The Thai Cabinet endorsed the Royal Thai Government’s Progress Report on Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts of 2019. The report highlighted the increase in the national budget to combat human trafficking, the number of criminal cases, the rescue of victims, and the prosecution of government officials who were involved with human trafficking.
The budget for law enforcement agencies to combat human trafficking has increased by 4.53% from 3.6 billion baht ($110 million) in 2018 to 3.8 billion baht ($117 million) in 2019.
The Thai law enforcement agency started 288 criminal investigations on human trafficking cases which can be separated into 8 categories:
– Prostitution
– Pornography
– Other forms of sexual exploitation
– Forced begging
– Enslavement
– Labour
– Fisheries
– Extortion/Other
The investigations led to the arrest of 555 criminals, of which 402 are Thai, 120 Burmese, 4 Cambodians, 6 Laos, and 23 other foreign nationals.
The authority also rescued 1,821 victims, of which 251 are Thai, 1306 Burmese, 96 Cambodian, 38 Laos, and 130 of other foreign nationals.
Out of the 288 cases, 19 are currently under inquiry while the other 269 have been sent to the District Attorney’s office to file criminal charges and prosecute by the court.
Currently, there are 364 human trafficking cases at the Office of Attorney-General, 351 cases of which have been submitted to the Thai Court. The court has prosecuted 283 cases out of 396 cases and ordered the defendants to pay 54,180,366 baht ($1.7 million) in compensation to the victims.
Moreover, the Thai government has increased its effort to prosecute government officials who were involved with human trafficking operations. This led to a decrease in the number of government officials’ involvement in the crime.
In 2019, the Thai district attorney charged 4 government officials for their involvement with human trafficking operations in 2017. The Thai court also gave out prison sentences, which ranged from 34 – 255 years, to six officials who were convicted of human trafficking charges between 2015-2018.
Furthermore, the Thai government has ordered all employers to provide copies of the working contract to their employees in Thai, English, and the language their employees’ will use during their extended foreign working permit period. This will allow foreign workers to receive minimum wages and be protected by Thai laws.
Sources: https://www.matichon.co.th/politics/news_2141080
Picture credits: https://www.matichon.co.th/politics/news_2141080
