US team will continue inspecting Thailand's fishery situation at undisclosed areas

[webfact]

US team will continue inspecting fishery situation at undisclosed areas



BANGKOK: -- Although the US inspectors have expressed satisfaction with Thailand on its effort to tackle the human trafficking problem during yesterday inspection in Samut Sakhon province, the team will continue to inspect the situation in other destinations but without the presence of Thai officials to get the real picture of the fishing industry.

Authorities said inspectors from the US Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Office visited the seaside province of Samut Sakhon yesterday to inspect performances of Thai officials at the provincial Port In-Port Out Controlling Center (PIPO) and trafficking problems on Thai fishing vessels

They checked work permit of fishery workers on the vessel to ensure no one on the vessel is a victim of human trafficking, Thai authorities said.

They said the US put a lot of weight on forced and illegal labour when it considers a country’s status in its TIP report.

Following the inspection in Samut Sakhon, the US inspector were satisfied with what they saw and admitted that some of condemnations on Thailand were proved to be wrong.

Thailand has been condemned by the U.S. and the European Union (EU) for poor record of human trafficking and illegal fishing in its fishery industry.

But authorities said the country has striven hard to solve these problems in order to regain confidence from these countries and to rebuild the image of the fishing industry.

Several measures have been undertaken.

Satisfied with Thailand’s effort, the EU has recently decided to maintain the yellow card it had imposed on the industry and to give the country another six months to improve its performance on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

The EU decision pleases the Thai government. However, the government still has the human trafficking to fix.

Last year, the US maintained Thailand in Tier 3, the lowest level in its Trafficking In Person (TIP) report, risking the country for possible US sanction.

The Thai government hopes the country’s status in the annual report this year will improve. Efforts have been taken to address the issue in line with the standard for trafficking elimination.

Regulations are put in place to ban people under the age of 18 years from working on fishing vessels while a system is also introduced to register migrant workers.

Group Captain Vasin Srasrida, director of Directorate of Operation of First Naval Area Command, said that the US was satisfied with the situation following the inspection.

They say they are satisfied and surprised with what Thai authorities have achieved.

“We have done exceedingly well. We can monitor all the fishing vessels. The US team has also requested us to provide updated labour data for them,” he said.

He said the government has seriously enforced laws and prosecuted and suppressed illegal workers in the fishery industry. Work conditions have changed in a positive way.

The industry has faced a shortage of labour and workers have gained more bargaining power, he said.

Other Thai authority said the US will continue its inspection on the Thai fishing industry in other areas.

They normally carry out the activity randomly with unclear destination. They will also visit some of the area without presence of Thai officials in a hope to get a real image of the Thai fishing industry, the authority said.

He added Thailand’s status in the upcoming TIP report will be a good judgment of how well the government has addressed the human trafficking problem in the fishery sector.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/148708

thaipbs]2016-01-29[/thaipbs]

[NCC1701A]

i am an American. we grow up in a bubble world, and we can be very naive.

i traveled the world at a young age and got over that sh*t along time ago.

i am reminded of a line from the film Apocalypse Now.

"Oh man... the bullsh*t piled up so fast in Vietnam, you needed wings to stay above it."

but lets hope they do some good.

Surprised they can move around on their own.

Sorry, being naive again.

[jaywalker]

Yes, most Gringos do lead a sheltered life. I'm surprised the US embassy staff manage to find their buttocks with both hands.

--------------------

I was in Dili, E. Timor, in 2000, staying at the only hotel I knew of, which was a floating barge with cubicles (I have stayed in nicer jail cells).

The entire city had been burned to the ground, so no hotels in town.

Started talking to some (sheltered) US Marines at the rooftop bar and saw this beautifully lit ship a quarter mile away.

I asked what it was, and there was a female Marine who immediately blurted out "That's a Thai whorehouse!" in utter disgust.

I said "Check please?" and went over to check it out.

It was a small cruise liner set up as a hotel by the Sofitel group with posh staterooms, one female Thai receptionist and a male Thai manager, and about 40 Timorese staff.

I moved the next day to the Thai ship.

That American arrogance is something I'll never forget.......And I'm from Florida.

[lovelomsak]

If i had my way they would i would have every one stop buying fish from thailand for a month or more just to let them get the message the rest of the world will not tolerate slavery. So even if they clean it up remind them not to go back to it.It would rock their boat to pay for past crimes.And tell them next time no grace period as soon as it is found put they use slaves export of fish is finished.for even longer.

[iReason]

"Group Captain Vasin Srasrida, director of Directorate of Operation of First Naval Area Command, said that the US was satisfied with the situation following the inspection."

"They say they are satisfied and surprised with what Thai authorities have achieved."

"The US inspector were satisfied with what they saw and admitted that some of condemnations on Thailand were proved to be wrong."

“We have done exceedingly well. We can monitor all the fishing vessels."

They say, they said, they were, they saw... Yawn.

Thailand: The Hub of speaking for other nations.

"They will also visit some of the area without presence of Thai officials."

Nonsense.

The grapevine will have announced their every move before they arrive anywhere.

[worgeordie]

Will the CIA be doing that job

regards Worgeordie

[somo]

"Group Captain Vasin Srasrida, director of Directorate of Operation of First Naval Area Command, said that the US was satisfied with the situation following the inspection."

"They say they are satisfied and surprised with what Thai authorities have achieved."

"The US inspector were satisfied with what they saw and admitted that some of condemnations on Thailand were proved to be wrong."

“We have done exceedingly well. We can monitor all the fishing vessels."

They say, they said, they were, they saw... Yawn.

Thailand: The Hub of speaking for other nations.

"They will also visit some of the area without presence of Thai officials."

Nonsense.

The grapevine will have announced their every move before they arrive anywhere.

These inspectors aren't total mugs, why assume they are?

I wouldn't be surprised if they have been having a good look around in the past month or so before the official visit started. They might now just be confirming how much bullshit they are being fed.

[Oziex1]

"Group Captain Vasin Srasrida, director of Directorate of Operation of First Naval Area Command, said that the US was satisfied with the situation following the inspection."

"They say they are satisfied and surprised with what Thai authorities have achieved."

"The US inspector were satisfied with what they saw and admitted that some of condemnations on Thailand were proved to be wrong."

“We have done exceedingly well. We can monitor all the fishing vessels."

They say, they said, they were, they saw... Yawn.

Thailand: The Hub of speaking for other nations.

"They will also visit some of the area without presence of Thai officials."

Nonsense.

The grapevine will have announced their every move before they arrive anywhere.

These inspectors aren't total mugs, why assume they are?

I wouldn't be surprised if they have been having a good look around in the past month or so before the official visit started. They might now just be confirming how much bullshit they are being fed.

I agree they may have been around awhile but what difference does it make, the evidence of the slavery on the boats is well documented. Have the Thais really confronted this problem my opinion is that it is unlikely that any major inroads have been made.

We were recently made aware as a result of Natural Fruits pursuit of Andy Hall that the authorities have banned under age people from the seafood processing industry however this ruling does hot apply to the fruit processing industry, also banning the under 18's from work is a little unfair on kids in their teens myself like many of you I'm sure commenced our working life at 15 years of age and I loved it, beat the hell out of school.

Keeping kids out of the seafood processing industry is one thing however does it address the forced labour of adults?

[reptile91602]

I just wish the idiots would stop throwing all of the boat waste and trash into the ocean. It keeps floating up on my beach every day. Plastic, Plastic , and more plastic. What a bunch of pigs!!!!!

[bark]

There is no way that the US team will go anywhere without the Thai following them ( under cover). But don't be surprised if they all end up

at Soi Cowboy to inspection the Fish.

" Good morning ladies, said the Blind man as he walked past the Fresh Fish Market " .

[johnnykak]

oh the american hipocrites! I'm from alaska and we have orthodox russians that live and fish there that use their children as crew members that get no pay. we have an ifq system (total crap) where people own the fish before the season starts based on the overall quota. they fish for 25-30% because they don't pay crew and then donate most of the money to the church who in turn buy them trucks and such. no normal boats can afford to fish for that much because bait, fuel, and other expenses come out of the 30%-not the 70%. funny to see these kids fishing for free when they should be in school. then the americans have the gall to say other people are corrupt lol. just because they legalized corruption in the usa doesn't make it right. heres another good tidbit- google how many alaskan politicians have been accused (i say accused and not prosecuted of coarse) of taking bribes from the oil companies. the name of the biggest airport in the state is the ted stevens international airport lol. hey corruption should be dealt with but people who live in glass houses....

[Ulic]

oh the american hipocrites! I'm from alaska and we have orthodox russians that live and fish there that use their children as crew members that get no pay. we have an ifq system (total crap) where people own the fish before the season starts based on the overall quota. they fish for 25-30% because they don't pay crew and then donate most of the money to the church who in turn buy them trucks and such. no normal boats can afford to fish for that much because bait, fuel, and other expenses come out of the 30%-not the 70%. funny to see these kids fishing for free when they should be in school. then the americans have the gall to say other people are corrupt lol. just because they legalized corruption in the usa doesn't make it right. heres another good tidbit- google how many alaskan politicians have been accused (i say accused and not prosecuted of coarse) of taking bribes from the oil companies. the name of the biggest airport in the state is the ted stevens international airport lol. hey corruption should be dealt with but people who live in glass houses....

I did not know this. Learn something every day. That said I am glad someone is trying to

keep things right here in Thailand even if they are fumbling the ball at home. Two wrongs

don't make a right.

[ratcatcher]

I just wish the idiots would stop throwing all of the boat waste and trash into the ocean. It keeps floating up on my beach every day. Plastic, Plastic , and more plastic. What a bunch of pigs!!!!!

".... my beach ...."

Are you one of the fortunate few who have their own private waterfront property or are you referring to the dirty sun of a beach that seems to attract all kinds of flotsam and jetsam.

If the latter it surely is up to the local residents to arrange cleanups.

However, the discarding of trash from vessels is unlikely to cease until people learn the value of the ocean they pollute.

[kiwikeith]

If i had my way they would i would have every one stop buying fish from thailand for a month or more just to let them get the message the rest of the world will not tolerate slavery. So even if they clean it up remind them not to go back to it.It would rock their boat to pay for past crimes.And tell them next time no grace period as soon as it is found put they use slaves export of fish is finished.for even longer.

This is a group of people that demand the catch at a pittance so they can make a fortune, the trickle down effect only reaches those with the power to deny everything

Monsanto and Cargil are doing this on a much bigger scale.

But not to worry! soon the fools will sign the TTP and Monsanto and cargil will be in like flin to destroy whats left while the hungry mongrels that let this happen feed.

[Traveling Sailor]

If i had my way they would i would have every one stop buying fish from thailand for a month or more just to let them get the message the rest of the world will not tolerate slavery. So even if they clean it up remind them not to go back to it.It would rock their boat to pay for past crimes.And tell them next time no grace period as soon as it is found put they use slaves export of fish is finished.for even longer.

The problem is that Thais who have been through the typical Thai education system will not be able to learn anything from a month or more ban. Why? They aren't taught how to think. So, they will be put out when they cannot sell their fish and, after the month is over, they will go right back to their old ways, being grateful that they can sell their fish again.

They will not get "the message". Nothing will change.

[stickylies]

ah americans, the world's conscience ;-)

[BSJ]

"the team will continue to inspect the situation in other destinations but without the presence of Thai officials to get the real picture of the fishing industry." So does that meAN THE BOAT THEY ARE TRAVELING ON WON'T BE FIRING Red, White and Blue rockets every 15 minutes???

[dageurreotype]

Although the US inspectors have expressed satisfaction with Thailand on its effort to tackle the human trafficking problem during yesterday inspection

Was that before or after the discovery of 30 Burmese slaves kept on Phuket?

[Basil B]

That boat look to clean and tidy to be a working vessel, inspectors hoodwinked again???

[spidermike007]

Let us hope they are able to do some inspections on their own, without knowledge of their Thai masters. No doubt the Thai side of things was staged, or the boats were vetted long in advance. Random inspections are the way to go. But, how do you determine if there are slaves on board? Do you ask them? Do you ask for documentation? What about illegals? And would the Thais cooperate with an American crew that is asking for this? Why would they cooperate? Just a bunch of dumb foreigners anyway. What do foreigners really know, about anything?