What does the Junta expect, they vote for it and they slam defamation charges on anyone who tries to do anything about the problem.

The Junta? What? How do you tie them into this problem?

The report was concluded prior to the Junta. The downgrade was automatic if certain improvements were not met within a 4-year timeframe--which they were not.

Isn't the Navy part of the Junta? If they want to show they are doing something serious then drop these stupid lawsuits against those who are trying help.

Might see a couple of Naval officers moved to an inactive post in the P.M,s office, if there is any room that is.

"My point is Tier 3, as described [by the US], are the countries that put in no effort. We did. We have the figures. It's not right to say we did nothing," he said.

Don't Thai to me....

When will Thailand realise that the rest of the world has moved on.The corruption and Mafia in Thailand came with the name "Democracy" but has to realise the slavery in the Fishing Industry and other industries will catch up with them

Thais sending "teams" of executives to the US is a waste and not to be believed. Thais should expense US inspectors for a show around of the Thai shrimp factories and plants to see for themselves if Thais are cleaning up. They are not.

Thai officials, and their wives, will grab any excuse to go on an all expenses paid ' chopping ' trip.

Sorry to burst your bubble

This is no longer allowed in Thailand

but in countries like Australia and America it is way over the top

People who live in glass houses

Lots of things aren't allowed in Thailand but still manage to happen.

However, officials said Thailand would continue to improve its methods in preventing and suppressing human trafficking.

Continue to improve ??

I must miss something here, but if you're downgrade on every revision, doesn't that mean you've never STARTED to improve ?

these people are the reason Thailand is in such a corrupt mess, they basically see no wrong in SLAVERY, prostitution, child abuse or money under the table.... the list goes on but all Thais ever do is Deny; like spoilt little children..but forget the evil deeds they do in the name of money ...Thais re-inventing buddism

If we take out the word Thailand

we are describing the United States

and which country in the world put slavery on the map

a culture that set American again American

he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones

One word describes this post "idiot" The US put slavery on the map? Really considering slavery is older than society itself. Yes the US had slavery but so did most of the Americas and it was much more brutal in the former British,Spanish and Portuguese colonies. You may notice they do not get the same "poor us" sympathy from their government because you can't squeeze blood from a stone. If you are talking about the Civil war it was not about slavery it was about succession. Slavery only came into at the end of the war to cause further problems for the south. Oddly enough you also fail to understand the Barbary pirates enslaved millions of Europeans. But I digress something tells me if America created free energy for all your European animus would still find a fault. Get the <deleted> over it, we are at least doing something about the problem in Thailand and it seems to be a lot more than your European countries are doing. Just like the Ukraine when it comes to solving Europes problem by spending US dollars you think its an entitlement owed to Europe instead of solving your own "regional" problems.

You are wrong sihasak. No one outside of Thailand is going to fall for..... from thai officialdom.

-*I typed this myself*-

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Deny yes

but is it not the USA who are in denial here

They are complaining about the last 4 years of the Thailand government not doing any thing about this problem

yet they are against this bad government being removed

To me it is typical USA so called democracy where the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing

Before the go with verbal BS

How about they give the new ruling body a chance first

constructive criticism is what Thailand needs to help it

Not complaints about a government that is no longer in power

Unfortunately this has been on going for more than four years and it is quiet apparent that they have no intention of doing anything about it, what this junta government has to do is show the way and just do something , Thailand in all quarters has a very bad habit of just talking and very little action , this is the time for leadership and action with less talk.

This is US economic pressure being applied to punish the new regime. Thailand was upgraded last year, without any efforts to address this issue beyond lobbying the US. Gen.P didn't invent these abuses.

However, as an intelligent leader, what's the bet he will be quick enough to capitalise on this situation, by addressing the problem squarely and punishing those involved.

It's funny how the problem was ignored by the US when they wanted to support the previous corruption.

When Thailand finally gets a leader focused on real reform, the US actually balk?

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You are so unaware and off the mark, that it's almost humorous.

1 - This is US economic pressure being applied to punish the new regime. This report was compiled and completed BEFORE the junta took power.

2 - Thailand was upgraded last year. No, last year they were given their FINAL EXTENSION on the Tier 2 Watch List, where they have been for the past 4 years, with NO improvement.

3 - It's funny how the problem was ignored by the US when they wanted to support the previous corruption. No, it was not ignored, as stated in #2, they were given their last and final extension on the Tier 2 Watch List.

4 - When Thailand finally gets a leader focused on real reform, the US actually balk? "Balk"? What did they "balk" about? They criticized the coup as being undemocratic, as did many other democratic countries of the world.

This downgrade to Tier 3 was based on the report that extended from April 2013 to April 2014, and had absolutely nothing to do with the coup, no matter how much you try to make it sound as if it did. You really should try reading more, and learning actual facts before sitting down at your keyboard and making ignorant statements.

Edit for typo

"My point is Tier 3, as described [by the US], are the countries that put in no effort. We did. We have the figures. It's not right to say we did nothing," he said.

Don't Thai to me....

Nobody actually said Thailand has done nothing, not even the US.

What was said is that what has been done by Thailand is nowhere near or remotely up to scrach, based upon worldwide standards, not only US standards.

It's ok for the important man to quote figures of 200 arrested, including 30 corrupt officials, but the reality is in the many thousands, if not tens of thousands involved.

Maybe this will just be the wake up call Thailand needs, now that it is recognised in this field as on a par with North Korea.

Too much talk and not enough action by both sides. Thailand needs to do a lot of hard work to sort the problem whilst the other side, lets say the rest of the sensible world, needs to take meaningful action to ensure it happens, which is easy, just block ALL imports from Thailand until further notice. Problem solved.

I'm very surprise to not see US in the Tier 3 too, because this country use a lot of slavery manpower around the world for his own industries.....

for example, US textile industries use Bangladesh slave........ Some US company use Mexican salve in Tijuana city border......

US just use an excuse for prevent military to reform country

Of course it's wrong, how dare the Americans point out the Thais are very wrong, even if it's true.

Thainess is for Thais not others to understand and marvel at.

CORRECT!!!

QUOTE

"Moreover, it was not right for a country to evaluate others based on its own standards, he added."

How dare the EU and the USA judge customs in Sudan, for instance, where slavery is part of their age-old traditions?

How dare the USA and EU judge us by their own standards of human rights !!!

We are Thais! We are Buddhists. We can do no wrong!

After this explanation, can you continue sending your tourists and buying our shrimp?

these people are the reason Thailand is in such a corrupt mess, they basically see no wrong in SLAVERY, prostitution, child abuse or money under the table.... the list goes on but all Thais ever do is Deny; like spoilt little children..but forget the evil deeds they do in the name of money ...Thais re-inventing buddism

If we take out the word Thailand

we are describing the United States

and which country in the world put slavery on the map

a culture that set American again American

he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones

Tezza.. I believe you're in Italian by birth, that would make you a descendant of the Romans, who enforced slavery in all countries they conquered!!

You're right, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, so drop the rocks, and go and study a little bit more about slavery and you might just find out that Europeans were heavily into slave trading and slavery well before the Pilgrims set foot on what is now America.. you listen to your wife too much!!

Big loss of face, they spent 400,000 dollars. To lobby congress!

"My point is Tier 3, as described [by the US], are the countries that put in no effort. We did. We have the figures. It's not right to say we did nothing," Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow reportedly said.

No, Mr. Sihasak! Apparently...

...Tier 3 is for countries that have not made sufficient progress [after having been classified as Tier 2 for - as in Thailand's case - several years] in tackling human trafficking or have not made significant efforts to do so.

Thailand was given a fair chance to clean up this mess and tackle the problem, but flunked it.

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&lt;deleted&gt;!! Why the constant finger pointing over an issue that has been going on well before Thaksins Regime.

The inability of some people to move forward and leave the past there is why Thailand will never come close to a Democracy and that's just within the Farangs, there's posters who would blame Thaksin for their constipation, that sort of obsession is unhealthy.

The Yingluck Government didn't do much to boost confidence if any among st many posters here, but NOW is the chance to fix things so tey never get that bad.

Like it or not, the ball is now in the Junta's court, they have the mandate to make the improvements, so many people here also in Denial, which isn't just a river in Egypt!! The constant deflection of the subject as well to that of the USA needs to stop, instead of greeting your eyes out over the issue, and complaining, dry your eyes and FIX IT!!!!!

- Foreign Ministry says tangible progress not taken into account; vows to continue fight against human trafficking

Public Opinion says The Foreign Ministry is not taking into account reality: truth; current events; facts in the fishing industry and on and on and on.....

They just live in the image of life they would like to be and want and expect all to believe .

Remember the survey some months back about 68% of those surveyed think there is nothing wrong with corruption as long as you get something out of it????? Well this type of thinking is the result of those kind of thoughts about how the government should be run. How can you expect any problems to be corrected when 68% of the populace can't see anything wrong.

That must mean that for Thailand, corruption is right not wrong.

The opinion of the population, feeling this way, needs to drop well below the 50% mark to see any change to make things better as far as the rest of the world is concerned. If you expect the rest of the world to lgive aid to you....... change your ways.....

However, officials said Thailand would continue to improve its methods in preventing and suppressing human trafficking.

Continue to improve ??

I must miss something here, but if you're downgrade on every revision, doesn't that mean you've never STARTED to improve ?

Maybe the honorable gentleman can produce a list of arrests and convictions....

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"Moreover, it was not right for a country to evaluate others based on its own standards, he added.

"The US should stop using such unilateral evaluations," he said, adding that the US should also review its stance towards Thailand."

You're not the boss of me. Do what I want. It's just not fair.

Great speech writing, really, just great.

Let us hope that Prayuth can do something about the terrible mess called the Thai fishing industry. They ignore moratoriums on fishing in areas that are being protected, with impunity. They use slave labor, seemingly with impunity. Someone needs to do something. Both Abhisit and the Yingbat had absolutely no courage in fighting this problem. Perhaps the US report simply is a reflection of that lack of courage, conviction, compassion, and desire to help? We are all hoping for positive change. One can only hope things improve. The last two administration were a disaster. And when you look at Thaksin prior to that, well what can one say? How many years has there been little to no change in regard to these issues? It is fairly typical for the government officials to just deny, rather than take even a modicum of responsibility. Do not be a coward. Man up. Take responsibility. We know how bad the problem is, and we are determined to fix it. Get rid of the children running the govt.

So they like an A for effort. This actually reads like a student whining after getting a D grade.

Which of course virtually no one in Thailand understands because they never fail. Thailand failed. Why? Because there is still too much slavery and people trafficking.

D grade. Must try harder.

Deny yes

but is it not the USA who are in denial here

They are complaining about the last 4 years of the Thailand government not doing any thing about this problem

yet they are against this bad government being removed

To me it is typical USA so called democracy where the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing

Before the go with verbal BS

How about they give the new ruling body a chance first

constructive criticism is what Thailand needs to help it

Not complaints about a government that is no longer in power

I am surprise that you did not suggest That US send Thailand 200 billion dollars each year to him with reform

The US is rich and will only waste it on weapons

these people are the reason Thailand is in such a corrupt mess, they basically see no wrong in SLAVERY, prostitution, child abuse or money under the table.... the list goes on but all Thais ever do is Deny; like spoilt little children..but forget the evil deeds they do in the name of money ...Thais re-inventing buddism

If we take out the word Thailand

we are describing the United States

and which country in the world put slavery on the map

a culture that set American again American

he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones

Tezza.. I believe you're in Italian by birth, that would make you a descendant of the Romans, who enforced slavery in all countries they conquered!!

You're right, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, so drop the rocks, and go and study a little bit more about slavery and you might just find out that Europeans were heavily into slave trading and slavery well before the Pilgrims set foot on what is now America.. you listen to your wife too much!!

Furthermore, Thailand was one of the last countries in the world to "formally" abolish slavery in 1912. Of course Thais do not like to talk about that.

Although formally abolished, it continued in the guise of Khon Chai. Most of the former slaves (Khmer, Karen people and other minorities) were retained, legally, by the former masters without payment for their services.

Khon Chai in vernacular Thai was understood as a servant who would do anything the owner asked. Anything.

As for the nowadays USA, the British and French were the importers of slaves from Africa. Arab traders were the suppliers of slaves to the French and British traders. The slaves provenance was the result of inter-tribal warfare and instead of executing the prisoners (as it was the MO de rigour, the Arabs began bartering with the victor chieftains. Trinkets, metal tools for slaves.

"Five export products - textile, fish, shrimp, sugarcane and pornography - could be affected by the downgrade."

Did anyone read the whole article? Just wondering if this was a typo, joke or misquote? Help me here!

"But Sihasak said Thailand's exports should not be affected, and Thailand did not export pornography."

Why would he even say this?

How do you know are you in the wholesale business are just a watcher

Stop whinning & start doing something to make things better. Don't just set up committees to look into things, you don't need 700+++ pages of report.

C.P. Foods, The richest man in Thailand! Karma.

I never buy anything made by CP, all looks like s**t anyway. Or the 'CP' for sale on Sukhumvit ,maybe this is the porn they are referring to.

"Five export products - textile, fish, shrimp, sugarcane and pornography - could be affected by the downgrade."

Did anyone read the whole article? Just wondering if this was a typo, joke or misquote? Help me here!

"But Sihasak said Thailand's exports should not be affected, and Thailand did not export pornography."

Why would he even say this?

No we do not export pornography - we import it and traffic it....

"Moreover, it was not right for a country to evaluate others based on its own standards"

​Fair call , but I am sure he would not have said that if they moved to Tier 1 or remained at Tier 2 and in fact would have no doubt praised the US if it did move Thailand to a Tier 1.