Govt needs a better grasp of fishing sector's woes
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PM should take a step back and focus on how conditions can be improved for workers and the oceans allowed to recover
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha came out with another characteristic outburst, which was perhaps predictable, if not embarrassing. Instead of running the country through sound policies and judgement, the junta chief seems to rely on his emotions to shape the course and direction of this administration.
The latest bout of anger was his lashing out at a proposal from a member of a European parliamentary committee, on whether to “red card” Thailand for illegal fishing practices.
Gabriel Mato, from the European Parliament’s committee on fisheries, said he would support banning the import of Thai fishery products, if the Kingdom failed to curb illegal fishing and abandon the use of slave labour.
This stirred Prayut to hit back, saying his government had taken more action than many other countries.
“Today we are sincere about addressing the problem that many countries have not tried to solve. Why haven’t they been [punished]?” he asked.
Prayut can keep pointing an accusing finger at others but he can’t get around the fact that, at the end of the day, this is a Thai problem.
In April, the European Commission gave Thailand a “yellow card”, warning that authorities must improve conditions in the fishery industry, which exports its products mainly to Europe. Thailand was given six months to solve the problems.
“Thailand is a party to United Nations conventions and also has an agreement with the EU. We are sincere in addressing the issue,” the PM said.
No one doubts Prayut’s sincerity. But questions are understandably being raised on whether his judgement is clouded.
He can keep harping about how hard the bureaucrats have been working to resolve this problem and that there has to be some sympathy and moral support for them.
Perhaps they should try being in the fishermen’s shoes for a day. It might be a good training session for the bureaucrats – a day or two working in this back-breaking industry, which employs a great number of foreign hands as Thai people shun these kind of jobs. It might educate them on the conditions they endure.
Thais can get better work elsewhere, like Taiwan, so why would they slog in the fisheries sector where working conditions have been likened to slavery.
Prayut was also furious with the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) for its comments earlier on the poor living and working conditions of fishery workers.
“I agree that the NHRC has to protect individuals, but it should look after everyone – be they abused or not. Also, officials should be treated with fairness. Instead, the NHRC has created misunderstanding in the country. Is creating conflict good for the country?” Prayut said.
Rights commissioners must think about humanity, international society and the country while exercising their duty, he said.
But the NHRC was talking about humanity, about a sense of fair play when they brought up the issue of working conditions.
From the perspective of the EU, it is one of our most important customers but they have specific requirements for their procurement of fish from Thailand and elsewhere.
The first key consideration is environmental degradation, which is basically centred on the type of equipment used and whether these nets or other equipment destroy marine life and underwater habitats.
The second is the issue of forced labour. When it comes to fisheries in Thailand, the issue of forced and illegal labour, or slaves, cannot be ignored. Moreover, one cannot ignore the issue of human rights and criminality, such as recent reports about rape on fishing boats.
The government focuses too much on technicality and regulation, such as registration, but virtually nothing on the working conditions and related humanitarian concerns.
If it focused more on the industry and humanitarian principles, we would think more about a sense of fair play – or the lack of it, in this industry.
We need to ask ourselves not just about migrants’ working conditions but also the environment in which they spend their free time.
We need to ask about their children and where they go to school and what kind of education, if any, they are getting.
The government can boast all it likes about how many people it arrests as part of measures to clean up the industry. But it needs to understand that when our customers, like the EU, do their report, they take a bird’s-eye view of these problems.
And if we can’t do that, or we are not willing to take up these challenges, we deserve the red card that the EU parliament has suggested.
