The Royal Thai Embassy’s Office of Commercial Affairs this week reiterated that Thailand’s continuing fight against forced labour and human trafficking abuses is a major national priority that has been pursued aggressively since passage of the Labor Protection Act in 1998 and will be strengthened even further with the recently passed Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008.
“We take any allegations of abuse very seriously,” Minister Kessiri Siripakorn, who heads the Office of Commercial Affairs, said. “We want US government leaders and the American people to know that we are making a concerted and proactive effort to prevent abuses and combat incidents swiftly whenever they may occur.”
Minister Kessiri said there are approximately 700,000 workers in the Thai shrimp industry, including farmers, middlemen, and workers in 1,415 processing factories. Shrimp is one of the Kingdom’s most important exports, with significant sales to the United States, Japan, Europe, Canada, Australia, South Korea and other markets.
Since Thailand shares long borders with neighbouring countries, including Myanmar, which currently face political, economic, and natural disaster-related difficulties, there has been an influx of migrants to Thailand. The Royal Thai Government requires these foreign workers to register with the Ministry of Labor for their own protection and in order to work legally in the Kingdom. Currently about 540,000 migrant workers are registered to work in Thailand. There might be as many as a million more that are undocumented.
To protect workers’ rights, the Labor Protection Act of 1998 established minimum standard labour practices in general. To bolster enforcement, the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare was established to conduct labor protection inspections and coordinate problem-solving efforts.
The Department of Labor Protection and Welfare regularly inspects factories and enforces labour laws through nationwide monitoring of employers and employees. A recent inspection between October 1, 2006 and April 30, 2007 revealed that out of 23,137 factories, 18,401 passed inspection, 4,285 required some corrective advice, 334 were issued summons, 102 received orders, 11 were fined, and four are under continuing investigations.
Just as in the United States, employees between the ages of 15 and 18 are legally permitted to work in Thailand. There are currently 656 factories employing 8,806 workers under age 18. Thailand’s Labor Protection Law has specific provisions to protect child labor; additionally the government has established the Task Force on Child and Women Labor in each of the 76 provinces to attack urgent issues such as child abuse problems.
On April 30, 2008, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Social Development and Social Security adopted new guidelines to combat the problem of human trafficking in conjunction with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and established a coordinated response where trafficking is suspected and the rescue of exploited workers is required. Thailand was one of the founding countries of the ILO and has been a member since 1919. Thailand’s Department of Labor has collaborated with the ILO on numerous projects through its Asia and the Pacific Office in Bangkok.
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008 targets the restriction of workers’ rights and liberties in addition to adding measures suppressing human trafficking in general. Any person found guilty of human trafficking will be subject to 4-10 years imprisonment and fines between US$ 2,350 – 5,880. The Act will expand the definition of human trafficking victims to include men and protect against automatic deportation.
