/unions]. As such, it is forced to operate in a collaborative environment even though it advocates for countries to follow its 'conventions' on worker rights, etc. It certainly would be a better world if all the countries who have ratified ILO conventions vigorously enforced them. Having said that, I am ashamed to say that the US is one country that has not ratified the ILO conventions on 'forced labor' or on 'freedom of association'. It saddens me greatly that the US tries to hold itself up as a beacon of morality for the rest of the world given this shameful inaction.

I read a rumor on facebook that Suthep has a large fleet of trawler vessels located in Suratthani......

I recall the ILO making similar noises about this issue some years ago. It is apparent that this report is a tip of the iceberg, and a full scale investigation would reveal that human trafficking is alive and well in this industry. Many of the underage and illegal workers are from Burma, and have been sold into slavery. Pity they are fishermen, and not fisherwomen, otherwise the UN would get serious about it.

All generalizations are false. Especially this one.

This has been going on for many, many years and the ILO is just figuring it out? Better late than never I suppose.

Suppose there all types of abuses, especially against the youngsters. Must be a nightmare for some.

Look at the money paid, sometimes I think if things are that bad they ought to push the owners overboard.

you'd have to get the owner on board first...even the Capt. is salaried and/or on a catch commission basis............

Edited September 3, 201312 yr by metisdead
Bold font removed.

The poll they took was only with the workers that were able to talk, there are probably a lot more hidden away.

This has been going on for many, many years and the ILO is just figuring it out? Better late than never I suppose.

Suppose there all types of abuses, especially against the youngsters. Must be a nightmare for some.

Look at the money paid, sometimes I think if things are that bad they ought to push the owners overboard.

you'd have to get the owner on board first...even the Capt. is salaried and/or on a catch commission basis............

Just a figure of speech re--OWNERS overboard. it is them that should walk the plank.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by ginjag