Govt expects an upgrade for TIP, fishing crackdowns

“It’s up to the United States and the European Union on whether they are going to upgrade Thailand. It’s their sole decision, and do not be overly anxious over the issue,” he told reporters at Government House.

All the government can do is make sure the issue is being tackled and objectives are being achieved, he said. 

Meanwhile, a member of the Lawyers’ Council of Thailand panel, Surapong Kongchanthuk, revealed a list of people in a case as takers of bribes including a reporter, apart from police from various units. “This is why human trafficking still operates and exists,” he said.

This list, extracted from a large pile of documents and secret lists, details monthly bribes of Bt12,000 to a non-commissioned officer of the Immigration Bureau, Bt7,000 to a district Immigration officer, payment of Bt12,000 to two Crime Suppression Division officers, just Bt1,000 to a Special Branch officer, Bt6,000 to a detective at a Provincial Police Region, Bt3,000 to a police lieutenant Bt2,000 to the reporter.

Last year, the US State Department relegated Thailand in its lowest tier in the annual Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report while the EU downgraded Thailand in its Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing ranking over the abuse of migrant fishermen on trawler crews and widespread use of trafficked labour.

As a result, Thailand’s seafood exports to the US and UK have been restricted – a huge financial blow to the industry and the country’s economy.

“We cannot force the US State Department to unlock Thailand from the lowly Tier-3. This has happened to many countries, and the period to unlock varies from six months to one year. It’s up to them,” the PM said.

Prayut said the situation with the IUU ranking was similar to the TIP scenario, except the IUU conditions required new legislation to cope with various issues in a more rounded manner. 

Tighter enforcement of existing regulations covering the fishery industry, including the operation of fishing trawlers, was needed to deal with the IUU situation, he said.

Drastic government action was needed to solve all the problems at the root causes. 

“Drastic action does stir up hardship, but I am pleading and asking, Are we going to let the country run in the same old ways?” he said.

Interior Ministry permanent secretary Wiboon Sa-nguanpong said a national centre had been set up to act on human trafficking and abuse of fishermen, mostly migrants, in the fishing industry. 

He said local one-stop-service centres had also been set up in all 22 coastal provinces along with 28 centres charged with monitoring the inbound and outbound movement of all Thai-registered fishing trawlers.

All civilian authorities in the 22 provinces have been instructed to work with the centres in those provinces, while the registration of all migrant crewmembers is ongoing and expected to be complete by June 30, Wiboon said.