US Envoy: American action on Thai human trafficking 'not political issue'
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, June 26 -- US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney has reiterated that her government's more negative consideration of human trafficking in Thailand is not a political issue, and does not concern the May 22 military takeover.

Ambassador Kristie Kenney told the Thai News Agency on Thursday that the United States moved Thailand from Tier 2 to Tier 3 on its human trafficking watch list to tell Thailand to be aware of human trafficking problems and that the move had nothing to do with any political issue in Thailand.

She also praised migrant labor regulation by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) as a good policy to tackle human trafficking.

Defence Forces chief and deputy NCPO chief Gen Tanasak Patimapragorn met Ms Kenney earlier and expressed disappointment with the US placing Thailand in Tier 3.

Gen Tanasak insisted that Thailand was seriously moving to resolve the problems of human trafficking, child labour and labour by illegal aliens.

The ambassador said the US would support Thailand in its efforts.

Vichien Chavalit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, said it was difficult to handle human trafficking because Thailand shared borderlines with neighboring countries over a distance of thousands of kilometers.

Thailand was a regional transportation centre, attracted migrant workers with its higher wages, and needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-06-26

Yup she has hit the nail on the head, there are slaves on fishing boats because Thais don't want the job. I think not!

It's true though, taking a morally correct position on an issue rarely has anything to do with politics.

The denial of the cold, hard facts starts again. Business as usual.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ XA using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

" US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney has reiterated that her government's more negative consideration of human trafficking in Thailand is not a political issue..."

Who's she kidding? She is the ambassador who was appointed by the President of the United States. Everything her government does and says is a political issue. Perhaps what she needs to do is thimk before she speaks.

"The ambassador said the US would support Thailand in its efforts"

The most effective way to do that is to boycott seafood products until the issue is resolved.

"... needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work."

Sort of like bringing slaves over from Africa because the white Americans didn't want to pick cotton. Great rebuttal .

Edited June 26, 201412 yr by jaltsc

Sir someone has pointed out that these measure could benefit China.

Yes sir reverse gear pronto.

US ambassador meets deputy junta chief

BANGKOK: -- American Ambassador Kristie Kenney has met a junta leader to discuss bilateral ties between Thailand and the United States following the toughened US stance over Thailand's human trafficking records and post-coup situation.

Armed forces supreme commander General Tanasak Patimapragorn, who is also deputy leader of the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), earlier this week met with the US envoy, according to NCPO spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/US-ambassador-meets-deputy-junta-chief-30237168.html


-- The Nation 2014-06-26

" US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney has reiterated that her government's more negative consideration of human trafficking in Thailand is not a political issue..."

Who's she kidding? She is the ambassador who was appointed by the President of the United States. Everything her government does and says is a political issue. Perhaps what she needs to do is thimk before she speaks.

"The ambassador said the US would support Thailand in its efforts"

The most effective way to do that is to boycott seafood products until the issue is resolved.

"... needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work."

Sort of like bringing slaves over from Africa because the white Americans didn't want to pick cotton. Great rebuttal .

I'm not sure who exactly you think you are rebutting with your last comment as it was not made by the Ambassador - it was written by the journalist.

Besides, if we used past standards as models for what should be acceptable now, there would never be any progress in anything.

'Vichien Chavalit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, said it was difficult to handle human trafficking because Thailand shared borderlines with neighboring countries over a distance of thousands of kilometers.'

How about instead of making excuses, the authorities target the people who make the most money off of human trafficking? It seems like a lot of focus is directed towards the illegal workers rather than those who employ them - and this is not something that only happens in Thailand, mind you. This seems to be SOP around the world - target the poor and defenseless while the rich and powerful just keep on keepin' on.

Yup she has hit the nail on the head, there are slaves on fishing boats because Thais don't want the job. I think not!

If 'she' is referring to the Ambassador, I think you misread the article. She didn't say that - the journalist who wrote the article stated that.

" US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney has reiterated that her government's more negative consideration of human trafficking in Thailand is not a political issue..."

Who's she kidding? She is the ambassador who was appointed by the President of the United States. Everything her government does and says is a political issue. Perhaps what she needs to do is thimk before she speaks.

"The ambassador said the US would support Thailand in its efforts"

The most effective way to do that is to boycott seafood products until the issue is resolved.

"... needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work."

Sort of like bringing slaves over from Africa because the white Americans didn't want to pick cotton. Great rebuttal .

good up to

"... needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work."

Sort of like bringing slaves over from Africa because the white Americans didn't want to pick cotton. Great rebuttal

More like the natives didn't want to be slaves, silly people. Although they had enough problems getting wiped out by European diseases. And mainly Europeans who brought Africans over, btw. There weren't all that many white colonists in what was to become USA (aka America). Quite common for folks to be "indentured servants", or similar to slaves, but usually of a term around 7 years.

Ok, Kinney is something of a political hack, out of touch, clueless ding bat. But she knows how to talk without saying anything meaningful, and isn't that what diplomacy is all about?

"... needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work."

Sort of like bringing slaves over from Africa because the white Americans didn't want to pick cotton. Great rebuttal .

Correction, it was Europeans who brought African slaves to the American continent for more than 200 years because white Europeans didn't want to pick cotton.

I think it's fair to say that reducing slavery in Thailand is not a political issue.However, this issue was not pursed quite so vigorously during the last regime. This point smacks of politicking.

Egypt's coup seems less of a sticking point with the US. Don't confuse protests about the journalists being imprisoned with a lack of support.

Where has this current regime behaved with such judicious irregularity?

Before the coup Thaialnd had reached a stalemate and threats of secession might have resulted in a bloody civil war. Thank god someone saw sense and allowed a period of cooling down and reforms.

True sincerity and understanding would be transparent if the authorities simply jailed the Thai employers of these illegal workers. Fix the dam cause and not simply the effect. If Thai companies need the labor then enlist it within the prescribed law.

"... needed alien labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais including unskilled labor and fishery-related work."

Sort of like bringing slaves over from Africa because the white Americans didn't want to pick cotton. Great rebuttal .

Correction, it was Europeans who brought African slaves to the American continent for more than 200 years because white Europeans didn't want to pick cotton.

White Europeans didn't want to pick cotton?

Where do you get that from?

I think it's fair to say that reducing slavery in Thailand is not a political issue.However, this issue was not pursed quite so vigorously during the last regime. This point smacks of politicking.

Egypt's coup seems less of a sticking point with the US. Don't confuse protests about the journalists being imprisoned with a lack of support.

Where has this current regime behaved with such judicious irregularity?

Before the coup Thaialnd had reached a stalemate and threats of secession might have resulted in a bloody civil war. Thank god someone saw sense and allowed a period of cooling down and reforms.

The report has been done and every year and Thailand has been warned for 4 years. They had every chance to do something.

HMMMM! Not a very good photo of her this time. She looks tired and stressed, Maybe rather than just doing photo ops and HISO cocktail parties, she is actually having to work and perform her duties as an Ambassador. That really must tire her out!

Edited June 26, 201412 yr by BuddyPinkham

In re: "Vichien Chavalit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, said it was difficult to handle human trafficking because Thailand shared borderlines with neighboring countries over a distance of thousands of kilometers."

If Thailand could ever say something like, "The human trafficking issue is a problem in Thailand because some Thais participate it, and it's our responsibility to clean it up", I think the whole world would have a collective heart attack.