Govt defends record on abuse of fishermen
Play
SOME media outlets have been reporting "half-truths" about the government's move to stamp out human trafficking in the fishing industry, Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd, deputy government spokesman, said yesterday.
Had those media outlets covered the story “in proportion and appropriately, and on a timely basis” since the previous government took it up, the matter would not have caused trouble today.
“The current government is pursuing the issue. Those media should have covered the issue comprehensively, on the basis of the national interest,” he said.
A television channel has run a documentary on how Thai trawler crews having been mistreated and left behind in Indonesia.
The expose infuriated Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, leading him to claim that such a negative slant would threaten Thailand and other countries in the region with a further downgrade in Trafficking In Persons reports. Last year the US State Department demoted Thailand to the lowest level – Tier 3.
The current government had assisted stranded Thai crewmen in a sustainable manner, and in greater numbers than what the previous government achieved on a case-by-case basis, he said.
Nopphadol Kannika, an adviser to the Labour Ministry, said that out of the 869 trawlers inspected to date, the current government had punished 65 since the military seized power last June.
The previous government only inspected 152 trawlers in nearly three years in office.
“Legal action was taken against the operator of one trawler (during the previous government),” he said.
The suppression of abuse on trawlers would be more effective only when combating abuse of workers and underage workers together.
The Labour Ministry has issued updated regulations specifically designed to fight human trafficking that were put in place by the current government, but effective enforcement would deal with the issue comprehensively, he said.
