Thailand remains in Tier 2 in US trafficking report
No movement in ranking proves the country is making concerted efforts to protect victims and eliminate trafficking
Thailand has remained in Tier 2 in this year’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report published by the US Department of State, signifying that it is working to improve its standing.
The US authority said in its report that Thailand has not been upgraded or downgraded because it believes that though the government does not meet the minimum standards required for eliminating trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so.
“The [Thai] government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period,” the report said. “These efforts included increasing the number of trafficking investigations and prosecutions, and the number of victims identified and referred to services.
“However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas,” the report continued.
“Inconsistent and ineffective interviewing practices during labour inspections and victim identification interviews left many trafficking victims unidentified and without care, especially those exploited in forced labour. Authorities did not make sufficient efforts to identify and protect trafficking victims exploited in forced criminality in online scam operations in neighbouring countries, including Thai citizens and foreign nationals, often without legal status, who entered the country after their exploitation.”
Commenting on the report, Social Development and Human Security Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said on Tuesday that the United States’ human-trafficking report this year covered 186 countries, with several ASEAN nations being downgraded.
“Thailand can maintain its Tier 2 position, for which I thank all related parties, including the Justice Ministry, the Royal Thai Police, and the ministry’s officials, who have worked hard in the past year,” he said.
Varawut added that his ministry has coordinated with the US authorities in submitting reports and details about human-trafficking investigations in the past year. He agreed with the US report that Thailand still has some shortcomings in human trafficking efforts, especially regarding online scam suppression and effectiveness in victim interviewing.
He added that in the past year, his ministry has been working with related government agencies and civil society, as well as welcoming their inputs for ways to improve efforts in human trafficking prevention.
“We hope to see Thailand advance to Tier 1 next year,” Varawut said. “The fact that Thailand was not downgraded proves that the government and related agencies have maintained their efforts continually in the past year.”
Tier 1 ranking is given to countries whose governments fully comply with the minimum standards prescribed by the United States’ Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).
