Children from Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia are victims of sex trafficking in brothels, massage parlors, bars, karaoke lounges, hotels, and private residences. TIMELINE: China-Myanmar Relations. The decree prohibited employers from deducting more than 10 percent of workers’ monthly salaries for personal expenses and the retention of travel or other personal documents; the law prescribed penalties of fines ranging from 10,000-100,000 baht ($309-$3,090) and up to six months’ imprisonment for employers who violated these rules. The Southeast Asian nation is consistently ranked as one of the world's best tourist destinations. MSDHS reported it assigned social workers to maintain contact with victims for at least one year after their reintegration. Nine teenage girls aged under 18 were rescued from a spa in Nonthaburi, Thailand. Traffickers use Thailand as a transit country for victims from China, North Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, and Burma whom traffickers subject to sex trafficking and forced labor in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Russia, South Korea, the United States, and countries in Western Europe. The government coordinated with these service centers to provide heath checks, collect biometric and personal data, and issue work permits to 1,187,803 workers in 2018. ™ Both internal and cross-border trafficking occur in and from Thailand, for sex and labour exploitation. Nonetheless, observers reported labor officials interviewed workers in the presence of their employers and brokers at post-arrival centers, which could deter workers from reporting exploitation. Advocates reported a need for the government to increase training of front-line police to better identify potential victims. Such practices deterred victims and advocates from reporting abuses to authorities. Thailand's sex industry is a human trafficking destination. Its victims often end up being sexually exploited in travel and tourist destinations around the globe. "Therefore we hope the situation in Thailand will be better, and it will be recognised by the international community.". Some officials failed to recognize trafficking cases that did not involve physical force or overt signs of coercion; officials did not routinely identify victims who initially consented to travel to Thailand or consented to work in the industry in which they were later exploited. The government reported that law enforcement made arrests in a number of major sex and labor trafficking networks. The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Consequently, before they were physically or psychologically prepared to undergo the MDT identification process, victims frequently sought temporary care from NGOs, rather than government agencies. It is a destination-side hub of exploitation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, for both sex and labour exploitation. The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission referred seven officials to prosecutors, of which the government initiated four prosecutions. These … Weaknesses in Thailand’s labor laws preventing migrant workers from forming labor unions may have contributed to exploitation. The government trained law enforcement officials, labor inspectors, interpreters, and MSDHS staff on victim identification and interview techniques and trauma informed care, sometimes in cooperation with NGOs. A video flashes the message: "Keep Thailand the Land of Smiles for all". Labor traffickers subject Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Indonesian men and boys to forced labor on Thai and foreign-owned fishing boats. Authorities did not consistently identify male child victims, which resulted in some being sent to immigration detention facilities or treated as law violators, rather than being offered victim services. The government employed 84 language coordinators (74 in 2017) and 69 interpreters (74 in 2017) in 2018. An estimated 5.5 million of these are children. The Ministerial Regulation on Labor Protection for Sea Fishers, which took effect in April 2018, required Thai vessels operating outside Thai waters to provide messaging data to workers for communicating with government agencies and personal contacts. Last year a record 35 million tourists visited the country, and the government expects it to rise to 37.6 million this year. A 12-year-old boy sitting under a tree told me American men have come to town and asked for him by name. Bar girls aren't the only commodity sex tourists seek in Thailand. An official website of the United States government, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Office of the U.S. Improve the capacity of law enforcement to proactively prosecute and convict labor traffickers and identify labor trafficking victims. The OAG required all prosecutors to expedite the submission of trafficking cases to the Courts of Justice. Corruption continues to undermine anti-trafficking efforts. The US State Department last year left Thailand on a Tier 2 Watchlist - just above the lowest ranking of Tier 3 - in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, saying it had not done enough to tackle human smuggling and trafficking. NGOs reported a decline in the prevalence of forced child begging following the passage of the 2016 Beggar Control Act, which provided for health and social services to beggars, including trafficking victims. As recently as 2015, there were reports of separatist groups in southern Thailand recruiting and using children to commit acts of arson or serve as scouts. Observers reported government policies contributed to the exploitation of migrants employed in Thai border regions, including within the 10 developing special economic zones. Ethnic Thais are trafficked from poor areas of Chiang Rai, Nong Khai, and Phayao to the tourist areas. But there are guilty parties involved on many fronts when it comes to the link between sex work and human trafficking in Thailand — and most of the guilt rests with tourists themselves. Perpetrators will be severely punished,” it says, followed by a hotline number for people to report cases. The government required fishing vessels operating in Thai waters to return to ports every 30 days and strictly regulated long-haul Thai-flagged vessels from operating in international waters. Prosecutors also worked with NGOs to prepare victims to testify and courts allowed NGO lawyers to serve as co-plaintiffs in some cases to legally support victims. @hrw letter to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha https://t.co/TIE3frGfSnpic.twitter.com/yYG9hBGodF, By subscribing, you accept the terms and conditions in our, ©2021 Bangkok Post Public Company Limited, Tourists tapped to fight human trafficking. The Government of Thailand does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The tourism body said in March that the country is aiming to move forward as a "quality destination" and it strongly opposed any form of sex tourism. NGOs reported employers increasingly encouraged workers to obtain these border passes. In addition, employers rarely provided workers a contract to keep or in their language. Corruption and official complicity facilitated trafficking and continued to impede anti-trafficking efforts. Nonetheless, officials did not adequately identify victims of trafficking and anecdotal reports suggested some provincial government officials were hesitant to identify them due to fears of public shame that trafficking occurred in their provinces. "Every effort is important," Weerachon Sukhontapatipak, a Thai government spokesman told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Equality Now says human trafficking is a natural outgrowth of sex tourism, whether that tourism involves prostitution or ping pong shows. “Human trafficking and slavery are against the law in Thailand. The government identified 631 victims in 2018 (455 in 2017), 401 of whom the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) reported assisting in government shelters (360 in 2017). 3,598 cases of human trafficking reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center [10]. From airports to shopping malls, Thailand is ramping up a campaign targeting tourists in its latest effort to keep the country free from human trafficking, as officials eye better international ratings. Our Fight For Press Freedom . Thailand rescued a record 1,807 victims of human trafficking last year, according to data that campaigners on Monday said raised concerns about the nation’s ability to support survivors. It initiated prosecutions against 416 illegal brokers (287 in 2017) under the Employment and Job-Seeker Protection Act. Eyeing a better ranking, the government has vowed a clean-up. The government utilized administrative punishments against some suspected complicit officials, such as suspensions or transfers to new positions, rather than subjecting them to criminal prosecutions; the government expelled seven officials suspected of complicity from government service in 2018 but only reported initiating prosecutions against three. Opinnäytetyön aihe on ihmis-kaupan ja turismin väliset suhteet. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Bar girls aren't the only commodity sex tourists seek in Thailand. The government distributed a new handbook in seven languages informing victims of their legal rights under the trafficking law, including access to services. Those identified and assisted by MSDHS included 152 Thai and 249 foreign victims, 186 victims of sex trafficking and 66 of labor trafficking; it was unclear what form of exploitation the remaining 149 victims faced. Thai law permitted foreign trafficking victims and witnesses to stay and work in Thailand for up to two years upon the completion of legal proceedings against their traffickers; however, the government did not report if any victims received this benefit during the reporting period. Ich schrecke aus dem Schlaf, weil ich das Geräusch eines Schlüssels in der Tür höre. "This is a step in the right direction," said Malina Enlund from the anti-trafficking group A21, which has partnered with Thai authorities on the campaign since mid-2017. In 2018, government hotlines received 161 calls related to possible trafficking cases, including at least 18 involving forced labor (172 calls in 2017 and 269 calls in 2016), leading to the prosecution of 63 cases (73 cases in 2017). In addition, 14 provincial employment offices provided training, including on trafficking risks, to 4,624 Thai workers prior to their overseas employment. • Enforce regular payment of wages, requirements that employers pay recruitment fees of migrant workers, and the rights of employees to retain possession of their own identity and financial documents. A UN report found the median monthly wage for seasonal agricultural workers was 6,000 baht ($185), which was below the minimum wage in Thailand, which ranged from 8,008-8,580 baht ($248-$265) per month. • Consistently staff government hotlines and shelters with interpreters. Officials inspected 7,497 adult entertainment businesses in 2018, leading to the prosecution of seven trafficking cases and the five-year suspension of licenses of 97 businesses for unspecified violations of law. Da ich jetzt wach bin, höre ich jedes Wort der Unterhaltung: „Do want to have a drink?“, „No, thanks“, „Okay, than take your clothes off“. Doch ich realisiere, dass nicht unsere Tür aufgeschlossen wird sondern die zum Nebenzimmer. Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) commissioner, Torsak Sukwimol, said at a press conference that 12 people were arrested in connection to a human trafficking ring. The government operated specialized anti-trafficking divisions within the Bangkok Criminal Court, office of the attorney general (OAG), and the Royal Thai Police (RTP). … While the electronic payment system increased the ability of labor inspectors to verify wage payments, observers reported concerns that some workers were unable to access their funds due to a lack of ATMs near some ports, insufficient training on how to use the system, and the withholding of workers’ ATM cards and PINs by vessel owners, captains, or brokers. The government allocated 3.6 million baht ($111,280) to TATIP and 11.84 million ($366,000) to TICAC, compared to 9 million baht ($278,210) allocated to TICAC in 2017. 13 January 2020. Thailand has also entered into regional agreements against human trafficking, ... 's 2005 documentary travelogue The Butterfly Trap provides a realistic and non-judgmental first person viewpoint of sex tourism in Thailand. In an attempt to increase victims’ willingness to participate as witnesses, Thai courts admitted advance and video testimony as evidence in trials; courts conducted 24 advanced witness hearings in 2018, four of which utilized video conferencing. • Increase potential victims’ access to government services before they are formally identified by multidisciplinary teams. #EndTrafficking https://t.co/9xfHNAMhS9. NGOs reported difficulty accessing victims they had supported once they entered MSDHS shelters; this, combined with insufficient communication from shelter staff, discouraged NGOs from further cooperating with the government or referring victims to authorities. This paper aims to explore the dark side of the relationship between gender, mobility, migration and tourism. The government could only provide temporary assistance to potential victims for up to eight days, and formal identification by MDTs was necessary for victims to obtain a legal right to services. But it has also come under the international spotlight in recent years over what rights groups describe as widespread human trafficking, including women forced into selling sex and fishermen trapped in conditions akin to modern slavery. NGOs also reported MSDHS shelters lacked culturally appropriate services for victims originating from outside Southeast Asia; however, the government allowed a group of African victims to reside in one of the NGO-registered shelters that provided culturally appropriate care during the reporting period. An estimated 425,500 people live in conditions of modern slavery in Thailand, according to the Global Slavery Index 2016 by charity Walk Free Foundation, including migrant workers from Cambodia and Laos and women exploited in the sex industry. Although authorities have prosecuted some boat captains in prior years, observers continued to report a reluctance by some law enforcement officials to investigate boat captains whom they perceived to have connections with politicians. Some trafficking victims in the fishing sector had difficulty returning home due to isolated workplaces, unpaid wages, and the lack of legitimate identity documents or safe means to travel. BANGKOK — Thailand continues to be a major center of global sex trafficking rings that extend to countries as far flung as Japan, Morocco and Germany, a … At Thai airports, banners greet visitors with warnings that human trafficking could "destroy" the country. Some boat captains threaten, beat, and drug fishermen to work longer hours. NGOs reported the government did not consistently provide repatriation assistance to victims who declined to participate in law enforcement investigations. To facilitate the ability of undocumented migrant workers to register with the government, twelve “one stop” service centers operated by the governments of Burma, Cambodia, and Laos in Thailand conducted nationality verification for migrant workers, which allowed them to obtain identity documents without leaving Thailand. While interagency coordination was effective in major cities, in some provinces observers reported ineffective communication among agencies and civil society. 18 April 2018. #MotivationalMonday: Watch 2017 TIP Report Heroes who have devoted their lives to the fight #humantrafficking: Alika Kinan of Argentina; Boom Mosby of Thailand; & Vanaja Jasphine of Cameroon. Labor inspectors, for the first time, identified and referred potential victims to multidisciplinary teams, resulting in the identification of labor trafficking victims. ™ Thailand is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking12. To discourage child sex tourism, the government coordinated with foreign governments to deny entry to known sex offenders, and produced and displayed a video discouraging child sex tourism in Thai airports and on Thai airline flights. You will get the updates within 24 hours. Disneyland opens mass Covid vaccination center, THA: Let inoculated tourists visit without quarantine. The government did not report vigorously investigating or prosecuting immigration officials who facilitated trafficking by accepting bribes at border checkpoints. Migrants from neighboring countries make up a large portion of identified trafficked persons in Thailand. Some government officials profit from bribes and direct involvement in extortion from and exploitation of migrants. Photo courtesy of Dorthea Shultz and Shear Love International It is also a hotbed of human trafficking and abuse. • Ensure government and NGO-run shelters provide victims with adequate trauma-informed care, including legal assistance and psychological care. Thailand is recognized as a key destination for human trafficking in the Mekong region, in addition to being a source and transit country for forced labour and sex trafficking. Then, the Japanese occupation during … • Foster an environment conducive to reporting human trafficking crimes without fear of criminal prosecution, including spurious retributive charges pursued by employers. In 2018, the government convicted 16 officials complicit in trafficking crimes (12 in 2017), sentencing them to terms of imprisonment ranging from five to 50 years; 10 of 16 convicted officials were sentenced to more than 15 years’ imprisonment. Officials did not consistently screen cases of labor violations for potential indicators of trafficking and sometimes encouraged workers to remedy their situation through their employer. Courts sentenced 58 percent of convicted traffickers to five or more years of imprisonment. The Southeast Asian nation is consistently ranked as one of the world's best tourists destinations. Abuses are rampant in Thailand's fishing industry despite promises of reform. The government continued to refer victims to government-operated shelters where they had access to counseling, legal assistance, medical care, civil compensation, financial aid, witness protection, education or vocational trainings, and employment. Some government officials are directly complicit in trafficking crimes, including through accepting bribes or loans from business owners and brothels that exploit victims. In one case, the RTP coordinated with Cambodian authorities to bring 15 repatriated Cambodian victims to a Thai border provincial court to provide video testimony. Additionally, Mexico is considered both a country of origin for many victims and a transiting country into the United States, with an estimated 5,000 children and women being brought into the United States each year [15,16]. At Thai airports, banners greet visitors with warnings that human trafficking could "destroy" the country. The government permitted 65 victims to work outside shelters—a decrease from 149 in 2017—and was less likely to grant female victims this right to work. The lack of a requirement that employment contracts be written in both Thai and workers’ languages, lack of clear guidance to measure work and rest hours for workers aboard fishing vessels, and difficulty for workers to change employers heightened the risk of trafficking. 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